North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

who, by his spiritual merit, has obtained the five mahāśabdas, and who is adorned with all royal titles such as Mahāsāmantādhipati, ‘the lord of the city of Tagara’, ‘a king of the Śīlāhāra family’, ‘a scion of the family of Jīmūtavāhana’, ‘(he) who has the ensign of the golden Garuḍa’, ‘the lord of the Western Ocean’, ‘(he) who has surpassed the world in liberality’, the Sun of the Śīlāras’, ‘a mass of clouds obscuring in battle the sun-like (hostile) kings’, ‘the self-chosen husband of the Earth adorned with the heads of foes (slain by him)’, ‘an adamantine cage for such as seek refuge (with him)’ and so forth−is ruling over the whole Kōṅkaṇa country comprising fourteen hundred villages headed by Purī together with many (other) maṇḍalas won by the power of his arms, and while his Mahāmātya, the illustrious Jōupaiya and his Mahāsāndhivigrahika, the illustrious Viṭhapaiya are bearing the burden of the cares of his government‒at this time the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, the illustrious Mummuṇidēvarāja addresses, with saluation, honour, respect and orders, all assembled princes, counsellers, the family priest, the amātyas, the principal and subordinate officers, as well as the heads of rāshṭras, towns, vishayas and villages, royal servants whether (formally) appointed or not, rural people and also the artisans, guilds and the three classes of citizens and so forth, as follows :‒

..“ Be it known to you that though prosperity is unsteady, youth is momentary and life lies in the jaws of Death, the people are indifferent in regard to the acquisition of the order world. Oh ! How astonishing is this action of theirs !

..Realising that youth is being devoured by the demoness in the form of Old Age, who is hidden inside (the body), that the pangs of separation after union with one’s dear ones are like those caused by falling into a hell after dwelling in heaven, that wordly existence is worthless like the interior of a plantain tree, that the body is subject to old age and death natural (in this world), and that wealth and life are fickle like drops of water on a lotus-leaf tossed by wind, one should accumulate thee (spiritual) reward for his gift with firm non-attachment.

..Having pondered over the sayings of ancient sages, who are clever in discriminating between what is righteous and what is not, such as the following :‒

.. (Here follow four verses in praise of religious gifts).

.. (Line 54). Having thought over these sayings of great sages, adept in discriminating between dharma and adharma and having bathed at the excellnt tīrtha on the holy occasion of a lunar eclipse on the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Phālguna in the (cyclic) year Sarvadhārin, when nine hundred years increased by seventy have passed by the era of the Śaka King in figures, the year 970, Phālguna, the bright fortnight, 15‒and having offered an arghya beautiful with flowers of various kinds to the divine Sun, the sole crest-jewel of the sky and the lover of the lotus plant, and having worshipped the divine Śiva, the lord of the three worlds and the guru of all gods and demons, I have given, for the spiritual welfare of my Crowned Queen Padmai, with great devotion, with the pouring out of water as a gift free from all taxes, to the following learned and eminent Brāhmaṇas, who are devoted to the performance of their six duties such as sacrificing for themselves and for others, studying and teaching (of the sacred texts ), and who are proficient in the performance of sacrificial rites, namely, the learned Brāhmana, the illustrious Nārāyaṇa Paṇḍita, the son of the learned Brāhmaṇa, the illustrious Tikkapaiya Upādhyāya, of the Jāmadagnya-Vatsa gotra and the Ṛigvēda Śākhā, who has emigrated from Karahāṭa; and his brother Rāmba Paṇḍita and also his brother Lakshmīdhara Paṇḍita; Kēśavabbhṭṭa Upādhyāya, the son of . . . . . . who hails from Karṇāṭa, of . . . . . . . . . gōtra and the Ṛigvēda Śākhā, who has emigrated from [Karahāṭa]; Gōpati Paṇḍita, the son of the illustrious Rāmba Paṇḍita, of the JāmadagnyaVatsa gōtra and the Ṛigvēda Śākhā, who has emigrated from Karahāṭa; Dhārēśvarabhaṭta, the son of Mādhavabhaṭṭa, of the Jāmadagnya-Vatsa gōtra and the Ṛigvēda Śākhā, who has emigrated from Karahāṭa; Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa, the son of