Kolaveṇṇu plates of Bhīma II

Editor: Dániel Balogh.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00033.

Hand description:

Halantas.

Original punctuation marks

Other palaeographic observations.

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Eastern Cālukya (tfb-vengicalukya-epigraphy).

Version: (c66dc65), last modified (56414dd).

Edition

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⟨1⟩ śrī-tribhuvanāṁkuśa

Plates

⟨Page 1r⟩
I. Anuṣṭubh

⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨1⟩ hari-nābhi-saro-janmā

a

meru-nāla-viśālitaḥ

b

Ajasya janma-bhūr ādi-

c

-padmo jayati śā⟨2⟩śvataṁ

d

svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sagotrānāṁ hārīti-pu⟨3⟩trāṇāṁ kauśikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rājyānāṁ mātr̥-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāse⟨4⟩na-pādānudhyātānāṁ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa-prasāda-samāsādita-vara-varā⟨5⟩ha-lāṁcchanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāti-maṇḍalānā{ṁ}m aśvamedh¿a?⟨ā⟩vabhr̥tha-snāna-pa⟨6⟩vitrīkr̥ta-vapuṣāṁ cālukyānāṁ kulam alaṁkariṣṇoḥ| satyāśrayasya ⟨7⟩ bhrātā kubja-viṣṇur aṣṭādaśa varṣ¿a?⟨ā⟩ṇi| tat-putro jayasiṁhas trayastriṁśataṁ| tad-bhrātur i⟨8⟩nd⟨r⟩a-rājasya nandano viṣṇuvarddhano nava| tat-suto maṁgi-yuvarājaḫ paṁcaviṁśati⟨ṁ⟩| tad-ātma⟨9⟩jo jayasiṁh¡a! trayodaśa| tad-⟨d⟩vaimāturā⟨nu⟩jaḥ kokkil¡i! ṣaṇ mās¡a⟨ṁ⟩!⟨āN⟩| taj-⟨j⟩yeṣṭho viṣṇuvarddha⟨Page 2r⟩⟨10⟩nas saptatriṁśataṁ| tad-auraso vijayāditya-bhaṭṭāra⟨ka⟩ Aṣṭādaśa| tat-putro viṣṇurāj¡a! ṣa⟨11⟩ṭtriṁśataṁ| tat-sūnur nnarendra-mr̥garāj¡a! catvāriṁśataṁ| tat-suta⟨ḥ⟩ kali-viṣṇuvarddhano ⟨’⟩ṣṭādaśa ⟨12⟩ mās¡aṁ!⟨āN⟩| tat-tanujo guṇakenalla-vijayādity¡a! ¡catu!⟨catuś⟩catvāriṁśataṁ| tad-anuja-vikra⟨13⟩mādityātmajaś cālukya-bhīm¡a! triṁśataṁ| tat-putro vijayādity¡a! ṣaṇ mās¡āṁ!⟨āN⟩⟨|⟩ ⟨14⟩ tat-tanujo ⟨’⟩mma-rāj¡a! sapta saṁvatsar¿a?⟨ā⟩N| tat-sūnur vvijayādity¡a! pa⟨15⟩kṣaṁ| tad-anu tāḻapa-rājo māsaṁ| taṁ vinirjjitya cālukya-bh¿i?⟨ī⟩ma-⟨ta⟩na⟨16⟩yo vikramādity¡a! saṁ⟨va⟩tsaraṁ sa-tri-kaliṁgaṁ veṁgi-maṇḍalam apālayaT||

II. Anuṣṭubh

dvaimāturo ⟨’⟩mmarā⟨17⟩jasya

a

vijayāditya-nandana⟨ḥ⟩

b

cālukya-bhīmo badhnāti

c

paṭṭam ācandra-tārakaṁ|

d
III. Lalitā

yas tāta⟨18⟩-(bi)kyanākhya{(ṁ)}n dhaḻadi(ṁ) munniṟiva-rājamārttaṇḍ(au)

ab

Ājau vijitya bāhvā {rg}gāpayati ja⟨Page 2v⟩⟨19⟩nair ¿ṇ?⟨n⟩nijaṁ janodāh¿ā?⟨a⟩raṇaṁ||

cd

merur ivālaṁghya-mahimā|| Indur i⟨va⟩ sakala-kalādhā⟨20⟩ras sa sarvva-lokāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārāj¿a?⟨ā⟩dhirāja-parameśvara-parama-⟨bha⟩ṭṭā⟨21⟩raka⟨ḥ⟩ parama-bra(hmaṇy)¿(ā)?⟨aḥ⟩ (ka)ṇḍeṟuvāṭi-viṣaya-nivāsino rāṣṭrak¿u?⟨ū⟩ṭa-pramukhāN kuṭ¡i!⟨u⟩ṁ⟨22⟩bina I⟨t⟩tham ājñ¡a!payati||

