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Halantas. T looks like a full-sized ta without a headmark (l21, l47); some specimens also have a short vertical tail, e.g. l21 balāT. N looks like a simplified and slightly reduced na without a headmark, with the top extended in a short tail slanting to the right (l10, l11, l17, l20 etc). M seems to be a circle without a tail, as in l22 bhuvaM. VR apparently sees no instances of final M in this text, but I am quite certain some final anusvāras in his edition are actually M.
Original punctuation marks are plain straight verticals, a character body in height.
Other palaeographic observations. Anusvāra is a dot after the character to which it belongs, placed at midline height or lower. Dependent o occurs both in the single-stroke cursive form and as two separate strokes. The cursive form (e.g. l2 gotrā°) has low humps identical on both sides, and a short tail descending barely below headline (but some instances, e.g. l16 kollabi°, have a longer tail, while others have none, ending well above headline, e.g. l18 tanayo). Dependent au (e.g. l3 kauśiki) does not differ conspicuously from cursive o and is read on the basis of context, without flagging as an erroneous o. The character dha is mostly written to look like va (e.g. (l1)). I, like VR, treat these as instances of dha, unclear due to unusual formation. Although most look like perfect specimens of va, not imperfect specimens of dha, there is also an instance of tha that looks like va with a dot in it (l6), while a normal-shaped tha occurs in l62. Normal-shaped dha also occurs (l25 vacadharasya, l33 °dhyakṣam). Because of this variation, I accept the va-like outline as an alternative form used by the scribe in question. There may well be a hand change starting with the word samasta in line 39 (near the end of 3v) and ending abruptly with vatsa at the end of line 41 (the second line on 4r), after which the text continues with a major omission at the beginning of line 42 (see apparatus). Within this stretch, characters are bolder and more evenly written, with a more cursive ductus and a slant to the right. The tail of dependent ā and (cursive) dependent o is extended down to or beyond the baseline, the tail of ha is extended ornamentally backward, and the initial loop of ya is almost the size of a regular character body (compare eṟiya in l41 against guṇḍiya in l37 and betiya in l42). The hand from l42 onward may be a third one, or it may be the first one with some changes. (Can it be that the text was inscribed by an apprentice up to l39? He may have made so many blunders in the last lines of 3v that the master took over for two lines, showed him how this is done, then gave the work back to the apprentice who afterward shaped some of his characters differently, but in his concentration on shaping them well, omitted a number of characters at the point of takeover?)
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svasti
-putrāṇāṁ kauśik
-mahāse
ta-vara-varā
vabhr̥
no
striṁśataṁ| tad-anujendrarājas sapta dināni| tan-nandano viṣṇuvarddhano nava saṁv
tsarā
tad-
daśa| tad-ātmajo viṣṇuvarddhanaḥ ṣaṭtriṁśataṁ| tat-tanujo narendra-vijayāditya
Aṣṭacatvāriṁśataṁ| tat-putra
ṇakkenalla-vijayādityaś catuścatvāriṁśataṁ| tad-anuja-v
nuś cālukya-bhīmas triṁśataṁ| tat-putraḥ kollabigaṇḍa-vijayādityaḥ ṣa
ṇ māsāN| tat-s
kṣaṁ
vikramā
sa samasta-bhuvanāśra
ditya-mahārājā
vāḍi-viṣaya-nivāsino rāṣṭrakūṭa-pramukhān kuṭuṁbinas samāhūya matīntri-purohita-senāpati-yuvarājādy-aṣṭādaśa-tī
j
tasm
māṁgallu nāma gr
mitt
Asyāva
pū
labola pannasa
paścimataḥ
Homage to the beloved of Śrī with a lotus in his navel, the boon-granting protector of the world who by his valour overcame the exceedingly savage Bali.
Greetings. Satyāśraya Vallabhendra
The armies of barons
King
Magnificent like
“The sophistication of the lotus-born Supporter of Speech
“Strange is its appearance: though permanent
That shelter of the entire universe
There was a family named Sāmanta Voṭṭi, a source of majesty and prosperity endowed with precious men who were not attached
Like a moon which produces the ascendance
He had a son equipped with all virtues beginning with honesty: Eṟiya Rāṣṭrakūṭa, whose power was inclined to aid others, a fierce fire to the kindling sticks that were his enemies.
