South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

their gaze on water and doing no harm to the multitudes of (aquatic) creatures;

(V.35) (where) women (had) their bodies sprinkled with sprays of water, discharged from the syringes held in the hands of their husbands, which (sprays) were efficacious in removing the fatigue caused by the rays of the sun;

(V.36) (Where) beautiful Nāga maidens repeat (the songs of) his fame sung by multitudes of humming bees which, with their mouths licking clusters of lotuses, have become intoxicated with the honey they have drunk (from them):

(V.37) He constructed such a tank for the needy (provided) with dams, which contains edible and unedible seeds (growing) in water such as the sevala (moss?), the white water-lily, water-plants (variparni) and lotus-roots. ⁴

(V.38) How did the rosaries fall from the hands of the sages who were sitting (on the bank of the tank) curbing their vital airs,¹ when they saw the eyebrows and limbs (such as) breasts, legs and thighs of (the women) who were engaged in sporting with their husbands in the ocean which is this tank !

(V.39) On whose bank the gods, the manes, the seven sages and men, being propitiated by the Brāhmaņas seated on excellent slabs of emerald, whose thighs are touched2 by silvery fishes darting through the waves (of water), praise him (i.e., Malaya- siḿha) of well-known fame. M

(V.40) He constructed (this) large tank, a matchless reservoir of water, in which flamingos sport in joy, their feathers being coloured with the spray of water yellow with the fresh saffron-paste on the bodies of heavenly damsels.

(V.41) He spent fifteen hundred ţankakas stamped with (the effigy of) the Bhagavat for (constructing) this reservoir of water.

(V.30) His excellent minister was the illustrious Harisimha by name, the son of the illustrious Jagatsimha, who was appointed as the distributor of betel, and fulfilled the wished of all supplicants with (gifts of) wealth.

(V.42) May the three gods³ confer their blessings on that Malayasiṁha,⁴ the successful yōgin, who has been eulogised by all hosts of suppliants and panegyrists with words of praise.

(V.43) Then there was the wise man, the foremost⁵ of the Vāstavya (family?), (who was) Uddharaņa in name also (as he was the savior in reality), (and who) having raised up nectar to the earth, had, as it were, the form of the god (Vishņu), the sole lord of the world.,

(V.44) Then was (born) his son,⁶ attractive to young women, who, being served by the goddess of fortune resembled in form Śrīdhara (i.e., Vishņu), (and) who, by the numerous collections of his virtues and abundant religious merit, made the earth pure and possessed of all qualities.

(V.45) His son on the earth was the Ţhakkura Lakshmīdhara who was conversant with marks⁷ and poetry. His son was Vidyādhara who was proficient in the quailties required for all offices.

(V.46) Vidyādhara, who is (fully) conversant with the principles of the three aims⁸ (of human life), but slightly with the essence of love, was the Superintendent and The cause of this tank as Sagara was of the ocean. __________________

¹The words samyaṁya ch=āsūn are obviously to be connected with munīnām and not with tāsām as done by Banerji.
² Vaṁchita (lit. deceived) is used here in the unusual sense of ‘touched.’
³, I.e., Brahmā, Vishņu and Śiva.
⁴ Here also the text has Malay=ānu-siṁhaḩ for which see p. 355, n. 4, above.
⁵, The sense of pratham-aika-lingaṁ is not quite clear to me.
⁶ Banerji takes Śrīdhara to be his name. This is possible as a teacher named Śrīdhara is named below in v. 47, but the text is not clear on the point.
⁷ I.e., with the science of palmistry.
⁸ I.e., dharma (religious merit), artha (wealth) and mōksha.