IV. Gīti

pānara-mahīpa-pāvana-satya-tyāgābhimāna⟨23⟩-śaurrya-nidhiḥ|

ab

mad-rājya-rakṣaṇāṁsala-bāhur vvājjaya Iti kṣitīśas te⟨24⟩na|

cd

prārtthyamānair asmābhiḥ

V. Anuṣṭubh

Ābharadvasukālmādi-

a

-vāstavyād revaśarmmaṇaḥ

b

(d)e⟨25⟩ṇiya-kramako jajñe

c

ved¿i?⟨a⟩-vedāṁga-vid vibhuḥ

d
VI. Anuṣṭubh

s¿ya?⟨ū⟩treṇāpastaṁbaḥ

a

kommaṇaḥ kula-bhūṣa⟨26⟩ṇaḥ

b

suta⟨ḥ⟩ sv-abhijanas tasya|

c

brahma-śrī-bhāsvara-dyutiḥ|

d
VII. Anuṣṭubh

kandamavvātmajaḥ kāntyā{ḥ}

a

kā⟨27⟩maḥ kāmadhug artthināṁ|

b

yat-sampat-sarasīm etya{ḥ}

c

vipra-haṁsā vibhānty amī|

d
VIII. Anuṣṭubh

⟨Page 3r⟩ ⟨28⟩ yat-putra-pautrāḥ paṭavo

a

vaṭavo vāra-goṣṭhiṣu|

b

Agrahārāgra-(pū)j¿a?⟨ā⟩nām

c

ā⟨29⟩pn¿a?⟨u⟩vanti paraṁparāṁ

d

tasm¿e?⟨ai⟩ kommaṇa-krama-vide sarvva-kara-parihāreṇa koḍhata⟨30⟩lli nāma grāmaḥ Agrahār¿i?⟨ī⟩kr̥tya Udaka-pūrvvam uttarāyaṇa-nimitte dattam i⟨31⟩ti viditam astu vaḥ

yasy¿a?⟨ā⟩vadhayaḥ p¿u?⟨ū⟩rvvataḥ

⟨Page 3v⟩

Apparatus

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Plates

⟨8⟩ -yuvarājaḫ paṁca° ⬦ -yuvarājaṣ paṁca° EH • I assume that an upadhmānīya was intended here. Autopsy may tell whether it is in all respects identical to an ṣ, as found in lines 11 and 13 of the Diggubaṟṟu grant of Bhīma II.

⟨15⟩ tāḻapa- EH • If and when the original or a facsimile is available, check whether the spelling is not with ḷ.

⟨18⟩ °ākhya{(ṁ)}n dhaḻadi(ṁ) munniṟiva-rājamārttaṇḍ(au) EH1907–1908 ⬦ °ākhyaṁ ¿nvaḻadimunniṟiva? rāja-mārttaṇḍ¡o! EH; °ākhya{(ṁ)}n dhaḻadi⟨ṁ⟩ munniṟiva-rāja-mārttaṇḍo ⟨’⟩sau JFF • See the commentary for further details on the conjectures offered for this locus.

⟨23⟩ pānara- … te⟨24⟩na| • Read by Hultzsch as prose, I am certain that this was intended to be a gīti stanza, emboldened by the presence of punctuation after both halves and in both cases inconsistent with the syntax and thus intended for verse segmentation. The second hemistich is unmetrical, with an extra syllable at the end. One way to resolve this is to emend kṣitīśas tena to kṣitīśena. But given the structure of the composition with a snatch of connecting prose after the stanza, I think the composer rather had something like kṣitīśo ’sti in mind, followed by tena in the connecting prose rather than within the stanza. I thus believe we have a scribal error in the text as well as in the position of the punctuation mark.

⟨24⟩ Ābharadvasukālmādi- • Being unable to verify it, I accept Hultzsch’s reading. I wonder, however, if it is possible to read (or emend to) something involving bhāradvāja here (e.g. bhāradvājeṣu kālmādi- or subhāradvāja-kālmādi-). The word is rather long for a place name, and the donee’s gotra is nowhere else stated. — ⟨24⟩ (d)e⟨25⟩ṇiya- • Hultzsch prints the first character as a clear de, but observes that there is a crack to the right of it, and that it may have been pe.

⟨25⟩ s¿ya?⟨ū⟩treṇāpastaṁbaḥ • I am baffled by this glaringly unmetrical line and have no suggestions to improve it.

