Indian Antiquary Vol 61

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 131

JUNE, 1932 ]
MISCELLANEA
117
MISCELLANEA.
THE MATHURA PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF CHANDRA. The name Kuśika, who was possibly the founder GUPTA II, G. E. 61.
of this line of teachers, is interesting. Who could This inscription, which has not yet been edited,
this Kusika be? Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar had long has been engraved on a pillar which was originally
ago proved from & passage common to both the inserted in a wall situated in the Chandul Mandul
Vayů and Linga-purana that Lakuliga was the last Baghichi near Rangeśvara Mahadeva temple near
incarnation of Mahébvara, and that he had four
Ascetic disciples, namely, Kusika, Gargya, Mitra Muttra. It was discovered there by one Bholanåth, but has now been deposited in the Muttra Museum.
and Kaurushya. This information is strikingly
corroborated by the Cintra prasasti of the reign of The characters belong to the early Gupta period,
the Chaulukya ruler Sårangadeva (Ep. Ind., Vol. 1, when they were practically identical with those of the Kushåņa rocords. Most of the letters are so
p. 271 ff.) where the order of the names runs thus : very similar that it would have been well-nigh
Kusika, Gárgya, Kaurushya and Maitreya. The impossible to say that our's was a Gupta and not a
prasasti further tells us that these four disciples of
Lakuli were founders of four lines amongst the Kuahana record, if it had not contained the name of a Gupta king. The inscription belongs to the
Pabupatas, and even gives the names of three reign of Chandragupta, son of Samudragupta. The
achdryas or teachers belonging to the line of Gârgya, date of the inscription is 61, which of course has to
the second pupil of Lakuli. And now it is the new bo referred to the Gupta era. The earliest date we
Muttra inscription which throws light upon the had so far for Chandragupta II is G. E. 82. The
line of teachers or acharyas that was founded by date furnished by this epigraph is thus 21 years
Kusika, the first disciple of Lakuli. It appears earlier. It also sheds somo light on the length of
that, while the descendants of Gárgya established his reign. For, the latest date for this Gupta sove.
themselves at Somanâuha in Kathiêwêr, those of reign is 93; this shows that Chandragupta II had
Kusika were settled at Mathura. a reign of at least 32 years.
If the teachers mentioned in this Muttra inscrip
tion thus belonged to the Lakulića sect, it clears up After the specification of the date, the inscription
two or three obscure points of the record. The introduces us to a list of Mâhébvara teachers
first is how the lingas, if they were installed as extending over four generations represented by
memorials to Upamita and Kapila, could also Parâsara, Kapila, Upamita and Udit&charya. This
contain their portraits. The second point is why last, again, is specifically mentioned as dadama, or
all the dead teachers of this line are styled bhagarat. tenth in succession from Kuśika, who, it seems.
The third is why the living teacher Udit Acharya is must have been the founder of a line of teachers,
called Arya. though he may not have originated any new doc. trine or sect. Further, it should be noted that,
In the Annual Report of the Archeological Sur. while Udite is called merely an Arya, his three
vey, 1906-7, Prof. Bhandarkar contributed a paper immediato predecessors, as well as Kubika, have
on Lakulisa, where, with the help of copious illusreceived the supreme designation of Bhagavat,
trations, he was able to point out the figure of which is generally Associated with personages sup
Lakuli sculptured on door jambe, friezes of shrines, posed to have attained to the rank of divinity. I on the outside walls of templee, or as separate indeThe object of the inscription is to record that Udita
pendent sculptures, as a human being, invariably charya established two images called Kapilebvera with two hands, but with his characteristic signs, and Upamitesvara, evidently in the name of Kapila namely, & labula, or staff, in his left hand and a and Upamita, his two immediato predecesore, in the citron in his right. There are, moreover, two regurvo-dyatana. The word svara, which forms part
presentations of him which are similar, and they are of the two names just referred to, shows that it was
both found at Karvan, the place where this last lingas that were installed ; and guruv-dyatana can
incarnation of Siva came off and passed away. only mean "the teacher's shrine." As none of the
Here, there are two lingas with portraits of gurus of the line to which Uditâchårya appertained
Lakuli sculptured on them. It will thus be seen was then alive, the guruv-dyatana can only denote
that the Siva linga has been combined with the the place where the memorials of the gurus were
representation of Lakuli into an image. It is, there. established. The inference is thus reasonable that fore, not at all unreasonable to suppose that even guruv-dyatana was a place where lingas were in
in the case of Upamitesvara and Kapile vara we stalled in the name of all the teachers who preceded have not mere Siva lingas set up here, but rather Udit Achêrya. The guruv-dyatana of our record lingas with portraite of Upamita and Kapila carved was thus a shrine which contained the lingas set up
on them, as is the case with Lakuli in the two to the memory of the gurus of the lineage to which
images of Karvan. Udit acharya belonged ; and it may safely be assumed Next, Upamita and Kapila, being descendants of that those lingas were not only named after the Kusika, must have been experts in the Pabupate gurus, but bore their portraits also.
yoga. We have, therefore, to presume that they