SII 1.153: original edition by Eugen Hultzsch

Alternative title: “PART IV. ADDENDA. No. 153. ON A JAINA TEMPLE AT VIJAYANAGARA.”

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

Summary: Next to No. 152, this is the oldest dated inscription at Vijayanagara. It is engraved on both sides of the north-west entrance of a ruined Jaina temple, which is situated to the south-west of the temple No. 35 on the Madras Survey Map. A careless transcript and paraphrase in the Asiatic Researches1 has been useful so far as it enabled Mr. R.Sewell to complete the pedigree of the first Vijayanagara dynasty in his Lists of Antiquities.2

The inscription is written in large and handsome characters, which are, however, considerably obliterated in consequence of the usual coating with chunnam. It records, in Sanskrit, prose and verse, that in the Parābhava year, which was current after the expiration of the Śāka year 1348 (line 25), king Devarāja II. built a stone-temple (chaityālaya or chaityāgāra) of the Arhat Pārśvanātha (l. 5) or Pārśva-Jineśvara (l. 27) in a street (vīthi) of the Pān-supārī Bāzār (Kramuka-parṇāpaṇa, l. 4, or Parṇa-pūgīphalāpaṇa, l. 25) at his residence Vijayanagara (l. 4) or Vijayanagarī (l. 6), which belonged to the Karṇāṭa country (ll. 4 and 6).

The chief value of the inscription consists in the pedigree, which it gives no less than three times,3 of the first Vijayanagara dynasty:—

1. Bukka (ll. 1, 9, 24) of the race of Yadu (Yadu-kula, l. 8, or Yādavānvaya, l. 1).

2. His son, Harihara (II.) (ll. 2, 10, 24), mahārāja (l. 2).

3. His son, Devarāja (I.) (ll. 2, 13, 24).

4. His son, Vijaya (ll. 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24) or Vīra-Vijaya (l. 2).

5. His son, Devarāja (II.) (ll. 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24), Abhinava-Devarāja (ll. 3 f.), or Vīra-Devarāja (l. 16), mahārāja (l. 4), rājādhirāja, rājaparameśvara, etc. (ll. 3 and 23).

In the subjoined genealogical table of the first or Yādava dynasty of Vijayanagara, the names of the father and of the elder brother of Bukka and those Śaka dates, for which no references are given in the foot-notes, are taken from Mr. Fleet’s table of the same dynasty.4

[[genealogical table]] [[L1C1]] Saṁgama. [[L2C1]] Harihara I. (Śaka 1261.5) [[L2C2]] Bukka. (Śaka 1276 [current], 1277, 1278, 1290.) [[L3C1]] Harihara II. (Śaka 1301, 1307,6 1317,7 1321.) [[L4C1]] Devarāja I. (Śaka 1332, 1334.) [[L5C1]] Vijaya.8 [[L6C1]] Devarāja II. (Śaka 1346, 1347, 1348, 1353 [current], 1371.9)

During the reign of Devarāja II. the city of Vijayanagara was visited by ‘Abdu’rrazzāq as an ambassador of Sult6ān Shāh Rukh of Samarkand, a son of the great Tīmūr. ‘Abdu’r-razzāq informs us, that he stayed at Bījānagar (Vijayanagara), the capital of Deo Rāī (Devarāja II.), from the close of Z6u’l-ḥijja A.H. 846 = end of April A.D. 1443 to the 12th Sha’bān A.H. 847 = 5th December A.D. 1443.10 An English translation of his own account of his journey is included in Elliot and Dowson’s History of India.11 Curiously enough, the whole is also incorporated with slight alterations in Galland’s translation of the Thousand and One Nights, where it forms part of the Story of Prince Aḥmad and the Fairy Parī Bānū. This is one of the twelve doubtful stories, the originals of which are not found in the existing Arabic MSS. of the Nights. The late Professor Weil12 was of opinion, that they were probably contained in the fourth volume of the Paris MS., which was lost after Galland’s death; and two of the missing stories have since been actually recovered by M. Zotenberg.13 In ‘Abdu’r-razzāq’s account of Vijayanagara, we possess the dated original, from which part of the Story of Prince Aḥmad was taken. In the absence of works of reference, I cannot say if this fact,—which furnishes us with a terminus a quo for the compilation of that story,—has been noticed before.

