Pedda-Vegi plates of Jayasiṁha I

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Plates

⁵ calukyānām ◇ cālukyānām VR • The ARIE report also explicitly notes that the spelling of the dynasty’s name is Cālukya, but no indication whatsoever of an ā is visible in the scan, which is otherwise clear here.
⁷ viṣṇuva⟨r⟩mmaṇaḥ VR • I follow Rangacharya’s reading here, but note that in the scanned facsimile, most strokes above headline are not visible at all (except for traces of the first and last i in vijitāri).
⁸ -viśeṣakāya⟨⟨māna-ya⟩⟩śasas VR • Here too I adopt Rangacharya’s reading, which makes good sense and is a plausible pre-modern correction of an eyeskip omission. He notes that the added letters are below the line and smaller in size. In my scanned estampage, only the initial vi is clear; some of the other characters read in the line are identifiable but unclear, others are barely visible, and I see no trace of the characters added below the line.
¹⁰ sitāś(v?)a(ṁ?) ◇ sitāṁś ca VR • Although my scanned estampage is not very good, Rangacharya’s reading seems to unlikely to be correct. Sitāśva is a name of Arjuna occurring in the Mahābhārata, and while it is not a common name, it is at least appropriate to the context. Compare also arjunavad apara-narapatibhir anabhilaṁghita-pauruṣyaḥ in ll10-11 of the Puloṁbūra Grant. In my scan, no anusvāra is visible in either character of this word, and reading śva is just as plausible as śca.
¹¹ -tanuṁ • The anusvāra is at median height after nu.
¹³ kanṟeṟuvāṭi- ◇ kantheṟuvāṭi- VR — ¹³ vleṇṭūro ◇ vleṇṭūrū VR
¹⁶ ¡sanmānayati! • I prefer to retain this reading (interpreted as a denominative from the compound san-māna) and not emend/normalise to sammānayati, though the intent is much the same. — ¹⁶ [?3×] • Text may have been deleted here. If it was not deleted but forms an integral part of the charter, then it may either belong to the previous sentence or the next one, but neither seems to lack anything.
¹⁸ put(r)asya • As Rangacharya notes, the subscript r of tra bends to the right, because there was no space on the left on account of the preceding ḫpu. The character looks thus rather like tya, but the intent is clear.
¹⁹ kārt(tika)-p(au?)rṇa-[māsi] ◇ kārtika-[pau]rṇa-[māsi] VR • In my scanned estampage, hardly any of this string can be made out. kārttika seems to be slightly more likely, and rt may be a typo in the printed edition. Vestiges plausibly belonging to pau can be made out, but I can only discern part of ṇ after that. It is possible that Rangacharya’s māsi is also based on vestiges (and should therefore be marked up as an unclear reading rather than a restoration), but I see nothing that confirms this, so other readings such as pūrṇṇimāyāṁ or paurṇṇamāsyāṁ may be possible.
²⁰ [’]s(m)a¡t!⟨n⟩- ◇ sva{t}- VR • I cannot be certain from my poor scan, but a bit of non-standard sandhi seems more likely than a superfluous t. — ²⁰ -parihāreṇ¿ā?⟨a⟩ ◇ -parihāreṇa VR
²⁵ raṇe [’]vasanno [’]bhavad • The reading is by Rangacharya’s editor in EI; Rangacharya’s own reading is raṇevasannābhavad, with a footnote saying he cannot interpret this.
²⁶ āryy¡aḥ!⟨aḥ⟩ narasi¿ṁhm?asarmmā VR • Since I cannot improve on it on the basis of my scan, I adopt Rangacharya’s reading literally. He emends to āryyo and adds in a footnote that the name is meant to be Narasiṁha Śarmā (printed sic in transliteration, though his edition including text in footnotes are in Devanagari). In the scan, only āryya ... rmmā can be made out.

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Plates

^1-10Homage to Savitr̥. Greetings. The son—the incarnate bliss as it were—of Viṣṇuvarman, who is like Viṣṇu the (original) Cause, who defeats the conglomeration of enemies by the strength of his arm, whose reputation becomes a beauty mark on the faces of all the ladies who are the directions, [and who in turn is] the beloved younger son of that Kīrtivarman in whom the entirety of royal virtues reside together, whose fame is proclaimed by competent people, and who dignifies the dynasty of the majestic Calukyas—who are vessels of unique virtues, who surmount all kings by their boldness, who are of the Mānavya gotra and are sons of Hārīti, who bow down the kings of the entire earth by the grace of the spear-bearer (Mahāsena), who are protected by the troop of Mothers, whose faults have been altogether destroyed by bathing in the purificatory ablutions (avabhr̥tha) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice, who manage the maintenance of social class and stations in life (varṇāśrama), and who are deliberately appointed (as heirs) by [their] mothers and fathers—[this son], who surpasses his sires by the host of his virtues, who subdues the might of all enemies with the might of his power, whose conduct is that of a shelter of the complete world (sakala-lokāśraya), is Sarvasiddhi {who prevails over all}. Moreover:

He outstrips the moon in brightness, (Br̥haspati) the preceptor of the gods in intelligence, (Arjuna) ¿the rider of the white horse?^↓1 in valour, the ocean in profundity, (Yudhiṣṭhira) the son of Dharma in personal conduct, (Karṇa) the son of the sun in power to grant what is desired, and the incarnate love god in physical beauty.

