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

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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXXIII The aksharas read as dēvi svasta?)sya in this record are, however, clearly 'dēvy-amushya which is also the reading in the same verso as found in the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad plate. In the Madanapada plate, the intention of the person responsible for the corrections was probably to correct tad-asya after dēvi to tasya in socordance with the requirement of the metre, though he forgot to effect the change. The Vangiya Sahitya Parishad plate of Visvarūpasēns quotes the name of his mother, in our opinion, as Ahvapadēvi. It thus appears that the intended correction in the Madanapādā plate was bry-Ahvanadēvia tasya and in the Idilpur plate fry-Ahvanadevy= amushya, even though the aksharas huana are not recognisable in either of the cases. I do not think it possible that the queen's name was quoted differently in the three inscriptions.
Another problem relates to the name of the donor of the Idilpur plate which exhibits similar re-engravings on erasures as the Madanapādā plate and was issued from Phasphagrāma whence the Madanapādā plate was also issued. In our opinion, the reading kēšava in verse 15 and line 43 of this inscription is a mistake for visvarüpa engraved after having erased sūryya exactly as in the Madanapāņā plate. Indeed the suggestion that kēšava is a wrong reading for visvarūpa in the Idilpur plate was already offered by some scholars, although it has been generally ignored by writers on the history of the Sēnas.' It is, however, difficult to ignore it since it appears to be supported not only by the re-engraved names but also by the fact that the so-called Kēšavasēna's title in the Idilpur plate, which was wrongly read as Arirāja-asahya-sankara by previous writers, reads Arirāja-nāshabha-sankara, in which shabha is clearly written on an erasure. It appears that what now looks like näshabha is the result of an attempt to re-engrave vrishabha after having erased nihsarka just as in the Madanapadā plate. Vi varūpasēna's title appears really to have been Arirāja-vrishabha-gankara as in the case of his great-grandfather Vijayasēna just as his son assumed the title Ariraja-nihtanka-sankara in imitation of his own great-grandfather Ballālasēna. We have seen how, in the Madanapādā plate, vrishabha is re-engraved after having erased nissa so that the epithet reads there as Arirāja-opishabharka-sarkara which is meaningless.
Now we come to the most important of the problem relating to this enquiry. It is that the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad plate, which does not exhibit clear signs of re-engraving the names of Visvarūpasēna and his mother on erasures, has all the stanzas of the Madanapādā plate in the B&me order with a few additional stanzas that are also found in the Idilpur plate and that Viúvarüpasēna's title there reads Ariräja-vrishabhanka-sarkara. In our analysis of the introductory stanzas of the Madanapaļā plate, we have seen that verses 11 ff. should have to be regarded as referring to Visvarūpasēna and verses 14 ff. to his son and that, by the arbitrary insertion of Vibyarūpasēna's name in the place of his son's, we have not only Visvarūpasēna twice introduced in this part, the second introduction being quite unnecessary and even unnatural, but have also to regard verses 11 ff. as continuing the description of Lakshmaņasēna and verses 14 ff. as describing Visvarūpapēna, even though this is plainly against the trend of the composition. How then could this modified composition be quoted in a genuine charter of Visvarūpasēna himself? The only answer to this question that suggests itself to us is that the introductory part of the Vangiya Sāhitya Parishad plate of Visvarūpasēna is merely a copy of the modified draft of the introductory section of his son's records and is not a fresh and independent composition. This seems to be snpported by his title Arirāja-Vrishabharka-ankara as found in Vangiya Sahitya Parishad plate. Vrishabharka in this expression is quite meaningless and the emendation usishabh-anka does
1 Cf. JAS. Letters, Vol. XX, pp. 201-02. *Cf. above, Vol. XXX, p. 149 and note 3. : See Bhandarkar's List, No. 1693 and notes; JA8. Lotters, Vol. XX, p. 211. • The explanation I suggested in JAS. Letters, Vol. XX, p. 212, seems to be wrong.