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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XVIII.
and the verse TATT , etc. which occurs in the South Indian Inscriptions, Volume I, Nos. 18 and 19 (v. 3) and अभिषेकजलापूर्ण etc. in ibid., Nos. 21 and 22 (v. 2)-all with reference to king Rājasimha-it looks as if the king did actually wear a figure of Siva or rather his symbol, the liga, on his head. This fact is evidently also hinted in the verse गुषभरनामनि रानन्यनेन लिन faffa etc. (ibid., No. 33, v. 2), which refers to the conversion of the Pallava king Mahondravarman I Guņabhara from Jainism to Saivism. Again, v. 4 of No. 34 in the same volume speaks of "Siva fixed in the mind, being worn on the head." All these references clearly point to the existence of a linga-cult long before the revival of the Vira-Saiva faith under the auspices of the famous Kalachuri minister Basava (ChennaBasava) in which the wearing of the liriga plays a prominent part. Again, the sense of the two verses, particularly that of the second, is such that it suggests the occasion for the engraving of this record to be the accession of king Bājsimha to the throne. This, if it were so meant, would indeed have been a fitting opportunity to eulogise his many acts of heroism, charity and piety, and to proclaim to all subjects his assumption of power over his hereditary dominions.
TEXT.1
1 ब्रमा परि[r: M] वृहस्पति: । [यु.. m भारहानः m द्रोणः ॥
अश्वत्थामा [0] 2 पक्षवः ॥ अशोकः ॥ हरिगुप्तः m [भूत]दत्तः सूयं वर्मा
[m] . . . . विष्णु]गोपः ॥ धृत3 [क] [m] [क]किन्दः m ज्यामम[: m रि]पुमशः [m] विमल: ___ कोइणिः [m क]ळभर्ता ] चूतपशव[m] वीरकू[:] m
चन्द्रवर्मा . 4_m कराळ: ॥ विष्णुगोपः ॥ स्कन्दमूलः [0] काणगोप: m वीरकूर्च : m
[स्कन्दवम्म[ 0] कुमारविष्णुः 5 m बुधवा [m] स्कन्दवर्मा ॥ कुमारविष्णुः m बुद्धवर्मा M स्कन्दवर्मा
m विष्णुगो8 प: , विष्णुदा[स]: 0 स्कन्दवम् n] सिंहवर्मा वीरवर्मा m
स्कन्दवर्मा M सिं7 हवा m स्कन्दवर्मा ॥ नन्दिवर्मा सिंहवर्मा [] सिंहवा
विष्णुगोप: 8 सिंहवा सिंहविष्णः ॥ महेन्द्रवा नरसिंहवर्मा M महन्ट्रव9 U M परमेश्वरवा ' श्रीपलवान्वयकुलाचलराजसिंहो
1 Direct from the stone.
1 This syinbol which is evidently intended as a mark of punctuation is followed by another which is rather complicated. It is seen on the facsimile plate though indistinctly.
