South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MINISTERS AND FEUDATORIES OF THE
VATSAGULMA BRANCH

... The inscription seems to have originally covered a space, 4’ broad by 2’ 4” high. The characters are of the box-headed variety of the southern alphabet, generally resembling those of the Vākāṭaka inscriptions in Caves XVI and XVII at Ajaṇṭā. The only peculiarities that call for notice are as follows:− The medial ū (long) is denoted by two horizontal strokes added to the vertical on the right in some cases and on the left in others; see gurūṇāṁ line 1, and Vallūra-, line 3. In the case of bhū, on the other hand, the vowel is indicated by turning the vertical upwards to the right and adding a horizontal stroke to it; see babhūva line 9; t is unlopped, while n shows a loop; y tripartie execpet when it is subscript; the, vertical stroke of l is invariably turned sharply to the left; a final consonant is indicated by its small size and a horizontal line at the top; see tasmāt, line 9. The sign for the jihvāmūlīya occurs in line 5 and 9, and that for the upadhmānīya in lines 4, 5 and 10.

...The language is Sanskrit, and the whole record is metrically composed. Each line of it contains one verse. The metres used in it are Indravajrā Upajāti, Āryā, Pushpitāgrā and Vasantailakā¹. The record is composed in a simple and graceful style, generally free from solecisms. The only form which calls for notice is āsa, which, contrary to Pāṇini, II, 4, 52, it used in line 5 as an independent verb of the perfect tense². The orthography shows the usual peculiarities of the reduplication of a consonant after r and the use of the guttural nasal for anusvāra, see vaṅśō, line 3, and vaṅśajāsu, line 6.

...The object of the inscription was apparently to record the excavation of the Vihāra cave by a minister of the Vākāṭakas whose name is unfortunately not preserved completely, but who, as shown below, was Varāhadēva, the son of Hastibhōja. The record opens with a verse in praise of the Buddha, who is described as the saga among sages and the teacher among teachers, who was a store of marvels. The second verse describes Dharma and Gaṇa (or Saṅgha), the other two members of the Buddhist trinity. With verse 3 begins the genealogy of the ministerial family. There is, we are told, a great race of excellent Brāhmaṇas called Vallūras, who are well-known in the south (V.3.). In it was born Yajñapati, who in learning resembled the great primeval sages, Bhrigu, Atri, Garga and Aṅgiras (V. 4). His son was Dēva, who was a capable, learned and active statesman and on account of whom the whole kingdom together with the king performed their respective religious duties (V. 5). His son was Sōma, who took wives of the Kshatriya as well as the Brāhmaṇa caste³. From the Kshatriya wife he obtained a handsome son named Ravi, who, possessing marks of royalty on his person, established his sway over the whole territory (V. 7). From other wives of the Brāhmaṇa caste, Sōma obtained sons learned in the Vedas, whose habitation Vallūra was even then (i. e. at the time of the inscription) well-known in the south.

... Ravi, who, as stated before, was born of a Kshatriya wife of Sōma, had a son named Pravara. The latter’s son was Śrī-Rāma, who had a son named Kīrti. Kīrti’s son was Hastibhōja (V. 9). Hastibhōja distinguished himself by his ability during the reign of the
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¹ Bühler, who missed some of the aksharas in liens 13-18, thought that the metre of the inscription was Upajāti throughout. This is incorrect; for, as he admitted, the readings in these lines do not suit the metre. The metre, which is Upajāti up to v. 12 with the single exception of v. 3 (which is in Indra- vajrā), changes from v. 13.
² Kālidāsa, who flourished slightly earlier, uses āsa as an independent verb in his Kumārasambhava, canto I, v. 35. For an attempt to justify the form, see Vāmana’s Kāvyaṅkārasūtravṛitti, V, 2, 27. ³ Such anutōma marriages were allowed by ancient Smṛitis. Cf. Manusmṛiti, III. 13. For a simil zar historical instance, see the Jōdhpur inscription of Pratīhāra Bāuka, which in v. 7 mentions that the Brāhmaṇa Harichandra married wives of the Brāhmaṇa and Kshatriya castes. From the former he had Brāhmaṇa sons and from the latter ‘drinkers of wine’ (i.e., Kshatriyas). Ep. Ind., Vol. XVIII, p. 95.