North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

offsprings of the Sun. He who gives gold, a cow and land gives thereby the three worlds (of Fire, Vishṇu and the Sun. )

.. (Verse 23). The manes cry out and the grandfathers leap about: “There has been born in our family a giver of land ! He will save us !”

.. (Verse 24). A gift of land made to a worthy person at a sacred place and on a holy occasion would take one across the unfathomable ocean of worldly existence.

.. (Verse 25). O Purandara ! The rewards of the religious merit obtained by a gift of land are a white (royal) umbrella and elephants introxicated in rut (in this world) and heaven (in the other).

.. Having thought over such sayings of ancient sages which are delightful on account of their discrimination between religious merit and demerit, and with a view to secure the wellbeing of My parents and Myself, I−having bathed in the ocean on the fifteen tithi of the bright fortnight of Kārttika, when nine hundred years increased by thirty-nine have elapsed by the era of the Śaka king, the cyclic year being Piṅgala, in figures, year 939, Kārttika, the bright fortnight, the tithi 15, on the occasion of the lunar eclipse which occurred (on that tithi), and having offered an arghya 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 consort of Ambikā, the lord of the three worlds and the guru of all gods and demons,−have given with great devotion and with exemption from taxes[1], confirming the gift with the pouring out of water, to the family priest and Āchārya, the revered Tikkapaiya, the son of the revered Chhintapaiya, of the Jāmadagnya gōtra and the Ṛigvēda śākhā, who is an astrologer and is adept in religious performances, who is always engaged in the six duties of sacrificing for himself and others, studying (the Vēdas etc.) and teaching them (to other), and so forth, (and) who is proficient in the performance of sacrifices, for the observance of the six duties, viz. sacrificing for himself and for others, studying and teaching (of the sacred texts) and so forth , for the performance of bali, charu, vaiśvadēva, agnihōtra and such other obligatory and occasional rites, the honouring of guests and the maintenance of his own family,− the village Chāvināra comprised in the vishaya of [Varēṭikā[2] , the boundaries of which are as follows: On the east the village Pūagambā and the waterfall from a hill, on the south the villages Nāgāmbā and Mūlāḍōṅgarikā, on the west Sāmbarapallikā, on the north the villages Sāmbivē and Kāṭiyālaka; and also the entire Tōkabalāpallikā, the boundaries of which are as follows: On the east Sīdāvalī; on the south the Mōthala river; on the west Kākādēvahallapallikā and Bādaviraka, on the north Talāvalīpallikā; and also the village Aulakīyā, the boundaries of which are as follows : on the east a tank; on the south Gōvinī; on the west Charikā; on the north Kalibalāyachōlī−(these three villages) with their four boundaries thus marked, extending to their limits, together with grass, trees and water, and exclusive of gifts made previously to gods and Brāhmaṇas, to be enjoyed as long as the sun, the moon and the mountains endure.

.. Therefore, none should cause any obstruction while he, together with his descendants and relatives, enjoys them or causes them to be enjoyed ; for it has been said by great sages:

.. (Here follow five benedictory and imprecatory verses. )

.. And as it is, the giver of the chapter records his approval by the hand of the scribe: “What is written in this charter has been approved by Me, Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, the illustrious king Arikēsaridēva, the son of the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, the illustrious Aparājitadeva.”
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[1] Namasyavṛittyā (lit. with reverential attitude) occurs in ancient records in the sense of ‘as a gift free from taxes’.
[2] The English translation in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. I, has Vatsarāja, which is probably a mistake for Varēṭika.