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

Editors: Anonymous editor.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00185.

Hand description:

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Early Andhra (tfb-eiad-epigraphy).

Version: (cdf33df), last modified (35386f0).

Edition

⟨Page 1b⟩ ⟨1⟩ <dextrorotatory-spiral>svasti vijayakāṇḍāḷivāsakāt· devadvija⟨2⟩gurucaraṇasamārādhanādhigatanirati⟨3⟩śayapuṇyanicayasya sakaḷadiṅmāṇḍalā⟨4⟩ḷāṅkārabhūtayaśasaḥ śrīprabhākaravikhyāta⟨5⟩⟨Page 2a⟩mahārājasya sūnuḥ (mā)tāpitr̥pādānuddhyātaḥ ⟨6⟩ śrutismr̥tivihitapadārtthāvabodhajanitapra⟨7⟩jñāvivekaniravagītānupālītaśeṣavarṇṇāśra⟨8⟩madharmmaḥ parānugrahamātraprayojanapra⟨9⟩⟨Page 2b⟩tipann(ai)svaryyagurubhāra paramamāheśvaraḥ śrīmān· ⟨10⟩ prithivimūlārajaḥ tāḻupākaviṣayanivāsina[ḥ] ⟨11⟩ sarvvān eva rāṣṭrakuṭapramukhān evam ājñāpa⟨12⟩yati yathā viditam astu bhavatām· śrutābhija⟨13⟩⟨Page 3a⟩navr̥ttasampatprabhābhāsurodārapuruṣaratnanikarapra(s)ū⟨14⟩tihetuprakhyātamaṇalkuḍivāstavyadvijātyanvaya⟨15⟩payodhisambhūtaśītaraśmer asakkr̥davāptacaturddanta⟨16⟩saṁgrāmavijayasya mitavarmmanaḥ priyatanayena ⟨Page 3b⟩ ⟨17⟩ sarabhasam indrabhaṭṭārakasamutpāṭanābhilāṣasamudi⟨18⟩tapramuditāśeṣanr̥patikkr̥tatumulasama⟨19⟩rādhiruḍhasupratīkānekapābhimukhasamadakumu⟨20⟩dadviradanipātanādhigatabhuvanatala(v)itata⟨21⟩⟨Page 4a⟩vipulaviśuddhayaśasā śrīmadindrādhirājena svamatā⟨22⟩pitroḥ puṇyāvāptinimitta vijñāpitena mayā viḷendi⟨23⟩reṅguṭakampāṟutukurāṇām· caturṇṇā grāmāṇā ⟨24⟩ maddhye cūyipāko nāma grāmaḥ °upāddhyāyakulasambhū⟨25⟩⟨Page 4b⟩tebhyo nānāgotrebhyas ticatvāriṁśad ātharvvaṇikakule⟨26⟩bhyo grahārīkkr̥tya datta sa sarvver eva paripālaniyo vi⟨27⟩śeṣeṇa hastikośavīrakośābhyām· °api ca

I. Anuṣṭubh

svadattāṁ ⟨28⟩ paradattā vā

a

yo hareta vasundharā(m·)

b

gavāṁ śatasaha⟨29⟩srasya

c

hantu pibati ki(lbi)ṣa(m·)

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

ṣaṣṭivarṣasaha⟨30⟩⟨Page 5a⟩srāṇi

a

svargge modati bhūmida

b

°āchettā cānumantā ca

c

tāny eva narake ⟨31⟩ vaset·

d
III. Anuṣṭubh

tām eva rakṣatā yatnān·

a

nibodhaḥ kkr̥itinaḫ phala(m·)

b

naikakalpa⟨32⟩sahasrāṇi

c

divi devai sa divyati

d
IV. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhir vvasudhā dattāḥ

a

bahubhi⟨33⟩ś cānupālitā

b

yasya yasya yadā bhūmi

c

tasya tasya tadā phala(m·)

d

⟨34⟩ °ājñapti svamukhaṁ pravadamānavijayarājyasa⟨⟨m·⟩⟩vatsarāṇi pañcaviśa 205 ⟨35⟩ vāsā [1×]4divasaṁ 3

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ <dextrorotatory-spiral> ⬦ om Fleet.

⟨3-4⟩ -diṅmāṇḍalāḷāṅkāra- • Emend -diṅmaṇḍalālaṅkāra-

⟨5⟩ sūnuḥ • One has the impression that the visarga is engraved twice. — ⟨5⟩ -ddhyātaḥ • Read -dhyātaḥ.

⟨7⟩ -pālītaśeṣa- • Read -pālitāśeṣa-

⟨9⟩ -pann(ai)svaryya- • Read -pannaiśvarya-.

⟨8⟩ -bhāra • Emend -bhāraḥ.

⟨10⟩ prithivimūlārajaḥ ⬦ prithivimūlarajaḥ Fleet • With corrections to pr̥thivimūlarājaḥ.

⟨11⟩ -kuṭa- • Read -kūṭa-.