According to ‘Abdu’r-razzāq,14 Devarāja II. issued the following coins:—I. Gold: (1) varāha; (2) partāb = (1/2) varāha; (3) fanam = (1/10) partāb. II. Silver: tār = (1/6) fanam. III. Copper: jītal = (1/3) tār. Pagodas or varāhas with the legend śrīpratāpadevarāya, which on some copies is corrupted into śrīpratāpadāvarāya, are described by Dr. Bidie,15 who also figures a pagoda of Bukka.16The name partāb, which ‘Abdu’r-razzāq attributes to the half pagoda, is probably connected with the surname Pratāpa, which occurs before the names of Vijayanagara kings both on coins and in inscriptions. Dr. Bain of Bangalore possesses a half pagoda17 with the legend śrīpratāpadovarāya (sic) and of the same type as the corresponding pagoda. Two quarter pagodas in my cabinet have on the obverse an elephant which faces the left, and on the reverse the legend śrīdevarāya. No fanam or silver coin with Devarāja’s name has been hitherto discovered. Copper coins of Devarāja are very common in the South-Indian bāzārs. They have on the obverse a bull or an elephant, and on the reverse the legends śrīdevarāya, pratāpadevarāya, rāyagajagaṁḍabheruṁḍa, or śrīnīlakaṁṭha.18

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Latin (latin)].

Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0153.

File path: SII01/DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0153.xml.

Version: (0b66879), last modified (5a86c39).

Edition

⟨Zone A: A. To the left of the entrance.⟩

⟨1⟩ śubhamastu ∥ śrīmatparamagaṁbhīrasyādvādāmoghalāṁ¿th?ana¿ṁ? [|] jīyāttrailokyanāthasya śāsanaṁ jinaśāsanaṁ ∥ ⟨1⟩ śrīmadyādavānvayār¿nn?avapūr¿nn?acaṁdrasya (|) śrībukkapṛthvībhuja(ḥ) puṁṇya(paripā)-

⟨2⟩ kapariṇatamūrttessṛtkīrtterhariharamahārājasya paryyāyāvatārāddhīrāddevarājanareśvarāddevarājādiva vijayaśrīvīravijayan¿ru?patissaṁjātast-

⟨3⟩ smādrohaṇādreriva mahāmāṇikyakāṁḍo nītipratāpasthirīkṛtasāmrājyasiṁhāsanaḥ | rājādhirājarājaparameśvarādibirudavikhyāto guṇanidhirabhi-

⟨4⟩ navadevarājamahārājo nijājñāparipālitakar{n}nāṭadeśamadhyavarttinaḥ svāvāsabhūtavijayanagarasya kramukapar¿nn?āpaṇavīthyāmācaṁdratāramātmakī-

⟨5⟩ rttidharmmapravṛttaye | sakalajñānasāmrājyavirājamānasya syādvādavidyāpraka⟨⟨ṭa⟩⟩napaṭīyasaḥ pārśvanāthasyārhataḥ śilāmayaṁ caityālayamacīkarat· [∥]

⟨6⟩ deśaḥ karṇāṭanāmābhūdāvāsaḥ sarvvasaṁpadāṁ | viḍaṁbayati yaḥ svarggaṁ puroḍāśāśanāśrayaṁ ∥ ⟨2⟩ vijayanagarīti tasminna(ga)rī nagarīti-

⟨7⟩ ramyaharmyāste | nagariṣu nagarī yasyā na garīyasyeva gurubhiraiśvaryyaiḥ ∥ ⟨3⟩ kanakojvalasālaraśmijālaiḥ parikhāṁbupratibiṁvitairalaṁ y(ā)

⟨8⟩ vasudheva vibhāti bāḍabārccirvṛtaratrākaramekhalāparītā ∥ ∥ śrīmānuddāmadhāmā yadukulatilakassārasauṁdaryyasīmā dhīmānrāmā-

