North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

life lies in the jaws of Death, that the body is subject to old age and death natural in this world, and that life is fickle like drops of water on a lotus leaf tossed by wind, they confirm the religious rewards of gifts. Having considered the sayings of ancient sages which are delightful owing to their distinguishing between what is righteous and what is not, such as the following of holy Vyāsa−‘Gold was the first-born of Fire, land sprang from Vishṇu, and the cows are the off-springs of the Sun. He who gives gold, land and a cow gains (the religious merit of giving) the three worlds,’ and being desirous of acquiring the (spiritual) welfare of My parents and of Myself, I−having bathed at an excellent tīrtha on Sunday, the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kārttika of the cyclic year Kshaya after nine hundred years increased by forty-eight by the era of the Śaka king had passed−in figures the year 948, the tithi 15 of the bright fortnight of Kārttika, on an eclipse of the Sun[1] 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 with great devotion, and as a gift free from taxes, confirming it with the pouring out of water,—to the great Brāhmaṇa Āmadēvaiya, the son of the Brāhmaṇa Nōḍamaiya, who is always engaged in the performance of the six duties of sacrificing for himself and for others, studying (the Vēdas etc.) and teaching them to others, and so forth, who is proficient in the performance of sacrifices, who belongs to the Parāśara gotra and the Chhandoga Śākhā,—for the performance of his six religious duties, viz. sacrificing for himself and for others, studying and teaching (of the sacred texts) and so forth, for the reception, daily and occasional, of the guests who may come in and out of season, for the performance of bali, charu, vaiśvadēva and agnihōtra and so forth and for the maintenace of his family—the field of Vōḍaṇibhaṭṭa extending to its own limits, together with all its produce, which is situated in the village of Nōura, included in the vishaya of Shaṭshasṭi comprising the prosperous city of Sthānaka, the boundaries of which are as follows: on the east the boundary of Gōṁvaṇi, on the south the boundary of Gōrapavalī, on the west a royal road; on the north-east the boundary of Gōṁvaṇi,—which is not to be entered by chāṭas and bhāṭas, not to be assigned and not to be attached.”

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

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

.. (Line 50). Having known these sayings of great sages, all future rulers should covet only the religious merit accruing from the protection of the grant. None should incur the disgrace and sin of confiscating it. He who, on the other hand, though thus entreated, will confiscate it or allow it to be confiscated, with his mind clouded by the darkness of ignorance as a result of greed, will incur all the five sins together with minor sins and will experience for a long time (the pangs of ) hells such as Raurava, Mahāraurava and Andhatāmisra.

And this has been declared by Vyasa :—

( Here follows an imprecatory verse.)

.. (Line 45). And as it is, the giver of the charter records his approval by the hand of the scribe: “What is written in this charter has been approved by Me, the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, the illustrious Chhittarājadēva, the son of the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, the illustrious Vajjaḍadēvaraja.”

.. And this has been written by me, the Treasury Officer Jōgapaiya, the nephew of the Treasury Officer, the great poet Nagalaiya.
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[1] This should be ‘an eclipse of the moon’. See the discussion on p. 55, above.