Peddāpurappāḍu plates (set 1) of Viṣṇuvardhana II

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-09-02Z

Editor:   Dániel Balogh.

DHARMA Identifier: INSVengiCalukya00056

Hand Description:

Halantas. Final M is much the same shape as regular ma, including a headmark (which may, however, be detached from the body and/or be bent into an U shape unlike the tilde-shaped headmark), and is only slightly reduced in size. The juxtaposition in l17 bhagavatām arhatāM shows that the two glyphs do differ. PS reads its instances as ma, emending to anusvāra. A more typical, more simplified form without a headmark also occurs, e.g. l25 phalaM. Final T is also almost full-sized, but lacks a headmark.

Original punctuation marks. The closing symbol is probably meant to be a concentric circle, but may also be a clockwise spiral. It looks somewhat like the character la, but is definitely not alphabetic.

Other palaeographic observations. An alternative, flatter shape of l (much the same as the subscript form used in lla) is used in li when there is no headroom, e.g. l13 kali, l23 cānupālitā, l27 paripālitaḥ.

Additional Metadata

No metadata were provided in the table for this inscription

Edition

Seal

1śrī-viṣamasiddhi

Plates

⎘ plate 1v 1svasti vijayavāṭa-skandhāvārāT[.] śrīmatā⟨ṁ⟩ sakala-jagad-a-
2bhiṣṭūyamāna-⟨māna⟩vya-sagotrāṇāM hāritī-putrāṇāM svāmi-
3-¿ṣ?⟨m⟩ahāsena-pādānudhyātānāM kauśikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rā-
4jyānāM ◯ bhaga⟨va⟩n-nārāyaṇa-prasāda-samās(ā)[d](i)ta-vara-va-
5rāha◯-lāñchanānāM Aśvamedhāvabhr̥tha-snāna-pavi(tr)ī(kr̥)ta-
6-vapuṣāM calukyānāṁ kula-jaladhi-samuditendu⟨ḥ⟩ naya-(vi)naya-
7vikramārjita-cāru-bhūri-kīrttiḥ śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārāja⟨ḥ⟩[.]
⎘ plate 2r 8 (ta)syā(t)majaḥ śrī-jayasiṁha-vallabha-mahārājaḥ[.] tat-priyānujasya
9tyāg¿o?⟨au⟩dāryya-gāṁbhīryya-kānty-ādi-guṇa-gaṇ[ā]laṁkr̥ta-śarīrasya sva-
10-vikramā◯krānta-mahī-maṇḍalasyendra-(sam)āna-vikramasyendra-bha-
11(ṭṭāra)◯kasya priya-tanayaḥ svāsi-dhārā-namita-ripu-nr̥pati-
12-(ma)kuṭa-taṭa-ghaṭitāneka-maṇi-kira(ṇa)-rāga-rañjita-caraṇa-yu-
13galaḥ parama-brahmaṇyo mātā-(pi)tr̥-pādānuddhyātaḥ kali-
14-timira-nirasano¡d!⟨dd⟩yotita-pra¡(ḷ)!⟨l⟩ayādityaḥ śrī-(v)iṣa-
⎘ plate 2v 15 masiddhi-mahārājaḥ vr̥kṣa-mūla-yāpanīya-gaṇa-t(i)laka-
16sya bhagavataḥ kanakanandy-¿a?⟨ā⟩cā(r)yyasya dharmmopadeś¿a?⟨e⟩na ka-
17sumi◯-sthitāya jinālayāya bhagavatām arhatāM ba-
18li◯-vaiśvadeva-navakarmma-saraṇārtthaM sva-dharmm(ā)bhivr̥ddha[ye]
19potupa-viṣaye Elī-nadyāḫ pūrvv¿a?⟨e⟩ (ta?)(ṅgo)manūṟuvu-grāmā⟨T⟩
20dakṣiṇe naḷupūru-grāmāT pa(ści)me Iṇ(ṭha?)ru-¿ś?⟨g⟩rāmāT
21U(tta)re Eṣā(M?) madhye parttipāk(a)-grāma¿T?⟨M⟩ _ da_t⟨t⟩a_(M?)_


⎘ plate 3r 22 ⟨na kenacid bā⟩dhā karaṇīyā[.] Itaḫ paraṁ sa bhūta-rājyai(ḥ) ⟦(r?)i⟧ rājabhiḫ paripā-
23lay¿a?⟨i⟩tavya¿M?⟨ḥ⟩[.] Atra vyāsa-gītāḥ