⟨9⟩ bhirāmākṛtiravanitale bhāti bhāgyāttabhūmā [|] vikrāṁtyākrāṁtadikko vimatadharaṇibhṛtpaṁkajaśreṇivikkaḥ {|} kṣoṇyāṁ jāgartti bukkakṣitipati-

⟨10⟩ raribhūbhṛ¿t?chiraśchitpṛṣatkaḥ ∥ ⟨4⟩ tatprāptātmāvatāra sphurati hariharakṣmāpatirjñātasāro dāridryasphāravārākarataraṇavi(dhau) viṣphuratkar¿nn?adhāraḥ | bhū-

⟨11⟩ dānasvar¿nn?adānānukṛtaparaśu¿gh?ṛtpadminībaṁdhusūnu sphārākūpāratīrāvaḷinihitajayastaṁbhavinyastakīrttiḥ ∥ ⟨5⟩ tenājanyarirājatallajaśira-

⟨12⟩ stomasphuracchekharapratyuptopaladīpikāpariṇamatpādābjanīrājanaḥ | vidvatkairavamaṁḍalīhimakaro (vi)khyātavīryyākara⟨ḥ⟩ śreyānvīrara-

⟨13⟩ māsvayaṁvṛtavaraḥ śrīdevarājeśvaraḥ ∥ ⟨6⟩ tajjanmāsminvadānyo ja(ga)ti vijayate puṁṇyacāritramāṁnyo dānadhvastārtthidainyo vijayanarapatiḥ khaṁ-

⟨14⟩ ḍitārā(ti)sainyaḥ | pratyudyajjaitrayātrāsamasamayasamudbhūtaketuprasūta(sphā)ya(dvā)tyopahatyāpratihatavimataughapratāpapradīpaḥ ∥ ⟨7⟩

⟨Zone B: B. To the right of the entrance.⟩

⟨15⟩ tasmādasm¿āj?jitātmājani jagati yathā jaṁbhajeturjjayaṁto rājā śrīdevarājo vijayanṛpativārāśirākāśaśāṁkaḥ | kopāṭopapravṛttaprabalaraṇamiladvipratīpakṣa-

⟨16⟩ māpaprāṇaśreṇīnabhasvannivahakabalanavyagrakhaḍgorageṁdraḥ ∥ ⟨8⟩ vīraśrīdevarājo vijayanṛpatapassārasaṁjātamūrttirbbharttā bhūmervvibhāti praṇatariputaterārttijātasya harttā |

⟨17⟩ krūrakrodheddhayuddhoddhurakaraṭighaṭākarṇṇaśūrppaprasarppadvātavrātopaghātapratihatavimatādabhradh¿ru?tyabhrasaṁghaḥ ∥ ⟨9⟩ yaddhāṭīghoraghoṭīkhuradalitadharāreṇubhirvvīryyavahnerddhū-

⟨18⟩ ma(sto)māyamānaiḥ pratinṛpatigaṇastrīdṛśaḥ sāśrudhārāḥ | prodyaddarppaprabhūtapratibhaṭasubhaṭāsphoṭanāṭopajāgradroṣotkarṣāṁdhakāradyumaṇirudayate devarājeśvaroyaṁ ∥ ⟨10⟩

⟨19⟩ viśvasminvijayakṣi⟨⟨tī⟩⟩śajanuṣaḥ śrīdevarājeśiturllakṣmīṁ kīrttisitāṁbujaṁ kalayate śauryyākhyasūryyodayāt | Āśā yatra palāśatāmupagatāḥ

⟨20⟩ svarṇṇācalaḥ karṇṇikā bhṛṁgā dikṣu mataṁgajā jaladhayo māraṁdabiṁdūtkarāḥ ∥ ⟨11⟩ vikhyāte vijayātmaje vitarati śrīdevarājeśvare karṇṇasyājani va-

⟨21⟩ rṇṇanā vigalitā vācyā dadhīcyādayaḥ | meghānāmapi moghatā pariṇatā ciṁtā na ciṁtāma(ṇe)ḥ svalpāḥ kalpamahīruhāḥ prathayate svarṇaicikī nīcatāṁ ∥ ⟨12⟩

