Yekkeri donation of the time of Pulakeśin II

Editor: Dániel Balogh.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSBadamiCalukya00003.

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Bādāmi Cālukya (tfb-badamicalukya-epigraphy).

Version: (021acb2), last modified (c7df37a).

Edition

⟨Zone A⟩ ⟨A1⟩ <indistinct> svasti⟨.⟩ Anuruddha-¿ṣ?⟨d⟩ur¿ī?⟨i⟩todita-n¡ru!pa-va¡ṁ!ṅśa-prasūta sva-va¡ṁ!ṅśa-l{l}alāma-bhūta dakṣiṇāpatha⟨A2⟩-p¡ri!thivyā⟨ḥ⟩ svāmī catur-udadhi-mekhalopārjjita-rājya-śrī pratāpāt{t}iśayopanata{°||}⟨A3⟩-samagra-sāma¡ṁ!nta-ma¡ṁ!ṇḍala p¡ri!thivyām apratiratha śrīmā¡ṁ! satyāśraya-pulekeśi-vallabha⟨A4⟩-mahārāja-rājye varttamāne likhitam iti⟨.⟩

benīre bhagavato mahādevasya nivarttanāni ⟨A5⟩ catvāri 4°|| dhuti-pure nivarttanāni Aṣṭa 8°|| Āgariya-pure niva(rttanā)ni pa¡ṁ!ñca 5 ⟨A6⟩ panasa-vr̥kṣa pa¡ṁ!ñca °|| kr̥ṣ¡n!⟨ṇ⟩e harasena-mātā-pitro⟨ḥ⟩ pu¡ṁ!ṇyopacayāya (de)va(ro)laka⟨A7⟩-¡bhūmyāṁś! ca nivarttanāni pa¡(ṁ)!ñcāśat 50|| vinīta-vidagdha-vaiśikācāryyeṇa sthāpitā [ca. 1×]ghitā⟨.⟩

⟨A8⟩ kārttikasya ¡pūnnimāsāṁ! likhitā praśastīti|| saṁvatsarā [ca. 1×] (6) rājya Iti⟨.⟩ ⟨A9⟩ Īś(ā?)nena likhitā⟨.⟩ yad atra pu¡ṁ!ṇyaṁ (ta?)d bha⟨⟨va⟩⟩tu[ca. 6×]⟨A10⟩gaṇe⟨.⟩

⟨Zone B⟩
I. Anuṣṭubh

⟨B1⟩ (ba)hubhir vvasudhā bhuktā

a

⟨B2⟩ [2×]na sagarādibhi⟨ḥ⟩

b

⟨B3⟩ (yas)y(a) yasya yadā bhūmi⟨B4⟩s

c

tasya tasya tadā phalaṁ

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

⟨B5⟩ sva-dattāṁ para-(dat)t(āṁ) vā

a

⟨B6⟩ yo hareta va(su)¡ṁ!ndharāṁ

b

⟨B7⟩ ṣaṣṭi-varṣa-sa(hasrā)ṇi

c

⟨B8⟩ narake paripacyate

d

s(v)asty a(stu le)khaka-vācakasya

Apparatus

⟨A1⟩ <indistinct> • Fleet transcribes om at the beginning, noting that it is represented by “a plain symbol”. The symbol is indistinct in the facsimile but may be a spiral.

⟨A5⟩ niva(rttanā)ni pa¡ṁ!ñca JFF • Only niva and ni are recognisable in the facsimile, and there seems not to be enough space in between for two characters; possibly only nivarttani was engraved, unless nā is both very narrow and faint.

⟨A6⟩ (de)va(ro)laka- JFF • I wonder if Fleet’s devarolaka could be devakaulaka or even devakulaka.

⟨A7⟩ bhūmyāṁś JFF • The scan is indistinct. Possibly read bhūmyāś or bhūṁmyāś? — ⟨A7⟩ -vaiśikā° JFF • Or perhaps vaidkā°? — ⟨A7⟩ [ca. 1×] ghitā JFF • Possibly restore nollaṁghitā, understand that the current donation does not infringe on an earlier donation by/to the ācārya? In that case, probably understand bhūmyāś earlier in the line.

⟨A8⟩ saṁvatsarā [ca. 1×] (6) JFF • Fleet 1898–1899, pp. 6–7 n. 3 discusses at length the numeral he reads as 6, saying it looks like 8, but since we have a definite 8 above that looks different, it must be 6. The facsimile is wholly indistinct. In his commentary he suggests ṇi or ṇāṁ for the lacuna preceding the numeral, but also notes that another numeral representing tens may have been here.

⟨A9⟩ puṁṇyaṁ JFF • Nothing after this word is distinguishable in my scanned facsimile, including the characters read by Fleet in line 10.

⟨B2⟩ [2×]na JFF • Fleet: perhaps rājānaḥ was engraved instead of rājabhiḥ.

⟨B3⟩ tasya tadā JFF • Fleet: there are two characters engraved below the ta of tasya. The first of these is sva, and the other is illegible. They have no connection with the text.

