Current Version: draft, 2025-01-09Z
Editor: Jens Christian Thomas.
DHARMA Identifier: INSTelugu00026
Alternative identifier:
Origin: Written in 660-680.
Classification: donative-religious land grant
Languages: Telugu and Sanskrit
Corresponding Artefact: ARTTelugu000024 inscription on The inscription is engraved on the two sides of a stone.
Layout: 261412 lines are observed/preserved on the artifact.
A 1svasti bha-
2gavad-arhatām pa-
3rama-bhaṭṭ¿a?⟨ā⟩rakasya (p)¡a!⟨ā⟩-
4d¿a?⟨ā⟩nudhy¿a?⟨ā⟩ta-parama-mā-
5hēśvara-para[mē]śvara-pa-
6llavāditya ¡śr̥(ī)! b(ā/o)di-
7rājula Andu paḷḷe-
8yari koḍuk(u) b(ā)di(rā)-
9j ēnvānṟu r(ā)jam(ā)[naṁ-]
10bu mūnṟu vuṭṭḷu Āṟla
11(v/p)aṭṭu kṣētra[ṁ]bu pa(ṟ)[i]-
12si paḷḷeyāri [1+] -
13yana(ṁ)bunāku Icce
14dīni rakṣiñcinavāni(ki) B
15Aḍugaḍug a-
16śvam(ē/e)dha[ṁ]buna
17pala[ṁ]b agu
18dī(n)i ḻacchina-
19vāniki Ek(e/a)ḻu
20[ś]r(ī) parvvata[ṁ]bu
21ḻaccinapāpa[ṁ-]
22b agu
vāvṟo-
23ḻaḷa koḍuk(u)
24¡pallavācā-
25(r)jyasya! ¡liki-
26(taM)!
1–2 3 bha/gavad-arhatām pa/rama ◇ bha/gaṣvad-arhatā(mpa)/rama ; bha/gavad-arhata-(pa)/rama
3–4 bhaṭṭ¿a?⟨ā⟩rakasya (p)¡a!⟨ā⟩ /d¿a?⟨ā⟩nudhy¿a?⟨ā⟩ta ◇ bhaṭṭārakastamā/dānudhyāta ; bhaṭṭārakasya pā/dānudhyāta
5–6 pa/llavāditya ◇ pa/klavāditya
6–7 ¡śr̥(ī)! b(ā/o)di/rājula ◇ śrī bōḍi/rājula ; śrī bādi/rājula
7–8 paḷḷe/yari ◇ paḷe/yari
9–10 r(ā)jam(ā)[naṁ-]/bu ◇ rāja[?1*]/bu
10 vuṭṭḷu Ā(ṟla) ◇ vuṭṭu aṟla ; vuṭṭu Ā(ṟla)
11–12 (v/p)aṭṭu kṣētra[ṁ]bu pa(ṟ)[i] /si ◇ paṭṭu kṣētraṁbunu pa[?1*]/si ; pa(ḻa)/si
12–13 paḷḷeyāri [1+]/yana(ṁ)bunāku Icce ◇ paḷayāri/yanabunāku icci[ri] ; paḷḷeyāri [dā]/yana(ṁ)bunāku Icce
14 vāni(ki) ◇ vāni[?1*]
18 ḻacchina- ◇ ḍaccina-
19 Ek(e/a)ḻu ◇ cakaṟu ; ekaḻu
21 ḻaccina- ◇ ḍaccina-
22–23 vāvṟo/ḻaḷa ◇ va[?1*]/ḍāḷu ; va(cco)[1+]/ḻaḷa
24 ¡pallavācā/(r)jyasya! ¡liki/(taM)! ◇ pallavācā/(jya)sya liki/(taṁ)
Hail! Ṣrí Bodirájulu who meditated at the feet of the blessed Arhata the great Bhattáraka, who (Bodirája) was a great devotee of Ṣiva, and who was supreme lord. Among them Bá(Bo?)diráju, son of Paḷeyaru, gave land sowable with 3 puṭṭis of seed . . . . to me named Paḷayári. Whoever maintains this will obtain the merit of performing several Aṣvamédhas. Whoever obstructs it will incur the sin of killing at Ṣrí Parvata. (This is) written by Pallaváchá(rya), son of Vá . . . dáḷu.
Hail! Paraméśvara-Pallavāditya, a devoted worshipper of Mahēśvara, meditating on the feet of the Supreme Master, the Lord Arhat. He who is named Bādirāju, son of the village chief in the family of the Bādirājulu, divided off a field of three puṭṭis of millet by the royal measure and gave it as the village-chief’s hereditary land. He who preserves this (assignment) will have the reward of performing the horse sacrifice often. He who destroys it will ever have the sin of destroying the Śrīparvvata. Written by Pallavāchārya, son of Vāccho..ḻāḷa.
Hail! Paramēśvara Pallavāditya, a devoted worshipper of Mahēśvara, meditating on the feet of the Supreme Master, the Lord Arhat, (in his time), he who was called Bādiraju, the son of Paḷḷeyaru, having obtained from Śrī Bādirājulu, land sowable with three puṭṭis of paddy, by the royal measure gave (it) as the gift of (his father) Paḷḷeyaru. He who preserves this (gift) will have the reward of performing the horse-sacrifice often. He who destroys it will ever have the sin of destroying the Śrīparvvata. (This is) written by Pallavācārya, son of Vacco . . ḻāḷu.
There might have been an additional akṣara after vāvṟo- in line 22. Radha Krishna erroneously states that [t]he text of the ins. upto rājula in the 7th line is engraved in the Dēvanāgarī Script.Radhakrishna 1971, 62 n. 101 Butterworth and Venugopaul Chetty edited the first part of the inscription up to line 7 in Devanagari script because the inscription contains Sanskrit forms. The following lines are given in Telugu script. That might have caused the confusion although a picture of the squeeze is given in 1947-1948: № 38 by Master (whom Radha Krishna cites). As for the spelling of r̥ in śr̥ī in line 6 compare the spelling of the akṣara dr̥ in Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramayya 1947–1948: plate G, line 5.
The inscription was first edited by Alan Butterworth and V. Venugopaul Chetty in 1990: pages 676–677 and re-edited by Alfred Master in 1947-1948: pages 203–206, № 38 with ample annotations and a good picture of the estampage. A translation of the text was given in both editions. K. M. Sastri, while mostly relying on Master’s edition, provided another translation in 1969: page 292 . Sastri attributes his different reading in line 11 to N. Lakshmi Narayana Rao (ibid. n. 1).