He had a son with the given name Betiya, a repository of all talents, who surpassed the immaculate Vatsa king
He had a perfect son resembling Bhava
The sun of his glory, being the dispeller of the darkness of enemies and ever adored by clumps of lotuses
Being requested by that Kākatya Guṇḍyana, we
There was once an excellent orator residing in the great village of Velāpaṟṟu: Viddamayya born of the Kutsa
A son was born to him, a servant of the lotus that is the two feet of Śrīdhara
He had a son by Mācemāmbā. Named Dommana, he was imbued with all virtues and fond of good and decent men.
Though difficult for others to attain, his action is always conducted along the path taught by the Veda
He took upon himself the
The vow of the
Truthfulness, purity, compassion, generosity, religious observance and a magnanimous mindset:
To that one named Dommana, on the occasion of the winter solstice we have given the village named Māṁgallu, converted into a rent-free holding
Its boundaries
Many
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.
Over and over again, Rāmabhadra begs all these future rulers: “Each in your own time, you shall respect this bulwark of legality that is universally applicable to kings!”
The executor
Hommage à Viṣnụ dont le nombril est un lotus, protecteur de l’univers, Dont le courage a rabaissé le très puissant Bali, au dispensateur de dons !
Prospérité ! Le roi Kubja Viṣṇuvardhana, frère de Satyāśraya Vallabhendra, qui orne la dynastie des Cālukya, illustres, du même
Les armées de ses feudataires Śabara et Vallabha,
Le fils de Meḻāṁbā
Son fils, Ammarāja, qui a la puissance du roi des dieux, dont la tête est ceinte du diadème, alors qu’il protégeait la terre depuis onze ans, vainqueur de ses ennemis, attaqua les Kaliṁga, à cause de la colère de Kr̥ṣṇa. Son frère, né d’une autre mère, qui, pour la joie de tout le peuple, a reçu le royaume de Vallabha, Bhaima, bien qu’il soit souverain des flots de dons,
* * *
Bien que ferme, sans cesse elle parcourt les Trois Mondes ; elle sucite l’amour des hommes malgré sa blancheur : « Merveilleuse est sa beauté », voilà ce que toujours les êtres distingués pensent de la liane de sa gloire.
Celui-ci, refuge pour l’univers entier, l’illustre Vijayāditya, grand roi, premier seigneur, illustre seigneur, très pieux, ayant convoqué les chefs de familles de la circonscription de Nātavāḍi, à commencer par les
à l’occasion de Śrīsaṁbhūti, liée à Muktāphala, cette perle d’homme, il y eut une famille portant le nom de la feudataire Voḍḍi, comparable à l’océan.
Source de prospérité pour l’océan de cette lignée, source de ténèbres pour les pillards, les brigands, les troupes, les guerriers et les soldats portant l’épée au poing, naquit, pareil à la lune, Guṇḍiya-Rāṣṭrakūṭa qui, hommage rendu, enclin à fouler le chemin de la vertu, fut indépendant.
Doué de toutes les vertus à commencer par la sincérité, dont la puissance étaient encline à servir autrui, naquit , incendie pour ses ennemis réduit à l’état de bois d’allumage, puissant, son fils Eṟiya-Rāṣṭrakūṭa.
Par son adresse à monter les chevaux, humiliant le roi des Vatsa, son fils fut Bhetiya, trésor de toutes les prospérités.
Il eut de l’illustre Vandyanāmbā un fils qui était pareil à Bhava.
Son fils, nommé Guṇḍyana,
Ayant allumé le bûcher , il se développe, repoussant les ténèbres ennemis, apportant une satisfaction éternelle au massif de lotus, lui, dont la puissance est resplendissante.
Par celui-ci, qui portait le nom de Kākatya Guṇḍyana, nous avons été sollicités. Habitant le grand village de Velāpaṟṟu, le meilleur des orateurs, issu de la famille des Kutsa, Ciddamayya naquit autrefois.
Rendant un culte aux deux lotus que sont les pieds de Śrīdhara, connu sous le nom de Śrīdhara. Son fils fut par sa naissance un brahmane, ainsi que par l’éclat de Śrīdhara.
Celui-ci eut un fils de Mācemāṁbā nommé Dommana. Possèdant toutes les vertus, il fut l’ami des hommes vertueux et des saints,
lui dont la conduite demeure sur le chemin enseigné par la Révélation, la Tradition, l’usage des hommes de bien et les Purāṇa, conduite à jamais inaccessible aux autres hommes.