Translation by Fleet 1898–1899

(A1–A4) Om! Hail! The reign being current of the Mahārāja, the glorious Satyāśraya-Pulekeśin [II], the favourite, who has been born in a race of princes who rose to the front by confronting difficulties, who has become the forehead-ornament of his race, who is the lord of the [whole] country of the region of the south, who has acquired the sovereignty over the [whole earth] girt about by the four oceans, who has bowed down the entire group of chieftains by the excess of [his] prowess, [and] who has no antagonist [of equal power] in the world,— it is written as follows:—

(A4–A7) To the divine [god] Mahādeva there belong four, [or in figures] 4, nivartanas [of land] at [the village of] Benīra; eight, 8, nivartanas at the town of Dhutipura; five, 5, nivartanas, [and] five jack-fruit trees, at the town of Āgariyapura; and, at [?the town named] Kr̥ṣṇa[pura], fifty, 50, nivartanas in the land called Devarolaka-bhūmi(?), [which were granted] for the accumulation of religious merit for the parents of Harasena. [And] by the refined and clever Vaiśikācārya there has been set up …

(A8) [This] praśasti has been written on the full-moon tithi of [the month] Kārttika; the year 61 in the reign. Written by Īśāna. Whatever religious merit there is in this, let it be …

I
The earth has been enjoyed by many [kings], commencing with Sagara; whosever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward [of making the grant that is now recorded if he continues it]!
II
Whosoever confiscates land that has been given whether by himself or by another, he is cooked in hell for sixty thousand years!

(B8) Hail to the writer and the reader!

Translation into French by Estienne-Monod 2008

(A1–A4) Om ! Prospérité ! [ceci fut] gravé au cours du règne de l’illustre grand roi Satyāśraya Pulekeśin Vallabha, né dans la lignée de sublimes souverains qui ont arrêté le malheur, devenu l’ornement sa lignée, maître de la terre du Sud, qui conquit la fortune du royaume s’étendant jusqu’à la ceinture des quatre océans, devant l’excessive majesté duquel s’incline le cercle entier des [rois] voisins, lui qui n’a pas de rival sur la terre.

(A4–A7) A Benīra, quatre (4) nivartana pour le bienheureux Mahādeva, dans la ville de Dhuti, huit (8) nivartana, dans la ville d Āgariya, cinq (5) nivartana et cinq jacquiers, et, à Kr̥ṣṇa, pour accroître les mérites de la mère et du père de Harisena, cinquante (50) nivartana sur la terre de Devarolaka, [donation] établie et ... par le cultivé et intelligent Vaiśikācāryya.

(A8) Cette praśasti a été gravée pendant la pleine lune, au mois de Kārtika, pendant la sixième année de règne. [Ceci a été] gravé par Īśāna. Ce qui à ce sujet est bénéfique, que cela soit.

I
Beaucoup [de rois] ont joui de la terre, Sagara le premier, celui qui possède la terre en possède le fruit.
II
Qu’elle soit donnée par lui ou par un autre, celui qui prend une terre se consume en enfer pendant six mille années.

(B8) Prospérité aux graveurs et au récitants !2

Commentary

If I understand Fleet’s description correctly, the text is inscribed in two areas. The primary area, with the essential text, is on the right, comprising the lines numbered by Fleet as 1 to 10 (and here as A1 to A10). The secondary area is to the left(!) of the primary one, and contains the imprecatory verses, lines 11 to 19 in Fleet’s numbering. This area is about 2 feet wide, so the primary area must by inference be about 5 feet, 1.5 metres. Only the primary area is reproduced in Fleet’s facsimile in EI05, which is a collotype reduced from inked impressions prepared by Hultzsch for Fleet. There is no published facsimile of the secondary area, though the final letters of some of its lines show in Fleet’s image.

Throughout this digital edition, unclear markup follows Fleet’s edition. A fair amount of text that he prints as clearly read is unclear to wholly indistinct in my scan of the facsimile.

The inscription uses sub-standard Sanskrit. Fleet adds many standardisations and suggests others in his introduction. I replicate only essential corrections here.

Fleet (1898–1899, p. 7) mentions another inscription “in similar characters” about 4 feet to the left of this one, speaking about 4 nivartanas of land at a place named Sindavaḷaga(?). If anyone goes for fieldwork, this could be checked and recorded.

Bibliography

First edited by Fleet (1898–1899) with partial inked rubbings and translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on a collation of Fleet’s text with his published facsimile, but see the commentary on the limits of the available facsimile.

Primary

[JFF] Fleet, John Faithfull. 1898–1899. “Yekkeri rock inscription of the time of Pulikesin II.” EI 5, pp. 6–9.

Notes

  1. 1. Or, perhaps, "the year 16, or 26," etc.
  2. 2. Mention très rare et très intéressante qui prouverait que les inscriptions étaient lues à haute voix. On trouve la même mention dans l’inscription n°6 de Pulakeśin II.