Nemmaḷūru grant of Vijayāditya I

Editor: Dániel Balogh.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00066.

Languages: Sanskrit, Telugu.

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

Version: (195df1d), last modified (896306f).

Edition

Seal

⟨1⟩ śrī-tribhuvan(ā)ṁkuśa

Plates

⟨Page 1r⟩

⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨1⟩ svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago⟨2⟩trāṇāṁ hārīti-putrāṇā⟨ṁ⟩ kauśikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rājyānā⟨ṁ⟩ mātr̥-gaṇa⟨3⟩-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānuddhyātānāṁ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa⟨4⟩-pras(ā)da-samāsādita-vara-varāha-lāṁcchanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥⟨5⟩tārāti-maṇḍalānāṁ Aśvamedhāvabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitrīkr̥ta-vapu⟨6⟩ṣāṁ caḷukyānāṁ k(u)lam ala(ṁ)kariṣṇo⟨ḥ⟩ śrī-maṅgi-yuvarājasya priya-pautraḥ ⟨7⟩ (n)i(ja)-bhuja-bala-va(rji)tāśeṣa-bhūpāla-maṇḍalasya Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta⟨Page 2r⟩⟨8⟩-suva(r)ṇa-dāna-varddhitāvadāta-kīrtteḥ sarvvalokāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddha⟨9⟩na-mahārā(ja)sya priya-tanayaḥ s⟨v⟩a-pratāpāvanata-samasta-sā⟨10⟩manta-cakraś cakravartti-lakṣaṇopeto n(i?)ravadyodāra-gu⟨ṇa⟩-gaṇālaṁkr̥ta⟨ḥ⟩ ⟨11⟩ parama-brahmaṇyaḥ parama-māheśvaro mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhyāta⟨12⟩s (s)amasta-bhu(va)nāśraya-śrī-vijayāditya-mah(ā)rājādhirāja-parameśva⟨13⟩ra-bhaṭṭārakaḥ gudrahāra-viṣaye nemmaḷūru (n)āma grāmam adhivasato ⟨14⟩ rāṣ(ṭ)ra(kūṭa)-pram(u)khān kuṭ¡i!⟨u⟩ṁbinas sarvvān i⟨t⟩tham ājñāpayati

viditam astu ⟨Page 2v⟩ ⟨15⟩ vo ⟨’⟩smābhiḥ vaṁgipaṟu-v¡a!⟨ā⟩stavyāya bhāradvāja-gotrāya mādhava-⟨16⟩catu(r)vv(e)di-(śarmmaṇaḥ) pautrāya veda-vedāṁga-vid¿e?⟨aḥ⟩ śivaśarmmaṇaḥ putrā⟨17⟩ya v(e)da-(dva)yādhyāyin¿a?⟨e⟩ tad-guṇopetasya mādhavaśarmmaṇe candra-gra⟨18⟩haṇa-nimitte Udaka-pūrvva⟨ṁ⟩ kr̥tv(ā) A(ṣ)ṭa-¡kaṇḍi!⟨khaṇḍika⟩-kodravāvāpa-pramā⟨19⟩(ṇaṁ) kṣetra(ṁ) sarva-kara-parihāreṇa dattaM

pūrvataḥ ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍa⟨20⟩ṁbu⟨.⟩ dakṣiṇataḥ cendaṟū-boya-kṣ¿o?⟨e⟩traM⟨.⟩ paścimataḥ koḍu⟨.⟩ Uttara⟨21⟩taḥ pḻāṇḍa(ṟaṁ)bu⟨.⟩ Et¿o?⟨e⟩ṣāṁ catur-avadhi-madhya-varti kṣetraM⟨.⟩ ¡grāmā!⟨grāmāt⟩ pa⟨Page 3r⟩⟨22⟩ścimataḥ⟨.⟩ Asyopari na kenacid bādhā k¿ā?⟨a⟩r¿i?⟨a⟩ṇ¿i?⟨ī⟩yā⟨.⟩ karoti yas sa pa⟨23⟩ñca-mahāpātaka-saṁyukto bhavati⟨.⟩ vyāsenāpy uktaM

I. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhir vasu⟨24⟩dhā dattā

a

bahubhiś cānupālitā

b

yasya yasya yadā bhūmis

c

ta⟨25⟩sya tasya tadā (ph)alaM

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

sva-dattāṁ para-dattāṁ vā

a

yo hareta ⟨26⟩ vasundh¿ā?⟨a⟩rāṁ

b

ṣaṣṭi-v{v}a(r)ṣa-sahasrāṇi

c

viṣ¿ṭ?⟨ṭh⟩āyāṁ jāyate kr̥miḥ

d
III. Anuṣṭubh

bra⟨27⟩hma-svan tu viṣaṁ ghoraṁ

a

na viṣaṁ viṣam ucyate

b

viṣam ekākinaṁ ⟨28⟩ hanti

c

brahma-svaṁ putra-pautrikaM

d

Āj(ñ)¡ā!⟨a⟩p(t)i boḻamma @⁋

⟨Page 3v⟩

Apparatus

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Plates

⟨8⟩ -kīrtteḥ ⬦ -kīrttiḥ SR.