I. Anuṣṭubh
bahubhir vvasudhā dattā _
24bahubhiś cānupālitā
yasya yasya yadā bhūmiḥ
tasya 25ta◯sya tadā phalaM

II. Anuṣṭubh
¡sva-pitā!⟨nighnato⟩-(bh)artr̥-go-(v)ipra-
-bāla-y¿e?⟨o⟩26ṣi◯t-tapasvināM
yā gatis (s)ā ¡(ha)re!⟨bhave⟩d bhūmiM
(ha)rataś śā27sanā(ṁ)kit¿a?⟨ā⟩M

AyaM dharmmaḥ prathama-(va)rṣa _ paripālitaḥ[.] _
28Āṇati sva-m(u)kha¿ma?⟨M⟩[.] Ubhaya-gaṇa-rakṣitavya(M) circleConcentric

Apparatus

Seal

Plates

1 svasti ◇ spiral svasti PS • I see no trace of the spiral design reported by PS, not any room where it may have been. — 1 vijayavāṭa- ◇ vijayavāṭi- PS — 1–2 a/bhiṣṭūyamāna-⟨māna⟩vya- ◇ a/bhīṣṭh¿a?⟨ā⟩ya mānavya PS
2 -sagotrāṇā(M?) hāritī-putrāṇāM ◇ -sagotrāṇā¿ma?⟨ṁ⟩ PS
3 -¿ṣ?⟨m⟩ahāsena- ◇ -m¿e?⟨a⟩hāsena- PS — 3 bhaga⟨va⟩n-nārāyaṇa ◇ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa PS
6 calukyānāṁ ◇ caḷukyānāṁ PS
13 tyāg¿o?⟨au⟩dāryya-gāṁbhīryya- ◇ tyāgod¿o?⟨ā⟩ryyā-goṁbhīryya- PS
14 -nirasano¡d!⟨dd⟩yotita- ◇ nirasta ketodyotita PS — 14 -pra¡(ḷ)!⟨l⟩ayādityaḥ • Pra may have been corrected from ma, or perhaps pa was first engraved so close to the bottom edge as to leave no room for the subscript r, and then re-engraved slightly higher up.
17–18 bhagavatām arhatāM ba/li- ◇ bhagavatā mahāto mahāba/li- PS
18 -saraṇārtthaM ◇ s¿a?⟨ā⟩ra netrī PS • In his discussion, PR subtly further modifies the reading to just navakarmma-sāra, which he considers to be a reference to nine works apparently called sāras by Koṇḍakuṇḍācārya. I utterly fail to see why these works would be mentioned in the context. The ARIE correctly says that the grant’s purposes included navakarmasaraṇa. I accept this word as correct, interpreting it as "uninterrupted continuation". The parallel locus in the third Peddāpurappāḍu set reads śaraṇārtthaM, which I find inferior.
19 potupa-viṣaye • PS shows the name as unclear. After examination of the photos, there is no reasonable doubt to the spelling. — 19 -nadyā¿T? PS • PS’s use of the double hyphen for transliterated characters belonging to a single akṣara is unreliable, so the text may be -nadyāt; conceivably, this may also be a misreading of -nadyāḥ or -nadyāḫ. — 19 pūrvv¿a?⟨e⟩ (ta?)(ṅgo)manūṟuvu-grāmā⟨T⟩ ◇ pūrvvata jemanūruva-grāmā PS • In PS’s edition, the name is set with a line break after jemanū and a large space after r. I assume that his author manuscript used the Telugu character ṟ here, which the typesetter of the paper messed up. In the plate, the character I read tentatively as ta is atop the break between the two halves of the plate, and has been partly rubbed off at the edge. In the next character, the g component is very faint but quite clear, and the strokes for the vowel o have been attached to the top of this component rather than to the upper ṅ component, presumably because the descender of rttha in the previous line was in the way. In spite of the non-standard execution, the reading is reasonably certain. A field named Taṁgodunaruva is mentioned in the mid-sixth century Kondavidu set II of Pr̥thvīśrīmūla (EIAD 0188), in the vicinity of Tāṇḍikoṇḍa. The present charter probably concerns a different region (although see my commentary to the second Peddāpurappāḍu set), but the attestation of that name adds to the plausibility of my reading. In pūrvve, I emend to harmonise with the rest of this part of the sentence, but retaining pūrvva in compound or emending to pūrvvataḥ would also be acceptable.
20 naḻpuru- ◇ nalpuru- PS • In PS’s edition, this word is set with a line break after na and a large space after l. I assume, but may be mistaken, that his author manuscript used the Telugu character ḻ here, which the typesetter of the paper messed up. — 20 Iṇ(ṭha?)ru- ◇ Interu- PS • In PS’s edition, this word is set with a line break after Inte and a large space after r. I assume, but may be mistaken, that his author manuscript used the Telugu character ṟ here, which the typesetter of the paper messed up. PS may have been aware of the Īnteṟu grant of Bādapa and been influenced by the name of that village in velānāṇḍu-viṣaya. Here, the second character’s principal consonant is clearly ṇ. The rest is most likely ṭha mixed up with the vestiges of an earlier character (see the commentary), but possibly ṭhu or ṟu. The last character of the name is definitely ru, although a second curved stroke is attached to the bottom left of the consonant component, which may be a vestige or a slip of the chisel.
