North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF CHANDRAVATI

said to have preceded it, should therefore be taken as equivalent to Thursday, 18th September, 1287 A.C., of course presuming that it was the immediately preceding date.

... The inscription opens with a short sentence in prose, paying obeisance to Purushōttama, and then it has a verse invoking the blessings of the illustrious Paṭṭanārāyaṇa (an image of whom is) stated to have been installed, along with an abode of Brāhmaṇas, [1] on Mount Ābū, by the illustrious Rāma, on his way back to his capital, with Sītā, after killing Rāvaṇa. The next verse mentions the name of Vijayāditya, the Brāhmaṇa poet, who composed the record and who proposes to give here an account of the religious performances of Rāma and Vasishṭha, of the family, along with the origin of the Paramāras (Pramāras) on (in the region of) Mount Ābū, [2] and the repairs to the temple by the Minister Dēlhaṇa. From the third verse to the end, the contents of the inscription may be split up into the following sections : (a) verse 3-18 give the genealogy of the ruling house of the Paramāras of Ābū, from the beginning up to Pratāpasiṁha, Dēlhaṇa, whose genealogy is also mentioned; and (c) the remaining portion showing the date, the names of the writer and the engraver of the record, and some donations made to the temple.

...To take up the up the first of these sections, verse 3-4 narrate the well-known myth of the creation of the originator of the Paramāra family (which is called jāti here) by the sage Vasishṭha, who also blessed if with his gōtra. This mythical account, as we have so often seen, has its origin in this region and is a later creation. It is, however, worth nothing that the present inscription mentions the name of the hero created by Vasishṭha as Dhūmarāja, as also in No. 75, whereas in all the other records referring to the myth, he is called Paramāra; and thus both these names appear to be identical. The next verse, which is intended to bless this family, also tells us that the expansion of this house will be related in due course (karma-saṁkathā), and with this remark, it proceeds to say that Rāmachandra, after testing Sītā’s piety in the fire, on Mt.Ābū, established the god Śuddhēśvara, at this place, and after being inaugurated there by Vasishṭha, and having established the image of Paṭṭa-Nārāyaṇa and of Lakshmaṇēśa at the confluence of Pūrṇā and Paṭṭanada, near the hermitages of Vasishṭha and Gautama, left for his capital, with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa (vv. 6-9). From that day, this spot was known as Guhya-tīrtha, which was regarded holy (v. 19).

...Verses 11-12 again praise Mt. Ābū in a poetic way, and the next six verses describe the genealogy of the Paramāras holding sway over region of Chandrāvatī. The first historical figure mentioned in the inscription is the king Dhārāvarsha who exhibited his bravery by killing as many as three buffaloes in one shot, thus excelling Chaṇḍikā, who slayed only one of the kind (Mahishāsura) with her sword (v. 15). [3] Dhārāvarsha’s son was Sōmasiṁha (v. 16), whose son was Kṛishṇadēva; and the letter’s son was Pratāpasiṁha, who vanquished Jaitrakarṇa and delivered Chandrāvatī, which had been submerged in the ocean in the form of enemical forces (vv. 17-18). The Jaitrakarṇa mentioned here was, in all probability, the Guhila king Jaitrasiṁha of Mēwāḍ, whose known dates range between 1213 and 1252 A.C. and who invade the territory of the Chaulukyas of Gujarāt and also pushed his conquests in the north up to Nāḍōl and Jālōr, which were then under the Chāhamāna Udayasiṁha. [4]

...The second section of the inscription commences from verse 18, stating that the temple, which had suffered from decay in course off time, was re-built by the Brāhmaṇa Minister Dēlhaṇa (vv. 20-23). In the following three verses the record gives the genealogy of Dēlhaṇa, as follows ; In the line of Upamanyu-muni was born a Brāhmaṇa named Vīṅkāka, whose daughter Charūpī (or Rūpī ?) [5] was married to Sādāka ; and from this union five sons were born , viz., Lakshmaṇa,
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[1] The reading vipra-sthāna-samaṁ in v. 1, where the word samam I take in the sense of saha.
[2] I would interpret the expression as ‘Pramārōdbhavaṁ, (tēshām) Ārbudam cha charitam
[3]As observed by sastri. On the Mandakini tank outside the temple of Achalesvara on Abu there is a statue of Dhārāvarsha about 5 ft. in height. with a bow in his hand three buffaloes standing before him side by side, with a hole running through their bellies. See Ind. Ant., Vol. XIV, p. 77. It is a marble image, incised with some letters, but in my short visit to that place I could not decipher the writing.
[4] Prakrit and Sanskrit Inscriptions of Kathiawar, p. 84. Also see H.P.D., p. 322; S.E., p. 90. For the earliest and latest known inscriptions of this king, see I.N.I., Nos. 462 and 545, respectively.
[5] The particle cha may also be taken separate, and thus the exact form of the name cannot be ascertained.

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