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CORONATION OF KHĀRAVELA
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māna) since his very childhood.' The expression vardhamāna, hence, involves the metaphor of the moon waxing day by day. It has been rendered in Sanskrit as 'vardhamāna-saiśava viz., (one who had outgrown his childhood or had attained the state of manhood.'
As to the second phrase "veņābhivijiyo i. e. one who was destined to have wide conquests as those of king Veņa. The ancient monarch Veņa, father of Přithu, was an unorthodox king, according to the Brahmanic iterature. According to the Padma Purāņa,” he began Ito reign well, but subsequently became a Jaina. He abolished the law of levirate (niyoga) and caused a confusion by the abolition of castes, according to Manu.: Probably, that is why he was not held in high esteem by the Vedic Brāhmaņas. Veņa was a great conqueror and, therefore, the term “abhivijaya' is very appropriate in his case. Further, he belonged to the Aiļa vamśa. Evidently, the tradition recorded in the Padma Purāņa was well. established by this time and, therefore, the Jaina monarch Khāravela is compared with Veņa.
The third statement 'tatiye-kalinga-rāja-vase-purusayuge' as has already been explained above, indicates that Khāravela, the overlord of Kalinga, belonged to the third dynasty of the kings of Kalinga.
1. Cf. Kumāra-saibhava-"Dine dine si parivardhamana labdha. daya chandramasiva lekhā” (I, 25).
2. Bhūmi khanda, Ch, 37-38. 3. Ch. IX, V. 66-67. 4. Supra Ch. IX Sec. IV.
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