21 Eṣā(M?) ◇ Eṣāna⟨ṁ⟩ PS — 21 parttipāk(a)- ◇ pattipoka- PS • The ARIE report gives this name as Pattipāka, along with the possible alternative Pattipāḍu. The segment parttipā is clear. The ā marker is notched and thus reminiscent of the later cursive o, but compare the similarly notched ā e.g. in l. 3 pādānudhyātānāM, as opposed to the bipartite o marker in l. 19 potupa. The last character of the name has the fracture line running through its body, and what may be a vowel marker atop it is tangled with the subscript part of ści in the previous like. It was this subscript that made the ARIE reader think of ḍ, with the body of k resembling a dependent u attached to it. That reading can be ruled out with certainty. I believe that no dependent vowel is attached to this last consonant. — 21 -grāma¿T?⟨M⟩ ◇ -grāmāT PS — 21 _ da_t⟨t⟩a_(M?)_ ◇ dataM[...] PS • The illegible last character may be a damaged final M or a vestige of the earlier text on this section of the plate. Given the syntax in the earlier part of the sentence, perhaps dattavāN was intended. The characters of this last word are widely spaced, but there is no illegible text here. See also the next note.
22 ⟨na kenacid bā⟩dhā karaṇīyā ◇ dākaraṇīya PS • The missing words seem not to have been re-engraved after overwriting the last three lines on 2v. See also the previos note and the commentary. — 22–23 paraṁ sa bhūta-rājyai(ḥ) ⟦(r?)i⟧ rājabhiḫ paripā/lay¿a?⟨i⟩tavya¿M?⟨ḥ⟩ ◇ para-śa bhūta rājya rājabhir paripā/latavyaM PS • PS rājabhir was probably intended as an upadhmānīya here, which the typesettermessed up. I interpret sa to refer to dharmaḥ meaning this charter, but the sentence is problematic nonetheless.
24–25 tasya / ta◯sya ◇ tasya tasya / PS
25 ¡sva-pitā!⟨nighnato⟩-(bh)artr̥- ◇ sva putā chātrā PS • I normalise the beginning to the expected form, paralleled e.g. in the Koṇḍaṇagūru grant of Indra Bhaṭṭāraka. The alteration seems to be deliberate, but not only does it use a form inappropriate in compound, it also deletes the participle without which the stanza becomes rather nonsensical. See also the note to line 26. — 25–26 -bāla-y¿e?⟨o⟩ /ṣi◯t-tapasvināM ◇ pālayo/kṣi¿tta?⟨t-u⟩pasthi nāma PS
26 yā gatis (s)ā ¡(ha)re!⟨bhave⟩d bhūmiM ◇ yogati soha bhūmi PS • This line dips to avoid the descender of rtr̥ in the previous line, while the next line is initially quite level. As a consequence, the characters ma varṣa in line 27 line overlap the subscript s of ssā and the lower parts of hare in the present line. Also, ha is partly obscured by the fracture line in the plate. Nonetheless, the reading hared is beyond doubt. It seems to be a clumsy attempt to restore sense to the stanza after the alteration in the first quarter (q.v. the note to line 25). — 26–27 (ha)rataś śā/sanā(ṁ)kit¿a?⟨ā⟩M ◇ [...] sā/sanāmkitāM PS • The character ha may have been corrected from ppa or misinterpreted as ppa by the engraver.
27 AyaM dharmmaḥ prathama-(va)rṣa _ paripālitaḥ ◇ AyaM dharmma pradhama varṣaM paripālitāni PS • The characters ma varṣa increasingly overlap with the previous line (see also the note to line 26). Thereafter, the current line skips to the point after the large descender of dbhū and continues at a lower horizontal level. The fracture affects only the right limb of ma in this line. The character va looks rather like ṣa and may have been corrected from that. The end of the line is clearly paripālitaḥ; what PS may have taken for an i marker or ni (promting the rest of his reading) is in fact the subscript part of śśā in the previous line. I suspect that paripālitaḥ was inscribed erroneously for pratipāditaḥ.
28 circleConcentric ◇ śrī PS

