Vappaghosavata Grant of the time of Jayanāga

Editor: Arlo Griffiths.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00124.

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Bengal Copper Plates (tfb-bengalcharters-epigraphy).

Version: (3b1ee6e), last modified (2994858).

Edition

Seal

⟨1⟩ [Audu](mva)rīka[2×](sya) [ca. 5×]

Plate

⟨1⟩ @ svasti karṇṇa(s)uvarṇṇakāvasthitasya mahārājādhirāja{ḥ}-parama-bhāgavata⟨2⟩-śrī-jayanāga-(d)evasya [1×][.]ī[1×](bh)yudaya-sāmbatsare tat-pādānuddhyāta-śrī-sāmanta⟨3⟩nārāyaṇabhadrasy(au)dumvarīka-(viṣa)ya-sambhogakāle ca ⟨ta⟩d-vyavahāri-mahāpratihāra-sūrya⟨4⟩sene vyavaharati⟨|⟩ tad asyājñā śrī-sāmanta-pādaiḥ pradattā{ḥ}⟨|⟩ kāśyapa-sagottrāya chā⟨5⟩ndoga-savrahmacāriṇe bhaṭṭa-vrahmavīrasvāmine mayā mātā-pittror ātma(na)⟨6⟩ś ca puṇyābhivr̥ddhaye vappaghoṣavāṭa-grāma ¿Ā?⟨A⟩kṣayaṇī⟨vī⟩-dharmmaṇā pradattaḥ viṣa⟨7⟩ya-mudrālaṅ-k¡ri!⟨r̥⟩ta-tāmra-śāsanaṁ sīmāghāṭa-paricchinna⟨ṁ⟩ dāsyatheti⟨|⟩ Attra sīmā⟨8⟩liṅgāni yattra paścimasyān diśi kutkuṭagrāmīṇa-vrāhmaṇānāṁ satka-tāmra-paṭṭa⟨9⟩sīmā Utta(ra)syāṁ gaṅginikā° pūrvvasyām iyam eva gaṅginikā° tato nissr̥to ⟨10⟩ Āmalapautikagrāma-paścim¿ā?⟨a⟩-sīmnānugatas sarṣapa-yānakaḥ° tenaiva ⟨11⟩ (t)ā(va)t paricchinno yāvad bhaṭṭonmīlanasvāmi-tāmrapaṭṭa Iti tasmāc ca dakṣiṇa-diṅ-bhāgā⟨12⟩d bhūyas tenaiva simnā Uttarān diśam anuvalamānas tāvad āgato yāva⟨d⟩ bharaṇisvāmi⟨13⟩-tāmrapaṭṭa-sīmeti⟨|⟩ tato ’pi praguṇena bhaṭṭonmīlanasvāmi-tāmrapaṭṭa-sīmni vakhaṭasūmā⟨14⟩likā-deva-khātam praviśya tāva⟨d⟩ gato yāva⟨t⟩ sa Eva kutkuṭagrāmīṇa-vrāhmaṇasīmeti ⟦[3×] ⟨15⟩ [1 illegible line]⟧

Apparatus

Seal

⟨1⟩ [Audu](mva)rīka[2×](sya) [ca. 5×] • The legend was left entirely unread by Barnett.

Plate

⟨2⟩ [1×][.]ī[1×](bh)yudaya- B • None of the restitutions we have considered — tr̥tīyābhyudaya-, tadīyābhyudaya — can be made with certainty. It is possible that there was no number (in which case “first” is to be understood), and that the damaged word qualified abhyudaya, not sāmvatsara. But tr̥tīyābhyudaya- seems most likely, and this possibility is reflected in our translation.

⟨6⟩ ¿Ā?⟨A⟩kṣayaṇī⟨vī⟩-dharmmaṇā ⬦ Ākṣayaṇī-dharmmaṇā B.

