South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE EARLY CHALUKYAS OF GUJARAT

(Line 3) From the victorious camp fixed at Kusumēśvara near Kārmaņēya,¹ –– Adorning the family of the illustrious Chalukyas, ––who are of the Mānavya gōtra; which is being praised by the whole world ; who are the sons (i.e., descendants) of Hārītī; who were brought up² day by day by the Seven Mothers who are the mothers of the seven worlds; who have obtained continuous prosperity through the protection of Kārttikēya; who have all kings submitting to them the moment they see the boar-emblem which was obtained by the grace of the divine (god) Nārāyaņa,––there was the Mahārāja the illustrious Pulakēśivallabha (II), whose head was sanctified by the avabhŗitha³ bath in the Bahusuvarnaka and Aśvamēdha sacrifices; who is equal to Nŗiga, Nahusha, Yayāti, Dhundhumāra and Ambarīsha; who has won the war-standard from the illustrious Harshavardhana, the lord of the entire Uttarapatha⁴ (North India).

(L. 9) His son (was) the Mahārāja, the illustrious Vikramāditya (I), Satyāśrayavallabha, who meditated on his feet, who, by his irresistible valour, vanquished the armies of hostile kings unconquerable by others; who exterminated the family of the Pallava (king), the lord of the city of Kāñchī, and who conquered the three kingdoms.

(L. 11) His son (is) the illustrious Pŗithivīvallabha, Mahārājādhirāja, Paramēśvara, Bhattāraka Vinayāditya-Satyāśraya, who meditates on his feet and is adorned by humility and other uncommon royal excellences.

(L.13) The son of his paternal uncle, the illustrious Dharāśraya-Jayasimhavarman, whose pure fame has sprung from his victories in many battles, and who is a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara,––(viz.) the crown-prince the illustrious Śryāśraya- Śīlāditya,─who is intent on worshipping his lotus-like feet; who has defeated5 the armies of other kings by his political wisdom and valour ; who is proficient in all arts ; who, like the Emperor of the Vidyādharas⁶, is endowed with beauty, grace and loveliness, attractive to the minds of conquettish women clever in amorous sports,─addresses the (following) order to all kings, feudatories, heads of vishayas, Bhōgikas of villages, Mahattaras and others, according as they may be concerned⁷:-

(L.18) “Be it known to you (that) for the increase of the religious merit and fame of (My) mother and father and of Myself, I have granted with a libation of water on the holy day, (viz.) the full-moon day of Srāvaņa, a field on the eastern boundary of the village Ōsumbhalā situated in the āhāra (and) vishaya of Kārmaņēya,––to the east of which is the boundary of the village Allūraka ; to the south, a śamī tree, an ant-hill (and) the dam of a small tank ; to the west, two ambilakā8 trees ; to the north the dam of the mallāvi tank, the small tank called Madhuka, (and) the boundary of the field dedicated to the village goddess,––the field lying within these four boundaries, which is to be enjoyed by a succession of sons and sons’ sons, according to the maxim of waste land, as long as the moon, the sun, the ocean and the earth will endure, exempt from all gifts, forced labour and
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¹ The sentence is continued below in the words ‘the son of his paternal uncle’ in l. 13.
² I.e., made prosperous.
³ I.e., the final bath, taken after the sacrifice is over.
⁴ Rājaśekhara (K.M., p. 94) says that the country beyond Pŗithūdaka (modern Pēhoā in the Karnal District of the Panjab) is Uttarāpatha. Here, however, the whole of North India is meant.
⁵ Vijŗimbhita ‘expanded, manifested’, appears to be used here in the unusual meaning of ‘defeated’. Pandit Bhagvanlal, however, translates the expression as ‘who has pleased the multitude of other kings’.
⁶ This is Naravāhanadatta.
⁷ Pandit Bhagvanlal translates yathā-sambadhyamānakān by ‘wherever posted’.
⁸ These are tamarind trees according to Pandit Bha