Epigraphia Indica Vol 33

SR No.: 032587
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1959
Total Pages: 514
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 29 MB

Page 244

No. 32). NOTE ON BHUMARA PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF HASTIN
169 Fleet says, "Bhöga, lit. enjoyment, possession, government', is a technical territorial term, probably of much the same purport as the bhukti of other inscriptions." It is true that, like bhukti, a province', the word bhöga is often used to indicate a district of a kingdom. In many copper-plate grants, the gift village is stated to have been situated in a particular territorial unit styled bhoga. Mention may be made, e.g., of Kumārivadao near Brihannärikā in Görajjā-bhöge within Bharukachchha-vishaya in the Sarsavani plates (lines 19-20)of Kalachuri Buddharāja ; Köniyānām near Bhataürikā in Vatanagara-bhöga in the Vaner plates (line 19)* of the same king; Vira-grāma in Sätimāla-bhöga in Palayatthapa-vishaya in the Jejuri plates (lines 25-27)' of the Chalukya king Vinayāditya ; Jijjika-grāma attached to Vonkhara-bhöga in the Jirjingi plates (line 11)* of the Eastern Ganga king Indravarman ; Vanikā-grāma in Āvaraka-bhöga within Hüņamandala in the Gaonri plates (B, lines 7-8)5 of the Paramāra king Väkpati Muñja; Kailasa-puragrāma belonging to Taradamsaka-bhöga in the Mallar plates (lines 5-6) of the Panduvamsi king Mahā-Sivagupta Bālärjuna, etc. It will be seen from some of these instances from inscriptions found in different parts of the country that bhöga was a smaller territorial unit than a district called vishaya or mandala. It is also interesting to note that the same territorial unit is called Edevolal-bhoga in the Sorab plates of Chālukya Vinayāditya and Edevolal-vishaya in the Harihar plates of the same king. But, if the word bhoga in the Bhumară inscription is supposed to be used in the sense of a territorial unit like & district or its subdivision, we can hardly escape the conclusion that Mahārāja-Sarvanātha-bhöga was a small district of the kingdom of Hastin, even though its name was associated with that of Mahārāja Sarvanātha, apparently the contemporary Uchchakalpa king of that name. This does not appear to support the suggestion that the pillar in question was set up in order to demarcate the boundary between the kingdoms of Hastin and Sarvanātha.
Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary recognises the word bhöga in the senses of possession, property, wealth, revenue,' besides others. Wilson's Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms mentions two kinds of bhoga or possession, viz. 80-vādha (with obstruction) and nir-vadha (unobstructed, undisputed). He also recognises the following expressions containing the same word : (1) bhoga-labha, usufruct in lieu of interest ; (2) bhögöttara, a grant of revenue for the enjoyment of a person or deity; and (3) bhoga-bandhaka, a kind of mortgage in which the articles mortgaged may be converted to use and the profits are to be appropriated by the mortgagee in lieu of interest. We have also inscriptions speaking of a vithi (i.e. & shop or stall in a market) as bhogadhinä tishthati and bhög-adhinä grihită with reference to its lying in the possession or being brought under the possession of an individual. From the sense of possession' the word bhöga came to be used in the sense of the property under one's possession. The word is used in this sense, 0.g., in the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad plate of Vibvarūpasēns. The use of bhoga (and also of bhukti) in the sense of a territorial unit seems to be due to a further expansion of this meaning of the
word.
Inscriptions often mention the expressions bhogika and bhoga-pati. Since bhoga-pati is sometimes mentioned in association with nri-pati (i.e. king) and vishaya-pati (i.e.governor of a district)",
1 Above, Vol. VI, p. 298. * Ibid., Vol. XII, p. 34. *Ibid., Vol. XIX, p. 64. • Ibid., Vol. XXIII, p. 84, note 9.
Ibid., p. 108. • Told., p. 120. *Thid., Vol. IX, p. 16.
Ibid., Vol. XXX, pp. 212-13. .N. G. Majumdar, In Beng., Vol. III, p. 146, text line 42; JAS, Lotters, Vol. XX, p. 203.
* Above, Vol. IV, p. 249, text line 44; Vol. VI, 141 note, p. 300; Vol. XII, p. 34; Vol. XXIII, p. 180, taxt line 4; Vol. XXVII, p. 40.