Epigraphia Indica Vol 34

Author(s): D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 94

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(VOL. XXXIV Inscription B exhibits medial a written in two ways, viz. (1) an upward stroke as in på (line 2), yi (line 3), rå (lines 3 and 4), etc., and (2) the right end of the top stroke being curved downward as in nā (lines 2 and 4; cf. ma in lines 1, 3, 4 and 6). It may also be noted that dā is written in both the ways (cf. lines 4 and 6).
The language of both the records is Sanskrit and, as already indicated above, the composition is in verse. We have fragments of three stanzas in A and of 9 in B. There is no complete verse in either of the records. In respect of orthography also the records resemble the Mandasor inscriptions referred to above. The consonants t, j and y following are reduplicated (cf. line 1 of A and lines 2, 5 and 8 of B). T followed by r and dh followed by y have been likewise reduplicated respectively in yattra (line 1 of A) and Maddhyamam (line 3 of B). Anusvāra has been changed to the guttural nasal in vansajē (line 2 of A).
The space above the writting in A shows that no line is broken away from the top. The first verse (line 1) refers to the Supreme Spirit (cf. param) beyond the reach of one's conception (dhih), mind (
manas) and speech (bhārati) and reminds us of the Upanishadic saying na tatra chakshur-gachchhati na väg=gachchhati na mano, etc. There is no doubt that A began with a stanza in adoration to the Absolute Being. The real significance of the second verse (lines 2-3) cannot be guessed from the extant words although it may have contained a reference to the king during whose reign the record was incised. The first half of the third stanza (line 3) speaks of a certain Vishnudatta described as the best among the merchants. Evidently this same Vishnudatta is mentioned in B which, as we shall see below, seems to be a record of the pious deeds of his son. It is not impossible that the second half of the third stanza in A also referred to certain pious activities of the same person.
The first stanza (line 1) in B speaks of one having the moon hidden in the matted locks which are curled and slightly tawny in colour. It is undoubtedly an invocatory verse in praise of the god Siva. The second stanza (line 2) refers to one's protection of the earth, to which the people are stated to have been attached. It also refers to the same person's strength and the shattering of the prowess of his enemies. There is thus a clear reference here to a king during whose reign the inscription was engraved. But his name is unfortunately not traceable in the extant portion of the record. The third stanza (line 3) refers to one who was apparently Rajasthaniya or governor no doubt ruling over Dasapura and Madhyamă by the order of the person mentioned in the previous stanza, i.e. of the ruling king of the country. There is little doubt that this Rajasthāniya was the hero of the eulogy contained in the inscription and that its object was to record one of his pious deeds.
Usually the family of the hero of a prasasti is introduced after the introduction of the reigning king. Thus the Mandasor inscription of 532 A. D., which is a more elaborate eulogy than the one under study, introduces the reigning king Yasõdharman Vishnuvardhana (verses 5-9) after the mangala stanzas at the beginning and then speaks of Shashthidatta of the Naigama family as a servant of the rulers of the dynasty to which the said king belonged. The genealogy is then traced from Shashthidatta to Daksha alias Nirdosha, the hero of the prabasti, in the following way: Shashthidatta; his son Varähadasa ; [his brother ?]' Ravikirti ; his three sons Bhagavaddosha, Abhayadatta (a Rajasthaniya of the land bounded by the Vindhya, the Rēva, the Pāriyatra and the Sindhu or the Arabian Sea) and Dosha kumbha ; Döshakambha's two sons Dharmadoshs (8400888or of
1 Kenopanishad, 3.
The vorb babhiva in the Past Perfect tense used in Vishnudatta's description may support the inforence although we cannot be quite sure about it (of. JUPH8, New Series, Vol. III, 1966, pp. 01 ff.).
1.e. a family of merchants (of. Laders' List, No. 1001). Fleet wrongly took it to be a family of Brihmap (CII, Vol. II, p. 166).
The language is not clear as to whether Ravikirti was the same as Vorkhidles or the lattor's brothor or son.