Kumudavillikā grant of the time of Śasāṅka, year 8 EpiDoc encoding Arlo Griffiths intellectual authorship of edition Arlo Griffiths Ryosuke Furui DHARMA Lyon DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00065

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The script, hardly anywhere nicely preserved in this inscription, is the form of Late Northeastern Brāhmī typical for inscriptions issued in Bengal during the reign of Śaśāṅka. However, one exceptional aspect of the script observed on this plate is its repeated use of the upadhmānīya and jihvāmūlīya signs, that we have not found so far in other inscriptions of early Bengal.

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Seal kumārāmātyādhikaraṇasya
Plate

svasti va ra kra vi bhāvibhiḥ śaṅkha-cintāmaṇi-muktakāgbharaṇaiś caturbhir mmahodadhibhiḥ mekhalayā Ivāvr̥tāyāṁ himavad-vindhya-kailāsaiḥ tr̥ribhir mmahā-śikharaiḥ śobhitāyāṁ janma-jarāmaraṇa-bhaya-śoka-saṁsārārtti-harāyā bhāgīrathīyāthyāḫ prāk-paścānusarppiṇībhiḥ sarvvato nimne-gābhiś copaśobhitāyāṁ vasundharāyāṁ sāgra-varṣa-śata-pravarddhamāna-kalyāṇa-maṅgalāyuṣmatas samara-śata-sahasra-vijayino brāhmaṇa-kṣatra-viṭ-śūdrādīnāṁ pañcānāṁ varṇṇāśramāṇāṁn niyamana-hetor amara-patir iva svayaṁ-pratiṣṭhitasya mahārājādhirāja-śrī-śaśāṅka-deva-rājasyāṣṭamaie ’bde jyaiṣṭhe pūrṇṇamāsyāṁ puṇye tithau muhūrtte cāsmin divasa-pmāsa-sāambvatsare rādhāputrāntaraṅga-nāgabhaṭagominā sādhikaraṇopetā meḍḍakhātādhivāsinaẖ kuṭumbino mahāpradhāna-rāmaprabhu-mahāmahattara-virahadeva-kaẖkuka-yajñuka-vappuka-vicittra-Udayadambha-guṇadāsa-varggapāloṣṭhitādyāā Abhihitā bhavatāṁ prītyā kiñ cic chreyam ao ’nuṣṭhātum icchāmīty ebhir abhihita Evaṁ kriyatām iti

tato ’nena nau-mahattara-bhogapatika-vidagdhānumodanāya Eṣāṁm ādhivāsināṁ sa-karaṇopetānāṁ sakāśāt khilāvadhāraṇyṇīyaẖ kumaudavillikā nāma grāmo ’śītibhiḥ kārṣāpaṇaiḥ krītvā yathārahena vastrānnapānaiś cāpyāyitvā yogeśvara-pramukha-kāṇvika-śākha-nānā-gotra-tapa-svādhyāyopetebhyo vrāhmaṇāryyebhyaḥ yattra śrīyogeśvara-bharadvāja-sagotras surabhisvāmi-kātyāyana-sagottro dāmayaśasvāmi-gottrayaśasvāmi-rājñayaśasvāminaś ca maudgalya-sagotroā mmādhavasvāmi-dhanañjaya-sagotro līlasvāmi-bharadvāja-sagotro rudrasvāminasagotro bhogayaśasvāmi-vidagdhasvāmi-budhasvāminaś cety ebhyas tāmraśāsanīkr̥tya datto

sīmā tasya pūrvveṇa suktravarddhārṣaka dakṣiṇena paścimena gomayakhaṇḍaḥ Uttareṇa śākrārṣāvakratāyā tāś ca pāñcavarṣaIayikāvarṣikā Ity ābhis sīmābhir viṅśatikārṣāpaṇyabhogādānam upalavdhan tattra na kena cccit svalpāpy āvādhā bhāvyā

