South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

cancelled, either by incising a vertical stroke at the top or by chiselling off the wrong portion ; see achīkarat=and avivyadhat=, both in 1.5, =adhahkrit-ānya- in 1.18 etc. As regards individual letters, attention may be drawn to the somewhat rare initial ri in rijur-, 1.18 and to dh, the upper part of the left limb of which, for the first time in the records edited here, appears well-developed, though it is not yet joined to the right-hand vertical see dharmma, 1.3. The letter ś appears in two slightly different forms, see, for instance, kuśalō and hasty-aśva-, both in 1.8 ; so also n in =gun-ānatō and –pranamyah, both in 1.3 ; r, as the first member of a conjunct, generally appears as a rēpha above the line, but in –chārur= yad= 1.11, it is horizontal in form and prefixed to ya on the left below the line. The prishtha-mātrās are fully developed, but in some cases, as for instance in –mahā-pātrāya, 1. 2, -jātavēdas-, 1.4, ēkā, 1. 8, the vertical stroke on the right, representing medial ā, is only half drawn. In a few cases, both the strokes of the medial ō appear horn-shaped above the line, see prāp=ōnnatim, 1.6 and yad=yōshitām, 11. 11-12. A final consonant is indicated by its short form as well as by the addition of a small curve below it, see, e.g., kathamchit, 1.5. The form of th, which has a slightly developed vertical stroke on the right, shows that the present inscription is later than inscription No. 37, which comes from Kārītalāi itself.

The language is Sanskrit. The inscription is written in the later kāvya style, abounding in figures and hyperbolical descriptions. Except for the words yaś=cha in 1. 5 and kim vahunā in 1. 26, the record is in verse throughout. As regards orthography, we may note that the consonant following r is doubled rightly in =anabhyartthitō, 1. 2 etc., but wrongly¹ in sudarśśanah, 1 .21, and the sing for v is used to denote b throughout, see vahutarām-, 1.2, vōddhā, 1.7 and so forth. The sign of the jihvāmulīya occurs in 1.9 and that of the upadhmānīya in 1.30.

The inscription mentions three Kalachuri princes, Yuvarājadēva, Lakshmanarāja and Śanka[ragana]. Their names occur only incidentally in the extant portion. The earlier portion which probably contained a glorification of the first two, has been lost. Of the forty-two verses which have either wholly or partially been preserved, the first describes the great liberality of some person whose name is lost, but who was probably Lakshmanarāja. The next five verses eulogize Bhākamiśra, the minister of Yuvarājadēva, who is evidently the first prince of that name in the dynasty of the Kalachuris of Tripurī.. Bhākamiśra was born in the family (gōtra) of the sage Bharadvāja, performed many sacrifices, erected temples and dug wells in numerous places. His son Somēśvara is eulogized in the next twelve verses. He was proficient in various arts, sciences and systems of philosophy and performed many sacrifices. Even the king Lakshmanarāja is said to have once shouldered his palanquin to prevent it from falling down. Then comes, in eleven verses, the description of a very high temple of Vishnu, erected by Sōmēśvara at Kārītalāi. The image installed therein was probably of the boar incarnation, which is referred to in vv. 27 and 35, and was called Sōmasvāmin after the founder of the temple. The next thirteen verses enumerate the various donations made to the deity. In the town (pura) near the temple, eight Brāhmanas were caused to settle. To them the king, evidently Lakshmanarāja (II), donated the village Dīrghaśākhika (v. 30). He also gave another village, the name of which is lost, to the god on the occasion of a solar eclipse. His queen Rāhadā gave, with his consent, the village Chakrahradī and the illustrious Śanka[ragana] who is probably identical with Lakshmanarāja’s son and successor and who was then the crown-prince, gave the god another village on the occasion of a lunar eclipse (v. 33). ____________________

¹ This is prohibited by Panini, VIII, 4, 49.