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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF CHANDRAVATI BHĀḌŪNḌ STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE PORNAPĀLA machala by Pt. Rāmakarṇa. The letter kh is formed of two vertical, each ending in a loop and suspended by a horizontal stroke, as in sukha, 1. 2. Ch, dh and v have almost the same form, with the only distinction that dh is devoid of its top-stroke ; and the verticals of dhā are joined by a horizontal stroke ; cf. Mādhava, dharmmē and achala, all in 1.9 and samvōdhā in 1. 2. The rare ñ which appears only once in its subscript from in vijñāpaynti, 1. 13, resembles the subscript form of the lingual ṇ which is laid flat, as in Pūrṇnapāla-, 1.3. T resembles a curve suspended form a vertical stroke ; e.g., in tatra, 1.4, and th is engraved as v, with its top-stroke serpentine ; cf. prathama, 1.4. R is in a transitional stage, sometimes appearing as a vertical with a horizontal stroke attached to its left as in Rāmāya, 1. 1, but in some other instances it shows an advanced form with a curvature, as in saṁvatsara, 1. 2. Occasionally when a subscript, it appears in its full form with the preceding letter half drawn, cf. prasūta, 1. 4. The dental sibilant which too is in a transitional stage, shows its old form as in samasta, 11. 2 and 13, and its advanced form devoid of the tail of the left of the left limb, e.g., in māsa, 1. 2. The mātrās are often ornamentally treated. ...The language of the inscription is Sanskrit, which is often corrupt and incorrect, occasionally using local words ; and the composition is in prose, excepting three verses in the beginning and five in 11. 10-12, which are all in the anushṭubh metre, and full of grammatical and other inaccuracies which will be pointed out in the text below. ... The orthographical peculiarities of the record are almost the same as to be found in the contemporary inscriptions, for example : (1) the use of the sign for v to denote b also, cf. Aṁvāditya, 1. 12 ; (2) the reduplication of a consonant following and occasionally preceding r, e. g., in durgga, 1. 4, and gōttra, 1. 12; (3) the occasional use of the dental for the palatal sibilant, as in Kāsyapa, 1. 12; (4) putting the mātrās for medial dipthongs generally above the line; (5) unnecessary insertions of the sign for visarga, as in vāpīḥ, 1. 4 and vāpiḥ, 11. 12 and 14, and of the punctuation marks, [1] (6) the wrong spellings of words, like atru (for Atri) 1 . 4, rishi, 1. 7 and kshatruya, 1. 9; (7) influence of local elements e.g. in jasō for yaśō and vṛiddhaē for vṛiddhayē, both in 1. 4, aṁśu for aṁśa and vīṁśa- in 11. 4 and below. It is interesting to note that the word sajjana in 1. 4 is written with a single j, with the figure of 2 below it, to indicate that the akshara is jj, a feature which I have not so far found elsewhere. Rules of sandhi are often violated, sometimes even when necessary.
... The subject of the inscription is to record the construction of a stepped well (evidently the one in which the stone was found), by certain Brāhmaṇas, including one Kshatriya. The date of the record, as mentioned both in numerical figures and words, in 1. 2, is the fifth of the dark half of Kārttika of the year 1102, which is evidently to be referred to the Vikrama era, and the year, if Chaitrādi expired, would correspond to the Christian year 1045. [2]
...
The inscription opens with the word svasti; and then we have two verses, the first of which
pays homage to Nārāyaṇa, Varuṇa, Sarasvatī, Gaṇēśa, gau (cow) and the Brāhmaṇas. The
second verse adores Rāmachandra, described as born in the family of Raghu and the destroyer
of the Rākshasas and who is also mentioned here as the donor of the village of Bhuṇḍipadra,
i.e., Bhāḍuṇḍa ( to the Brāhmaṇas). That the cow and the Brāhmaṇas are mentioned here as
venerable as gods is worth noting; and it is possible that the mention of Varuṇa may be due to
his being the lord of waters and the name of Nārāyaṇa is included probably as he is known
to enjoy his rest in the ocean. Verse 3 speaks about writing the praśati
[3] and specifies the names
of the gōhṭhikas, i.e., the members of a society. Then follows a passage in prose mentioning
the date and the purpose of the record, as seen above, along with some other details which are
historically important. It tells us that the well was constructed during the reign of the Mahārājādhirāja, the illustrious Pūrṇapāla, the son of the illustrious Dhandhuka of the Pramāra (Para-māra) lineage, by certain Brāhmaṇas, perceiving the vanity of life (11. 3-4). Thereafter are
[1] See n. on the first line in the text below.
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