Current Version: draft, 2025-01-14Z
Editor: Dániel Balogh.
DHARMA Identifier: INSVengiCalukya00071
Hand Description:
Original punctuation marks are vertical bars with small serifs. MN transliterates the opening symbol as oṁ.
Other palaeographic observations. Anusvāra is normally at or above head height to the right of the character to which it belongs. Dependent au is not conspicuously different from o, but its humps tend to be asymmetrical (see line 56 for some specimens, not very clear). Final M may be represented in line 63 by a dot with a straight downward tail; or this may be an anusvāra and a scratch. Upadhmānīya in line 67 looks like ṟa.
No metadata were provided in the table for this inscription
svasti[.] śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhu 3vana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sagotrāṇāṁ hārīti-putrāṇāṁ kauśikī-vara-prasāda-
4-labdha-rājyānāṁ mātr̥-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu-
5dhyātānāṁ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa-prasāda-samāsādita-vara-varāha-lāñcha-
6nekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāti-maṇḍalānāṁ Aśvamedhāvabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitrīkr̥-
7ta-vapuṣāṁ cāḷukyānāṁ kulam alaṁ¡kār!⟨kari⟩ṣṇos satyāśraya-vallabhendrasya bhrātā|
tad-ātmajo jayasiṁhas trayastriṁśaT| tad-anujendrarāja-nandano vi-
10ṣṇuvarddhano nava| tat-sūnur mmaṅgi-yuvarājaḥ pañcaviṁśati| tat-putro jayasiṁhas tra-
11yodaśa| tad-avarajaḥ kokiliḥ ṣaṇ māsāN| tasya jyeṣṭho bhrātā viṣṇuvardhanas tam uccāṭya
sapta-
12triṁśaT| tat-putro vijayāditya-bhaṭṭārako [’]ṣṭādaśa| tat-suto viṣṇuvardhana⟨ḥ⟩ ṣaṭtri-
13ṁśaT|
tat-putr¡o!
16kali-viṣṇuvardhano [’]dhyarddha-varṣaṁ| tat-priya-tanayaḥ|
[sa sarvva-lokāśraya-]
48-(śr)ī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājādhirāja-param(e)śva(ra)[ḥ parama-bhaṭṭārakaḥ parama-brahmaṇyo
mā-]
⎘ plate 4v 49(tā?)(-pitr̥-pā)dānudhyātaḥ ma(ṁ)tri-pur(o)h(i)ta-s(e)nāpati-[yuvarāja?10+]
50(pottepinā)ṇḍu-viṣaya-⟨⟨(ni)⟩⟩vāsino rāṣṭrak¿u?⟨ū⟩ṭa-pra(mu)[khān kuṭuṁbinaḥ?10+]
tābhyāṁ ma-
59(lli)yarāja-goṇḍiyarājabhyāṁ bhavad-viṣaye pottepināṇḍu-tri-śataṁ śāsan(ī)kr̥tya sarva-kara-pa(ri)-
60(hā)raṁ tat-k(l?)eśa-pari(tu)ṣṭair asmābhir ddattam iti viditam astu va(ḥ|)
Asyāvadhayaḥ[.] pūrvvataḥ (paṁ?)-
61pavādi nāma ◯ nad(ī|) dakṣ(i)ṇataḥ Uttaravarusa| paścimataḥ minuṁbāka(nā)(ṇḍū|?)
62(U)ttarataḥ ve◯degu(na? ḍebhbha)di|
hastipaka-dvi-sahasra-dvātriṁśad-vīra-nikara-(ga)-
63(ṇa)-yuvarājaḥ| pa(ripāla)nīyam eta¡t ś!⟨c ch⟩āsanam ā-candra-tāra-bhū-kulaśaila(M)| A-
64syopari na kenaci(d b)ādhā karttavyā[.] yaḥ kar(o)ti sa pa(ṁ)ca-mahāpātako bhavati|
tathoktaṁ
65v(y)āse(na)|
(Ā)jñaptiḥ kaṭaka-rājaḥ| jon(tācāryya-likhitaṁ)[.]