⟨10⟩ tenaiva ⟨11⟩ (t)ā(va)t paricchinno ⬦ tenai(va sī) ⟨11⟩ (mn)ā (sa)mparicchinno B • Barnett’s reading is not confirmed by consultation of the plate. The bisyllabic word to be read before paricchinno must be tāvat, as the repeated pairing tāvat ... yāvat in the following lines makes clear.

Translation by Arlo Griffiths

(1–7) Hail! In the third (?) prosperous year of Śrī Jayanāga, established at Karṇasuvarṇaka, overlord of great kings (mahārājādhirāja), devout worshiper of the Lord, and during the time that the chief (sāmanta) Nārāyaṇabhadra, blessed by his feet, was governing the Audumbarīka province (viṣaya), when his administrator the mahāpratihāra Sūryasena was administrating, then (tad) the (following) command was given to him by the chief: “The village of Vappaghoṣavāṭa has been given by me to Bhaṭṭa Brahmavīrasvāmin, a member of the Kāśyapa gotra and student of the Sāmaveda, for the increase of the merit of my mother, my father, and myself, by the law of perpetual endowments: you are to give a charter in copper adorned with the seal of the province ⟨and⟩ in which the boundaries (sīmā) and borders (āghāṭa) are delimited.”

(7–14) The boundary markers for it are: to the west of it, the boundary of the grant (tāmrapaṭṭa) belonging to the brahmins of Kuṭkuta village; on the north, the river-bed; on the east, this same river-bed; issuing thence and running along the western boundary of Āmalapautika village, (the boundary) is (the place called) Sarṣapayānaka; it is limited by the same (boundary) for as far as Bhaṭṭa Unmīlanasvāmin’s grant; and from the south thereof, (the boundary), turning along further by the same boundary to the north, proceeds for as far as the boundary of Bharaṇisvāmin’s grant; thence in a straight line enters the reservoir (devakhāta) of Vakhaṭa-Sūmālikā on the boundary of Bhaṭṭa Unmīlanasvāmin grant, and goes for as far as the same boundary of the brahmins of Kutkuṭa village.

Translation by Barnett 1925–1926

(1–7) Hail! In the year of the rise ... of the Great Emperor, the supreme worshipper of the Lord, the fortunate king Jayanāga, when he is resident at Karṇasuvarṇaka, at the time that the Baron Nārāyaṇabhadra, who meditates upon his feet, is in the enjoyment of the Audumbarīka province, his commissioner the Mahāpratihāra Sūryasena acting as administrator: the command given to him by the noble Baron is as follows: “The village of Vappaghoṣavāṭa has been given by me to Bhaṭṭa Brahmavīra Svāmin, a member of the Kāśyapa gotra and colleague of the Chāndogas, for the increase of the merit of my mother, my father, and myself, as a perpetual endowment: you are to give (a deed engraved on) a copper-plate adorned with the seal of the province and specifying the boundaries.”

(7–14) The signs of the boundary therein are: on the west, the boundary of the grant belonging to the Brāhmaṇs of Kuṭkuta-grāma; on the north, the river-bed; on the east, the same river-bed; issuing thence and running along the western boundary of Āmalapautika-grāma, (the boundary) is the Sarṣapa-yānaka; it is limited by the same [boundary], as far as Bhaṭṭa Unmīlana-svāmin’s grant; from the south thereof, (the boundary), turning along further by the same boundary to the north, proceeds as far as the boundary of Bharaṇi-svāmin’s grant, thence in a straight line enters the pond of Vakhaṭa-Sūmālikā on the boundary of Bhaṭṭa Unmīlana-svāmin grant, and goes as far as the same boundary of the Brāhmaṇs of Kutkuṭa-grāma.

Commentary

Bibliography

Edited and translated by L. D. Barnett (1925–1926). Re-edited by Arlo Griffiths from photos of the plate.

Primary

[B] Barnett, Lionel David. 1925–1926. “Vappaghoshavata grant of Jayanaga.” EI 18, pp. 60–64.