List of avatāras in Ādivarāha cave, Mahābalipuram

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Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00250

Summary: A verse list of the ten avatāras, which interestingly includes Buddha, but not Kṛṣṇa.

Hand Description:

The Grantha script is not well mastered. See p and s confusion.

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    Edition

    Anuṣtubh
    1[matsyaḥ kūrmo var](ā)ha¿sy?⟨ś c⟩a
    nāra(s)iṁhaś ca vāmana⟨ḥ⟩
    rāmo rāma¿py?⟨ś c⟩a rāma¿sy?⟨ś c⟩a
    buddha⟨ḥ⟩ kalkī ca te daśa |

    Apparatus

    1 [matsyaḥ kūrmo var](ā)ha¿sy?⟨ś c⟩a • We follow here the restoration suggested by Krishna Sastri 1926. — 1 nāra(s)iṁhaś ◇ nārasiṁhaś HKS — 1 rāma¿py?⟨ś c⟩a ◇ rāma¿sy?⟨ś c⟩a HKS — 1 | ◇ ||| HKS • The punctuation mark (end of stanza) is, it seems from the estampage published in Krishna Sastri 1926, a joint double daṇḍa.

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis

    [The Fish, the Turtle], and the Boar,
    The Man-Lion and the Dwarf,
    Rāma, Rāma, and Rāma,
    Buddha and Kalkin: such are the ten.

    Translation into French by Sylvain Brocquet

    [Le poisson, la tortue,] et le sanglier,
    Et l’homme-lion, le nain,
    Rāma, et Rāma, et Rāma,
    Buddha, et Kalkin : tels sont les Dix.

    Commentary

    The three Rāmas are respectively Paraśurāma, Rāmacandra or Dāśaratha Rāma, and Balarāma.

    This verse is also found in the Southern recension of the Mahābhārata. See Hazra 1940: page 84, Francis 2014: pages 216–218.

    Hazra 1940: page 84 note que la strophe est quasi identique à Mbh XII.348.2 (Kumbhakoṇam ed. mais pas dans les éd. ASB, Bombay et Vaṅga): matsyaḥ kūrmo varāhaś ca narasiṁho’tha vāmanaḥ | rāmo rāmaś ca rāmaś ca buddhaḥ kalkīti te daśa ||.

    Srinivasan 1964: page 173: la plus ancienne énumération épigraphique des dix avatāra. Fait intéressant, elle n’inclut pas Kṛṣṇa et inclut Buddha.

    Gail 1969: page 15: renvoie à R. C. HAZRA (1940, p. 88) avec une strophe encore plus proche: matsyaḥ kūrmo varāhaś ca nārasiṁho’tha vāmanaḥ | rāmo rāmaś ca rāmaś ca buddhaḥ kalkī ca te daśa ||.

    Rabe 1996: page 227: atteste l’implication dynastique, impliquant que le roi appartient à la continuation de la lignée des avatāra de Viṣṇu (et les 2 autres rois aussi). But it is not clear if this is a royal inscription or not.

    Bibliography

    Edited and translated by Krishna Sastri 1926, with a facsimile (EI 17, no. 5); text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 53); text and translation in Brocquet 1997 (B no. 69), Francis 2017 (IR no. 53); re-edited for DHARMA (ERC no. 809994) by Sylvain Brocquet & Emmanuel Francis (2020), based on the estampage published in Krishna Sastri 1926.

    Primary

    Krishna Sastri, H. 1926. Two Statues of Pallava Kings and Five Pallava Inscriptions in a Rock-Temple at Mahabalipuram. MASI 26. Calcutta: ASI.
    [siglum HKS]
    Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan.
    Page 624, № 250. [siglum IP]
    Brocquet, Sylvain. 1997. “Les inscriptions sanskrites des Pallava : poésie, rituel, idéologie.” Thèse de doctorat, Paris: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle.
    Page 777, № 69. [siglum SB]
    Francis, Emmanuel. 2017. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne : inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IVème-IXème siècles. Tome II : Mythes dynastiques et panégyriques. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de Louvain 64. Louvain-la-Neuve; Paris: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste; Peeters.
    Page 538. [siglum EF]

    Secondary

    ARIE 1922-1923. Pages 45, 94, appendix B/1922, № 663. [siglum ARIE 1922-1923]
    Hazra, R. C. 1940. Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs. Dacca.
    Page 84.
    Srinivasan, K. R. 1964. Cave-Temples of the Pallavas. Architectural Survey of Temples 1. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.
    Page 173.
    Gail, Adalbert J. 1969. Bhakti Im Bhāgavatapurāṇa. Religionsgeschichtliche Studie Zur Idee Der Gottesliebe in Kult Und Mystik Des Viṣṇuismus. Münchener Indologische Studien 6. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
    Page 15.
    Rabe, Michael D. 1996. “The Māmallapuram Praśasti: A Panegyric in Figures.” Artibus Asiae 57: 189–241.
    Page 227.
    Francis, Emmanuel. 2013. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne : inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IVème-IXème siècles. Tome I : Introduction et sources. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de Louvain 64. Louvain-la-Neuve; Paris: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste; Peeters.
    Page 285, № IR 53.
    Francis, Emmanuel. 2014. “‘Woe to Them!’ The Śaiva Curse Inscription at Mahābalipuram (7th Century CE).” The archaeology of Bhakti I: Mathurā and Maturai, back and forth, edited by Emmanuel Francis & Charlotte Schmid, 176–223. Indologie 125. Pondicherry: IFP; EFEO.
    Pages 216–218.