⟨26⟩ sv-abhijanas ⬦ sv¿a?⟨ā⟩bhijanas EH • I find sv-abhijana better in the context than Hultzsch’s emendation svābhijana.

⟨28⟩ vāra- ⬦ v¿ā?⟨a⟩ra- EH • Although I know of no attestation for vāra-goṣṭhī, I think the compound can be interpreted in the context without resorting to emendation.

Translation by Dániel Balogh

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Plates

I
Born in the lake that is Hari’s (Viṣṇu’s) navel, raised high on a stalk that is (Mount) Meru—ever victorious is the primordial lotus, the birthplace of the Unborn (Brahmā).

(2–16) Greetings. Satyāśraya (Pulakeśin II) was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Cālukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hārīti, 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 Viṣṇu(vardhana) [reigned] for eighteen years. His son Jayasiṁha (I), for thirty-three. His brother Indrarāja’s (Indra Bhaṭṭāraka’s) son Viṣṇuvardhana (II), for nine. His son Maṅgi Yuvarāja, for twenty-five. His son Jayasiṁha (II), for thirteen. His younger brother by a different mother, Kokkili, for six months. His eldest [brother] Viṣṇuvardhana (III), for thirty-seven. His son Vijayāditya (I) Bhaṭṭāraka, for eighteen. His son Viṣṇurāja (Viṣṇuvardhana IV), for thirty-six. His son (Vijayāditya II) Narendramr̥garāja, for forty. His son Kali-Viṣṇuvardhana (V), for eighteen months. His son Guṇakenalla Vijayāditya (III), for forty-four. The son of his younger brother Vikramāditya, Cālukya-Bhīma, for thirty. His son Vijayāditya (IV), for six months. His son Ammarāja (I), for seven years. His son Vijayāditya (V), for a fortnight. After him, King (rājan) Tāḻapa for a month. After defeating him, Cālukya-Bhīma’s son Vikramāditya (II) protected (pāl-) the country of Veṅgī together with the three Kaliṅgas for a year.

II
The son of Vijayāditya (IV), Ammarāja’s brother by a different mother, Cālukya-Bhīma (II) [now] wears the turban (of royalty) while the moon and stars [remain].
III
He who with his arm defeated in battle the one called Tāta-Bikyana, [as well as] Dhaḻadi, Munniṟiva and Rājamārttaṇḍa, [now] causes ¿(their) subjects to sing his own public proclamation?.1

(19–22) That shelter of all the world (sarva-lokāśraya), the supremely pious Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja), the Supreme Sovereign (parama-bhaṭṭāraka), whose greatness is as insurmountable as {the height} of Meru {is impossible to jump over}, and who is a vessel of all arts as the moon {is a receptacle for all its digits}—His Majesty Viṣṇuvardhana (Bhīma II) commands the householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—who reside in Kaṇḍeṟuvāṭi district (viṣaya) as follows:

IV
[There is] a king (kṣitīśa) called Vājjaya, the purifier of the rulers (mahīpa) of Pānara2 and a repository of honour, generosity, dignity and valour, whose brawny arm is the protector of my kingdom.

(24) Being requested by him, we (Bhīma II)—

V
From Revaśarman, a resident of Ābharadvasukālmādi,3 was born the resplendent krama-reciter Deṇiya, conversant with the Vedas and Vedāṅgas.
VI
His well-born son is Kommaṇa, a jewel of his lineage, a follower of the Āpastamba sūtra who glowed with the brilliance of Brahmanic majesty.
VII
Born of (his mother) Kandamavvā, he is Kāma in beauty and a cow of plenty (surabhi) to supplicants. Those Brahmins flock to his largesse like geese to a lake.
VIII
His sons and grandsons, youngsters clever in committee assemblies (vāra-goṣṭhi),4 earn a succession of land grants (agrahāra) and high honours.

(29–31) —to that krama-reciter Kommaṇa [we, Bhīma II] have given on the occasion of the winter solstice the village named Koḍhatalli, converted into a rent-free holding (agrahāra) by a remission of all taxes, [the donation being] sanctified by (a libation of) water. Let this be known to you.

(31) The boundaries of which [village are as follows]. To the east …

Translation into French by Estienne-Monod 2008

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Plates

I
Naît dans le lac qu’est le nombril de Hari, grandi par la tige qu’est le Meru, le lotus primordial qu’est le lieu de naissance d’Aja5 est éternellement victorieux !