^12-16In the district (viṣaya) Kanṟeṟuvāṭi there is a village named Vleṇṭūra, [and] a single gavyūti to the south of that there is the village named Kombaṟu. He of the above fascinating qualities, His Majesty King (mahārāja) Jayasiṁha Vallabha commands the residents of that (village) as well as the residents of that district and other assembled folk of that region as follows. With due courtesy, [he also] respectfully honours [and informs] as follows all the sagacious kings ((rājarṣi)) who shall exist in future times.

^17-22In order to augment the spiritual accomplishment (dharma) of our mother and father and ourselves, on the day of the equinox, which was the full-moon day of Kārttika, we have converted this village into a rent-free holding (agrahāra) by a remission of all taxes and donated it to Sīmaśarman, a scholar of the Vedas and Śāstras devout in the performance of his duties and hospitable to guests, the son of Svāmiśarman who [in turn] is the son of, and as meritorious as, Devaśarman who is a resident of Kukkanūra of the Taittirīya school and of the Gārgya gotra, who has mastered the four Śāstras and who performs his duties day after day. Let no-one pose an obstacle (to his enjoyment of his rights over it). He who nonetheless does so, or orders it done or allows it, shall be afflicted by the five great sins. There are moreover these two ślokas sung by Vyāsa:

Many (kings) have granted land, and many have preserved it (as formerly granted). Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit {reward (accrued of granting it)} belongs to him at that time.

A donor of land rejoices in heaven for sixty millennia, [while] a seizer (of granted land) and a condoner (of such seizure) shall reside in hell for just as many.

The executor (ājñapti) of this (grant) was the beloved chief priest (purodhas) of His Majesty King Sarvasiddhi: the noble and knowledgeable Narasiṁhaśarman who was like wisdom incarnate, [but] who has fallen in battle.

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^1-10Hommage au soleil ! Prospérité ! Lui, qui est le cadet du fils aimé de Kīrtivarman, demeure de l’ensemble des vertus royales, dont la gloire est célébrée par les hommes de bien, qui élève la lignée des Calukya, illustres, dont les membres sont d’incomparables réceptacles de vertus, qui ont vaincu tous les rois par leur vaillance, du même gotra que les descendants de Manu, fils de Harīti, devant lesquels tous les royaumes de la terre sont inclinés grâce à la faveur de Śaktidhara,^↓2 protégés par la troupes des mères, qui ont détruit les péchés grâce aux bains purificatoires de l’aśvamedha, qui assurent le maintien des varṇa et āśrama, qui méditent aux pieds de leur mère et de leur père, [fils] de Viṣṇuvarman,^↓3 pareil à Viṣṇu incarné, qui a vaincu des multitudes d’ennemis par la force de son bras, dont la gloire est chantée par les diverses bouches des femmes de tous les horizons, [fils qui], tel Ānanda, a pris corps, fils aîné éminent par la multitude de ses vertus, dont la force et le pouvoir ont subjugué les armées de tous les ennemis, qui est un lieu de refuge pour tous les hommes, et qui possède aussi toute la réussite,

[fils qui] surpasse la lune par son éclat, le précepteur des dieux par sa sagesse,^↓4 par son courage, l’océan par sa profondeur, par ses exploits ; le fils du dharma, par son pouvoir d’accorder ce qu’on désire, le fils du soleil, par sa beauté Kandarpa quand il a un corps,

^12-22ainsi, doué de charmantes vertus, l’illustre grand roi Jayasiṁha Vallabha, aux habitants du village nommé Kombaṟu, à une distance d’un gavyūti au sud du village nommé Vleṇṭūru, dans le viṣaya de Kantheṟuvāti, à ceux qui habitent ce viṣaya et aux autres (habitants du royaume), personnes rassemblées ici, honore et ordonne ceci, après avoir accompli les rites qu’exige la cérémonie, à tous les rājar̥ṣi à venir dans les temps futurs : nous donnons à Sīmaśarman, qui connaît les Veda et les traités, voué à ses devoirs, hospitalier, fils de Svāmiśarman, qui est le fils de Devaśarman, et dont les vertus sont dignes de ce dernier, [lequel Devaśarman] habitait Kukkanūra, disciple de l’école de Taittirīya, du gotra des Gārgya, [à Sīmaśarman] qui se consacre à ses devoirs, qui connaît parfaitement les quatre traités, le jour de pleine lune du mois de Kārtika, le Viṣuvadina, pour l’accroissement de notre dharma ainsi que de celui de notre mère et de notre père, le village, exempté de toute taxe, en qualité d’agrahāra. Aucune charge ne doit lui être imposée, celui qui en impose, en fait imposer ou en laisse imposer est lié aux cinq grands crimes.

Et les deux vers suivants du bienheureux Vyāsa [disent] : beaucoup ont donné une terre, beaucoup l’ont préservée, celui qui possède la terre en possède le fruit.

Celui qui donne une terre se réjouit dans le ciel pendant soixante mille années. Celui qui la prend ou le permet demeure aussi longtemps en enfer.

Le chapelain aimé du roi illustre Sarva Siddhi, pareil au génie politique incarné, le noble et lettré Narasiṁhaśarma, mort au combat, fut l’exécuteur de cet (édit).