⟨22⟩ soyaṁ kīrttisarasvatīvasumatīvāṇīvadhūbhissamaṁ bhavyo dīvyati devarājanṛpatirbbhūdevadivyaddrumaḥ | yaśśaurirbbaliyācanāvirahittaścaṁdraḥ kaḷaṁ-

⟨23⟩ kojjhitaḥ śakrassatyamagotrabhiddinakaraścāsatpathollaṁghanaḥ ∥ ⟨13⟩ madanamanoharamūrttiḥ mahiḷājanamānasārasaṁharaṇaḥ | rājādhirājarājādimapadaparameśvarādini-

⟨24⟩ jabirudaḥ ∥ ⟨14⟩ śaktau bukkamahīpālo dāne harihareśvaraḥ | śauryye śrīdevarājeśo jñāne vijayabhūpatiḥ ∥ ⟨15⟩ soyaṁ śrīdevarājeśo vidyāvinayaviśrutaḥ | prā-

⟨25⟩ guktapuravīthyaṁtaḥ parṇṇapūgīphalāpaṇe ∥ ⟨16⟩ śākebde pramite yāte vasusiṁdhuguṇeṁdubhiḥ | parābhavābde kārttikyāṁ dharmmakīrttipravṛttaye ∥ ⟨17⟩ syā-

⟨26⟩ dvādamatasamarttha(na)kharvvitadurvvādigarvvavāgvitate(ḥ) | Aṣṭādaśadoṣamahāmadagajanikuruṁbamahitamṛgarājaḥ ∥ ⟨18⟩ bhavyāṁbhoruhabhānoriṁdrādisu-

⟨27⟩ reṁdravṛṁdavaṁdyasya | muktivadhūpriyabharttuḥ śrīpārśvaji(ne)śvarasya karuṇābdheḥ ∥ ⟨19⟩ bhavyaparitoṣahetuṁ śilāmayaṁ setumakhiladharmmasya | caityāgāramacīkara-

⟨28⟩ dādharaṇidyumaṇihimakarasthairyyaṁ ∥ ⟨20⟩

Apparatus

⟨7⟩ nagariṣu • As this inscription makes scarcely any distinction between the secondary forms of i and ī, this word might as well be nagarīṣu. I have adopted the reading nagariṣu for the sake of the metre, though the form nagari is not found in the dictionaries.

⟨11⟩ °paraśughṛt° • Read °paraśudhṛt° or °paraśubhṛt°.

Translation by Hultzsch 1890

Let there be prosperity! (Verse 1.) May the religion of the lord of the three worlds, the religion of Jina, the unfailing characteristic of which is the glorious and extremely mysterious scepticism, be victorious!19

(Line 1.) The victorious and illustrious prince Vīra-Vijaya sprang from the brave prince Devarāja (I.), who resembled the king of the gods and who was descended in his turn from the glorious mahārāja Harihara (II.), whose body was produced by the results of the good deeds of the illustrious king Bukka, who, just as the full-moon from the ocean, (rose) from the illustrious Yādava race (Yādavānvaya). The virtuous mahārāja Abhinava-Devarāja (i.e., the young Devarāja, or Devarāja II.),—(who sprang) from this (Vīra-Vijaya), just as a heap of large rubies from the Rohaṇa mountain,20 who made the throne of his empire firm by polity and valour, and who was known by the surnames of rājādhirāja, rājaparameśvara, etc.,—in order that his fame and merit might last as long as the moon and the stars,—caused a temple (chaityālaya) of stone to be built to the Arhat Pārśvanātha,— who rules over the empire of all knowledge, and who well knew how to proclaim the doctrine of scepticism (syādvāda-vidyā21),—in a street of the Pān-supārī Bāzār (Kramukaparṇāpaṇa) at his (the king’s) residence Vijayanagara, that was situated in the midst of (the country called) Karṇāṭa-deśa, which was protected by his orders.

