Plates
From the lotus in the navel of the great Lord Nārāyaṇa, the supreme person and the abode of Śrī, there arose Brahmā, the self-born creator of the world. From him was born a son of the mind called Atri, and from that sage Atri was born the founder of a dynasty: the Moon soma whose rays are nectar and who is the turban jewel of Śrīkaṇṭha Śiva.
From that nectar-yielding one there came into being Mercury budha, praised by the wise budha, and from him was born the valiant universal sovereign cakravartin named Purūravas.
From him was born Āyus. From him, Nahuṣa. From him, the universal sovereign and dynastic father Yayāti. From him, the universal sovereign called Puru. From him, Janamejaya, performer of three Aśvamedha sacrifices. From him, Prācīśa. From him, Sainyayāti. From him, Hayapati. From him, Sārvabhauma. From him, Jayasena. From him, Mahābhauma. From him, Aiśānaka. From him, Krodhānana. From him, Devaki. From him, R̥bhuka. From him, R̥kṣaka. From him, Mativara, performer of a Sattra sacrifice and Lord of the River Sarasvatī. From him, Kātyāyana. From him, Nīla. From him, Duṣyanta. From him, Bharata. From him, Bhūmanyu. From him, Suhotra. From him, Hastin. From him, Virocana. From him, Ajamīla. From him, Saṁvaraṇa. Of him and of Tapatī, the daughter of Tapana, the son was Sudhanvan. From him was born Bhīmasena. From him, Pradīpana. From him, Śantanu. From him, Vicitravīrya. From him, King Pāṇḍu. From him, the Pāṇḍavas. Among them, from Arjuna was born Abhimanyu. From him, Parikṣit. From him, Janamejaya. From him, Kṣemuka. From him, Naravāhana. From him, Śatānīka. From him, Udayana. Thereafter, when sixty-less-one universal sovereigns beginning with him Udayana had passed in uninterrupted succession, each seated on the throne of Ayodhyā, a king of their dynasty named Vijayāditya marched to Dakṣiṇāpatha driven by a desire to conquer. He challenged Trilocana Pallava and, due to the ill will of ordinance, passed to the otherworld.
In the midst of that tribulation, his chief queen with the aged ministers came to a Brahmanical settlement agrahāra named Mutivemu, and there gave birth to a son named Viṣṇuvardhana while under the protection of its resident the soma-sacrificer Viṣṇubhaṭṭa, who cherished her as if she were his own daughter. She raised that boy, arranging for the performance of the ceremonies traditionally applicable to his faction, namely being of the Mānavya gotra, a son of Hārīti, and so on.The word ‘faction’ pakṣa does not seem quite appropriate here, and related texts show some confusion at this locus. Alternative versions speak of his particular kṣatriya gotra, or of a double gotra, namely Mānavya and Hārītaputra. He in turn, when her mother had told him the story, went forth to Mount Calukya and worshipped Nandā, who is the goddess Gaurī, and also appeased Kumāra, Nārāyaṇa and the band of Mothers. Having thereby received the hereditary paraphernalia of sovereignty belonging to his family, as though they had been deposited with these deities for safekeeping—namely, the white parasol, the one conch shell, the pennant garland pāli-ketana, the inverted drum pratiḍhakkāSome Cālukya grants use the words paḍa-ḍhakkā and daḍakkā in similar contexts. See the [Ceruvu Mādhavaram plates of Kali Viṣṇuvardhana V](CalE31-CeruvuMadhavaram-Visnuvardhana5.xml) and the commentary thereto., the Boar emblem, the makara archway, the five great soundsThe expression pañca-mahāśabda probably refers to being honoured by the sound of five musical instruments, but may also mean five titles beginning with “great”. See 296-2989 for a discussion., the peacock tailfeathers barha, the lance kunta, the yaktail flywhisks cāmara, the golden sceptre, the lion throne, the Gaṅgā and Yamunā and so forth—having conquered the kings of the Kadambas and Gaṅgas, he reigned over Dakṣiṇāpatha extending from Rāma’s bridge to the Narmadā and comprising seven and a half lakhs of villages.
The son of that King Viṣṇuvardhana and his chief queen born of the Pallava dynasty was Vijayāditya.
His son was Pulakeśī Vallabha. His son was Kīrtivarman. His son—
Satyāśraya Vallabhendra Pulakeśin II was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Calukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hārīti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed to kingship by Lord Mahāsena, to whom enemy territories instantaneously submit at the mere sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions avabhr̥tha of the Aśvamedha sacrifice. His brother Kubja Viṣṇuvardhana protected pāl- the country of Veṅgī for eighteen years. His son Jayasiṁha Vallabha I, for thirty-three. His younger brother Indrarāja Indra Bhaṭṭāraka, for seven days. His son Viṣṇuvardhana II, for nine years. His son Maṅgi Yuvarāja, for twenty-five. His son Jayasiṁha II, for thirteen. His younger brother, Kokkili, for six months. After dethroning him, his eldest brother Viṣṇuvardhana III, for thirty-seven years. His son Vijayāditya I Bhaṭṭāraka, for eighteen. His son Viṣṇuvardhana IV, for thirty-six. His son Vijayāditya II Narendramr̥garāja, for eight and forty. His son Kali-Viṣṇuvardhana V, for a year and a half. His son Guṇaga Vijayāditya III, for forty-four. The son of his younger brother Vikramāditya, Cālukya-Bhīma, for thirty. His son Kollabigaṇḍa Vijayāditya IV, for six months. His son Ammarāja I, for seven years. After dethroning his son the child Vijayāditya V, King rājan Tāḍapa, for one month. After defeating him, Cālukya-Bhīma’s son Vikramāditya II, for eleven months. Then that King rājan Tāḍapa’s son Yuddhamalla, for seven years.
