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No. 49]
METHI INSCRIPTION OF YADAVA KRISHNA; SAKA 1176
The inscription comprising 13 lines is engraved on the lintel of the entrance to the central hall of the Vishnu temple near Hariba's well, popularly known as the Anantasayana temple. The inscribed area measures 59" long and 12" broad. The record is in a good state of preservation. The characters are Nagari of the 13th century A.C., being normal for the period. The average height of the letters is ".
The prishthamātrās are used to denote the medial ai and au in general. The occasional use of v for b and vice versa may be noted; e.g., Vrahma for Brahma in line 1 and sarbe for saree in line 2. Noteworthy also is the substitution of sh for kh, as in Visasha for Visakha in line 2; and vice versa as in ekha for ëshã in line 13. The orthographical convention of doubling the cosonant after r is not generally followed except in a few cases, e.g., varnṇanam in line 7 and utkirṇņā in line 13. There are a large number of clerical errors, the majority of which constitute the improper use of the visarga: e.g., the visarga is used superfluously in the following cases, namah-stribhu in line 1 and athah in line 7; the same is wrongly omitted in the following instances, Rudra for Rudrah in line 1 and visvarupa for visvarupaḥ in line 2. Nrisimha is written as Nrisimgha in line 8.
The language is Sanskrit and the composition is faulty in many places. The words muni and bhumi are spelt as muni and bhumi for the sake of metre in lines 2 and 4. The expression charima in the compound chitra-charitra-charima-chamatkārāḥ(1.5) is obscure. The form yasaḥsya- is incorrectly used for yasasya- (1.7). Metrical flaws may be detected in the use of the proper names Dhaḍipaka and Vesugi in line 4. Such defects have been corrected in the body of the text and in the foot-notes. The major part of the record comprising lines 1-8 and 12-13 is composed in verse and the rest in prose. The verses are duly numbered and each half is denoted by a danda. The poetry is not of high order.
The epigraph commences with an invocation to god Vasudeva. God Vishnu and his universal form (vitvarupa) are praised in the next two verses (vv. 1-2). Then comes the date and a brief statement of the gift (v. 3). The genealogy of the princes who were born in the lineage of Krishna, i.e., the Yadavas of Devagiri, is summarised in the two following verses (vv. 4-5). Verse 6 is devoted to the eulogy of Krishna, the reigning king of this family, who is said to be brave, diplomatic and handsome. This ruler made a free gift of the village Kurukavaṭaka. Half the income derived from this was to be utilised for the daily worship and offerings, etc., of the god Bhadrahari and the remaining half to be bestowed upon the Brahmanas engaged in the performance of sacrifices (vv. 7-8). In the next verse is described the temple of Bhadrahari who appears to be identical with god Nṛisimha (v. 9). Then follows a list of particular Brahmanas who were beneficiaries of the endowment (lines 3-11). A person named Gangadhara is said to have made over houses, land and money, possibly for the convenience of the Brahmanas (v. 11). Verses 12-13 are imprecatory. Verse 10 contains a reference to a person named Siddha Sarasvata of the Kasyapa family who appears to have cut the stone suitably for inscribing the record. In the last verse which is however left unnumbered, it is stated that the god's image was fashioned with due dimensions according to the prescribed code and that the record (prasasti) was incised by the sculptor Hemadeva' (v. 14).
The date expressed in chronogram is stated thus: Saka 1176, Ananda, Visakha (i.e., Vaisakha), su. Jayani, Soma. Jayani appears to be the name of the Ekadasi or the eleventh day of the fortnight. As such if we equate Jayani with the 11th tithi, the date would regularly correspond to 1254 A.C., April 29, Wednesday, if we treat Soma of the original as a mistake for Saumya. It is to be noted in this connection that all the twenty-four Ekadasis of the Hindu
This Hemadera has been identified with the famous minister and scholar Hömädri by Mr. Kulkarni, ibid. This is ridiculous. 5 DGA
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