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226
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
and by whom, leading him to dignity in the world, he has been brought to the condition of being the father (of the universe)! May the serpent of the creator of existence 80 accomplish the allayment of your distress,-(that serpent) the multitude of whose foreheads, bowed down afar by the pressure of the heavy weight of the jewels in (their) hoods, obscures the radiance of the moon (on his master's forehead); (and) who (with the folds of his body) binds securely on (his master's) head the chaplet of bones which is full of holes (for stringing them)! May the creator of waters," which was dug out by the sixty thousand sons of Sagara, (and) which possesses a lustre equal to (that of the sky, preserve for a long time the glories of this best of wells!
(L. 4.)-Now, victorious is that tribal ruler," having the name of the glorious Yasodharman, who, having plunged into the army of (his) enemies, as if into a grove of thornappletrees, (and) having bent down the reputations of heroes like the tender creepers of trees, effects the adornment of (his) body with the fragments of young sprouts which are the wounds (inflicted on him).
36
(L. 5.)-And, again, victorious over the earth is this same king of men," the glorious Vishnuvardhana, the conqueror in war; by whom his own famous lineage, which has the aulikara-crest, has been brought to a state of dignity that is ever higher and higher. By
35
30 bhava-srij. Originally, Brahman was the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Siva, the destroyer. But of course the Vaishnavas and the Saivas invested their own special gods with all three attributes. And, that bhava*ij here denotes Siva, is shown by the general purport of the preceding two verses, and especially by the mention of the chaplet of bones in this verse. He is always represented with a necklace of skulls, a serpent hanging round his neck, and the crescent moon on his forehead.
31 The ocean. The allusion in this verse is to the legend that the bed of the ocean was excavated by the Sons of Sagara in their search for their father's avamedha-horse, which was stolen from their custody by the sage Kapila, and was only found by them when they had dug down through the earth into the lower regions. Kapila, in his anger, reduced them to ashes; but subsequently restored the horse on the intercession of Amsumat, the grandson of Sagara. The obsequies, however, of the sons of Sagara remained unperformed, and their transfer to heaven was barred, until Bhagiratha, the grandson of Amsumat, brought the river Ganges down from heaven, and led it over the earth to the chasm made by the sons of Sagara. Flowing down through this, it washed their bones and ashes, by which they were raised to heaven. And, as such of its waters as remained in the chasm constituted the ocean, the latter was called sigara in commemoration of Sagara and his descendants.
[AUGUST, 1886.
him, having brought into subjection, with peaceful overtures and by war, the very mighty kings of the east and many (kings) of the north, this second name of "supreme king of kings and supreme lord,""" pleasing in the world (but) difficult of attainment, is carried on high. Through him, having conquered the earth with (his own) arm, many countries,in which the sun is obscured by the smoke, resembling dense dark-blue clouds, of the oblations of the sacrifices; (and) which abound with thick and thriving crops through (the god) Maghavan pouring cloudfuls of rain upon (their) boundaries; (and) in which the ends of the fresh sprouts of the mango-trees in the parks are eagerly plucked in joy by the hands of wanton women,-enjoy the happiness of being possessed of a good king. Through the dust, grey like the hide of an ass,-stirred up by his armies, which have (their) banners lifted on high; (and) which have the lodhratrees tossed about in all directions by the tusks of (their) infuriated elephants; (and) which have the crevices of the Vindhya mountains made resonant with the noise of (their) journeying through the forests,-the orb of the sun appears dark (and) dull-rayed, as if it were an eye in a peacock's tail reversed.""
(L. 9.)-The servant of the kings who founded the family of that lord was Shashṭhidatta,the fame of whose religious merit was known far and wide through the protection of (their)
janendra; see page 223 above, note 2.
This expression looks at first sight as if Yasodhar
man and Vishnuvardhana were one and the same person. But the general structure of this verse, as well as the use of the two distinct titles janndra and naradhiputi and and of the expression atma-vans, shews that this is not the case. "This same," simply means "this reigning king," in whose time the inscription is written.
3 naradhipati; see page 223 above, note 3.
35 I have not been able to obtain any explanation of the word aulikara; but it seems to denote either the hot-rayed (sun),' or the cool-rayed (moon).'-As regards lanchhana, a mark, sign, token, spot, which I render by crest, it is the technical term for the principal emblem impressed by kings on the copper-scals attached to their charters, and is quite distinct from the emblem on their dhvajas or banners. Thus, the Rattas of Saundatti and Belgaum had the suvarau garuda-dhvaja or banner of a golden Garuda,' but the sindhura-linchhana or elephant-crest' (e.g. line 43 of the Terdil inscription of Saka-Samvat 1045 &c.; ante, Vol. XIV. p. 18, and p. 24, note 24.) The Chalukyas, in all their branches, had the varihaláñchhana or boar-crest," which appears on the seals of all their charters; and the special connection of the lanchhana with the sasana or charter, is shewn by a passage in lines 73 ff. of the Korumelli plates of Rajaraja II.," on whose charter the mighty form, that of the first boar, of (the god) Vishnu, which lifted up the entire circle of the earth on the tip of (its right-hand) tusk, became in a pleasing way the crest" (ante, Vol. XIV. p. 85).
4
rájádhiraja. i.e."looked at from the wrong side of the feathers."
paramivara.
