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No. 29.)
TRIPLICANE INSCRIPTION OF DANTIVARMAN.
295
Àlvar-Tirunagari Nádamunigal was directed to recite twelve thousand times, with his mind concentrated on Namma vår, a poem (beginning with Kanninun siruttambu) composed by Madurakavi Ålvár, Namma vär's elder contemporary and disciple. He was told that Namma vår would then appear to him in a vision and grant what was required. Accordingly, Nådamunigal's 'eye of knowledge' was opened, and he was initiated into the Tiruvaymoli and other mysteries' by Nammalvår. No reference is, however, made to the recovery of any manuscript of the poem. If this tradition be true, the only conclusion warranted by historical criticism is that Nadamunigal himself composed almost the whole of the existing text of the Tiruvdymoli. I would, however, consider this surmise as purely provisional until the date of Nammalvår is established from independent sources. At any rate, the tentative period of Tirumangai-Alvâr obtained in this paper need not be altered in the light of any conclusions based on the existing text of the Tirwaymoli.
The object of the subjoined inscription is to record that the priests* (kulangiļár) of the Triplicane temple had mortgaged a field, belonging apparently to the temple, and that, in consequence, the equivalent of the interest on forty-five kâdis of paddy fell short in the rice offerings presented to the god. A certain Pugalttunai-Visaiyaraiyan gave thirty kádis of paddy and five kalasjus of gold and redeemed the mortgaged field. Thirty kâdis of paddy and fire kalañjus of gold were therefore equal to forty-five kadis of paddy. Thus paddy was sold at the rate of three kådis for one kalanju of gold. We do not know at present how much a kádi contained. It is mentioned in a Ganga-Palla va inscription at Ukkal, in a Chôļa copper-plate grant preserved in the Madras Museum, and in two stone inscriptions at Conjeeveram. The interest on forty-five kadis of paddy apparently amounted to 5 nális every day or 184 kalams per year. The five ndlis of paddy were converted into two nális of rice to be offered to the god at night. If this failed, the master's share (svámi-bhoga) in certain other fields was to be utilized for the offering.
A lamp-stand, cup and pot are particularly mentioned as deserving to be take care of, probably because they were special gifts of the donor Pugalttunai-Visaiyaraiyan.
TEXT. 1 Svasti Sri [ll*] Pasillava-kula-tilada: [Bh]ára2 dvaja-gôtr-Alam kâra-patiy-akiya sri3 Dantiva[rm]ma-mahârâjar[k]ku varsha-varddhana4 m [yd]ndu pa[n]pirandavad[u TŪiruvalli5 kkéni kulangi(1Járga! (K&]rumarachchêri-ppula[m] 6 or[x]i-ittu närpatt[ait-g]adi n[el polli-aţ[ta] Tiru7 vadigatku tiravampidu mutta=Ppugalttunai-Vis[ai)
1 Internal evidence in support of this surmise is not altogether wanting. Unlike other hymns, each decade of the Tiruvaymoli consists, not of ten verses, but of eleven, the last of which declare it to be teu out of the thousand composed by Nammavar. In the Saiva D&váram the last verse of each hymn furnishes the name of the composer, while each hymn of the other Vaishnava Aludrs contains generally ten verses. At any rate. none of them had determined beforehand the total number of verses which he should compose. It is worthy of note that in the poem, which Nadamunigal was required to recite twelve thousand times, the number of verses composed by NammAlvar is given as one thousand. In verse 673 of the Tirupuy moli occurs the following: - minr-ilangu mudiyindy - irubattor-kal arafugalai katta venri-u-malued, etc. The portion in roman type occurs in the historical introduction of the inscriptions of the Chôļa king Rajendra Chola I. These two points do not prove anything by themselves. But taken with the surmise based on tradition they are not together meaningless.
The word kulangilar occurs also in No. 168 of 1904 in connection with a Siva temple at Tiruvakkarai. It means literally temple proprietor and may denote either the temple authorities or the temple priests. South-Ind. Ingor. Vol. III. p. 8 and note 8.
Tilada is tadbhava of the Sanskrit tilaka. $ The ki of akiya is written in Granths.
