Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela and Bhabru Edict of Asoka

Author(s): Shashi Kant
Publisher: D K Print World

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The Hathīgumpha Inscription and the Bhabru Edict
born, noble, honourable) is a mere honorific and its equation with Ailena, i.e., 'descendent of Ila or Ila, father or mother of the Pururavas', is not possible. A royal honorific was necessary at the beginning of the description of the king and this purpose could not be served by Aila. Arya has been used in the meaning of 'noble, honourable, high-born' in ancient literature usually and it was also the usual form of address in the sense of 'Sir, My Lord, Your Majesty'. The word has no pretensions to the Aryan race, the way it has been used in literature.
If we leave out the epithets, the name complete with honorifics and titles would be 'Arya Mahārāja Mahāmeghavahana Kalingadhipati Śrī Khāravela' in L 1, ‘Śrī Kharavela' in L 14 and 'Rājā Śrī Khāravela' in L 17. Mahāmeghavahana (lit. Indra, or 'the rider of elephant') appears to be a royal title of the kings of Kalinga which they assumed or earned due to the preponderance of elephants in that region. The same honorifics and titles as Khāravela's in L 1 are borne by Kudepa whose inscription has been found in the nearby Pātālapura cave.1
Khāravela is the proper name. It can be equated with Sanskrit Kṣāra-vella, meaning 'moving sharp as the wind' or 'the very cyclone'. His career as depicted in this epigraph is true to his name.
He mentions the name of his family as Cedi-rāja-vamsa which signifies that it originally belonged to the Cedi region. There is no indication for connecting it with the puranic Cedis. As already observed, the founder hailed from the Cedi (Bundelkhand) region, was posted in Kalinga, and took advantage of the weakness of the Maurya authority like Simuka who was posted near Nasik. Such migrations were always possible.
The passage vadhamāna-sesa-yovanābhivijayo in L 2 simply means 'to make the remainder of his youth (seṣa yauvana)
1.
Airasa Mahārājasa Kalimgadhipatino Maha(megha)vaha(na)sa Küdepa-sirino lenam. (I.H.Q., XIV, 1, p. 160).