Guṇḍipoduṟu grant of Śaktivarman

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Plates

¹ [[svasti]] ... • The contents of the lost first page have been supplied from the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates of Śaktivarman; see also the commentary.
¹¹ -dhīr¿ā?⟨o⟩ [’]ṣṭa- • Parallel attestations of this stanza read -dhīraṣṭa- in the Tāṇḍikoṇḍa grant of Amma II, -dhīroṣṭa- in the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates of Śaktivarman, and probably also -dhīrāṣṭa- in the Kaṇḍyam plates of Dānārṇava. While both -dhīr aṣṭa- and -dhīro ’ṣṭa- are interpretable, I find the latter more elegant and choose to emend the uninterpretable -dhīrāṣṭa- to that.
¹³ -v¡ri!⟨r̥⟩¿ssāM?⟨ṣṭyā⟩ • I emend tentatively; compare the differently corrupt ciṣṭā in the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates. — ¹³ dīnā¿nātha?⟨ndha⟩- • I emend the received unmetrical reading according to the parallel in the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates. Interestingly, the locus may have been corrected from dīnāndha-, but I am not certain that correction has taken place here. — ^13–14 santoṣ¿ā?⟨aṁ⟩ sakalam a¿pavā?⟨vāpa⟩⟨ya⟩n⟨n⟩ a/pā¿dāgm?⟨d gām⟩ • Although the text is difficult to interpret, the emendations are supported by the parallel in the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates.
¹⁸ a¿p?⟨bh⟩unag • The character pu may be a correction from something else, but certainly not from (or to) bhu.
⁴³ badde⟨ma⟩- • I supply the last syllable of the name on the basis of the closely similar stanza 21 of the Andhra Sahitya Parishad plates, which mentions the defeat of a Badyema. Assuming that the omitted syllable was ma presupposes simple scribal haplography.
⁴⁶ -¿laprahā?- • This uninterpretable sequence is quite closely spaced and the first two, or all three, of its characters may be a correction over deleted text. A small curved stroke above the gap between la and pra may be a scribal mark for correction. I have no certain restoration. The word prahāra was almost certainly part of the composer’s intent, but this does not explain the superfluous la. This could be derived from -tala-prahāra-, but I do not think the flat of the sword (asi-tala) would be described as sharp (niśita). Another possibility might be to emend -latālaprahā- to latottāla-prahāra. — ⁴⁶ -⟨kuṁbhi⟩- • A word meaning elephant is expected here, and my restoration presupposes simple scribal haplography.
⁵⁴ (bhā)sita- • The first character is faint but quite certainly bhā (cā cannot be excluded, but is not interpretable in the context). I assume that bhāsita, and not ābhāsita in sandhi with the previous word, was meant, but I struggle to make sense of this part. See also the translation.

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Plates

^1-9[Greetings. Satyāśraya Vallabhendra (Pulakeśin II) was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Calukyas—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 Kubja Viṣṇuvardhana protected (pāl-) the country of Veṅgī for eighteen years. His 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 younger brother, 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.]

His son, brilliant as the sun, constructed—according to the count of his battles—a staggering one hundred and eight temples of the blue-necked (Śiva), abodes of virtuous men complete with villages and parks and replete with graceful (dancing???) ladies. Steadfast as a hero, he ruled (bhuj-) the earth for forty years and eight as king (narendra), renowned among the populace by the name Vijayāditya (II, Narendramr̥garāja).

Always causing the crops consisting of flocks of the destitute, the blind, Brahmins, courtesans and supplicants to complete satisfaction by a shower of outstanding gifts, his son Kali Viṣṇuvardhana (V) is said to have protected (pā-) the earth for a year and a half.^↓1

¹⁴His dear son—

The fearless-hearted lord who with his own flashing sword gleefully caused the uppermost member (head) of King (rājan) Maṅgi to topple from his body to the field of battle as lightning [causes] the summit [to topple] from a towering mountain to the earth; [and who, by] intrepidly driving the one named the Kannara [along] with Śaṁkila from the spacious inhabited land into the badland (durgama) [and] pressing them swiftly into a forest fire (dāva), protected the one named Baddega.

That majestic King Vijayāditya (III, Guṇaga) enjoyed (bhuj-) the earth for forty and four years together with his brothers.

His brother Prince (bhūpati) Vikramāditya, the good general of the army whose neck was garlanded with the flashing locket (of the heir-apparent), had a judicious son:

He, the dear Cālukya-Bhīma—who [was] like a mother to the destitute, the helpless and the sick, to the congregation of excellent Brahmins, to supplicants, to ascetics, as well as to clever Brahmin pupils (vaṭu), actors, good singers and poets arriving from various lands, because he presented them with the objects of their desires and protected them—ruled (bhuj-) the earth for thirty years.

His son—who with the sword [held in] his arm crushed enemy rulers; who, having forcibly conquered the eastern region, established a victory pillar in Viraja; the craftiest one in battle who ascended a balance scale with gold; who is surely incomparable to [any other] kṣatriyas on the surface of this earth—protected (rakṣ-) the earth for half a year as Vijayāditya (IV, Kollabigaṇḍa), brilliant as the sun (mitra).

His son—the lotus of whose feet was kissed all over by bees that were the jewels dangling from the heads of prostrate enemies, and who mocked (Mount) Meru with the brilliance of a heap of gold that was on a par (with Meru)^↓2—protected (pā-) the earth for seven years as Ammarāja (I).