Translation by Dániel Balogh

Seal

Plates

1-21Greetings from the encampment at Vijayavāṭa. From the ocean that is the lineage of the majestic Caḷukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hāritī, who were deliberately appointed (to kingship) by Lord Mahāsena, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who acquired the superior Boar emblem by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions (avabhr̥tha) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice—had arisen a moon [who was] His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣṇuvardhana, who earned his great good reputation by his political acumen (naya), discipline (vinaya) and valour. His son was His Majesty King (mahārāja) Jayasiṁha (I). [His] dear younger brother [was] Indra Bhaṭṭāraka, whose body was adorned by a host of virtues such as selflessness, generosity, profundity and beauty, who had by his own valour conquered the circle of the earth and whose valour equalled Indra’s. [His] dear son, His Majesty the supremely pious King (mahārāja) Viṣamasiddhi (Viṣṇuvardhana II)—who was deliberately appointed (as heir) by his mother and father, whose pair of feet are tinted by the hues of the rays from the many gems fitted to the surfaces of the crowns of enemy kings bowed down by the blade of his sword, a blazing doomsday sun by [his way of] dispelling the darkness of the Kali age—has, according to the religious (dharma-) instruction of His Reverence Master (ācārya) Kanakanandi, a forehead mark on the Vr̥kṣamūla Yāpanīya gaṇa, in order to increase his own merit (dharma), granted the village Parttipāka in Potupa district (viṣaya), to the east of the river Elī, to the south of the village Taṅgomanūṟuvu, to the west of the village Naḷupūru, to the north of the village Iṇṭharu—[thus situated] in the midst of these—to the Jain temple located in Kasumi for the ¿perpetuation? of bali and vaiśvādeva [ceremonies] and renovation for the Reverend Arhats.

21-23Let no-one pose an obstacle [to the enjoyment of their rights over it]. This [ruling] shall be protected by kings whose kingdoms have come into existence hereafter.↓1 In this connection [the following stanzas were] sung by Vyāsa:

I.
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.

II.
One who takes away land sanctioned (aṅkita) by (a royal) decree (śāsana) incurs the fate of one who murders his lord, cows, Brahmins, children, women or ascetics.↓2

27-28This ruling (dharma) was ¿granted?↓3 [in] the first year. The authority (āṇati) is [the king’s] own mouth. ¿It is to be protected by both groups.?↓4

Commentary

PS gives no physical description and mentions no seal, but one is described in the ARIE report, and was present when I examined the original.

Lines 19-21 (the last three lines on 2v) are a palimpsest over almost completely erased earlier text. The erasure has left the surface of the plates in a much rougher state throughout this zone. Vestiges of former characters are discernible in some spots, the clearest being a vertical stroke with an i marker on top to the right of kṣi in l20, dakṣiṇe; a probable ddha (possibly ṣva) within the first grāmāT in l20. Given the discontinuity at the beginning of 3r, it seems certain that the details of the village have been revised at more length than first inscribed (which may have been only two lines). The hand of these three lines may well be the same as in the rest of the plates.

Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1990-1991: page 20, appendix A/1990–91, № 1 with some further details at ARIE 1990-1991: 4. Edited from inked impressions by C. A. Padmanabha Sastry (1994: № A), without facsimiles and without translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on photos taken by myself in February 2023 at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Museum, Kakinada, collated with Padmanabha Sastry’s edition. That edition contains such an inordinate number of typographic (or other) mistakes, that I cite it in the apparatus only when it differs from my established readings in a way that I consider to be significant.

Primary

Padmanabha Sastry, C. A. 1994. “Two Eastern Chāḷukyan Charters from Peddāpurappāḍu.” Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India (Bharatiya Purabhilekha Patrika) 20: 46–50.
№ A. [siglum PS]

Secondary

ARIE 1990-1991. Page 20, appendix A/1990–91, № 1.
ARIE 1990-1991. 4.

Notes

↑1. This sentence is very awkward in the original. I translate the best sense I can make of the received text, but something different may have been intended.
↑2. The received text is unintelligible. I translate as normalised from parallels of this stanza; see the apparatus to lines 25 and 26.
↑3. I translate what I believe was the composer’s intent; see the apparatus to line 27.
↑4. I do not know what groups (gaṇa) are meant here.