kāraṇaṁ

vahubhir vasudhā dattā rājāabhis sagarādibhiḥ yasya yasya yadā bhūmis tasya tasya tadā phalaṁ ṣaṣṭi-varṣa-sahasrāṇi svargge modati bhūmi-daḥ Ākṣeptā cānumantā ca tāny eva narake vaseT sva-dattāṁ paradattām vāpi yo hareta vasundharāṁ sva-pviṣṭhāyāṁ kr̥mir bhūtvā pitr̥bhiḥ saha pacyate
Seal kumārāmātyādhikaraṇasya Our restitution of the almost entirely illegible akṣara mā implies that this akṣara would have occupied an unusual amount of space. If our reading is correct, then it may be noteworthy that precisely the same combination of device and legend is also observed in the clay sealing from Basarh at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (AC1993.239.7), referenced in 3524 and on the seal of the Tipperah plate of Lokanātha.
Plate °bhiḥ mekhalayā Absence of doubling of the m in me (as opposed to the doubling of m in mma) leads us to supply ḥ rather than r. bhāgīrathīyāthyāḫ prāk- The assumption of an akṣara ḫprā, with the upadhmānīya sign which is not otherwise attested in the epigraphy of Bengal, admittedly lends a tentative character to our choice of reading and interpretation. However, there are two cases of ḫpā in the Ganjam plates dated to the reign of Śaśāṅka, from Southern Orissa, lines 5 and 17. nimne-gābhiś The unexpected e-mātrā is faint but apparently undeniable. One must either accept nimne-ga as an otherwise unattested aluk-samāsa, or treat the locative case ending as a mere error and emend nimna-gābhiś. -yajñuka- Compared, on the one hand, with the jña at the end of line 13 (as well as with cases of jña in other inscriptions of this period) and, on the other hand, with the rṇṇā in line 5, the subscript consonant here can easily be read as ṇ, although the shape of the right loop is more compatible with ñ. Since ñ must have been intended, we assume that we are merely dealing with a ñ of slightly imperfect execution. -pāloṣṭhitādyāā Abhihitā The reading ṣṭh is quite uncertain, and Uṣṭhita does not seem to be a plausible name, but we are unable to propose any more satisfactory reading. sa-karaṇopetānāṁ The redundant compound sa-karaṇa-upeta is synonymous with sa-adhikaraṇa-upeta seen above. The use of karaṇa for adhikaraṇa is also found in the Antla plate of the time of Śaśāṅka, year 8 (seal and line 7) and the Antla plate of the time of Śaśāṅka, year 19 (seal and line 9). pāñcavarṣaIayikāvarṣikā The scribed intended to write the word pāñcavarṣayikā, but pāñcavarṣikā is the correct form. na kena cccit svalpāpy āvādhā bhāvyā It seems the engraver has written ccit rather than expected cit. For similar phraseology, from the Licchavi corpus, closely related to Śaśāṅka in time and place, we may cite the Ādi-Nārāyaṇa Temple Inscription of Thankot (lines 20–21, 25–27): na kena cid asmat-pādopajīvinā svalpāpy ābādhā kartavyā ye ’py āgāmino rājāno ’smad-vaṁśyā bhaviṣyanti te ’py enām asmad-dattām bhūmim anumoditum arhanti yatkāraṇaṁ bahubhir vvasudhā ; and the Luñjhya (Patan Palace) Inscription lines 12–13): alpāpi bādhā na kāryā. Cf. also na kena cid vādhā kāraṇīyā in the Soro plate of Bhānu, year 5 (line 12). In view of these and numerous other parallels, the gerundive bhāvyā is surprising in our context. But it is impossible to read either kāry(y)ā or kart(t)avyā, whereas bhāvyā seems a permissible reading. vāpi The syllable pi is not grammatically incorrect but needs to be deleted to obtain regular meter.

Hail! On the full-moon-day in the month of Jyaiṣṭha, during an auspicious tithi and muhūrta, in the eight year of the king Śrī Śaśāṅkadeva, overlord of great kings mahārājādhirāja, victor in a hundred thousand battles, endowed with beauty kalyāṇa, auspiciousness maṅgala and longevity āyus that prosper during a full hundred years, who was, like the king of the gods i.e., Indra, self-installed as cause of the taming of the five classes and life-stages of the Brahmins, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, Śūdras, and so on, on the earth that is surrounded, as it were, by a girdle formed by the four great oceans, whose decorations are conches, wish-jewels and pearls, that are ; on the earth that is beautified by the three great peaks, namely the Himavant, the Vindhya and Kailāsa, and additionally beautified by the rivers spreading out everywhere to the East and West of the Bhāgīrathī i.e., the Ganges, which removes the suffering of reincarnation that consists in birth, aging, death, fear and sorrow.

On this day, in this month and year, the antaraṅga called Nāgabhaṭagomin, son of Rādhā, addressed the kuṭumbins residing in Meḍḍakhāta, together with the office of the princely advisor, namely the mahāpradhāna Rāmaprabhu, the mahāmahattaras Virahadeva, Kaṣkuka, Yajñuka, Vappuka, Vicitra, Udayadagdha, Guṇadāsa, Vargapāla, Uṣṭhita, etc.: By your kindness, I wish to carry out some meritorious work śreyas. He was addressed by them: Please do as said!

Therefore, with a view to the assent from the nau-mahattara and bhogapatika named Vidagdha, he purchased from these residents, together with the office, the village, which needed to be ascertained as waste land, called Kumudavillikā, for eighty kārṣāpaṇas, and, after duly gratifying them with garments, food and beverages, gave it to the noble Brahmins of the Kāṇva School, of various gotras, steeped in ascetic practice and study, led by Yogeśvara, that is: Śrī Yogeśvara, of the Bharadvājagotra; Surabhisvāmin, of the Kātyāyanagotra; Dāmayaśasvāmin, Gotrayaśasvāmin, and Rājñayaśyasvāmin of the Maudgalyagotra; Mādhavasvāmin of the Dhanañjayagotra; Līlasvāmin of the Bharadvājagotra; Rudrasvāmin of the gotra; Bhogayaśasvāmin, Vidagdhasvāmin and Budhasvāmin — he gave it to them by way of edict in copper.

It boundary to the east is Suktravarddhārṣaka, to the south , to the west Gomayakhaṇḍa, to the north Śākrārṣāvakratāyā. And based on the finding that they are quinquennial, with these boundaries a revenue entitlement worth twenty kārṣāpaṇas was obtained. No one should make even a small encroachment upon it.

The reason is:

By numerous kings, land has been given; and by many it has been protected. Whoever holds land at a given moment, to him does the fruit then belong.

The giver of land resides sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who challenges a donation as well as the one who approves of the challenge will reside as many years in hell.

The one who would steal land given by himself or another becomes a worm in his own excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.

The use of the word kāraṇaṁ in line 18 to introduce the traditional admonitory stanzas is also found in the Asiatic Society grant of Bhavadeva, year 2 (line 61).

Previously unpublished. Edited here from photographs and RTIs by Ryosuke Furui & Arlo Griffiths.