⟨14⟩ -maṇalkuḍi- ⬦ -maṇalkudi(ḍi?)- Fleet.

⟨15⟩ -śīta- ⬦ -śīta- Sankaranarayanan1977a; -śita- Fleet. — ⟨15⟩ asakkr̥d- • Read asakr̥d-.

⟨17⟩ -samutpāṭānābhi-

⟨18⟩ -kkr̥ta- • Read -kr̥ta-.

⟨19⟩ -ruḍha- ⬦ -ruḍa- Fleet • It seems we can read ḍh; correct -rūḍha-.

⟨20⟩ -(v)itata- • Fleet notes that the v is imperfect in the bottom stroke.

⟨21⟩ svamatā- • Correct svamātā-

⟨22⟩ -nimitta • Correct -nimittam· or -nimittaṁ.

⟨23⟩ -reṅguṭakampāṟutukurāṇām· ⬦ -reṅguṭakampāṟutukurāṇām· Fleet; -reṅguṭa-karmpaṟ-ānukūrāṇām· Sankaranarayanan1977a • Fleet’s reading seems distinctly better. — ⟨23⟩ caturṇṇā • Correct caturṇṇām· or caturṇṇāṁ. — ⟨23⟩ grāmāṇā • Correct grāmāṇām· or grāmāṇāṁ.

⟨24⟩ maddhye • Read madhye. — ⟨24⟩ °upāddhyāya- • read °upādhyāya-.

⟨25⟩ ticatvāriṁśad • Emend tricatvāriṁśad.

⟨26⟩ grahārīkkr̥tya • Read grahārīkr̥tya. — ⟨26⟩ datta • Correct dattaḥ. — ⟨26⟩ sarvver • Correct sarvair. — ⟨26⟩ paripālaniyo • Read paripālanīyo.

⟨31⟩ yatnān· ⬦ yatnāt· Fleet. — ⟨31⟩ kkr̥itinaḫ phala(m·) • Note combination of r̥ and i vocalisation. The consonant below the upadhmānīya sign looks more like a p than the expected ph. The presence of small and low m· is hard to verify on the plate.

⟨33⟩ phala(m·) • The presence of small and low m· is hard to verify on the plate.

⟨34⟩ °ājñapti • Read °ājñaptiḥ? — ⟨34⟩ pravadamāna- • Correct pravarddhamāna-.

⟨35⟩ vāsā [1×] 4 divasaṁ 3 ⬦ vāsāka-divasaṁ || 3 Fleet • No trace of any punctuation is visible on the plate. See Sankaranarayanan’s n. 5 for the reading 4. Presence of any illegible sign between vāsā and 4 was not assumed by Sankaranarayanan1977a and is indeed uncertain.

Translation

(1–12) Hail! From the victorious residence at Kāṇḍāli, the illustrious king Pr̥thivī[śrī]mūla, blessed by the feet of his parents; impeccable upholder of all laws on class and stage of life, 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, commands all residents of the district of Tāḻupāka, starting with the governors (rāṣṭrakūṭa), as follows:

(12–27) ‘Be it known to you that the village called Cūyipāka, amidst the four villages Viḷendi, Reṅguṭa, Kampāṟu and Tukura, has been given to forty-three (Brahmins), born from families of teachers, of various gotras, belonging to Ātharvaṇika families, by me, after I had received a formal request, for the sake of acquiring merit on behalf of (his) own parents, from the illustrious Indrādhirāja (‘overlord of Indra’), whose abundant and pure fame, spread over the surface of the earth, had been obtained by killing the Kumuda elephant (of the S/SW?) that was intoxicated as it faced the Supratīka elephant (of the NW) that had been mounted (by him) for battle whose clatter was produced by all kings who were pleased at having assembled out of the desire violently to uproot Indrabhaṭṭāraka; (by Indrādhirāja), who was the dear son of Mitavarman, who had more than once obtained victory in elephant combat, who was the moon born in the ocean which was the lineage of brahmins residing in Maṇalkuḍi, famous for giving birth to heaps of jewels of men, radiant and pure by the light of the good conduct and success of their famous ascendants — after I had made it into an agrahāra. It is to be safeguarded by all [of you], particularly by the Hastikośa and the Vīrakośa.’

(27–33) And also:

I
The one who would steal land given by himself or another imbibes the sin of the slayer of of a hundred thousand cows.
II
The giver of land revels sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who confiscates [land] as well as the one who approves (of the confiscation) will reside as many [years] in hell.
III
Hear the fruit of the virtuous man who protects it scrupulously: during numerous thousands of aeons he plays in heaven with the gods.
IV
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.

(34–35) The executor is [the king’s] own mouth. Twenty-five 25 years of [his] prosperous, victorious reign. [Fortnight] 4 of the rains. Day 3.

Bibliography

First described and edited by Fleet and then by Sankaranarayanan1977a. Re-edited here from published documentation.

Secondary

Fleet1881

Kielhorn1899

Bhandarkar1983

Griffiths2007