________________
No. 12.] SRIRANGAM INSCRIPTION OF GARUDAVAHANA-BHATTA: SAKA 1415. 91
The record is important for Sanskrit literary history, as it helps us to identify this Garuḍavahana of A. D. 1493, with the author of the hagiological kavya called the Divyasüricharitam, as will be shewn in the sequel, setting aside its traditional attribution to a contemporary of Ramanuja (12th cent. A. D.), and as it mentions also that the earlier GaruḍavāhanaBhaṭṭa of A. D. 1257 was probably the author of a prabandham named the Rangaghoshanai. Further interest attaches to this epigraph in its reference to the existence of a temple-hospital at Srirangam and to the erection of a shrine for Dhanvantari, which is not found elsewhere in South India.
The construction of the arogyaśālai referred to in this record is mentioned in an incomplete inscription, engraved on another slab set up near this, and dated in the 3rd year of the Hoysala king Pratapachakravartin Vira-Ramanathadēva (corresponding to A. D. 1257). It registers a gift of land by the general [Śi]ngadēva Singanṇa-Dandanayaka to a certain GaruḍavāhanaBhatta for the maintenance of a salai in the temple. The inscription reads thus:
(B)
Srimat-pratapachchakkaravattiga] Sri-Ramanathadevar pradhānaril [§]iñgadēva SingannaDendanayakkanen mūņrāvadu Kattigai-masattu oru-nāļ Śrīranganathan dhanmam-aga Eduttakai-alagiya-Nayaṇär elundaruli-irukkira tiru-ggōpurattukku mēl-arugaga=ttiruna. dai-măligaiyile oru salaiyum samaittu-chchälaippuram-iga-pPändikulisani-valanāṭṭu Vila-nāṭṭup... garam-aṇa Mummuḍisolach-charuppēdimangalattu1 .. nan inda-kkāņikkum iraiyilikkum-äga śribhaṇḍārattu oḍukkiṇa varahan pon ayiratt-oru-nūru [*]i-ppon ayirattu oru-nurrukkum ippadiyal konda nilattil udayankondu vaijya-parichārakarkkum aushadhattukkum chandradityavarai selvadaga Śrīranganathan tandarulina tirumugappadiyum mahāniyögappadiyile i-ddhanmam seyvadāga niśchayit(ta)tu vaijyaril enakkum rakshakaray i-ddharmmam neḍunalpaḍa naḍattikkoṇḍu vanda nāyakaṇ=āṇa Garuḍavāhana-Bhaṭṭarukku ain-guruni nellum paricharakaray kaḍaikkūṭṭāy i-ddharmmam naḍatta Tōlmālaiyalagiyāṛkku mu-kkuruņi ne[1]lum parichārakar iruvarkku tūņi-ppadakku nikki ulladilē nāļ
oṇrukku nūru kāśāl vanda aushadham kondu
The Kōyilolugu, a late Tamil compilation of about the end of the 18th century, purporting to be a chronicle' of the happenings in the Srirangam temple for several centuries, in which, however, several incidents, historical and otherwise, are found somewhat mixed together in a haphazard sequence, also makes mention of the institution of an urōgyasalai in the temple premises and its subsequent repair after its destruction during the Muhammadan raids. The relevant entries are the following:
(i) A disciple of Yatipati (Ramanuja) named Mudaliyandan having inadvertently added some jambu fruits to the curd-rice offering of god Ranganatha, Ramanuja detected signs of indisposition in the face of the image and traced its cause to this injudicious offering. He at once ordered some kashaya to be administered to the deity and
1 There is a village now known as Mummuḍisõlamangalam in the Lalgudi taluk.
* This compilation, part 1 of which has been published (Ananda Press, 1909), takes the history of the temple to Saka 1501, nearly to the end of the 16th century A. D. Further parts are expected to be published. In several places the contents of the inscriptions are seen to have been correctly incorporated.
* In cases where Saka dates are also recorded, this jumbling is not harmful; but in cases where the statements are not set off by dates, their chronological sequence is difficult to determine.
