Epigraphia Indica Vol 21

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 19

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL XXI
stone slab inscription, which originally belonged to a temple at Sömanatha in Käthiawad but is now preserved in the Quinta of Don João de Castro at Cintra in Portugal. The inscription is thus known as the Cintra prasasti or the reign of the Chaulukya ruler Sārangadēva, and was last critically edited by G. Bühler in Ep. Ind., Vol. I, pp. 271 ff. This inscription corroborates practically all that has been said by the Purāņas about Lakuli. The order and names of his pupils are however slightly different in this epigraphic record, being, Kusika, Gärgya, Kaurusha and Maitrēya. But this much is certain that in both Kusika remains unaltered in name and also stands first in the order. The Cintra prasasti however tells us one thing more, namely, that these four disciples of Lakuli were the founders of four lines amongst the Pāśupatas. There can thus hardly be a doubt that the Kusika of our record must be regarded as the first pupil of Lakuli and that the four Acharyas mentioned here were of course his descendants. In the Cintra prasasti three Acharyas are mentioned, namely, Karttıkarāsi, Välmikirābi and Tripurantaka, the last of whom was a contemporary of Sārangadēva during whose reign it was incised. Verse 19 of this inscription distinctly tells us that these teachers belonged to the line (götra) of Gārgya. While the Cintra prasasti thus gives an account of the ascetic teachers who sprung up in the line of Gärgya, the second pupil of Lakuli, our present record throws light upon the line of teachers that was founded by Kusika, the first disciple of Lakuli. It appears that while the descendants of Gärgya established themselves at Sõmanātha in Käthiawad, those of Kusika were settled at
Mathura.
If the teachers mentioned in our inscription belonged to the Lakulīsa sect, it clears up the two or three points of our inscription which were thought to be obscure. The first is how the Lingas, if they were installed as memorials to Upamita and Kapila, could also contain their portraits. The second point is why all the dead teachers of this line, namely, Kusika, Parabara, Upamita and Kapila, have been styled bhagavat. The third is why the living teacher Uditacharya has been called arya. These are the points which were thought to be obscure in the above discussion and were left for elucidation at the end of these our prefatory remarks, Let us now take up the first point : How could the Lingas put up in memory of Upamita and Kapila also comprise their portraits? I have alluded at to the paper on Lakulīša which I wrote for the Jour. Bomb. Br. R. As. Soc., twenty-five years ago. Not long after, I contributed another on the same subject to the Archæol. Suru. Ind., An. Rep., 1906-7, p. 179 ff. This latter contained copious illustrations of the figure of Lakuli whether on the door jambs and friezes of shrines, on the outside walls of temples, or in separate sculptures. I have shown that wherever Lakuli appears he figures as a human being, invariably with two hands, but with his characteristic signs, namely, a labuta or staff in his left hand and a citron in his right. There are however two representations of his which are singular, and they are both found at Kārvān, the place where this last incarnation of Siva came off and also passed away. Here we have two Langas with the portraits of Lakuli sculptured in front. One of these is in the temple of Naklēśvar and the other, in that of Rājrājēsvar, both at Kārvān. It will thus be seen that the Siva Linga has been combined with the representation of Lakuli into one image. It may be asked : What could be the meaning of this ? Now, the Purānas and the inscriptions are unanimous in saying that Lakuli was the originator of certain austerities and religious practices called the Pākupata- or Mābēsvarayoga which his pupils disseminated. And it is well-known that when a yogi passes away, he does not die like an ordinary mortal with his last breath going out of his earthy nostrils, but father by & yoga feat which enables him to pass it through the brahma-randhra, that is, by breaking his human skull. It is only in this manner that he is absorbed into Brahman, if he is a Vedantist, or into Siva, if he is a Puputa or Māhāśvara. But as Lakuli was a worshipper of
Above, Vol. 1, p. 281, vv. 16-17.