Having defeated that Yuddhamalla, Ammarāja’s younger brother, Rāja-Bhīma II of fearsome bhīma prowess protected pā- the earth for twelve years.
That Bhīma, comparable to Daśaratha, had two worthy sons like Rāma and Bharata, specifically Kings nr̥pa Dānārṇava and Amma. The younger of these two, Ammarāja II, protected rakṣ- the surface of the earth for twenty-five years.
King Dāna Dānārṇava, the brother of King Amma II by a different mother and the son of King Bhīma II, clever in a whole array of sciences, protected pā- the earth up to its four ends for three years.
Then, after Dānārṇava, by an ill turn of fate the land of Veṅgī remained leaderless for twenty-seven years.
At this juncture, the son of King Dāna, His Majesty Śaktivarman, who was of the same nature as Indra the king of the gods, struck down his enemies by the power of his valour and protected rakṣ- the earth for twelve years.
Thereafter his younger brother, the valiant King bhūpati Vimalāditya, the equal of the seven-horsed sun, protected the earth for seven years.
Of that Vimalāditya and of Queen Kundavā, the royal goddess lakṣmī of the Solar family, was born the sovereign Rājarāja, who overpowered all rulers rājanya by his innate qualities.
He, the ornament of the Lunar dynasty, was anointed to protect the earth when the Śaka years were positioned as the Vedas 4, oceans 4 and treasures 9 i.e. Śaka 944, when the Sun was in Leo siṁha, in the Uttara-Bhadrikā lunar asterism on the dark kr̥ṣṇa fortnight’s second day, on Thursday, under the excellent ascendant of Libra vaṇij.
He, His Majesty King nr̥pa Viṣṇuvardhana of eminent glory, took upon his head the distinguished crown whose jewels illuminate the directions with their rays in order to protect abhi-rakṣ forever the entire earth with his valour, just as Indra of eminent glory did the same to protect the firmament.
While he who has annihilated the host of enemies protects the earth in the lawful manner of i.e. prescribed by Manu, his delighted subjects wash off the mud that is the stain of the Kali age with the waters of his innately holy behaviour.
He, the crest jewel of the Cālukyas, ornaments to perfection his high birth through his just ways, his pure intellect through his expertise in arts and lore, his stable affluence through his abandonment of masses of wealth begged by droves of the destitute and the helpless, and the wheel of the directions with his world-renowned fame bright like the disc of a spotless full moon.
That shelter of all the world sarva-lokāśraya, the Supreme Lord of kings rāja-parameśvara, Emperor mahārājādhirāja, Supreme Sovereign parama-bhaṭṭāraka, His Majesty the supremely pious Viṣṇuvardhana who is His Majesty King Rājarāja, convokes all householders kuṭumbin—including foremost the territorial overseers rāṣṭrakūṭa—who reside in the village named Maṇḍa in Guddavādi district viṣaya and, witnessed by all prominent officials, commands them as follows.
To wit: to the grandson of Śivakumāra Bhaṭṭa, the son of Rāmadeva dedicated to the performance of his duties, namely to the one renowned as Samasta-Bhuvanāśraya-Brahma-Mahārāja, Aṁkaya by name, of the Āpastamba school and the Bhāradvāja gotra, on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun we have given, accompanied by a ceremonial pouring of water and designated as a pannasa,Pannasa is an obscure term that may mean land held in some sort of tenure. See pannasa. in the southern field of Maṇḍa, a paddy vari field by the measure of Mummaḍi-Bhīma, bordering on the uplands mummaḍi-bhīma-kolam uppadivuṭla vaḍlapaṭṭuHere and below, the Telugu phrases are translated tentatively., in the northern direction of that field, a rain-fed bonna field by the measure of Mummaḍi-Bhīma, bordering on the lowlands mummaḍi-bhīma-kolaṁ badivuṭla vaḍlapaṭṭu, and a scrubland and orchard toṁṭa-peḍaru plot bordering on a single causeway and an embankment okkopuṭṭiyuṁ baṁdumu vaḍlapaṭṭu. Let this be known to you.
Among these, the boundaries of the southern field as a pannasa are as follows. To the east, the boundary is the verge of the fields pola-garusa of Vallūru. To the south, the boundary is up to a pond guṁṭaya within the village. To the west, the boundary is a pond by a ridge of dry land koṟapuṭṭa-toḍi guṁṭaya. To the north, the boundary is up to the border of Ponumu. The boundaries of the northern field as a pannasa are as follows. To the east, the boundary is up to a termite mound by a tamarind tree cinta-toḍi pūṭṭaya. To the south, the boundary is up to Sapta-godāvari. To the west, the boundary is up to the road of the headman Bimiya bimiya-raṭṭaḍi troviṇḍiya. To the north, the boundary is up to a pond. As a part of this grant exempted from all taxes, there is, as per the same petition yācanamu māḍadikkoṇṭha a homestead plot, altogether forty measures in extent mūḍḷa nalupadi, in the southern part of the patch of land adjoining the eastern edge of the village from the west ūri tūrppunanuṇḍi paḍumaṭi kiṁbāṟina poddavidi dakṣiṇamuna . Let no-one pose an obstacle to the enjoyment of rights over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. So too Vyāsa has said:
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty millennia.
The executor ājñapti of this provision is the Castellan kaṭaka-rāja. The composer is Nanniya Bhaṭṭa. The writer lekhaka is Gaṇḍācārya.