Mahābalipuram Ādivaraha Cave slab

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00092

Summary: Land-sale of pasture-land for calves.

Hand Description:

The puḷḷi is used, apparently consistently, but the facsimile in Krishna Sastri 1926 is not clear enough to spot all its occurrences. Lockwood et al. 2001: page 290, page 1 admit interpolating puḷḷis in the delineation. Note the Grantha v, distinct from Tamil v (lines 1, 2) and the Grantha used in the Tamil portion (lines 6, 7). Note the parallel use of conjunct and non-conjunct forms of kk (lines 16, 18).


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    Edition

    1svasti śrī

    palla⟨va⟩-vaṁsasya na(n=ti)-
    2bodhuvarmmaku rā(jy)ā(vibh)i(r)ddh(ya) -
    3ñ (ce)¡l!⟨ll⟩ā-niṉṟatu Āṟupatt(u)
    4¿A?⟨Ai⟩nt-āvatu

    māmallap(u)-
    5rattu nakarattār Iṭaivala(ñ)-
    6cāṉ kaṭaṉ kaṉṟu-mē⟨y⟩-(kaḻa)-
    7¡n!⟨ṉ⟩i-y-āka koṭa nilam

    (Ā)-
    8mūr-nāṭṭu Kuṉṟattūr i[ṭai]-
    9vāḻum(·) Kuṉṟat(·)tūr-(ki)[ḻā-]
    10r Iḷa-naṭuvuṇār makaṉ [?2+]
    11ṉ kaṇṭa¡n!⟨ṉ⟩ iṭ(ai) kaṉṟu-mē⟨y⟩-ka(ḻa)¡n!⟨ṉ⟩i-
    12-y-āka viṟṟu-⟨k⟩-koṇṭa nilat(tu)-
    13⟨k⟩k’ ellai

    maḻiṉai nal(lu)-
    14ḻār tōṭṭa⟨t⟩ti(ṉ) mē¿l?⟨ṟ⟩kum (teṉ)-
    15pāl Ellai

    ¡n!⟨ṉ⟩-ē-
    16[ri]-(I)ṉ vaṭak=kum mēl-pāl-
    17[e]llai

    mān(·)tai talaiva-
    18[ṉ ē]rikkum· peru-vaḻi-Iṉ·
    19[kiḻak]kum· vaṭa-pāl-el⟨l⟩ai

    pa-
    20[?1+]nappāṭi-e⟨l⟩lai-I(ṉ te)-
    21[ṟku]m

    [¡I-ṉ!⟨In-n⟩]āṉk’ ellai
    22[A]ka-⟨p⟩-paṭṭa nilamum kaṇṭa(n)
    23[I]ṭai viṟṟu-⟨k⟩-koṇ·ṭu po-
    24(ṉ) kaṉṟu-mē⟨y⟩-kaḻa¡n!⟨ṉ⟩i{y}-
    25(kku) peyitāṉ

    Itu A-
    26(ḻi)yāmai kāttā¡n!⟨ṉ⟩ aṭi E-
    27[ṉ] ṟal(ai) mēlatu

    Apparatus

    1 -vaṁsasya-vaṁs¿as?⟨ā⟩ya KS • This emendation by KS is unnecessary.1 na(n=ti)na¿(nti )?⟨ndi⟩ KS; na(ṁdi) L • The reading nandi is also possible.
    2 bodhuvarmmaku¿bodhuvarmmaku?⟨pōtavarmaṟku⟩ KS; ¿bodhu?⟨pōta⟩varmmaku L2–3 rā(jy)ā(vibh)i(r)ddh(ya)rā(jy)ā¿vibhi?⟨bhivṛ⟩ddhya/ñ KS; rā(jy)ā¿vibhi?⟨bhivṛ⟩ddya/ñ M; rā(jy)ā¿vibhi?⟨bhivṛ⟩d(dhya) /ñ· L
    3 (ce)¡l!⟨ll⟩ā-niṉṟatuce¿lān?⟨llāṉ⟩iṉṟatu KS; celāniṉṟatu L
    10 -naṭuvuṇārpaṭuvuṇār KS; naṭuvuṇār L10–11 [?2+] / ṉ[?2+] / ṉ KS L KS suggests restoring kōṉ.
    11–12 -ka(ḻa)¡n!⟨ṉ⟩i/-y-ākaka(ḻa)/(ni)yāka KS; ka[ḻani-]/yāka L
    12 viṟṟu-⟨k⟩-koṇṭaviṟṟukkoṇṭa KS L; viṟṟukkoṇṭa M
    14–15 (teṉ)/pāl Ellai(te)/(ṉ)pāl-e¿l?⟨ll⟩ai KS; [teṉ-]/pāl Ellai L
    15–16 ¡n!⟨ṉ⟩-ē/[ri]-(I)ṉkōnē/(ri-i)ṉ KS; kōnē[ri-]/-(I)ṉ L • From this line onwards Lockwood et al. 2001 add missing characters at the end of the lines, but the aspect of the stone seems to indicate that the gap is at the beginning of the lines.
    16–17 mēl-pāl/[e]llaimēlpāl/l-[e]¿l?⟨ll⟩ai KS; mēlpāl-[e-]/llai L
    17–18 talaiva/[ṉ ē]rikkum·talaiva(n)/(ē)rikkum KS; talaiva[ṉ-]/(ēr)ikkum· L
    18–19 -vaḻi-Iṉ· / [kiḻak]kum·-vaḻi-Iṉ (ki) / (ḻak)kum KS; -vaḻi Iṉ [ki] / [ḻak]kum· L
    19–20 pa/[?1+]nappāṭi-pa/nappāṭi- KS L
    21–22 ellai / [A]ka-⟨p⟩-paṭṭaellai / (A)ka⟨p⟩paṭṭa KS; ellai [A-]/ka-⟨p⟩-paṭṭa L
    22–23 kaṇṭa(n) / [I]ṭaikaṇṭa(n) / [I]ṭai KS; kaṇṭa(n)(i) / ṭai L
    24–25 -kaḻa¡n!⟨ṉ⟩i{y}/(kku)-kaḻaniy/(kku) KS; -kaḻaniya/[kku] L
    26 kāttā¡n!⟨ṉ⟩kāttā(n) KS; kāttāṉ L
    27 ṟal(ai)ṟa¿ll?⟨l⟩ai KS; ṟallai L • The -ai in lai looks like a duplicted -ai.

