North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RATANPUR

(V. 19) His son Jagatsiṁha shines like a lion on earth,-(he) who dispels the expanding darkness of ignorance as a lion breaks open the frontal globes of elephants.

(V. 20) That son of the daughter of the mountain (i.e., Kārttikēya) is an enemy of Tāraka;^¹ but this son of his, Rāyarasiṁha,^² is the saviour (tāraka) of the whole multitude of (his) kinsmen.

(V. 21) His virtuous daughter Bhōpā, untouched by the (evil) actions of the Kali age, is like the celestial river, purifying the three worlds.

(V. 22) Vālhū and the illustrious Dēvadāsa, united in mutual friendship, are shining, illumining the world like the sun and the moon.

(V. 23) Realizing that this human life is unsteady like a tuft of grass which trembles when shaken by the wind, and that fortune is like the play of lightning flashing in the midst of dreadful clouds, he (i.e., Dēvagaṇa), becoming exceedingly pious, put his faith in the eternal path of bliss which destroys the mass of sins, even as a mighty wild fire bums wood.

(V. 24) At the village Sāmbā, Dēvagaṇa constructed a temple of Śiva Bilva- pāṇi, resplendent like the extensive peaks of the snow-mountain (Himālaya).

(V. 25) Being, as it were, pleased at first with the close embrace of the hips of the earth^³ enjoyed by several kings, and being (next) desirous of clasping closely the bodies of women, viz., the quarters all round,^⁴ trembling with the pangs of love, this temple, putting on a smile of intense love, like a clever lovers, kisses the face of Beauty of the surrounding regions of the sky^⁵ in the presence of heavenly damsels.

(V. 26) Dēvagaṇa, the son of the illustrious Ratnasiṁha,- whose wealth of learning is rendered faultless by (his knowledge of) all traditional precepts; who has an excellent talent for poetry; who has reached the further shore of the ocean of good reasoning; who is regarded as the son of Bhṛigu (i.e., Śukra) in politics; (and) who is the sun to the lotuses, namely, the sciences of metrics, rhetoric (and) grammar, of love and of the arts,--has composed this faultless eulogy.

(V. 27) The illustrious learned Kumārapāla,^⁶ the son of [Avani]pāla, a home of the play of learning and the repository of a powerful intellect, who is the cool-rayed (moon) in making the night-lotus of poetry bloom, has written this faultless eulogy.

(V. 28) This pleasing eulogy has been engraved in beautiful rows of letters by the intelligent artisan Sāṁpula.

(V. 29) . . . . . and Dēvagaṇa, the crest-jewels of sculptors, have constructed (this) temple of Śiva (named) Bilvapāṇi.

(V. 30) As long as the moon and the sun encircle the world with the lines of (their) rays, as long as the orb of the earth supported by troops of the elephants of the quarters [rests on the tortoise], as long the sky bears the excellent ornament of the long pearl-strings (viz.) the constellations of stars,-so long may the fame prosper in the guise of (this) temple of (Śiva) the enemy of the god of love!

.........................................................The year [1207].
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¹ There is a play on the word tāraka which means (1) a demon of that name killed by Kārttikēya and (2) a saviour.
² Such names are generally found in kannaḍa records.
This name would mean 'a lion to the kings.'
³ For, the foundation of the temple is laid deep in the earth.
⁴ Since the flags of the temple flutter on all sides.
⁵ For, it soars very high in the sky. For the idea in this verse, see verse 22 of No. 97, below. See also p. 518, n. 2.
⁶ See above, p. 484, n. 1.