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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
RELIGIOUS CONDITION
account of its combination of the week-day Tuesday and the nakshatra Mṛigaśiras, it was regarded as yugādi, i.e. marking the beginning of the Trētā Yuga.[1] The first tithi of the bright fortnight of Āśvina was regarded as very holy, as it marked the commencement of the navarātra of Mahālakshmī. A garnt made on it is recorded in an inscription of Bhoja II.[2] ..The paurṇimā was also regarded as a holy tithi. Some grants were made on that tithi, e.g. that recorded in the Khārepāṭaṇ plates of Raṭṭarāja, which was made on the full-moon tithi of Jyēshṭha,[3] and the other one recorded in the Māṇḍavī inscription of Kēśidēva II, which was made on that tithi in Māgha.[4] Besides, the paurṇimā in Chaitra is mentioned in the Ṭhāṇā inscription of Aparāditya as sacred to Śiva.[5] The Vaḍavalī grant of Aparājita I was made on the full-moon day of Karttika.[6] ..One other tithi is mentioned in a Ṭhāṇā inscription viz., pavitrika.[7] This is probably identical with the tithi of pavitaropana-vrata or investiture of a deity with the sacred thread called poṁvaḷe in Mahārāshṭra. Different tithis are prescribed for different deities. The one intended in that record is that sacred to Śiva. It is the eighth or the fourteenth of any of the fortnighs of Āśvina (the best), Śrāvaṇa (the middling) or Bhādrapada (the lowest).[8] ..It is noteworthy that while eclipses and Saṅkrāntis were regarded as sacred occasions for the making of gifts, the ekadasi tithi, which in th eralier Gupta-Vakataka age was regarded as the most important tithi for making gifts, declined in importance. Only one grant is recorded in a Śilāhāra inscription (No. 21) as made on the twelfth tithi of the bright fortnight of Chaitra evidently at the time of the pāraṇā after a fast on the preceding ēkādaśī. This is perhaps not surprising because the tithi is sacred to Vishṇu, while the Śilāhāras of both North and South Koṅkaṇ were devotees of Śiva; but there is a lengthy discussion in the contemporay Aparārka commentary as to whether one should fast on the Ekādaśī day. Aparārka sums it up by saying that householders should not fast if they have living sons, others may.[9]
..
The importance of making dānas and observing vratas is emphasised in the Sṃritis.
Some of these are mentioned in the Śilāhāra inscriptions. The kings of the period tried to
secure religious merit by making mahādānas such as the tulādāna (weighing oneself against gold),
that of parturient (ubhayatō-mukhī) cows,[10] maintaining prapās for distributing water to travellers,[11] arranging for the marriages of Brāhmanas at sacred places,[12] maintenance of a perpetual
lamp in the shrines of gods,[13] feeding of a lakh of Brāhmaṇas[14] etc. Two of the vratas mentioned
in a grant of Gaṇḍarādity deserve special mention. One was the pañcha-lāṅgala-vrata[15] in which
land was gifted together with five ploughs made of hard wood, five golden ploughs and ten
bulls. The other was the agnishṭikā,[16] which was performed in the cold seasons of Hēmanta
and Śiśira. The vrata consists in the kindling of fire with the recitation of appropriate mantras,
[1] No. 28, line 4.
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