South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MAIN BRANCH

fortune and is therefore often mentioned in the description of women. The preceding expression s-āgra-varsha-śata indicating long life must evidently be connected with jīva. The expression. therefore refers to the long life of the sons and grandsons of Prabhāvatī and not to her own. Besides, to a window like Prabhāvatīguptā a long life of a hundred years is most distasteful. No Indian window is likely to boast of it in her own record. The long life men tioned in the expression must therefore be taken to refer to that of the sons and grandsons of Prabhāvatī. The expression cannot, of course, be taken literally, but must be interpreted like the epithets dīrghāyuḥ or āyushmat applied to small children. The intention in such cases is to express the wish that they would be long-lived. The expression therefore means ‘who has sons and grandsons who (it is hoped) will live for a full hundred years’.

...Prabhvātīguptā is again described in line 10 as the mother of the Vākāṭaka Mahārāja, the illustrious Dāmōdarasēna-Pravarasēna. This expression also has been interpreted differently by different scholars. Dr. Mujumdar says that Dāmōdarasēna and Pravarasēna were two different sons of Prabhāvatī. We must note, however, that the expression uses the phrase Vākāṭakāṁ Mahārājaḥ in connection with the name of Dāmōdarasēna, but not with that of Pravarasēna II. When we remember how particular the drafters of Vākāṭaka grants were about the use of this title in connection with the name of every Vākāṭaka king who actually reigned¹, it looks strange that the title should not have been prefixed to the name of Pravarasēna II, who was ruling at the time. Again, if the intention was to name all sons of Prabhāvatī, the name of Divākarasēna also should have been added. It seems probable therefore, that Dāmōdarasēna and Pravarasēna II were identical and that the latter name was adopted by the prince at the time of his accession.

...As for the place-names mentioned in the present grant, Rāmagiri is undoubtedly modern Rāmṭek, about 28 miles north of Nāgpur. It lies only about 3 miles from Nandivardhana, modern Nagardhan, the earlier capital of the Vākāṭakas. In Kālidāsa’s Mēghadūta, Rāmagiri is mentioned as the place where the yaksha, exiled from Alakā, lived for a year. From the description in Kālidāsa’s poem we learn that the hill was marked by the venerable foot-prints of Raghupati (Rāmachandra)², and it is noteworthy that the present grant was made by Prabhāvatīguptā near the foot-prints of the Lord of Rāmagiri. The geographical situation of Rāmṭēk answers to the description of Rāmagiri in the Mēghadūta³ and it is known to have been regarded as a holy place for several centuries. There should therefore be no doubt about this identification. Several grants of Prabhāvatīguptā and Pravarasēna II were made after being offered to the Bhagavat who was plainly none but the god RāmaChandra whose pādukās were installed at Rāmagiri. Aśvatthanagara has been identified with Asatpur in the Achalpur tahsil of the Amarāvatī District of Vidarbha⁴. Kōśika, the headquarters of the mārga in which Asvatthanagara was situated, cannot, however, be located in its neighbourhood.

¹ J.A.S.B., N.S., Vol. XX, pp. 56 and 60.
² This was first pointed out by Prof. Jagan Nath in P.I.H.C., IV, p. 59.
³ J.R.A.S.B., Vol. XII, pp. 1 f.
⁴ Cf. (i)   वयं  जीवा जीवपुत्रा अनागसः । Ṛigvēda X, 36, 9 क्रोधनो न च गृह्लीते वचनं मे सुयोधनः ॥   MBH, V, 144, 2.
(iii) जीवपुत्रे  निवर्तस्व  पुत्रं  रक्षस्व चाङ्गदम्‌।अन्तको  रामस्पेण  हत्वा नयति वालिनम्‌ ॥  Ṛāmāyṇa IV, 19, 11.
(iv) जोवसुताय राजमातुय वचनेन। Nāsik cave inscription, Ep.Ind., Vol VIII, p.73.