Epigraphia Indica Vol 17

Author(s): F W Thomas, H Krishna Sastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 39

16
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. XVII.
the portion where it occurs is somewhat damaged, but the name of the work is tot broken; the passage runs thus : Mattavilāsādi-padam-prahasan-ottaman ... and in the other fragments of the inscription we see that mention is made of poets like Vyasa and Valmiki, as also of tālas, etc., of music. Thus then each biruda of Mahēndravarman appears to have been bestowed on him or assumed by him for some ostensible reason. The biruda Sankirņa-jati of this king is rather curious; it means of mixed caste.' Perhaps the parents of Mahendravarman were of different castes. The significance of the other birud as will become patent as further researches are made.
It is interesting to note that at the time of Mahěndravarman the three deities Brahmă. Siva and Vishnu were enshrined together in the same temple in adjacent niches. Such a group consisting of Brahma, Vishạu and Siva is called Hari-Hara-Pitamaha or Dattatreya. (See my Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol. I, pp. 251-256, as also Pl. LXXII, fig. 1 of the same volume.) At Mahabalipuram also there exists a Trimărti cave; but, strangely enough, the cell which is supposed to have been dedicated to Brahma is occupied by a figure which has only one face. The figure of Brahmă ought, according to the agamas, to be always shaped with four faces, and in practice also we find that three faces are always shown in sculpture, the fourth being supposed to be at the back of the figure. In spite of the fact that the figure in the Mabbalipuram rock-cut shrine has only one face Dr. Vogel in his Iconographic Notes on the Seven Pagodas, contributed to the Director-General of Archæology's Annual Report for 1910-11, identifies the figure with Brahmå (see page 58). Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil has sent me a note containing his own explanation concerning this image for publication here, which I reproduce below. “The Trimărti cave at Mahăbalipuram is formed of three cells; the one on the right contains an image of Vishņu, and the middle one an image of Siva. It is, therefore, but natural to suppose that the left cell contains an image of Brahma. I was the first author to remark (vide Archéologie du Sud de l'Inde, Vol. II, Pl. XVIII B) that the god in the left cell has only one head and so could not be identified with Brahmå. I have thought fit to affirm that this unknown god is Subrahmanya, who is represented also on the ground-floor of the Dharmaraja Ratha (Archéologie du Sud de l'Inde, Vol. II, Pl. XVIII B). However, the problem why the trinity Subrahmanya, Siva and Vishnu is found in place of the usual trinity Brahmă, Vishna and Siva has remained till now unsolved. I believe I shall be able to explain why Subrahmanya is substituted for Brahmå in the group of the trinity at Mahābalipuram. Mr, T. A. Gopinatha Rao says in his Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol. II, Part II, page 439, Brahma-śåstå : This is the aspect of Subrahmanya in which he put down the pride of Brahmå by exposing his ignorance of the Vodas. He should be represented with a single face and four arms; he should have only two eyes. In the back hands there should be the akshamala and the kamandalu, and the front hands should be held in the varada and abhaya poses. The colour of Brahma-sastă should be the red of the lotus flower.' If we note that the image of Subrahmanya in the Trimurti cave wears on its breast a double chaplet of rudraksha beads, and that at the entrance to the sanctuary there are two personages dressed as Sannyasins and having pointed beards, we shall conclude that the sculptors of Mahabalipuram have put Subrahmanya in the place of
This fact was also discovered by Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil : see his Palluns, p. 38.
Sankirnajati is the name of a variety of musical time. Perhaps Mahendravarman I held this biruda u an inventor of this method of keepiug musical time.-H. K. S.]
Behind the rock bearing the Trimurti shrine are executed the figures of a peacock, an elephant and a monkey carved in balf relief. We know that the peacnek is the characteristic vehicle (rahana) of Subrahmanya. The elophant is generally associated with the temple of Sastā, and is here perhaps intended to show that the image is that of Brahma-sista. (Temples of Traipurushoideva nre found dedicated to Sun, Sivs and Vishna. Why should not the Brahma-sästa figare represent the Sun -H. K. S.]
• Dr. Vogel takes the objects in the back hands as a flower and a ring, neither of which is right. The hands carry unly a kumandals and an akshamála, as required by the agamas.