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No. 36]
TERUNDIA PLATE OF SUBHAKARA II
213
paramasaugata 'a devout worshipper of the Sugata or Buddha,' while his father Sivakara I (also known as Unmattasimha alias Bharagaha) and his grandfather Kshēmankara are called respectively a paramat[a]thāgata and a paramopasaka. The most interesting epithet of king Subhākara I in our record is sva-prabhāva-samāsādita-sārvvabhauma-bhāva in lines 3-4, which suggests, as already conjectured by me elsewhere, that he was the first imperial ruler of the family. It was also suggested by me that Lakshmikara was just another name of Kshēmankara, grandfather of Subhākara I.
The above section of the inscription in prose is followed by three verses in lines 4-8, describing Sivakara II who was the eldest son and successor of Subhākara I. In the last of these verses, king Sivakara II is described as Sugat-asraya, 'a Buddhist.' The three verses are followed by a long passage in prose in lines 8-13, introducing Paramabhattāraka Mahārājādirāja Paramēśvara Subhākara II described as the son and successor of Sivakara II and the issuer of the charter under discussion. He was a paramasaugata, a Buddhist,' like his predecessors. It is interesting to note that, like some of the Buddhist kings of the Pāla dynasty of Bengal and Bihar, paramasaugata Subhākara II claimed to have established the order of the varn-āśrama in its golden age purity in strict accordance with the scriptures (cf. niratisaya-śāstr-ānusāra-pravarttita-kritayug-ochit-āsankirnna-varnnaśrama-vyavastha in lines 9-10). This no doubt points to the great influence of the Brahmanical social system on the lay followers of Buddhism which, along with several other factors, ultimately led to the complete absorption of the latter into the Brahmanical fold. But the most important point in the description of king Subhākara II in our record is that he is here represented as the son of Sivakara II. He is, moreover, said to have been born of the queen Möhinidēvi who belonged to the Bhavana-vamsa, possibly indicating a royal family of which the progenitor was a ruler named Bhavāna, although no such king or dynasty is so far known to us from other sources. We know that, according to the Hindol and Dharakota plates of the king usually styled Subhākara II, he was the son of Sāntikara I, younger brother of Sivakara II, and was born of the queen Tribhuvanamahādēvi belonging to the Nāg-odbhava-kula, i.e., possibly a certain Näga family. We also know that after the premature death of that king, his mother Tribhuvanamahādēvi, also called Siddhagauri, ruled the Bhauma-Kara kingdom for some years during the minority of her son's son Säntikara II. King Sāntikara I is known to have ruled in the year 93. He was therefore followed on the Bhauma-Kara throne by Subhākara represented in the present inscription (dated year 100) as the son of his elder brother Sivakara II from Mõhinidēvi, although the Hindol and Dharakota plates (dated year 103) speak of a ruler of the same name as his own son from queen Tribhuvanamahädövi alias Siddhagauri. The information offered by the present inscription is a very valuable addition to our knowledge of Bhauma-Kara history. Sāntikara I seems to have been succeeded by Subhākara who was the son of Sivakara II from Möhinidēvi and this Subhākara was succeeded by another Subhākara who was the son of Sāntikara I from Tribhuvanamahādēvi. If such was the case, Mõhinidēvi's son Subhākara (to be called Subhākara II) must have ended his rule shortly after the year 100 and Tribhuvanamahādēvi's son Subhākara (to be called Subhākara III) must have succeeded him shortly before the year 103. It may, however, be argued that the issuer of the present charter as well as of the Hindol and Dharakota plates may have been one and the same king named Subhākara II and that he was actually the son of Sivakara II from the queen Mõhinidēvi but was adopted by Tribhuvanamahädevi queen of Sāntikara I between the years 100 and 103 of the era used by the Bhauma-Karakings, when he was actually on the throno. But I consider it impossible
JKHRS, Vol. II, p. 103. Cf. the exprossion prati-samanta, probably meaning 'rival foudatories,' usod in connection with the adversaries of his predecessor in lines 2-3.
* Graucia-cha-mala, p. 36: Šāstr-artha-bhäjä сhalnidnudaya varnar pratish payatā sva-dharmé, etc. * Miara, op. cit., p. 14.
• Ibid., pp. 23 ff. In her own Dhenkanal plate, queen Tribhuvanamahādēvi is described as the daugbter of Bājamalla of the southern country.
Above, Vol. XIX, pp. 263-4.