After assaulting and effortlessly dethroning his son the child Vijayāditya (V), Lord (adhipati) Tāḍa protected (pā-) the earth for one month.

After defeating him in battle, King (bhūmipati) Cālukya-Bhīma’s son, King (bhūpa) Vikramāditya (II), protected the earth for eleven months.

Then, King (rājan) Tāḍapa’s son King (dharādhīśa) Yuddhamalla, a lord of kindly speech, protected the land for seven years.

After dislodging that Yuddhamalla from the earth by a raid, King (bhū-vallabha) Bhīma, the fulcrum of the earth, King Amma’s famous [brother born] of a different mother, ruled (pā-) at will the entire country of Veṅgī along with the Three Kaliṅgas for twelve years, also striking down other powerful enemies in battles.

That king had a son named Ammarāja (II), respected by the wise. The greatest poets became contented, having achieved their purpose, once they had extolled him joyously.

Terrifying as Yama in battle, he—the lone hero breaking regiments of elephants with just a single tusker and slaying their many riders, well-armed men distinguished in the fray—seized Lady Victory from his rivals and then protected (pā-) the land of Veṅgī valiantly for twenty-five years.

Striking down in battle that King Amma swaggering with his army bristling with rutting elephants, heroic soldiers and thoroughbred horses, Dānārṇava himself, the son of King Bhīma, ruled (pāl-) the country of Andhra for three years altogether.

After King Dānārṇava, the realm of Andhra, together with the Kaliṅgas, became rulerless for twenty-seven years.

Then Śaktivarman, the son of Dānārṇava and Queen (mahādevī) Āryā endowed with the three powers (śakti-traya) became king.

He—Cālukya-Nārāyaṇa who subjugates swarms of enemy kings—surpasses by his qualities Gupta’s son in renunciation, the earth in steadfastness, (Yudhiṣṭhira) the son of Dharma in adherence to truth, the unborn (Brahmā) in knowledge, the divine mountain (Meru) in elevation, the five-faced (Śiva) in heroism, the Love God in beauty, the sun in resplendence, the moon in charm.^↓3

Who [already] as a stripling acquired glory when he was wounded in a battle with the Tamils (drāviḍa); who, unconquered in battle, defeated King (mahārāja) Badde¿ma? and others; who, all alone, mightily smote the soldiers sent as assassins by his enemy; who dispatched the presumptuous King (nr̥pati) Coḍa-Bhīma to Death’s abode—

^45-53—that shelter of all the world (sarva-lokāśraya), His Majesty Viṣṇuvardhana, the Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja), the Supreme Sovereign (parama-bhaṭṭāraka), supremely pious and supreme devotee of Maheśvara, deliberately appointed (as heir) by his mother and father; whose pair of feet are are engilded by a mass of stamens that are the rays from the multitude of gems on the crowns of hastily bowing enemy kings; the poles of whose arms are studded with a conglomeration of pearls ejected from the surfaces of the forehead globes of the elephants of enemy rulers cracked by blows^↓4 of the frond that is his sharpened sword; the canopy of whose glory spreads over the ten divisions of the directions; who grants the desires of all supplicants like the wish-fulfilling tree; who is a seat of infinite ownership like Hari {whose seat is the hoods of the serpent Ananta}; who is flawless on both sides [of a dispute] like a royal goose {both of whose wings are immaculate}—[he, Śaktivarman] at a certain time^↓5 convokes all householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—who reside in Guṇḍikaṟṟu district (viṣaya) and commands them as follows. To wit:

Once upon a time, the majestic god-on-earth (Brahmin) Pillemarāja received from the king the many emblems and other [distinctions] of a Great Vassal (mahā-sāmanta) along with splendid pageantry. His son, then, was the lofty Vaidarāja, and his son, Nalliya. From him was born Pillemarāja of blazing glory, and from him came Nalliya.

Skilled in the Vedas and śāstras; with a mind that recognises the covert intentions of others; with discipline and generosity for jewels; knowing the essence of the processes of state affairs; devoted to his lord—so shines Nalliya here.

^57-61To that Nalliyaśarman, a resident of Kāraṁceḍu, of the Āṅgirasa gotra, learned in the Vedas, Vedāṅgas, Itihāsas and in śāstras such as the Mīmāṁsā, on the occasion of the winter solstice we have given the village named Guṇḍipoduṟu in your district with a remission of all taxes, converted to a Brahmanical holding (agrahāra), [the donation being] sanctified by (a libation of) water. Let this be known to you.

^61-66The boundaries of that village [are as follows]. To the east, the village named Inumanabeḍaru. To the south, the village named Visunūru. To the west, the village named Nīraṭūru. To the north, the village named Maṭlūru. The boundaries of [its] fields [are as follows]. To the east, the Modi pond. To the south, the Koṟu tank. To the west, the Koṟu tank. To the north, tevūdi sāniguṇḍi bhāḍāri. Let no-one pose an obstacle (to his enjoyment of his rights) over it. He who does so shall have the five great sins. So too Manu has said:

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.

He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.

The author is ¿the composer of decrees?,^↓6 Bhīma, the crest jewel of the literati. The executor is the Castellan (kaṭakādhīśa), and Dhokācārya is the writer (lekhaka).