(2–16) Prospérité ! Kubja Viṣṇu, frère de Satyāśraya, ornement de la lignée des Calukya, illustres, du même gotra que les descendants de Manu, honorés dans l’univers entier, fils de Hāriti, qui obtinrent leur royaume grâce à l’excellente faveur de Kauśikī, protégés par la troupes des Mères, méditant aux pieds du seigneur Mahāsena, dont le cercle des ennemis fut soumis en un instant à la vue du signe illustre de l’excellent sanglier, faveur octroyée par le bienheureux Nārāyaṇa, dont les corps furent purifiés par le bain purificatoire de l’aśvamedha, [règna] pendant dix-huit années ; son fils, Jayasiṁha, pendant trente-trois [années] ; le fils de son frère Indrarāja, Viṣṇuvardhana, pendant neuf [années] ; le fils de celui-ci, Maṁgi Yuvarāja, pendant [vingt-cinq années] ; son fils, Jayasiṁha, pendant treize [années] ; son demi-frère, Kokkili, pendant six mois ; le frère aîné de celui-ci, Viṣṇuvardhana, pendant trente-sept [années] ; son fils Vijayāditya Bhaṭṭāraka pendant dix-huit [années] ; le fils de celui-ci, Viṣṇurāja, pendant trente-six [années]; son fils Narendra Mr̥garāja pendant quarante [années] ; le fils de celui-ci, Kali Viṣṇuvarddhana, pendant dix-huit mois ; son fils, Guṇakenalla Vijayāditya, pendant quarante-quatre [années] ; le fils du frère cadet de ce dernier, Cālukya Bhīma, pendant trentre [années] ; son fils Vijayāditya pendant six mois ; le fils de celui-ci, Ammarāja, pendant sept ans ; son fils, Vijayāditya, pendant quinze jours ; après celui-ci, Tāḻaparāja pendant un mois ; ayant vaincu de dernier, le fils de Cālukya Bhīma, Vikramāditya, protégea le royaume de Veṁgī et les trois Kaliṁga pendant une année ;

II
le demi-frère d’Ammarāja, fils de Vijayāditya, Cālukya Bhīma noue le bandeau [royal] pour une durée aussi longue que celle [de l’existence] de la lune et des étoiles ;
III
lui qui, ayant vaincu au combat de son bras celui qui se nomme Tātabikyana, Rājamārttaṇḍa fait chanter par les hommes son propre panégyrique.

(19–22) Pareil au Meru, sa grandeur ne peut être surpassée, pareil à la lune avec tous ses quartiers, il connaît tous les arts, lui, refuge de tous les hommes, l’illustre Viṣṇuvardhana, roi suprême des grands rois, seigneur suprême, éminent seigneur, excellent dévôt, ordonne ceci aux chefs de famille habitant le viṣaya de Kaṇḍeṟuvāṭi, rāṣṭrakūṭa en tête :

IV
Il est un roi nommé Vājjaya, qui purifia le prince des Pānara, réceptacle de vérité, de libéralité, de fierté et d’héroïsme, dont le bras vigoureux protège mon royaume,

(24) [roi] par lequel nous avons été sollicités.

V
De Revaśarman, habitant à Ābharadvasukālmādi, naquit le récitant Deṇiya, qui connaissait les Veda et Vedāṁga, éminent.
VI
Sectateur du sūtra Āpastaṁba, Kommaṇa, ornement de sa famille, fut son fils, né dans la même famille, revêtu d’une lumineuse splendeur par l’éclat du Veda.
VII
Le fils de Kandamavvā,6 [est] Kāma par sa beauté, la vache des désirs pour les suppliants, ayant approché l’étang qu’est sa prospérité, ces cygnes que sont les brahmanes resplendissent.
VIII
Ses fils et petit-fils, très brillants dans les éminentes assemblées, obtiennent une succession d’agrahāra et d’hommages.

(29–31) Qu’il soit connu de vous que nous donnons à ce Kommaṇa, qui connaît les récitations, le village nommé Koḍhatalli, exempté de toute taxe, en qualité d’agrahāra , après avoir fait une libation d’eau, à l’occasion du solstice d’hiver.

