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No. 18.]
MOUNT ABU VIMALA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION.
151
and of perhaps the last words of verse 21, the original text may everywhere be restored with confidence.
The object of the inscription is, to record that in the Vikrama) year 1378 two persons, Lalla (Laliga) and Vijada, for the spiritual welfare of their parents repaired the temple of Rishabha (Adinatha) on the mountain Arbuda. And the inscription is divided into three parts. The first part (verses 1-13) is a prasasti or eulogy of the sacred Arbuda; bat besides glorifying that locality and some mythical or divine beings (Ambika and Srimata) residing there, it also gives a few historical details connected with it, and especially records the foundation, in the Vikrama year 1088, of the temple of Adinatha by Vimala. The second part (vv. 14-23) contains a rijavali of the chiefs who at the time of the restoration of the temple were in possession of the mountain. And the third part (vv. 24-38) gives an account of the family of the men by whom the temple was repaired. The concluding verses (39-42) record the name and spiritual lineage of the priest or teacher who consecrated the restored building, and the exact date when he did so.
To omit what is of no historical interest, the first part begins with the well-known story how on the mountain Arbuda there sprang from the fire-pit (anala-kunda, agni-kunda) of the sage Vasishtha the hero Paramára. In his lineage appeared the horo Kanhadadêva ; and in his family there was a chief named Dhandhu (Dhandhuraja), who was lord of the town of Chandrivati and who, averse from rendering homage to the [Chaalukya] king Bhimadêva [I.] and to escape that king's anger, took refuge with king Bhôja, the lord of Dhara. The author then, rather abruptly, tells us that in the Pragvåta family there was a distingaished personage named Vimals in whom religion, immerged in darkness through the wickedness of the times, suddenly shone forth again in its splendour. He was appointed by king Bhima dandapati (commander of the forces or governor) at Arbuda, and there one night was enjoined by the divine Ambika to build on the mountain a beautiful dwelling for the Yug&dibhartsi (Yagadijina, Adinatha). That Vimala obeyed the request the author intimates in the verse : "I adore the holy Adinatha who was placed on the top of Arbuda by the glorions Vimala, when one thousand and eighty-eight years had passed since the time of the glorious king Vikra miditya."
The chief Dhandhu or Dhandhurája, spoken of in the preceding paragraph, apparently is the Pram&ra (or Paramára) Dhandbuka mentioned above, p. 11, whose son Pärnapala ruled the Arbada territory in the Vikrama years 1099 and 1102. He would of course have been & contemporary of both the Chaulakya Bhimadeva I. and the Paramira Bhojadêva of Malave.Vimala's name occurs in another inscription at his own temple, dated in the Vikrama year 1201. That inscription, No. 1767 of Mr. Coubens' List, contains 10 lines of writing which covers & space abont 2' 6" long by 5" high, and contains 17 verses. In the ink-impression the first two lines of it cannot be read with any confidence, but so far as I can see, & man is spoken of in them who belonged to the Srimala kula and was an ornament of the Pragvåța vamsa. His son was Lahadha, who was somehow connected with the king Mula (i.e. the Chaulukya Malaraja I.) and was also known by the name Vira-mabattama. Lahadha had two sons. The first of them was the minister Néąha, and the second Vimala, who in verse 7 is described thus :
Dvitiyak8-dvaitamatávalamvi(bi) dard Ad hipah Sri-Vimalo va(ba)bhava yêpe&dam-achchair-bhavasimdhugê tukalpat vinirmmåpitam-atra vêgma 11
1 The name Dhandhuks also occurs in the genealogy of the Parameras of Chandravatt, above, Vol. VIII.
p. 201.
* According to Mr. Consens the inscription is over the doorway of cell No. 10 in the corridor of Vimala's temple. It is referred to in 4e. Res. Vol. XVI. p. 811, in the words: “One inscription bears date S. 1201, but w nothing else is decipherable, it is of no further value."
