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 Āyus, Nahuṣa. From him, the universal sovereign and dynastic father Yayāti.At this point, the names of Puru and Janamejaya were probably omitted. See the apparatus to line 5. From him, Prācīśa. From Prācīśa, Sainyayāti. From Sainyayāti, Hayapati. From Hayapati, Sārvabhauma. From Sārvabhauma, Jayasena. From Jayasena, Mahābhauma. From Mahābhauma, Aiśānaka. From Aiśānaka, Krodhānana. From Krodhānana, Devaki. From Devaki, R̥bhuka. From R̥bhuka, R̥kṣaka. From R̥kṣaka, Mativara, performer of a Sattra sacrifice and Lord of the River Sarasvatī. From him, Kātyāyana. From Kātyāyana, Nīla. From Nīla, Duṣyanta. His son was the one—
What follows is moraic verse.
—who, because he unceasingly dug down one sacrificial post yūpa after another on the banks of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā and also performed Aśvamedhas, obtained the name “Bharata of the Great Sacrifices.”
From that Bharata was born Bhūmanyu. From Bhūmanyu, Suhotra. From Suhotra, Hastin. From Hastin, Virocana. From Virocana, Ajamīla. From Ajamīla, Saṁvaraṇa. The son of Saṁvaraṇa and of Tapatī, the daughter of Tapana, was Sudhanvan. From Sudhanvan was born Parikṣit. From Parikṣit, Bhīmasena. From Bhīmasena, Pradīpana. From Pradīpana, Śantanu. From Śantanu, Vicitravīrya. From Vicitravīrya, King Pāṇḍu.
He in turn had five sons—Yudhiṣṭhira the son of Dharma, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who were to obtain the kingdom viṣaya like the five senses which grasp the sense-objects viṣaya.
What follows is syllabic verse.
The masterful wielder of the Gāṇḍīva bow who, after vanquishing Indra the thunderbolt-bearer, burned the Khāṇḍava forest; who obtained the Pāśupata weapon in combat from Śiva the enemy of Andhaka; who, after slaying many Daityas such as Kālikeya, victoriously ascended to share a throne with Indra; who with abandon cut down the forest that was the dynasty of the Kurus—
—from that Arjuna was born Abhimanyu. From Abhimanyu, Parikṣit. From Parikṣit, Janamejaya. From Janamejaya, Kṣemuka. From Kṣemuka, Naravāhana. From Naravāhana, Śatānīka. From Śatānīka, 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, by an ill turn of fate, passed to the otherworld.
In the midst of that tribulation, his pregnant chief queen went with their chaplain purohita to a Brahmanical settlement agrahāra named Muḍivemu under the protection of its resident the soma-sacrificer Viṣṇubhaṭṭa, who cherished her as if she were his own daughter. Having there gave birth to a son named Viṣṇuvardhana, she raised that boychild, arranging for the performance of the ceremonies traditionally applicable to his bilateral gotra, namely being of the Mānavya gotra and a son of Hāriti, and so on. 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 recovered 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 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 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-Ceruvu Madhavaram-Visnuvardhana5.xml) and the commentary thereto., the Boar emblem, the peacock fan piṁcha, the lance kunta, the lion throne, the makara archway, the golden sceptre, the Gaṅgā and Yamunā and so forth—and having conquered the kings of the Kaḍambas, Gaṅgas and so on, he reigned over Dakṣiṇāpatha extending from Rāma’s bridge to the Narmadā and comprising seven and a half lakhs of villages.
What follows is a śloka.
The son of that King Viṣṇuvardhana and his chief queen born of the Pallava dynasty was Vijayāditya.
His son was Polakeśi Vallabha. His son was Kīrtivarman. His son—
Greetings. 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 Hāriti, 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 Vallabha II, for thirteen. His brother of inferior birth, 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 King bhūpati Vikramāditya, Cālukya-Bhīma, for thirty. His son Kollebigaṇḍa Vijayāditya IV, for six months. His son Ammarāja I, for seven years. After dethroning his son the child Vijayāditya V, Tāḍapa, for one month. After defeating him, Cālukya-Bhīma’s son Vikramāditya II, for eleven months. Then that King rājan Tāḷapa’s son Yuddhamalla, for seven years.
Having ousted that Yuddhamalla from the country and having also quashed other enemies, the fearsome King Bhīma II, younger brother of Ammarāja, protected rakṣ- the earth for twelve years.
His son Ammarāja II, the foremost of kings who forced his enemies into submission, protected pāl- the land of Veṅgī 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 son, the valiant King bhūpati Vimalāditya, joyfully accepted the great majesty lakṣmī of emperorhood over the circle of the earth.
That Birudaṅka Bhīma, celebrated for his terrifying bhīma valour, whose glory shone as if it were a flawless gem over the garlands atop the heads of every king, protected pā- the entire 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 heSee the apparatus to line 57 for an emendation to facilitate interpreting the text as translated. 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.