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis

    1Prosperity! Fortune!

    1-4Sixty-fifth year of current (cellā niṉṟatu) prosperous reign of Nandibodhuvarman↓1 of the Pallava lineage.

    4-7[This is about] the land that Iṭaivalañcāṉ Kaṇṭaṉ [among] the nakarattārs of Māmallapuram got↓2 as pasture-land for calves (kaṉṟu-mēy-kaḻaṉi-y-āka).

    7-13The boundaries to the land purchased as pasture-land for calves from (iṭai) Kōṉ Kaṇṭaṉ, son of Iḷa-naṭuvuṇār, the lord of Kuṉṟattūr, who resides in Kuṉṟattūr in the Āmūr-nāṭu [are as follows:]

    13-15the boundary on the southern side is west of the garden of Maḻiṉai Nalluḻār;

    15-17the boundary on the western side is north of the royal tank;

    17-19the boundary on the northern side is east of the tank of the chief of Māntai and of the great road;

    19-21[the boundary on the eastern side] is south of the boundary of Panappāṭi;

    21-25The land comprised within these four boundaries, he↓3 bought [it] from Kaṇṭaṉ, [with] gold, and made the libation (peytāṉ)↓4 [so as to enjoy it] for pasture-land for calves.

    25-27The feet [of] he who protects this↓5 without destroying [it] are on my head.

    Commentary

    According to Krishna Sastri 1926: page 10 the inscription records the gift after purchase of a pasture-land. The record however deals only with the purchase transaction and does not explicitly mentions any donee, not the fact that the purchased land was given. 

    On the akward description of boundaries and missing mention of the boundary on the eastern side. See Krishna Sastri 1926: page 11, note 2.

    Bibliography

    Edited and translated by Krishna Sastri 1926; text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 92); re-edited with substantial corrections by Lockwood et al. 2001; re-edited here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2021), based on published visual documentation.

    Primary

    Krishna Sastri, H. 1926. Two Statues of Pallava Kings and Five Pallava Inscriptions in a Rock-Temple at Mahabalipuram. MASI 26. Calcutta: ASI.
    Pages 10–11, plate IB. [siglum KS]
    Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan.
    Pages 323–324, № 92. [siglum M]
    Lockwood, Michael, Vishnu Bhat A, Gift Siromoney & Dayanandan P. 2001. Pallava Art. Madras, Tambaram: Tambaram Research Associates.
    Pages 290–291. • With a delineation. [siglum L]

    Secondary

    ARIE 1922-1923. Page 45, appendix B/1922, № 666.
    Venkatasubba Ayyar, V. 1943. South Indian Inscriptions. Volume XII: The Pallavas (with Introductory Notes in English). South Indian Inscriptions 12. Madras: Government Press.
    Page 16, № 38. • Summary only. [siglum VA]

    Notes

    ↑1. That is, Nantipōtavarman, that is the Pallava king Nandivarman.
    ↑2. That is, “purchased”.
    ↑3. That is, Iṭaivalañcāṉ Kaṇṭaṉ.
    ↑4. Literally: “poured [water]".
    ↑5. That is, the present transaction.