North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

Sivāya, l. 1; (3) showing the medial dipthongs more often by the mātrā at the back than above, and (4) the general use of anusvāra mostly to represent all the class-nasals except n and ṇ, as in Gaṅgā, l. 1 and -kaṇṭha-, l. 8, though exceptions are also to be found, e.g., the word maṇḍapa is written with the lingual nasal in l. 5 but with an anusvāra in l. 18 ; (5) occasionally it is difficult to distinguish between a redundant chisel stroke and a daṇḍa which is, in some instances, per so close to a letter as to appear a mātrā attached to it, e.g., after tha in l. 2, and after the word Sūtradhāra in l. 18 ; (6) a class-consonant after r is reduplicated as in pūrṇṇā, l. 12 ; and finally, (7) yuga in l. 3 is spelt as juga, betraying local influence.

The object of the inscription is to record the construction of a hall (maṇḍapa) for the temple of Nīlakaṇṭha by the guru (spiritual preceptor) of Kīrttivarman (ll. 5-7), the latter of whom is mentioned here only as a king. The house to which this king belonged is not mentioned in the record, but from the time of the inscription and from the region where the inscribed slab was found, he appears to be evidently identical with homonymous Chandēlla ruler and the son of Vijayapāla, as known from the preceding inscription.

The inscription is dated in ll. 16-17, in figures only, on the seventh day of the bright half of Māgha, of the year 1147, on Rēvati nakshatra ; and referring this date to the Chaitrādi Vikrama era and taking the years as expired, it corresponds to Thursday, the tenth January, 1090 A.C. This date falls within the reign period of Kīrttivarman whose earliest and latest known years are furnished respectively to be V.S. 1132 (1075 A.C.) and V.S. 1154 (1098 A.C.) by the Darbat and Dēogaḍh inscriptions. Thus the present date is not new ; but the record reveals for the first time the name of Kīrttivarman’s guru and also his patronage to Śaivism.

Opening with the customary invocation of Śiva, the inscription has a maṅgala-ślōka in praise of the same god, who is described as the basic pillar of the world and is evidently Nīlakaṇṭha himself in whose temple the inscribed slab was found. The second verse introduces the preceptor (guru) of Kīrttivarman as one who commanded mastery over the vast field of literature with its various phases of subtleties and who had attained enlightenment and high position by the favour of the three-eyed deity (Śiva).¹ The expression śrīmūrti used in this stanza may have been either his name or his title.² Stanzas 3-7 inform us that this person built a beautiful maṇḍapa adjoining to the temple of Nīlakaṇṭha, at Kālañjara, and now he requests (desires) the chief of the royal śrīkaraṇa (superintendent of the records department) and the other Śaivas who were Pāśupatas and the vārikas and others³ to comply with the request of Vāsudēva, by which they would also earn a part of the merit. The next two verses (8-9) speak highly of pouring water on Siddhaliṅgas and also repeat the request of Vāsudēva. It may be noted here that it is not an official record, and hence the preceptor of Kīrtivarman, who enjoyed a high position (mahimā, as used in v. l), desired the śrīkaraṇādhipa to regularise the whole affair. Further we are told that the inscription was composed by the Kāyastha, Ṭhakkura Dēvapāla, son of Pāyā,⁴ and the maṇḍapa was built by the Sūtradhāra Rāma.⁵

Line 19 of the inscription under study is extremely mutilated but the reading is certain. It may be translated as follows: “When the Sūtradhāra Rāma constructed the maṇḍapa, two halas (of land) were obtained.” It appears possible that Rāma was the donee, but who donated the land cannot be made out from the context. Admitting this difficulty, Dr. Katare who edited the
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¹ Katare translated the compound word -prabōdha-mahimā as ‘glory of knowledge’ (p. 163 of his article); I would, however, prefer to take here a dvandva compound, taking the latter of these words in the sense of ‘power’ as the royal preceptor could naturally have commanded.
² The way in which the word Śrīmūrti is put in this stanza is rather obscure, and Dr. Sircar who takes this to be rather ‘an honorific expression’ than a personal name, observes that his real name was Vāsudēva. as quoted in his own speech in v. 5 (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXI, p. 164, n. l). But this would involve dūrānvaya ; and as the word Śrīmūrti is followed here by iti, I am inclined to take it the name of the royal preceptor, presumably so called after he had acquired attainment and prestige. It so, it is consistent with his birth-name Vāsudēva, as given in his own speech.
³ See n. on the corresponding portion of the text, below.
⁴ The reading of this name is uncertain. We cannot be definite about the reading of the consonant of the second akshara.
⁵ The same Rāma figures also in another inscription found at the same place and of. V.S. 1188 (No. 117), as the father of the mason Lāhaḍa; and Dr. Katare identifies them both. This may be possible, but excepting only the similarity in name, we have no other evidence to hold this view definitely.