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No. 17.)
KUDIYANTANDAL GRANT OF VIRA-NRISIMHA : SAKA 1429.
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It will be clear from the above genealogy that, though some names occur more than once, it is only at wide intervals. The Acharyas mentioned in the copper-plate grants of Vira-Nrisinba and Krishna-dēva-Raya &e the 49th to 52nd in the list. The identification is confirmed by the mention of the Nepalese king in the stötra referred to above. Bühler has noted that a certain Swāmin of South India went to Nepal about 1503 and that he was named Somasē kharananda. Our copper-plates show that Chandrasekhara Sarasvati was also named Chandrachäda. Söma. Sekhara' may be another variant, as it has the same meaning. It is more than merely possible that the Sadāśiva of the stotra may have sent one of his disciples, Chandrachada, alias Somasekhara, to Nepal at the request of its king. The date of our grant of Nrisimha is 1500, and then the Swamin was Mahādēva, a disciple of Sadasiva. It follows therefore that Sadāśiva may have lived till 1506. If so, his sending & fishya to Nepal in 1503 may be accepted as a fact.
It remains to consider who was tho guru in the genealogical list corresponding to Sri Sankarirya guru alias Sankara Yogin mentioned in the copper-plate grant of Vijaya-Gandagopāla. There are in the list only two such names which could be thought of, viz. No. 19 Sankarëndra and No. 33 Sri Sankara. The date of the plate being 1291, it could hardly be of the time of No. 19, as in that case there would be 30 generations from him to Sadasiva of 1503 A.D., covering a period of only two centuries. So the Sankara of the plate should be identified with No. 33. We then get 16 generations for a period of 215 years, i.e. on the average 131 years for a generation. This should not be regarded as a low figure, as in most cases a man becomes the head of the matha only when advanced in years, and is generally succeeded by the oldest among his disciples. Counting back at the same rate of 13} years, we get the 9ta century A.D. for the great Sankarachürya. It has been shown elsewhere that this date agrees with all known or inferable data, external and internal, in relation to the date of Sankaracharya.
The engraver of the grant is Viraņāchări, son of Mallandchári. Elsew here they are styled Virap-acharya and Mallap-acharya. But achari or more properly aśāri is a Dravidian word which means 'artisan' even now. It may therefore be assumed that the engraver was of tho ašāri or artisan caste. This caste had a practical monopoly of work on metals, wood or stone.
As regards the descendants of Mallana we know that Virana, his son, surnamed trashtn, the engrawer of the present grant, was engraver to Krishnaděva-Rays and Achyuta-Rāya; and that he had a son, also named Virana, who was the engraver to Sadāsiva-Raya.
Of the localities mentioned the following may be identified with villages of modern times in Chinglopat and North Arcot districts :
Varakūtaru is probably the same as Velkäru in Chittoor taluk.
Kalakättaru is the same as the village of the same name in Palmader taluk, N. Arcot district.
Burittiluru is perhaps the same as Suruttal in Arcot. Sitteleppakkam is the same as Sitteleppākkam in Arcot. Kudiyantandala is known to-day by the name Kundiyantandala in N. Arcot district.
1 Inscriptions from Nepal, p. 40.
* Compare the Jaina Guru-parampara of the Tupa Gachchha (cited by Mr. Venkateswara) in J. R. 4. S., Jan. 1917, p. 127, which gives 376 or 886 years for 23 generations of athaviras.
• See Mr. 8. V. Venkateswara Ayyar's paper ou the date of Sankaricbarys in the J. R. 4. 8. for January 1916. See also his pote on the contemporaneity of Sarvajñatman, the prafushya of Sankara, and the Chõja king Aditya I, 880-907, (Ind. Ant. for 1914, p. 238).
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