________________
No. 45)
TWO NISHIDHI INSCRIPTIONS FROM SONDA
Akalanka and the Bhaṭṭakalanka matha among the Jaina community of the Bombay-Karnatak area. At a distance of about a mile from this matha and in the midst of the forest is preserved a cemetery set apart for the interment of the deceased pontiffs of the matha. In this burial ground, arrayed in decent rows and constructed with characteristic designs stands conspicuous a large number of Jaina sepulchres known as nishidhis. On two of these constructions, which are more dignified and stand prominently at the commencement of a row are engraved the following two epigraphs which I copied in the course of my epigraphical survey of the Sirsi taluk in 1939-40. I am editing them below for the first time with the kind permission of the Government Epigraphist for India. These inscriptions will hereafter be alluded to as A and B for the sake of brevity."
293
A is incised on the four sides of the first nishidhi construction, while B is inscribed on a slab fixed into the front side of the second nishidhi construction referred to above. The figures of a reclining seat and kamandalu are carved in the right and left corners at the top of B. The orthographical convention of doubling the consonant after r is followed in some expressions of both the records; e.g., -acharyya and svargga- occurring in lines 4 and 9 of A and 5 and 11-12 of B. Both the inscriptions are written in Kannada characters and language which is of the post-Vijayanagara period. Except for the last two lines of A, which contain a Sanskrit verse in the Anushtubh metre, the composition of the two records is in prose.
A is an epitaph announcing the death of a Jaina teacher, named Akalamkadeva, on Kärttika su. 10, Wednesday, of the Saka year 1530 and Plavaṁga. This teacher bore the following titles: Raya-rajaguru (royal preceptor of kings), Mamḍalacharya (high-priest of the state), Mahavadavadiévara (supreme disputant in profound discussions), Raya-vädi-Pitämaha (god Brahma among the royal disputants), Sakala-vidvajjana-chakravarti (paramount sovereign in the assemblage of the learned) and Ballalaraya-jivaraksha-palaka (saviour and protector of life of the Ballala king). He bore two more epithets, viz., Desi-gan-agraganya and Samgitapura-simhasana-paṭṭācharya, which show that he belonged to the Desi gana of the Mula sangha and adorned the pontifical throne of Samgitapura. The Sanskrit verse at the end states that the memorial vault (nishidhi-mantapa) was caused to be erected by Bhaṭṭakalamkadeva, expounder of the Syādvāda doctrine. In the context of events it would not be unreasonable to assume that this Bhaṭṭākalamkadeva was a disciple of the deceased Akalamkadēva.
In regard to the date cited above, it may be noted that the Saka year was current and the weekday was Tuesday on the specified tithi. Making allowance for this discrepancy it may be equated with 1607 A.C., October 20.
B again is an epitaph purporting to record the demise of another Jaina teacher, by name Bhaṭṭakalamkadēva, who expired in the second ghațika after sunrise on Kärttika su.10 of Saka 1577, Jaya. This teacher also bore the titles, such as Raya-rajaguru, etc., enumerated above in respect of Akalamkadeva. The expression Desi in line 4 might be an abbreviation of Desi-ganagraganya occurring in A and as such it would indicate that this teacher also belonged to the Desi gana of the Mula sangha.
1 At the time of my visit to the place I met the Svamijl of the matha and he told me that it was called the Bhattakalanka matha. In response to my enquiry Prof. A. N. Upadhye, Rajaram College, Kolhapur, informed me that the matha was known as that of Akalanka and that this traditional name was quite popular (letter dated 28-8-1944). While editing the copper plate records from Sönda, Prof. K. G. Kundangar observes that the matha took its name after its founders, Akalanka and Bhaṭṭakalanka; Jaya Karnataka (Kannada monthly), 1925-26, p. 13. Both these traditions are in support of the identification of the two Jaina teachers proposed in the article. But the same writer is not certainly correct when he says that the matha was founded in the 4th century A. C. As shown in the article, the matha must have come into existence only during the 16th century A.C.
These inscriptions have been registered as Nos. 77, 78 of 1939-40, An. Reds. on S. I. Epigraphy for 1939-40 to 1942-43, Appendix E.
