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164
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. VIII.
“The ring is oval, about thick and l" to 1" in diameter. It had been cut before the time when it came into my hands. The seal is not of the customary kind. It was formed by Alattening out part of the ring to a thickness of only about }"; thus producing a six-sided surface, about 1" by 1}", carved like the opposite part of the ring. The emblem on it - which I take to be & sinha, couchant to the left (proper right), with jaws open and tongue protruding between them,- W&B done in outline, rather roughly, in that surface. The weight of the three plates is 101 OL.; and of the ring and seal, 1 oz. : total, 11 or."
Dr. Fleet assigns the inscription, on palæographical grounds, to approximately the seventh centary A.D. The upadhmaniya occurs thrice (11. 5, 7 and 13). A horizontal dash is used as a mark of panctuation in four cases. The language is Sanskrit. The genealogical portion contains 2 verses, and two other verses are quoted at the end. The remainder of the inscription is in prose. The Sandhi rules are neglected before u in 11. 15 and 16. The vowel ri and the syllable ri are mixed up in drishta (1. 6) and tripargga (1. 8). Other irregularities are varita for varsa (1.5), punya for punya (1.7), and Jayasingha for Jayasinha (1. 18).
The inscription is of historical importance because it contains the earliest mention of Rashtrakata kings. These princes seem to have belonged to a branch distinct from that of the Malkhøy family, whose crest was the Garuda, while the seal of this grant bears a lion. The genealogical portion opens with the statement that "there was a king named Månanka, who W&the ornament of the Rashtrakūtas, whose glory is adorned with a multitude of many virtues." His son was Devaraja (1. 3 f.). He had three sons (v.2), - among them Bhavishya, whose son was Abhimanyu (1. 11). While the latter resided at Manapuram (1. 12 f.), he granted a small village (grámaka) named Undikaveţika (1. 15).
If we look for the name of the donee, we are confronted by two genitives : Dakshina-Sivasya (1. 14 f.) and Jafabhara-praprajitarya (1. 15 f.). Dr. Fleet connected the first with the following word Undskavafokd and translated the second by" (the god) who has left his home (at the place belonging to him as Dakshina-Siva) and has gone abroad to (and settled at) Jatabhåra," which he identified with a temple called 'Jutta Shankar,' s.c. Jata-Samkara. To this may be objected that the time-hallowed technical meaning of pravrajita is one who has left home to become a religious mendicant,' and that this word would hardly be used with reference to an idol instead of the ordinary pratishthapita. The two genitives can be explained by taking the first as the name of the donee and the second, as was done by Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji,as the name of a Pabupata ascetio in charge of the temple, to whom the grant was made over on behalf of the temple by pouring water into his band. Hence I would translate 1. 12 ff. as follows:
"He who was adorning Manapuram by residing at (it), gave, in order to increase the religious merit of (his) mother and father, the small village named Undikavâţika to (the temple of) Dakshiņa-Siva belonging to [Petha)-Pangaraka, by pouring water into the hands) of the ascetic JatábhAra. Towards this (grant) nobody should practise deceit."
According to 1. 18 the grant was made" in the presence of Jayasinha, the commanders (of the fort) of HarivatBakotta." The inscription ends with two of the customary verses.
As regards the localities mentioned in this record, the 'Dakshiņa-Siva (temple) belonging to [Pétha)-Pangaraka' had been identified in the Bombay Gazetteer with the Mahadeva temple
Dyn. Kan. Distr. p. 886. • Atter patdkd, 1. 6, praoridd dd, 1.7, badmindthd4, 1. 9, and at the end of 1. 19. ... 1. Val YYY n. 810. 611. 818.