A l’égard du héros Kākartya Guṇḍyana, dont l’éclat est celui du soleil, qui a pris l’habit des ascètes, désireux d’obtenir sa faveur,
Qui pratique un bain matinal quotidien et dont le vœu de chasteté n’est pas rompu, qui accomplit avec respect le vœu des ascètes, conduite qui commence par la marche,
lui qui en ce monde et dans le Kaliyuga enseigne la sincérité, la pureté, la compassion, la générosité, le respect des rites, l’intelligence, la tolérance, l’amabilité.
Nous donnons à celui qui porte ce nom, le village nommé Māṁgallu, exempté de toute taxe, après avoir fait une libation d’eau, en qualité d’
Ses limites sont : à l’est l’étang Yilindi vers le pépier de Koḍupūluru, au sud-est le pannasa de Kuṟṟalabola, au sud la limite de Laṁjayamāda, au sud-ouest la rivière Munna, à l’ouest Pallikaṇṭī-Bhaṭāraṇḍu, au nord-ouest le point de jonction des trois routes, au nord les tamaris vers le pépier de Koṇḍṟūru au nord-est au l’étang au lotus vers le point de jonction des trois routes. Aucune charge ne doit lui être imposée, celui qui en impose est lié aux cinq grands crimes. Vyāsa a dit ceci :
beaucoup ont donné une terre, beaucoup l’ont protégée, celui qui possède la terre en possède le fruit.
Qu’elle soit donné par lui ou par un autre, celui qui prend une terre renaît ver de terre dans les excréments pendant soixante mille ans.
Rāmabhadra demande ceci à tous les princes des rois à venir de la terre, encore et encore : « ce pont du dharma commun aux rois doit toujours être protégé par vous. »
L’exécuteur est le
PVPS connects the name Voṭṭi to Sāmanta Viṣṭi mentioned, apparently as the family name of the Kākatīyas, in the Kazipet Dargah inscription of Tribhuvanamalla Duggarāja (Corpus of Telingana Inscriptions Part 3 pp 25-31, not traced). He thinks Viṣṭi may be derived either from Vr̥ṣṇi or from Skt viṣṭi = forced labour, and argues that viṭṭi is a legitimate Telugu form of that word, while voṭṭi may be a corruption of the former.
This stanza was probably quite awkward to begin with. Compounded with the deplorable work done on it by the scribe, and with damage that has rendered some characters illegible, I see no way to reconstruct it properly. I do not see how it fits the context, since the previous stanza introduces Guṇḍiya, and the next one introduces his son Eṟiya. There is nothing in this stanza to imply another generation in between, so logically, it should say something about Guṇḍiya. Yet there is no pronoun, relative or demonstrative, that would make this explicit, so I cannot help but suspect that the subject of the stanza is in fact the Śrī of the Cālukyas (pāda b). The stanza might be about her departure to the Rāṣṭrakūṭas (or back to the Cālukyas from them?), and thus out of place here. However, śrīdvāra is apparently a technical term (cf. the Pedda-Gāḻiḍipaṟṟu grant of Amma II) for a status symbol, so this should probably be rejected.
Stanza 9 is hard to read in some spots, and harder to comprehend in more places. VR’s editor suggests deleting He (Guṇḍiya) according to (his master’s) orders entered the
On the same page, he tentatively interprets the vāṭa
as fortified town
, whereas, still on the same page, he says it was probably Vijayavāḍa.
In his discussion of Kākatīya history (Guṇḍiya Rāṣṭrakūṭa entered
.
The verb of the main sentence is indeed probably to be sought in the string read by previous editors as enabled Vallabheśa to penetrate into Vāṭa
. The emendation of the verb proposed by VR’s editor is even more heavy-handed. I am most inclined to read it as
PVPS (
That said, I find it unlikely that our text might mean what PVPS, as cited above, wants it to mean. In addition to the textual and syntactical problems indicated above, we now know that a
The readings and emendations I suggest in my edition are by no means certain, but they are permitted by the evidence, and fit into my perception of the context. I believe that Guṇḍiya was initially a subordinate of the Veṅgī Cālukyas, but the lands he controlled came at some point (probably in the reign of Bhīma I) under the sway of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. He may have actively sought Rāṣṭrakūṭa protection or may have offered token resistance before submitting. At any rate, the present inscription seems to claim that a Rāṣṭrakūṭa ruler (Kr̥ṣṇa II?) offered Guṇḍiya the honour of the
There remains a question of what the
Reported in