Copper plates from Kondavidu (set I) — reign of Pr̥thivīśrīmūla, year 25

1svasti vijayatāṇḍikoṇḍavāsakād devadvijagurucaraṇasamārādhinādhigataniratiśayapuṇyanicayasya sakaladiṅmaṇḍalālaṅkārabhūtayaśasaḥ śrīprabhākaravikhyātamahārājasya sūnur mmātāpitr̥pādānuddhyātaś śrutismr̥tivihitapadārtthāvabodhajanitaprajñāvivekaniravagītānupālitāśeṣavarṇṇāśramadharmmaḥ parānugrahamātraprayojanapratipannaiśvaryagurubhāraḥ paramamāheśvaraḥ śrīmān pr̥thivīśrīmūlarāja °evam ājñāpayati yathā ya tāḻupākaviṣaye velpukoṇḍa°ūṟukoṇḍamaddi2ceruvu°ātukūrākhyagrāmamaddhyāvasthitaḥ kalvaceṟuvuḷa nāma grāmaḥ śrīmahāmeghavāhanapratiṣṭhāpitavarddhamānimahāvihāranivāsarater ddhyānādhyayanakarmmānuṣṭhānaparasyāryyabhikṣusaṁghasya yathāsukhaṁ caturvvidhapratyayaparibhogāya sarvvābādhaparihāreṇa sarvvādānaparivāraḥ tāmraśāsanīkr̥tya mahāmātrapuṇyaśāsanamātāmahīpuṇyaprāptyartthaṁ pr̥dhivīśrīmūlarājena dattaḥ tad atra śrutismr̥tivihitasadācārānuṣṭhānaparais sarvvair eva 3rājabhir ayam asmadīyo dharmma °iti paripālanīyaḥ hastikośavīrakośena ca tathāpy uktaṁ ||bahubhir vvasudhā dattā bahubhiś cānupālitā yasya yasya yadā bhūmiḥ tasya tasya tadā phalam iti ||–yaś cātra lobhapramādād ajñānakṣudraparivāradoṣavaśād vā vilopaṁ kuryāt· tasyāyaṁ smr̥tivihitaḥ pratyavāyo yathāha nighnatām bhartr̥govipra bālayoṣidvipaścitaḥ yā gatis sā bhaved vr̥ttiṁ 4harataḥ śāsanākitām· ||–tām eva rakṣato yatnāt· nibodha kr̥tinaḥ phalam· naikakalpasahasrāṇi divi devais sa divyati ||–ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasrāṇi svargge krīḍati bhūmidaḥ °ākṣeptā cānumantā ca tāny eva narake vased iti ||pravarddhamānavijayasaṁvatsare pañcaviṁśatitame °āṣaḍhamāsaśuklapakṣasya pratipadi svamukhājñā yāvaj jaladhimervvarkka diṅmahīnabhasa sthiti tāvat· śrīmūlarājasya loke tiṣṭhatu śāsana

