Epigraphia Indica Vol 10

SR No.: 032564
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sten Konow, V Venkayya
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1909
Total Pages: 450
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 16 MB

Page 193

148
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. X.
The ink-impressions from which the accompanying plate has been prepared, were taken under my direct supervision from the original pillar wbich is now preserved in the Madras Museum, along with the other antiquities of Dinavulapádu.
The record is not dated. But the Kanarese characters in which it is written may be referred to the period between the 10th and 11th centuries A.D. The alphabet bears a strong resemblance in certain details (e.g. in the distinction made between long and short i and in the adding of the rēpha to a consonant ending in :) to that of the two Nolamba records from Dharmapuri published by me, but is exactly similar in many respects to those of the Atakur inscription of the time of Krishna III. and of the epitaph of Marasimba II.S of the 10th century A.D. The symbol for long i affixed to the consonant an is different in form from that used in other cases; compare e.g. mū of ripusamüha in l. 21 and of murti in l. 32, with nu of manūna- in 1.51 and bhū of bhu-mandaladol in l. 64. The final forms of m (1l. 22 and 48) (1. 39) and ? (11.50 and 52), the carsive form of the consonant kh (1.52) and the use of the Dravidian ! (11. 8, 24, 50, 52) and . (11. 12, 48, 49 twice, 56, 62) may also be specially noted. The record consists of 11 verses of which vv. 3, 5 and 6 are in the Sanskrit language (the first being in the San kirņaka(P) and the second two, in the Arya-giti metre) and the rest in Kanarese (in the Kanda metre). Lines 65 to 67 are in Kanarese prose, while the invocatory and benedictory phrases (11. 44 and 43) are in Sansksit.
The order in which the three written faces of the epigraph have to be read presents some difficulty. The broader face which begins with a benedictory clause and ends with the writer's name, must be taken to be a complete record by itself. The two narrow faces which contain the eulogy of Srivijaya do not begin with any suspicious word, phrase or verse, but end with the usual mangala-maha-frih. Apparently, the inscription was meant to be divided into two parts, the first of which, comprising the two narrow faces of the pillar, began with a description of the military prowess of the dandandyaka Srivijaya, to whom in the body of the record are applied the surnames Apivingoja (v.7), Anupamakavi (vv. 2, 4, 9 and 1. 65 f.) and perhaps also Sarvavikramatunga (v. 10). Of the three Sanskřit verses included in this portion of the record, two (vv. 5 and 6) are addressed to Srivijaya and express the wish that he might live long to rule the circle of the earth under orders of king Indra. The third verse while describing his prowess in highly poetical language, incidentally mentions Bali-kula, the family to which Srivijaya belonged and the king Narēndra of whom he was the general (dandadhipati). The second part of the inscription, evidently the more important of the two, is written on one of the broad faces of the pillar and opens with an invocatory clause which proclaims glory to the prosperous doctrine of the Jina. The first three verses (7 to 9) on this face appear to suggest that Srivijaya voluntarily resigned this world and took samnyäsa in order to attain eternal bliss. The next two verses are again in praise of Srivijaya's military prowess,
Above, pp. 54 to 70 and Plate.
Ibid. Vol. VI. pp. 50 to 57 and Plate. • Ibid. Vol. V. Pp. 151 to 180 and Plate.
• According to Gangadása's Chhandomanjari (Ch. V. 15) Giti is a verse whose second half corresponds to the brot half of an Arya (i.e. contains 30 matras), the first balf presumably being the same as that of the Aryk. Arya-Giti, again, on the same authority (ibid, 21) has both its halves corresponding to the first half of an Aryi with an additional guru (e. contains 32 matras). The metre, bowever, of the verse under consideration, whose scheme in 32 måtras in the first balf and 30 in the second, is neither Giti nor Arya-Giti s described by Gangadisa. It probably corresponds to the Sankirnaka mentioned in Dr. Kittel's edition of Nagavarma's Chandas (Ch. IV. 202). Dr. Kittel iuterprets the scheme of the metre as 32 and 27 (Chhandas, p. 93). Nagavarma's definition may admit of an explanation which yields 39 and 30 for the scheme of the Bankirņaka and thus correspond to that of v. 3 of tha sabioined inscription. Nägavarna's v. 292 may be translated thus: "If the first half (a-apar-ardha P) of an Ary (ie. of 30 matras) unites with the first half of a Kanda in the order mentioned i.e. 32, in the first and 30 in the second), then O! lotus-faced oue! the metro becomes the Sankirpaka as stated by Kavirajahanas (ie. Nagavarma)."