(Verse 2.) There was a country (deśa), Karṇāṭa by name, which was the abode of all wealth, and which equalled heaven, the seat of the gods.22

(Verse 3.) In this (country) there is a city, called Vijayanagarī, whose lovely palaces are as high as mountains, and than which none among the cities is more important in great power.

(Line 7.) Through the mass of the rays, (which issue from) its golden walls, and which are reflected in the water of its moat, this (city) closely resembles the earth, that is surrounded by the girdle of the ocean, which is encircled by the lustre of the submarine fire (bāḍaba23).

(Verse 4.) The illustrious, brilliant and wise king Bukka,—who is the ornament of the race of Yadu (Yadu-kula), who has reached the highest point of power and beauty, whose appearance is as lovely as that of Rāma, who has acquired wealth by his good fortune, who has subdued (all) quarters by his valour, (who crushes) the crowd of rival kings, just as a young elephant24 a group of lotuses, and whose arrows split the heads of the kings of his enemies,—shines on earth (and) watches over it.

(Verse 5.) Resplendent is his son, king Harihara (II.), whose strength is well-known, (who has proved) a splendid helmsman in crossing the great ocean of poverty, who has equalled the bearer of the axe25 by his gifts of land and the son of the sun26 by his gifts of gold, and who has deposited his fame in pillars of victory (jayastambha), which he erected in an uninterrupted line on the shore of the great ocean.

(Verse 6.) From him sprang the most excellent and illustrious lord Devarāja (I.), the worship (nīrājana) of whose lotus-feet was performed with a lamp, (that consisted of) the precious stones, which were set in the glittering diadems on the multitude of the heads of the excellent27 kings of his enemies28; (who gladdened) the learned, just as the moon the night-lotuses; who was a mine of well-known prowess; and who was voluntarily chosen as husband by (Lakshmī) the mistress of heroes.

(Verse 7.) Victorious in this world is his son, the liberal prince Vijaya, who is to be respected on account of his pious deeds, who has put an end to the distress of beggars by his gifts, who has crushed the armies of his foes, and the light of the courage of whose numerous enemies was extinguished by the (mere) touch of the violent29 wind, that was produced by his banners, which were raised (or: by the comet, which rose) at the very moment of the starting of his victorious expeditions.

(Verse 8.) Just as Jayanta from (Inḍra) the conqueror of (the demon) Jambha, and just as the full-moon from the ocean, there was born in this world from that prince Vijaya the passionless and illustrious king Devarāja (II.), whose sword was engaged in destroying numbers of lives,—just as the king of serpents is engaged in swallowing masses of wind,—30 of rival kings, who met (him) in mighty battles, which were fought with excessive fury.

(Verse 9.) Resplendent is the lord of the earth, the illustrious Vīra-Devarāja (II.), whose body was produced by the power of the austerities of prince Vijaya; who removed the great distress of the crowd of his prostrated enemies (by pardoning them); and whose enemies’ great fortitude,—as a mass of clouds,—was scattered by the (mere) touch of the violent wind, that was produced by (the flapping of) the ears,—which resembled winnowing-baskets,—of the troop of his elephants, who were longing for battles, that raged with fierce fury.

(Verse 10.) (Ever) rising is this lord Devarāja (II.), the eyes of the wives of the crowd of whose rival kings are filled with showers of tears,—as if it were by the dense smoke of the fire of (his) prowess,—by the dust, (which rises from) the earth, that is split by the hoofs of his steeds, which are terrible in their attack; and who, just as the sun (dispels) darkness, (subdues) the excessive anger,—which is indefatigable in bold challenges,—31 of many brave and daring warriors of the opposite party.

(Verse 11.) In consequence of the rising of the sun, which is called the prowess of the illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), the son of king Vijaya, there spreads its splendour over the whole world the white lotus-flower of his fame, in which the points of the compass are the petals, the golden mountain (Meru) the seed-vessel,32 the elephants of the quarters the bees, and the oceans so many drops of honey.33

(Verse 12.) Since the famous and illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), the son of Vijaya, is making gifts, the praise of Karṇa has ceased; Dadhīchi34 and others are worthy of blame; even the clouds (megha) have turned useless (mogha); nobody thinks of the thinking-jewel (chintāmaṇi); the kalpa-trees appear very small (alpa); and the heavenly cow (naichikī) confesses her inferiority (nīchatā).