The scatter of immaculate round pearls released in the confines of the stage of battle from the surface of the forehead globes of his enemies’ elephants struck down by the sword in his robust arm resembles the exquisiteness of an offering of flowers spilling from the cupped hands añjali of the goddess of heroes beheld in the prologue prastāvanā to the performance abhinayana of a play kriyā in the heroic sentiment vīra-rasa.
The founders of his parents’ dynasties were verily the Sun and the Moon: the two Eyes of the World, the gods who dispel darkness with their scintillating brilliance. The emblem of his reign became the Original Boar form of Viṣṇu, which could playfully lift the great circle of the entire earth on the tip of its tusk.
That shelter of all the world sarva-lokāśraya, the Supreme Lord parameśvara and Emperor mahārājādhirāja, Supreme Sovereign parama-bhaṭṭāraka, supreme devotee of Maheśvara, His Majesty Viṣṇuvardhana who is King Rājarāja, convokes all householders kuṭumbin—including foremost the territorial overseers rāṣṭrakūṭa—who reside in Reṇḍeṟulanaḍimi district viṣaya and, witnessed by those officials headed by the minister mantrin, the chaplain purohita, the general senāpati, the crown prince yuvarāja and the gate guard dauvārika, commands them as follows. To wit:
In the Hārīta gotra there was one foremost among the most excellent Brahmins of the Āpastamba sūtra: the learned Soma sacrificer Kaṁcena who resembled Hari Viṣṇu and whose mouth was ever purified by oblation prayers puroḍāśa.
He whose halo of fame glimmered like the rays of the cool-rayed moon had a majestic son revered by all the wise: Kaṁcenārya, whom enemy hosts perceived as Yama, premier poets as a cow of plenty kāmadhenu, his best friends as a park of pleasures, and the flocks of his relatives as their very life.
A great-souled son known as Śaucāñjaneya was born to him: a minister without stain and suspicion who surpassed the Lord of Speech Brahmā in intellect.
Of him and his good wedded wife the virtuous Sāmekāmbā was born a son, Nārāyaṇa, who endeavoured to benefit the world.
He is renowned as Kavirājaśekhara ‘diadem of the king of poets’ thanks to his talent of excellence in poetry in the Sanskrit, Karṇāṭa, Prakrit, Paiśācika and Andhra languages.
With his delightful and cunning compositions he curbs the pride of poets who are mere sophists with a shred of inspiration, thus bearing with justification the name Kavībha-vajrāṅkuśa ‘diamond goad to the elephants among poets’.
To that Nanni-Nārāyaṇa endowed with qualities lauded by the entire world, an ear ornament for Sarasvatī, a universal emperor of the eighteen determinations aṣṭādaśāvadhāraṇa,Cielas 153 suggests that /avadhāraṇa/, a term that baffled Kielhorn in this context, may be an alternative term for /avadhāna/, which in later texts also appears in the form of the compound /avadhāna-cakravartin/ and may be connected to a number, typically eight. In this specialised sense, /avadhāna/ (translated ‘attentiveness’ by Cielas) refers to a complex set of skills related to performance in a learned assembly. we have on the occasion of an eclipse of the moon given the village named Nandamapūṇḍi in your district, converted into a rent-free holding agrahāra, accompanied by pouring a stream of water, with a remission of all taxes. Let this be known to you.
Its borders are as follows.Throughout the description of the boundaries, I rely in Kielhorn’s interpretation of the Telugu phrases. To the east, the border is in the middle of the Koṇḍiya tank guṇṭa in a depression at the border of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement and Billemapeddapūṇḍi. To the southeast, the border is the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement, Billemapeddapūṇḍi and Nerapula. To the south, the border is a ṟēva tree surrounded by palmyra treesAs an alternative to Kielhorn’s translation, might ṟēva, here and on the northwest, mean a river landing? at the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement and Nerapula. To the southwest, the border is the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement, Nerapula and Mundaramuna. To the west, the border is the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement, Mundaramuna and Maḍakuṟiti. To the northwest, the border is the ṟeva tree of the shepherds at the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement, Maḍakuṟiti and Billemapeddapūṇḍi. To the north, the border is the bank of a riverThis translation presupposes emendation to the reading shown by the previous editors, see the apparatus to line 87. at the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement and Billemapeddapūṇḍi. To the northeast, the border is a tamarind tree near a palmyra tree with a banyan tree at the triple junction muyyali-kuṭra of the borders of the fields bola-garusu of this settlement and Billemapeddapūṇḍi.
Let no-one pose an obstacle to their enjoyment of rights over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. So too has the reverend Vyāsa said:
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.
Many kings have granted land, and many have preserved it as formerly granted. Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit reward accrued of granting it belongs to him at that time.
The executor of this grant is the castellan kaṭakādhirāja. The author of the poems is Nanniya Bhaṭṭa. The writer lekhaka is Gaṇḍācārya. This decree was made in the course of the thirty-second year of the victorious reign.