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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA HARSAUDĀ STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF DEVAPĀLA (3) the indiscriminate use of the dental and the palatal sibilants, e.g. sadṛisaṁ, 1. 13, Gaṇēsvara, 1.14, taśy=ātmajō-, 1. 10 and śama for samaṁ, 1.14. (4) the medial dipthongs are sometimes denoted by the pṛishṭha-mātrā, as in tamō-, 1.2 and vilōkē, 1. 9, but more often by the ūrdhvamātrā, as in rājyē, 1.6, kēśavēna, 1. 12, lōrē brūtē, 1. 16 and rāgeṇa śrēyō, 1.17. (5) the common use of an anusvāra for nasals, and (6) the use of sha for kha in lēkhaka, 1. 18. (7) Occasionally the daṇḍa as a punctuation mark is so close to a letter as to look like a mātrā attached to it, as in vikāśadā, 1.2. ...The inscription commences with a short sentence in prose, paying adoration to Śiva (Oṁ namaḥ Śivāya), and then offerring praise to Hēramba (Gaṇapati), who is bowed down to at the beginning of the undertakings, it invokes the blessings of the goddess of Learning (Bhāratī) and Trimūrti (Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva) in stanzas 2 and 3, respectively. In the following stanza (v. 4), what is technically called a kūṭa (a riddle) and the meaning of which we shall see in a foot note appended to the text, are again invoked the Trimūrtis. This is followed by a prose portion introducing the Paramabhṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara Dēvapāla, who was “endowed with everything auspicious and resplendent with the epithet pañcha-mahā-śabda”, who was a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara and who was ruling at Dhārā, gloriously because of the grace of the goddess Limbāryā, who may be taken to have been a local deity. [1] Then the record provides the date with details ; it is Saturday, the fifth of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha of the (Vikrama) year 1275, which, according to kielhorn, corresponds to Saturday, the 24th November, 1218 A.C. [2] Then is mentioned th object of the inscription, which is sectarian ; it is to record the construction of a temple of Śambhu by one Kēśava, who belonged to the mercantile community and who was a brother of Dhala, a son of Bilhaṇa and a grandson of Dōsī, a resident of Undapura. Kēśava also excavated a tank near the temple which was on the northeastern side [3] of the place and near it also put up images of Hanumat, Kshētrapāla, Gaṇēśa, Kṛishṇa and others, Nakulīśa and Ambikā (vv. 6-11). Verse 14 states ṭhat the inscription was composed by Dēvaśarman ; and wishing well to the writer and the reader, the epigraph ends.
...The present record is interesting in several respects. This is so far the earliest known inscription connecting Dēvapāla, a scion of the Mahākumāra line with the main branch of the Paramāra family ruling at Dhārā. [4] The latest known year of Arjunavarman of the main branch is 1215 A.C. when he issued the Sehōre grant ; [5] and when and how his rule ended is not known ; but the statement of the present inscription shows that he was succeeded by Dēvapāla, some time before 1218 A.C. The difficulty that present itself in the present inscription, however, is the mention of both the contradictory titles, viz., that of a feudatory and of an independent chief, associated with the name of Dēvapāla, This was already noted by Kielhorn while editing it, but he did not arrive at a satisfactory solution of the problem. And in view of both the contradictory titles attached to Dēvapāla’s name in the present record, it appears very probable that in the first instance, in the natural course, he succeeded his father Hariśchandra with the title of Mahākumāra, [6] and for some time he may ruled as a subordinate prince of the main branch ; but soon after, with the end of the rule of Arjunavarman who may have left behined him no worthy person in the main branch, the throne of Dhārā was also held by Dēvapāla, who styled himself as Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara. In this connection it is worthy of note that the Māndhātā grant of this ruler, which was issued only seven years later, in V.S. 1282, gives him only the title of an independent king. And in view of all our findings we may connect the word Dhārāyāṁ, in 1.4, with the expression Dēvapāla-charaṇānāṁ vijaya-rājyē in 1.6, taking the phrase denoting the subordinate title in the sense “one who had (already before) been resplendent with the epithet pañcha-mahā-śabda”, as testified to by the grammatical construction also.
[1] To be seen below.
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