71(nā?)ga(ma?)(bhaṭṭa-kā)◯(vyaṁ|)
2-7Greetings. Satyāśraya Vallabhendra (Pulakeśin II) was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Cāḷukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hārīti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed (to kingship) by Lord Mahāsena, to whom enemy territories instantaneously submit at the [mere] sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions (avabhr̥tha) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice. His brother—
9-13His son Jayasiṁha (I), for thirty-three. His younger brother Indrarāja’s (Indra Bhaṭṭāraka’s) son Viṣṇuvardhana (II), for nine. His son Maṅgi Yuvarāja, for twenty-five. His son Jayasiṁha (II), for thirteen. His [brother] of inferior birth, Kokkili, for six months. After dethroning him, his eldest brother Viṣṇuvardhana (III), for thirty-seven. His son Vijayāditya (I) Bhaṭṭāraka, for eighteen. His son Viṣṇuvardhana (IV), for thirty-six.
15-16His son Kali-Viṣṇuvardhana (V), for a year and a half. His dear son—
47-50That [shelter of all the world (sarva-lokāśraya)], His Majesty Viṣṇuvardhana, [the supremely pious] Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja), [the Supreme Sovereign (parama-bhaṭṭāraka)], deliberately appointed [to kingship] by his mother and father, [convokes all] householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—who reside in Pottepināṇḍu district (viṣaya), and, [witnessed by] the minister (mantrin), the chaplain (purohita), the general (senāpati), the crown prince (yuvarāja) [and the gate guard (dauvārika), and commands them as follows.]↓9
58-60To these two, Malliyarāja and Goṇḍiyarāja, being pleased with their tribulations (undertaken on our behalf), we have granted the Pottepināṇḍu three-hundred in your district, substantiated as a (copperplate) charter with a remission of all taxes. Let this be known to you.
60-62Its boundaries [are as follows]. To the east, the river named Paṁpavādi.↓14 To the south, Uttaravarusa. To the west, Minuṁbāka-nāṇḍū. To the north, the Vedeguna ¿seventy?.↓15
62-65The prince (yuvarāja) who controls an elephant force and whose troops are a host of two thousand and thirty-two warriors.↓16 This decree is to be protected as long as the moon, the stars, the earth and the noble mountains (kula-śaila) [remain]. Let no-one pose an obstacle over it. He who does so shall have the five great sins. So Vyāsa has said:
70The executor (ājñapti) is the castellan (kaṭaka-rāja). Written (likhita) [by] Jontācārya. The poetry is Nāgamabhaṭṭa’s.
Reported in ARIE 1937-1938: page 10, appendix A/1937–38, № 26 with discussion at ARIE 1937-1938: pages 81–82, §12. Edited from the original by Manda Narasimham (1937-1938), with partial estampages (showing plates 3v to 5v, but not the earlier plates and the seal ) and a summary of the contents. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on a collation of Narasimham’s edition with his facsimiles where available.↓18 Minor typographic mistakes in Narasimham’s edition (which are numerous) are ignored in the apparatus here.
↑1. The text as read by MN is unintelligible and I am unable to propose a plausible reconstruction;
see also the apparatus to line 1. I believe the composer probably intended to express
something similar to my translation here. The river goddess Gaṅgā resides in Śiva’s
hair.
↑2. Either, neither or both of the words balin and durjaya may be names here. Compare line 8 of the Kākamrāṇu grant of Bhīma I, where it is claimed that Viṣṇuvardhana uprooted a Durjaya (if this is a name) to
obtain the country of Veṅgī. The slightly different parallel stanza in the Kalucuṁbaṟṟu grant of Amma II is likewise ambiguous.
↑3. Or, if MN’s edition is incorrect here, “to clever Brahmin pupils, actors.” See the
apparatus to line 22.
↑4. See the apparatus to line 25 for textual problems with this stanza. Vijayāditya IV’s
ascension of a balance scale is also mentioned in close proximity to his erection
of a victory pillar in Viraja in stanza 32 of the Diggubaṟṟu grant of Bhīma II.
↑5. Or perhaps: with the brilliance of the heap of gold that had been weighed (in the balance against him).