(Verse 13.) This excellent prince Devarāja (II.), (who resembles) the tree of heaven (by his liberality) to Brāhmaṇas, is sporting with his queens, (viz.) the river of (his) fame, the earth and the goddess of speech. Verily, he resembles Śauri (Vishṇu), but has not to beg for his revenue (bali), (while Vishṇu in his dwarf-incarnation begged land from Bali); he resembles the moon, but is spotless; he resembles Śakra (Indra), but does not destroy families (gotra), (while Indra split the mountains:—gotra);35 and he resembles the sun, but never transgresses the right course, (while the sun daily changes his course in the sky).

(Verse 14.) His form is as lovely as that of Cupid, and he overcomes the great pride of women. His own surnames (biruda) are rājādhirāja, rājaparameśvara,36etc.

(Verse 15.) In power, he resembles king Bukka, in liberality—the lord Harihara (II.), in prowess—the illustrious lord Devarāja (I.), and in wisdom—king Vijaya.37

(Verse 16 to 20.) This illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), who was famed both for wisdom and modesty, caused to be built in a street of the above-mentioned city,38 in the Pān-supārī Bāzār (Parṇa-pūgīphalāpaṇa), when the Śāka year measured by the Vasus (8), the oceans (4), the qualities (3) and the moon (1) had passed, in the (cyclic) year Parābhava, on Kārttikī (i.e., on the day of the full-moon in the month of Kārttika), in order to propagate (his) merit and fame, a temple (chaityāgāra) of stone, which gives delight to the good, which is a bridge for (his) whole merit, and which shall last as long as the earth, the sun and the moon, to the blessed Pārśva, the lord of Jinas, who has maimed the arrogant bombast of evil-speakers by establishing the doctrine of scepticism (syādvāda-mata), who is celebrated as a lion to the herd of extremely furious elephants:—the eighteen sins (dosha), who is a sun, (which gladdens) the good, like lotuses, who is to be praised by Indra and all other lords of the gods, who is the beloved husband of the goddess of salvation, and who is an ocean of mercy.

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 1.153 by Hultzsch 1890 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1890. South-Indian inscriptions, Tamil and Sanskrit, from stone and copper-plate edicts at Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram, in the North Arcot district, and other parts of the Madras Presidency, chiefly collected in 1886-87. Volume I. South Indian Inscriptions 1. Madras: Government Press. Pages 160–167, item 153.

Notes

  1. 1. Vol. XX, p. 38 and pp. 22 ff.

  2. 2. Vol. II, p. 244.

  3. 3. Lines 1 to 4; lines 8 to 15; and line 24, verse 15.

  4. 4. Jour. Bo. Br. R. A. S. Vol. XII, p. 339.

  5. 5. Indian Antiquary, Vol. X, p. 63.

  6. 6. This is the date of No. 152, above.

  7. 7. Colebrooke’s Miscellaneous Essays, Madras, 1872, Vol. II, p. 259.

  8. 8. Mr. Sewell, Lists, Vol. I, p. 207, mentions an inscription of this king, which is dated in Śaka 1340 [expired].

  9. 9. The four last dates are those of Nos. 56, 153, 54 and 81, respectively, of this volume.

  10. 10. The Hijra dates are converted into Christian ones according to Dr. Wüstenfeld’s Vergleichungs-Tabellen, Leipzig, 1854.

  11. 11. Vol. IV, pp. 95 ff.

  12. 12. Preface to his German translation, 3rd edition, p. ii.

  13. 13. See Lady Burton’s Arabian Nights, Vol. VI, p. 248, note 2; Trübner’s Record, New Series, Vol. IX, p. 65.

  14. 14. L. c. p. 109.

