Epigraphia Indica Vol 08

Author(s): E Hultzsch
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 37

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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. VIII.
the interior of a simple word a nasal before a consonant of its own class is always denoted by its own sign, nowhere by the sign of anusvára. After T, & congonant (other than a sibilant or h) is generally, about five times out of six, doubled. Before r, t is doubled in mattra, 1. 6, faktittray, 1. 13, and pafta-ttrays, 1. 14, while it remains single in twelve similar cases; and k is doubled in vikkeramaia, 1. 7, parákkramatas, 1. 9, and - Akkoránta, l. 11. Before y, dh is changed to ddh in addhyêya-, 1. 2, áraddhya, 11. 4 and 7, addhyuvasa, 1. 5, and asdddhyds-, 1. 13; but not in anudhyâya, 1. 8. The number of clerical errors is very small; I need only point out here Sthanur= (for Sthanur=) in line 1, and utkrishta (for utkrishta) in line 8.
In respect of grammar generally and lexicography the text calls for few remarks. The use of the gerunds áraddhya and adhitya in verse 12 does not accord with the role of the grammarians, but may be defended by the less strict practice of even classical writers. Similarly, the employment of thôjya (instead of bhôgya) in prithivim .. .svavansa-Dhôjyam of verse 25 is contrary to Panini, VII. 3, 69, but the word is often used in the same way elsewhere, especially in epic poetry. Like other inscriptions, this one also contains some words which are not found in the published dictionaries. Of these, antaralaya (formed like antarágára, antargriha, antarbhavana) in verse 6, sanamya (an abstract noun derived from the adjective sandman,'having the same name') in verse 8, brahmasiddhi in verse 12 and samutthapana in verse 16 can offer no difficulty. The word asvasamstha in verse 11 I take to be synonymous with afvárðha, 'a horseman,' and I would compare with it such words as gajastha, rathastha, syandanastha, as well as turagadhirúdha and turangasidin (e.g. in Ragh. VII. 34 and Sis. XVIII. 2). On the word ghafiki in verse 10 I havo published a special note in Nachrichten der K. Ges. der Wiss. su Göttingen, 1900, p. 345 ff., where I have tried to prove that a ghafika was an establishment (probably founded in most cases by a king) for holy and learned men, such as is often mentioned in other inscriptions under the name brahmapuri. In the note referred to I have shown that ghatiku is used in this sense e.g. in the Kåsåkudi plates of the Pallava Nandivarman Pallavamalla (South Ind. Insor. Vol. II. p. 349, lines 56 and 59) and in the Chikkulla plates of Vikramêndravarman II. (above, Vol. IV. p. 196, line 14). The last remark which I would offer on the wording of the present inscription is, that the author in verse 29 uses iva . . . tadvat, instead of yadvat (or yatha) . . . tadvat. This, so far as I know, is foreign to the usage of classical writers, from whose works I am unable to quote quite analogous instances.
The inscription contains 34 verses. The metres of nine of them (verses 25-32 and 34) are the ordinary ones : Pushpitågrå, Indravajra, Vasantatilake, MandAkrånta and Gårdülavikridita. The metre of the long verse 33, with which the poem proper here presented to us fitly closes,& is a species of Dandaka, called by the general name Prachita. It consists of four Padas, each of which contains six short syllables and eight amphimacers (- -) Most interesting from a metrical point of view are the verses 1-24, composed in a metre which is found rarely elsewhere
Since writing my paper on ghatikd, I have come across the word ghafikasåhasa, which in line 41 of the Hallegere plates of the w. Ganga Sivamara I. (Ep. Carn. Vol. III. p. 108, where it is wrongly transcribed by ghatika-rahasra) occurs as an epithet of a Brahman. I have little doubt that this word is identical with the words Jahivasdhasa, ghaisdsa, mentioned above, Vol. VI. p. 241, note 2. In Hémachandra's Daind ma mdlá, 11. 105, to which Prof. Pischel has drawn my attention, we find ghadiaghada (e. ghafikaghata or ghatikághatd), paraphrased by goshthe.
In the Ramayana, ina . . . tatha is used like yatd. . . tathd, bat passager like VII, 7, 18 11., where this is the case, are somowhat different from the one in our text. Exactly like the ide .. tadeat of the text I find iva (ar na) . . cpam used in the Pali Gåtbas compare e.g. J4. Val. IV. p. 172, 1. 11 : Gavan oa singino singan caddhamdnasta vaddhati epas mandassa posa854 44 lana epijanato básyyo taghd pipdsd cha vaddhamanassa vaddhati, 'as the horn grow, so thirst grows.'
Verse 34 gives the name of the author, who also wrote the inscription on the stone.
For a much longer species of Prachita (in which each Pada contains six short ayllables and 10 amphimacers) see Mdlatımddhave, Dr. Bhandarkar's ed., p. 181.
I have published a shart paper on this metre in Nachrichten der K. Gas. der Wirt In Göttingen, 2899, p. 182 ff. As that paper is in German, I repeat here what has been stated in it.