________________
86
POLITICAL HISTORY OF N. INDIA FROM JAIN SOURCES
Paramara who sprang from the fire-pit of the sage Vasistha, who was defeated by Visvamitra'.'
This, the then prevalent mythological version of Paramära origin, is also attested by the Udayapur prašasti, wherein in Vs. 5-6 it is stated that once Visvamitra robbed the cow of the sage Vasistha. This action enraged the sage and then, out of his supernatural power, he created a man from his sacrificial pit, who later on killed (mära) the foes (parān) and got back the cow. This fact is also corroborated by the Navasähasanka-carita of the poet Padmagupta (Parimala) and from various bardic and epigraphic traditions, which agree in tracing the origin of the Paramāras from a fire-pit on Mt. Abu. European and Indian scholars have interpreted this myth to mean that the Paramāras belonged to the Hüpa Gurjara stocks and after the performance of some fire ceremony, they became fit to be admitted into the Hindu caste-system.
But the discovery of the Harasola copper plates1 sets aside this speculation. The earliest records which contain the reference to the fire-pitorigin, mostly belong to about the middle of the eleventh century A.D., while the Harasola copper plates are nearly a century older and do not refer to this origin. On the contrary they plainly state that Bappairāja (Väkpatirāja I) was descended from the family (kula) of the Raṣṭrakūta Akālavarṣa (Krsna III). From this it can be concluded that the Paramāras were members of the Râşṭrakūta race and they originally belonged to the Deccan.
A question naturally arises here: what was the motive in hiding or omitting the descent from such an illustrious race? The answer to this question is not wanting in history and certain indirect references from the Jain sources throw light on this point. One Jain inscription from Sravana Belagola of the time of the Ganga prince Märasimha, dated the Saka year 896 (974 A.D.), informs us that he (Märasimha) conquered the northern regions for Kṛṣṇa III and thereby acquired the title of the king of Gujarata.5
1 Tilakamañjari, V. 39
वाशिष्ठैः स्म कृतस्त्रयो वरशतैरस्त्यग्निकुण्डोवो ।
भूपाल: परमार इत्यभिधया ख्यातो महीमण्डले || अद्याप्युद्रत हर्षगद्रदगिरो गायन्ति यस्यार्बुदे । विश्वामित्रजयोज्झितस्य भुजयोर्विस्फूर्जितं गुर्जराः ॥
2 EI., I., p. 234.
3 I., V. 8.
4 PTOC. (Madras), 1924, pp. 303-08; EI., XIX, pp. 236 ff.
6 EI., V, p. 179: कृष्णराजोत्तरदिग्विजय विदितगुर्जराधिराजस्य ।
See also Jain Silälekha Sangraha, Pt. I, Ed. by Dr. H.L. Jain, p. 17.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
