South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MAIN BRANCH

is the reduplication of the consonant following r as in -mārggē, line 3. The visarga is incorrectly omitted in several places. The upadhmānīya occurs in line 6.

...The present plate is probably the third plate of a set of four or five plates. As in other grants of Pravarasēna II, the first two plates must have contained the name of the place of issue and the genealogy of the donor. The record on the present plate commences with the description of Pravarasēna II as the son of Prabhāvatīguptā and as one who carried the śūla obtained by the favour of (the god) Śambhu. This is the only grant of Pravarasēna II in which he is described in this manner, the usual expression being Sambhōḥ prasāda-dhṛiti(ta)- Kārtayugasya meaning that he had established the Kṛita-yuga or the Golden Age on the earth by the grace of the god Śambhu¹. The expression in the present plate makes a better sense and recalls a similar description of the Bhāraśivas that their royal family was created by the god Śiva, who was pleased by their carrying his liṅga (or emblem such as triśūla) on their shoulders.

... The object of the present plate is to record the grant, by the Vākāṭaka Mahārāja Pravarasēna II, of the village Śrīparṇakā to three Brāhmaṇas, viz., Gaṅgārya, son of Vēdārya, of the Bhāradvāja gōtra, Vasurārya of the Kauṇḍinya gōtra and Rudrārya of the Taittirīya śākhā and Kauṇḍinya gōtra. The donated village was situated in the mārga of Sundhāti and lay to the east of Brahmapuraka, to the west of Millukadratha, to the north of Madhukajjharī and to the south of Darbhaviraka. The grant was made in exchange for the previous gift of the village Māṇapallikā which was situated on the mārga of Yaśapura. The reason which necessitated this exchange is not stated. As in the Siwanī plates², the village granted is described as sa-pañchāśatka, the meaning of which is uncertain. Fleet doubtfully suggested that the expression possibly meant ‘with fifty hamlets. This does not appear to be correct. Dr. Altekar thinks that it indicates some fiscal privilege³. Perhaps it means ‘together with the sales tax amounting to one-fiftieth of the sale price⁴

...It is noteworthy that the grant was made by Pravarasēna II for the accumulation of religious merit and for (well-being in) this world and the next of his mother (mātṛi-bhaṭṭārikā). This shows that the present plate does not belong to the same set as the Rāmṭēk plates⁵ ; for the latter records a grant made by Pravarasēna II for the increase of his own religious merit, life, strength and prosperity as well as for well-being in this world and the next. The extant portion mentions no date.

... As for the places mentioned in the present plates, Dr. Altekar thought that BrahmaPuraka was the same village which was gifted by Pravarasēna II by his Siwanī plates⁶. He identified it with Brāhmaṇawāḍā near Achalpur. This identification is not correct ; for Brahmapuraka mentioned in the Siwanī plates was situated in the Beṇṇākārparabhōga which, as we have seen, comprised the territory in the vicinity of the Beṇṇā or Waingaṅgā⁷. It could not have been situated so far in west in the Achalpur tahsil of the Amarāvatī District. Dr. Altekar’s identification of Madhukajjharī with the Madhunadī mentioned in the Chammak plates cannot also be accepted for the same reason. As the plates were discovered at Bālāghāṭ, we must search for the places mentioned in them in the vicinity of that town.
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¹ See, e.g., No. 3, lines 15-16.
² No. 7, line 20.
³ J.B.O.R.S., Vol. XIV, p. 475.
⁴ Cf. Manusmṛiti, VII, 130. पञ्चाशद्भाग आदेयो राज्ञा पशुहिरण्ययो: ।
⁵ See No. 16, lines 2-3.
⁶ J.B.O.R.S., Vol. XIV, p. 472.
⁷ Above, p. 29.