  15. 15. J. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. LI, pp. 43 f., No. 11. The legend of No. 10a (Elliot’s No. 99) is not śrīpratāpadevarāya, but śrīpratāpācyutarāya; Elliot’s No. 98 reads śrīpratāpacyutarāya (sic).

  16. 16. Ibid. p. 42, No. 9.

  17. 17. A half pagoda, which reads śrīpratāpaharihara and probably refers to Harihara II., is figured in Sir W. Elliot’s Coins of Southern India, Plate iii, Nos. 96 and 97.

  18. 18. That the coins, which bear the two last-mentioned legends, belong to Devarāja, may be concluded from his Kanarese or Nāgarī initial de, which is engraved on the obverse.

  19. 19. This verse is identical with verse 2 of No. 152.

  20. 20. This is the Adam’s Peak in Ceylon.

  21. 21. See page 158, note 1, and compare syādvāda-mata in lines 25 f. of the present inscription.

  22. 22. With puroḍāśāśana, “an eater of the sacrificial cake,” “a god,” compare the synonym puroḍāśabhui in the Śiśupālavadha, sarga ii, verse 106.

  23. 23. The same spelling of the word is found in the Kanarese and Telugu dictionaries. Dr. Gundert’s Malayāḷam Dictionary has baḍavāgni and vaḍavāgni, Winslow’s Tamil Dictionary pāṭapam, pāṭavam and vaṭavākkiṉi.

  24. 24. Vikka, “an elephant twenty years old” (Sanderson’s Canarese Dictionary), “a young elephant” (Brewn’s Telugu Dictionary).

  25. 25. I.e., Paraśurāma, who gave the earth to Kaśyapa.

  26. 26. I.e., Karṇa, the son of Sūrya by Kuntī.

  27. 27. The word tallaja, which is mentioned in the Amarakośa and in the Kanarese and Telugu dictionaries, has not yet been met with in Sanskrit literature.

  28. 28. I.e., in the case of Devarāja I., the jewels on the bowing heads of conquered kings did the duty of the lamp, which is waved before an idol in the nīrājana (also called ārātrika) ceremony.

  29. 29. The root sphāy is here used in the parasmaipada, though the Dhātupāṭha enumerates it among the anudāttetaḥ.

  30. 30. The snakes are supposed to subsist on wind and are therefore called pavanāśanāḥ, “the eaters of wind.”

  31. 31. The technical meaning of āsphoṭana is: “striking the upper part of the left arm, the lower part of which is folded over the chest, with the right hand, as a sign of defiance.” This is even now done by wrestlers.

  32. 32. Karṇikāchala, “the mountain of the seed-vessel,” is one of the names of Meru; Svarṇāchala is a synonym of Hemādri, “the golden mountain,” another name of Meru.

  33. 33. Māranda, an adjective from maranda, is not found in the dictionaries and seems to be formed by the composer of the inscription, in order to satisfy the exigencies of the metre.

  34. 34. According to the Mahābhārata, Dadhīcha (alias Dadhīchi) gave up his bones, from which a thunderbolt was formed to kill Vṛitra; see Bo7htlingk and Roth’s Sanskrit Dictionary, s.v.

  35. 35. The same play on the two meanings of gotrabhid occurs in Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṁgiṇī, taraṁga i, verse 92.

  36. 36. rājādimapadaparameśvara means literally: “(a compound ending in) parameśvara, the first member of which is rājan.” Similar ‘poetical’ expressions are dhanurupapado vedaḥ in the Kirātārjunīya, sarga xviii; verse 44; hiraṇyapūrvaḥ kaśipuḥ in the Śiśupālavadha, sarga i, verse 42; devapūrvo giriḥ in the Meghadūta, verse 42; daśapūrvarathaḥ and rājopapadaṁ niśāntam in the Raghuvaṁśa, sarga viii, verse 29, and sarga xvi, verse 40.

  37. 37. This verse contains the names of the predecessors of Devarāja II. in chronological order, and may thus be considered as a third copy of the pedigree, which was given twice before, once in prose (lines 1 to 4) and once in verse (lines 8 to 15.)

  38. 38. Viz., Vijayanagarī; see verse 3.