-samārādhinā-Correct -samārādhanā-, as indicated by .sakaladiṅmaṇḍalālaṅkāra-sakaladiṅmaṇḍalālankāra-sūnurssū(sū)nuryaEmend yat. : (n.11) considers the akṣara redundant.-°ūṟukoṇḍa--°uṟukoṇḍa--°ātukūrākhya--°atukūrākhya--grāma-: (n.12) needlessly proposes to emend -grāmāṇāṁ.-maddhyāvasthitaḥ-madhyavasthitaḥkalvaceṟuvuḷakalvaceṟuvulacaturvvidhapratyaya-caturvidhapratyāya-sarvvābādhapari-sarvvabādhapari- corrects dha- to dhā-. But the reading -bādhāpari- is not attested anywhere in these inscriptions. The reading as it stands could be corrected sarvvabādhapari-, in which case one could argue that the scribe anticipated correct sarvvā- further on in the line. Note, however, that the same reading sarvvābādhaparihāreṇa is preserved in EIAD 175, l. 33; sarvvābādhaparihāram is found in 170, l. 8. It therefore seems necessary to take the compound as sarvva + ābādha-.mahāmātrapuṇyaśāsanamātā- corrects tra to trā, but this does not seem desirable.pr̥dhivī-Correct pr̥thivī-. The scribe has omitted the central dot that would have made th out of dh. has not noticed the error.tad atratadanuhastikośavīrakośenaThe editor of Krishna Sastry’s publication (n. 15) proposes to correct to hastikośavīrakośābhyāṁ.tathāpytadhāpyKrishna Sastry corrects his reading to tathāpy. It seems unproblematic to read th.-parivāra--paricāra-doṣavaśād vā vilopaṁ-doṣavaśād vivilopaṁWith parenthetic ‘corrections’ to -doṣavaśāt vidhilopaṁ.smr̥tivihitaḥ pratyavāyosmr̥tivihitapratyavāyobhartr̥-bhatr̥--bāla--bala--vipaścitaḥvipaścidaḥvr̥ttiṁ harataḥvr̥ttiharataḥśāsanākitām·Emend śāsanāṁkitām·, as indicated by .yatnāt·The final consonant looks a bit more like n·, but it seems highly unlikely that this is what the engraver intended.divyatiEmend dīvyati, as indicated by .°āṣaḍha-Emend °āṣāḍha, as indicated by .svamukhājñāsvamukhājñayā-nabhasa sthitiThe reading is uncertain; one has the impression that the engraver first wrote ṣṭ and then tried to correct it into something which may as well have been intended to be ssth as sth. Emend -nabhasas sthitiḥ, as indicated by .śāsanaEmend śāsanam·, as indicated by .

Hail! From the victorious camp of Tāṇḍikoṇḍa, the illustrious king Pr̥thivīśrīmūla, blessed by the feet of his parents; upholder of all laws on class and stage of life, in impeccable manner, through [his] intelligence and discrimination produced by [his] perception of the meanings of the words enjoined in revelation and tradition; who had undertaken the heavy burden of sovereignty with the sole purpose of favoring others; devout worshiper of Maheśvara; son of the celebrated great king Śrī Prabhākara, whose fame was the ornament of all quarters of space, whose unsurpassed store of merit had been obtained by the veneration of the feet of gods, brahmins and masters — he commands as follows:

‘The village named Kalvaceṟuvuḷ, situated in the middle of the villages called Velpukoṇḍa, Ūṟukoṇḍa, Maddiceruvu and Ātukūrā, in the Tāḻupāka district, has been given by king Pr̥thivīśrīmūla, accompanied by [the right to take] levies, with complete exemption from taxes, after making a charter in copper, with a view to his maternal grandmother obtaining the merit of a grant entailing very copious merit, for the purpose of unrestricted (yathāsukham) use for the fourfold requisites by the community of noble monks, devoted to the execution of tasks such as meditation and study, delighted to reside in the great monastery of Vardhamāni that had been established by Śrī Mahāmeghavāhana — therefore [it] is to be safeguarded by all [future] kings, devoted to the execution of good conduct in this connection, as enjoined in revelation and tradition, [thinking] “This is our duty,” [and particularly] by the Hastikośa and the Vīrakośa.’ And thus is it said:

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 one who would carry out the annulment [of a foundation], whether by cupidity and negligence, or by ignorance and under influence of the sins of lowly dependants, to fim [befalls] this offence stated in tradition. It is said:

The destiny of those who slay their master, a cow, a brahmin, a child, a woman or a learned man, will be the one of him who seizes [the land/livelihood] that is marked by a (royal) charter.

Hear the fruit of the virtuous man who protects it scrupulously: during numerous thousands of aeons he plays in heaven with the gods.

The giver of land revels in heaven for sixty thousand years; the one who seizes [land] as well as the one who approves (of the seizing) will reside as many [years] in hell.

Oral command [issued] in the twenty-fifth victorious and prosperous year, on the first [day] of the waxing fortnight of the month of Āṣāḍha.

As long as the endurance of oceans, Meru, sun, directions, earth and sky, so long may the charter (or: rule) of Śrī Mūlarāja endure on earth!

First described and edited by : 72-3, 76-7. Re-edited here from available documentation and after autopsy of the plates.

: 1-11. This reproduces the same author’s 1990 publication without any of the notes.1995-96: 3, no. A.4: 211-3