(31) Les limites sont à l’est7

Commentary

Throughout stanza 3, I show the text as read and emended by Hultzsch because lacking access to a facsimile, I prefer not to alter his readings. However, I believe that the passage is in fact a stanza in a moraic metre. For the unintelligible string, Fleet (1902–1903, p. 182, n. 1) proposes to read and emend °ākhya{ṁ}n dhaḻadi⟨ṁ⟩ munn-iṟiva. He only says the words munn-iṟiva are Kanarese, but does not translate them. He assumes that Dhaḻadi is a name, meaning the same person as Dhaḻaga in line 35 of the Kalucuṁbaṟṟu grant of Amma II. He further identifies the stanza as an āryāgīti and to obtain it, emends the end of the first hemistich to mārttaṇḍo ⟨’⟩sau, which strikes me as somewhat forced in spite of the non-standard sandhi in the text as received. Since I am now aware that the rare gaṇacchandas metre lalitā occurs in several related inscriptions (e.g. stanza 2 of the Guṇḍugolanu grant of Amma II), I feel quite certain that this is the metre used here. Finally, Hultzsch (1907–1908, p. 49), having become convinced that Rājamārtaṇḍa is not Bhīma’s name but one of his enemies, perhaps the same as Rājamayya, suggests the revised reading yas tāta bikyanākhyaṁ dhaḻadiṁ munniṟiva-rājamārttaṇḍau (where he probably intends °ākhya{ṁ}n dhaḻadiṁ...), seeing Munniṟiva as a name. A parallel phrase is now available in stanza 18 of the Varaṇaveṇḍi grant of Bhīma II, where the construction nihatau saṁyati dhaḻadiṁmmunniṟiva-rājamārttaṇḍau strongly implies that dhaḻadiṁmmunniṟiva is in fact a single name (or at least two names of a single person).

The second half of the stanza, containing no historical data, has not been scrutinised by these scholars. Although Hultzsch’s emendation is plausible, the text is rather hard to interpret, and its difficulty is glossed over by his translation (cited in a note to my translation of this stanza). I wonder if the intent was instead Ājau vijitya bāhvor ggāpayati janair nnijaṁ janoddharaṇam. Here, bāhvor assumes a much smaller scribal mistake, and a dual would be normal in the context, though bāhvā is perhaps slightly better semantically, given the presence of nijam. If my conjecture is correct, then the stanza is, after all, a gīti rather than a lalitā and there is no metrical anomaly. I prefer to postpone a final judgement.

Bibliography

Edited (probably from the original) by E. Hultzsch (1890, pp. 43–46, № 37), with translation but no facsimile. The present edition by Dániel Balogh follows Hultzsch’s text unless otherwise noted in the apparatus.

Primary

[EH] 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 43–46, item 37.

Secondary

[JFF] Fleet, John Faithfull. 1902–1903. “Kaluchumbarru grant of Vijayaditya-Amma II.” EI 7, pp. 177–192. Page 182, note 1.

[EH1907-1908] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1907–1908. “Maliyapundi grant of Ammarāja II.” EI 9, pp. 47–56. Page 49.

Kielhorn, Lorenz Franz. 1898–1899. “Six Eastern Chalukya copper-plate inscriptions.” EI 5, pp. 118–142. Page 138, note 7.

Srinivasa Ayyangar, R. 2000. Catalogue of copper plate grants. Chennai: The Commissioner of Museums, Government Museum. [URL]. Item 37.

Subrahmanya Aiyer, K. V. 1935–1936. “A note on the Panchavara committee.” EI 23 (4), pp. 22–28. Pages 27–28.

Notes

  1. 1. The text of this stanza is rather hard to interpret. See the apparatus to line 18, and the commentary, about the associated reading problems. Hultzsch’s translation of his original reading ran as follows: “Having conquered in a battle with his arm Tāta-Bikyana(?) . . ., this Rāja-mārtaṇḍa (i.e. the sun among kings) causes his fame to be sung by the people.”
  2. 2. Hultzsch’s commentary speaks of “the Pānara prince Vājjaya”, i.e. he understands “purifier” in the sense of one who brings honour to or uplifts (his own lineage). While this is entirely possible, I think it is equally possible that “purifier” is to be understood as one who purges or chastises (enemies). Thus, the Pānaras or rulers of Pānara may have been enemies here.
  3. 3. I believe the name of the village may have been only the latter part of this string, and the former part may identify the donee’s grandfather as a member of the Bhāradvāja gotra. See the apparatus to this word in line 24.
  4. 4. Hultzsch translates “in assemblies of eminent men.” I prefer to understand vāra to mean an official or a body of officials, as suggested by Kielhorn (1898–1899, p. 138, n. 7), Subrahmanya Aiyer (1935–1936, pp. 27–28) and Sircar (1966, s.v. pañcavāra).
  5. 5. Nom d’un brahmane.
  6. 6. Du fait de la mention dans la strophe précédente du père de Kommaṇa, Deṇiya, nous supposons qu’il s’agit ici de sa mère : Kandamavvā. Mais on peut aussi lire : Kandamavva.
  7. 7. Aucune lettre n’apparaît à la suite de celle-ci. Nous supposons que l’inscription n’est pas achevée.