North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE YAJVAPALAS OF NARWAR

Prayāga and obtained two sons who were named Gāṅgadēva and Yāmunadēva respectively (v. 16). Gāṅgadēva is again extolled in the next verse, the description being all conventional. His wife was Lōṇā (v. 18), who gave birth of four sons, viz., Palhaja, Harirāja, Śivarāja and Haṁsarāja (vv. 19-20). Palhaja, who is evidently the same as Palhadēva of the inscription, as seen above, is eulogised in v. 21, as the object of his master’s confidence, benevolent, pious, truthful and learned. He constructed a sacred place (dharma-sthāna) by building a stepped well and a temple of Śambhu with Umā and planting an orchard, for the merit of his deceased brother, Harirāja, evidently at the same place and at Narwar where the stone was discovered (vv. 22-25).^[1] The next verse expresses the hope that the religious place may prosper.

The verse that follows is devoted to the description of Dāmōdara of the Māthura clan (of the Kāyasthas), his son Lōhaṭa, who was a treasury-officer (of Chāhaḍa, as already seen above), and the latter’s son Śivanābha who composed the present praśasti.^[2] He is the same person who also composed the Baḍodī and the Surwāyā inscriptions, dated respectively in V.S. 1336 and V.S. 1339 ; and the same verse which describes him for three generations and appears in those two records is repeated here. The record was written by Arasiṁha, the son of Abhinanda and was engraved by the Sūtradhāra (architect) Dhanauka. And here the praśasti closes with the date which we have already discussed above.

As for the localities mentioned in the present inscription, Nalapura (l. 2) is the same as Narwar, as seen above, and Gōpāchala (l. 7) is, of course, Gwālior. Kirtidurga (l. 6), as we have already remarked, may have been identical either with Dēvagaḍh or Chandērī ; and Gaṅga, Yamunā and Prayāga (l. 11) are all well known. Samīsthala, or Śamīsthala (l. 2), if it is a place, cannot be identified.

TEXT^[3]
[Metres: Verses 1, 5, 12-13, 17, 24 and 25 Upajāti ; v. 2 Pādākulaka ; vv. 3 and 20 Āryā ; vv. 4, 7, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26 and 28 Anushṭubh ; v. 16 Indravajrā ; v. 8 Āryāgīti ; vv. 9 and 14 Gīti ; v. 16 Irregular (first and third pāda, Indravajrā, and second and fourth pāda, Indravaṁśā) ; v. 21 Sragdharā ; and v. 27 Śārdūlavikrīḍita ].

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^[1] As is also evident from the expression iha in l. 6 and idam in l. 18 of the present inscription.
^[2] He also composed Nos. 161 and 175 ; and his brother Jayasiṁha composed the preceding record, as stated in its v. 22.
^[3] From the original stone and impressions.
^[4] Expressed by a symbol.
^[5] The part of the stone bearing the ūrdhva-mātrā has peeled off, leaving only a trace of it visible.
^[6] Here, as also at some places below, the letter in the bracket, appears as a combination of the palatal and the dental sibilant. The ṭā that follows
appears as ya by a wrong stroke.
^[7] Here the parts of two letters appear as mixed with each other. bears an additional chisel stroke.
^[8] As also noted by Sircar, an anusvāra above pu seems to be rubbed off by the engraver.
^[9] The sign of anusvāra is faintly visible on the stone and the superscript kh is not properly formed. Sircar read .
^[10] Read as one pāda after dropping the visarga after dha and also after śa. The adjective trividha here denotes Aśvapati, Gajapati and Narapati
i.e., strong in cavalry, elephant force and infantry, as already suggested by Sircar.