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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RATANPUR KOSGAIN STONE INSCRIPTION (NO.II) OF VAHARA: YEAR 1570 (V. 18) There is his learned preceptor Dēvadatta Tripāṭhī, an advocate of peace in all cases, who rightly advises Vāharēndra in accordance with various scriptures, policy and (his) knowledge of subtle religious duty. (V. 19) To the learned Nāganātha, who has come from Karṇāṭa, who is peaceful (by temperament), shines by (the performance of) sacrifices, and is the pillar of his fame, the illustrious lord of the earth, Vāhara, donated a very huge rutting elephant, clever in defeating (other) rutting elephants, (as a reward) for the praśasti of the goddess (which he had composed) . . . . (V. 20) This noble (and) [wise] Rāmadāsa, the son of Mōhana, born of the Kāyastha family, who is well-known on earth, has joyfully written (this) excellent praśasti. (V. 21) There is the illustrious Jagannātha, the light of the Kāyastha family and the repository of Vāharēndra's confidence, who has obliged the whole world. . (V. 22) The learned (and) wise Nāganātha, . . . . in the contest of disputa- tions . . . has composed this praśasti with pleasure. (V. 23) There are the illustrious Chhītaku and Māṇḍana, the sons of the illustrious Sūtradhāra Manmatha, born in the family of Kōkāsa, who have attained mastery in many crafts and are experts in the art of sculpture. Of them, (the sculptor) named Māṇḍana has incised¹ the beautiful letters of (this) praśasti. Chhītaku is the Sajāka² Sūtradhāra and Māṇḍana (is) the humble writer.
NO. 106; PLATE LXXXVII THIS inscription, together with another³ on the same stone, was first brought to notice by Mr. Beglar in Sir. A. Cunningham's Archæological Survey of India Reports, Vol. VII, p. 214. It was subsequently very briefly noticed by Rai Bahadur Hiralal in his Inscriptions in the Central Provinces and Berar.⁴ It is edited here from the original stone, now deposited in the Central Museum, Nagpur. . The record is engraved on the opposite side of the same slab of reddish sand-stone which bears the preceding inscription of Vāhara. As stated before, the stone was originally found in the fort of Kosgain, 4 miles north-east of Chhuri in the Bilaspur District of Madhya Pradesh. The inscription contains fifteen lines and covers a space measuring 2' 7.5" broad by
I' 2" high. It has suffered a good deal by exposure to weather especially in lines 10-15
where several aksharas, which were not originally very deeply engraved, have now become
almost illegible. Besides, the crack, referred to above⁵ in connection with the preceding inscription, which appears here on the proper left, has damaged one or two
aksharas in each line. The technical execution is not good. The characters are Nāgarī,
the average size of the letters being .5". The language is Sanskrit. As regards orthography,
b is everywhere denoted by the sign for v; see e.g. kadamva-vana-, 1.4; s is occasionally used
for ś as in -vaṁsa-,1.3 and -visishta-, I.9, and vice versa, though rarely, as in smit-āśyē, I.2;
sh is employed for kh in vishaṇḍy-, I.3; ṇ and n are confused in some places; see Āsviṇa, 1 Lit., has produced.
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