↑6. According to MN, and the prevailing opinion in secondary literature, this stanza describes
the birth of Dānārṇava as the son of Bhīma II and Ūrjapā. I see no way to obtain this
meaning; see the commentary for details.
↑7. I believe that a stanza about Dānārṇava’s birth must have been omitted before this
one. See also the commentary to stanza XVI.
↑8. See the apparatus to lines 39 and 40 for textual problems that make the interpretation
of this stanza difficult.
↑9. See the apparatus notes to lines 47 to 50 about the restorations in this passage.
↑10. Most of this stanza is lost, and the extant last quarter is metrically problematic.
My tentative translation is along the lines suggested in my commentary to this stanza.
Malla may be the name (or the beginning of the name) of the progenitor introduced
here, or it may be a simple epithet, “champion,” to a name in the lost part. The reading
Malli- (for Malliya, as in line 59) is also possible.
↑11. MN interprets this stanza to mean that the a member of the lineage had a son named
Smara. This seems very unlikely, but my own reading of the last quarter is also uncertain
and not readily interpretable. See also the apparatus to line 54.
↑12. Again, my interpretation and semantic restoration of this highly lacunose verse is
quite uncertain.
↑13. Much of this stanza is uncertainly read and difficult to interpret. MN’s summary of
the context renders it this way: ‘To these two princes, Mallana and Goṇḍiya, who have enriched my Treasury and thereby
pleased Us, We have bestowed in our royal pleasure two sparkling white large parasals(sic),
royal robes, the war drum, the stambha, the fillet, large white silken tents with poles, elephants and all the insignia
of feudatory chieftains (sāmanta)’. Here, “fillet” must correspond to bandha, which is not very convincing. “Tents” are an intriguing idea, but I am not certain
if vistāraka can mean a tent pole. I do not know where he finds “elephants” in the text, unless
this is the word bhadra. A grant of Amma II (CP 7 of 1937-38) is reported (ARIE 1937-1938: 82) to list ‘the privilege of tying plantain trees to pillars (before his residence)’ in a list of insignia and prerogatives conferred on a mahāsāmanta. The original phrase is not cited, but I wonder if staṁbha-bandha may mean the same.
↑14. MN suggests that this is the Pampāvatī river near modern Hampi, but this seems far
from certain. The name is less than identical (see also the apparatus to line 60),
and the region is too far outside the Eastern Cālukya domain. The donated land is
bounded on the west by Minuṁbākanāṇḍū. A Mīnuṁbāka viṣaya is featured in the Peddāpurappāḍu plates (set 2) of Viṣṇuvardhana II, with a capital (rāja-dhānī) at Kasimi or Kisimi. The first editor of these plates (Padmanabha Sastry 1994: 47–48) identifies this place as Kasimkoṭa in the Pithapuram taluk of East Godavari District.
Even if that identification is incorrect, a district where Viṣṇuvardhana II (or a
contemporary of his) granted land could not have been to the west of the Pampāvatī.
↑15. MN silently normalises the word ḍebhbhadi to ḍebbadi, Telugu for seventy. I assume that the interpretation is correct.
↑16. These words are not linked in any way to the surrounding text. MN and his editor are
probably correct in assuming that the person mentioned here is charged with enforcing
and protecting the grant as per the next sentence. MN believes that this yuvarāja is the Eastern Cālukya crown prince. His editor objects, noting that this is probably
a different dignitary, and points to the yuvarāja Ballaladeva velā-bhaṭa in the Pāṁbaṟṟu grant of Amma II for a parallel, whom he equates to velā-bhaṭa in the Guṇḍugolanu grant of Amma II, where he seems to be charged with the protection of the grant and is said to possess
a force of elephants and (or four) two thousand warriors. The relevant passages of
both these grants are problematic, but at any rate, the yuvarāja mentioned here is indeed probably not a Cālukya crown prince.
↑17. Based on the published estampage, an initial ū is perhaps more likely but the short u read by MN is also possible.
↑18. Where no estampage is available, I follow Narasimham unless otheriwse noted and do
not indicate the position of binding holes.