Epigraphia Indica Vol 27

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

Page 55

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXVII
TRANSLATION The image of) the maker of the day, the God of the persons afflicted with the (skin disease) lukman. The year 12 is of the exalted Govindachandradēva. The 19th day of Phālguna.
B. Betkā Väsudēva image inscription of the 23rd year of Govindachandra In the village of Paikpāra and in the adjacent village of Betkā, P. S. Tangivādi, Dt. Dacca, there live from time immemorial, flourishing families of the betel-leaf cultivators, the class being generally known as the Bārai or the Bārujivi. They form a distinct class throughout Bengal and the lucrative profession of cultivating and selling betel leaves has made the class well-to-do, industrious, united, self-respecting, religious and peaceful. They are mostly worshippers of Vishnu.
A beautiful image of Vishņu or Väsudēva in black stone came out about three years ago, when re-excavating an old tank on the northern extremity of the village of Betkā, just on the border of Päikpāra. On all sides of the tank are the habitations of the Bārais. The finders presented the image to an establishment in the village of Autsähi, three miles south, called Palli-Kalyana Aśrama, manufacturing khādi and hand-made paper, and affiliated to the All-India Spinners' Association. The image has been established there as the presiding deity of the Asrama, but it is not worshipped.
The image is about 4' in height and must be pronounced to be a very pleasing piece of sculpture and a fine specimen of the art of the Bengal sculptor. It is just an ordinary image of Vishnu with conical tiara adorned by the kirttimukha, and it has little to distinguish it from countless such images found throughout Bengal and dating from A.D. 1000 to 1200. Only the miniature figures of Sankhapurusha and Chakrapurusha at either end of the pedestal'are indications that the image is a fairly early piece of sculpture. The fact that the style represented by these conical-crowned profusely decorated soft-featured sculptures in black stone of the Rajmahal Hills began even earlier than the period of Govindachandra is amply demonstrated by these two inscribed images of the reign of Govindachandra, king of Vanga.
The inscription is in four lines, each line being made up of three sections, with the exception of the fourth line, which is finished in a single section. The letters are half-an-inch high and look like the hand-writing of a man who could boast of nothing more than literacy. The Kulkudi inscription shows a better hand. The two inscriptions hailing from the same kingdom and belong. ing to the reign of the same king and only eleven years apart in point of time offer, however, very marked contrast in the shape of the letters. How unsafe & guide paleography may become, if one has to depend on casual inscriptions like the present ones, is fully demonstrated by these two inscriptions. Particular attention may be drawn to the shape of t in the two inscriptions, which would appear to be wide apart in point of age.
The language of the inscription is incorrect Sanskrit. As already remarked in the case of the Kulkudi inscription, it is idle to expect correct grammar in these masons' and half-literate donors' labels.
The purport of the inscription is to record the installation of an image of the Lord Väsudēva by one Gangadāsa, son of the deceased Põradāsa, Bālajika (i.e., Bārajika) by caste, in the 23rd year of Govindachandra. The mention of the caste of the donor as Bālajika shows that the present-day nomenclature of the class as Bārai is derived from the word Bärajika; and the word Barujivi, by which name the more educated among the class like to call themselves, is a modern
[The alternative translation of the first line would be "(This is the image of the sun-god, cated to be mado by the illustrious Lakshmidina.-Ed.]