⟨9⟩ s⟨v⟩a-pratāpāvanata- ⬦ sapratāpāvanata- SR • My correction is confirmed by the identical locus in line 9 of the Dinakādu grant. Other related grants use sva-bhuja-bala-pratāpāvanata or simply pratāpāvanata in similar contexts, while the Varppoṁgu grant of Vijayāditya II reads pratāpānurāgāvanata-samasta-sāmanta-cakkraḥ in an almost identical context.

⟨10⟩ cakravartti- ⬦ cakravarttiḥ SR.

⟨13⟩ nemmaḷūru ⬦ gommaḷūru SR • The first character is indistinct in the estampage, but clear in the original. The ARIE correctly reports the name of the village as Nemmalūru.

⟨15⟩ vaṁgipaṟu- ⬦ vargipaṟu- SR • SR prints his reading both in his edition and in his discussion, so it is probably not a typo. The anusvāra is inside the circle of i over gi, and there is no repha.

⟨16⟩ -vid¿e?⟨aḥ⟩ ⬦ -vide SR • Though the text is meaningful without this emendation, because of this compound’s position in the sequence I believe this was the intent of the composer, so that the learnedness of each of the three generations is described with one adjective (rather than one for the grandfather, none for the father, and two for the donee).

⟨17⟩ tad-guṇopetasya ⬦ tadgyajñodevasya SR.

⟨18⟩ -¡kaṇḍi!⟨khaṇḍika⟩-kodravāvāpa- ⬦ -kaṇḍikādravāvāpa- SR. — ⟨18⟩ -pramā⟨19⟩(ṇaṁ) kṣetra(ṁ) ⬦ -prāmā⟨19⟩ṇa-kṣetrā SR.

⟨19⟩ ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍa⟨20⟩ṁbu ⬦ ciṭṭeruguṭa maṭṭa⟨20⟩bu SR. — ⟨19⟩ cendaṟū-boya- ⬦ ṣendaṟūbāya SR • The reading is unambiguous with the combined testimony of the estampage and the photos. The intent may have been cendaṟūr-boya-; compare the toponym cendaṟura in the Cendalūr plates of Maṅgi Yuvarāja.

⟨21⟩ pḻāṇḍa(ṟaṁ)bu ⬦ ppāṇḍaṟabu SR • Being unable to interpret this word, I am not entirely certain of its reading, but the photos of the original plate are fairly unambiguous in spite of corrosion.

⟨27⟩ -svan tu ⬦ -svantya SR.

⟨28⟩ boḻamma ⬦ bhauṟama SR • The spelling of this name is boḻama in the Zulakallu and Eḍeru of plates Vijayāditya I. The identity has also been pointed out by G. S. Gai (1965-1966, p. 301, n. 1). The subscript m in the present instance is small due to lack of space in the bottom line, but clear and unambiguous in photos of the original. — ⟨28⟩ @⁋ ⬦ śrī SR • There is definitely no alphabetic text here. SR may have rendered the symbols as śrī, neglecting to note that this is represented by a symbol.

Translation by Dániel Balogh

Seal

Plates

(1–14) Greetings. The dear grandson of His Majesty Maṅgi Yuvarāja, who was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Caḷukyas—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 the realms of adversaries 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—; the dear son of His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣṇuvardhana (III), the shelter of all the world (sarva-lokāśraya), who has fended off1 the entire circle of kings by the power of his own arm, and whose resplendent fame was heightened by gifts of gold weighed in many a balance (against his body); [namely] His Majesty the supremely pious Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja), the Sovereign (bhaṭṭāraka) Vijayāditya, shelter of the entire universe (samasta-bhuvanāśraya), supreme devotee of Maheśvara, who was deliberately appointed (as heir) by his mother and father, who has the complete circle of peripheral rulers (sāmanta) bowed down through his own prowess, who possesses the bodily marks of a universal sovereign (cakravartin) and who is adorned by a host of irreproachable (niravadya) and noble virtues, commands all householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—inhabiting the village Nemmaḷūru in Gudrahāra district (viṣaya) as follows:

(14–19) Let it be known to you that on the occasion of an eclipse of the moon we have given, sanctified by (a libation of) water and with a remission of all taxes, a field to the extent [sufficient for sowing] eight khaṇḍikas of kodrava to the grandson of the caturvedin Mādhavaśarman, the son of Śivaśarman who was versed in the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas2 [namely] Mādhavaśarman, a student of two Vedas, a resident of Vaṁgipaṟu of the Bhāradvāja gotra who is endowed with his [i.e. his father’s] virtues.

(19–23) To the east, ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍaṁbu. To the south, the field of Cendaṟū-boya. To the west, a stream (koḍu). To the north, Pḻāṇḍaṟaṁbu. The field is located amid these four boundaries. To the west of the village. Let no-one pose an obstacle (to his enjoyment of his rights) over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. Vyāsa too has said:

I
Many (kings) have granted land, and many have preserved it (as formerly granted). Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit {reward (accrued of granting it)} belongs to him at that time.
II
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.
III
The property of a Brahmin is terrible poison: it is not [actual] poison that is [properly] called poison. Poison kills just the one man, while [seizing] the property of a Brahmin [destroys] his progeny.

(28) The executor (ājñapti) is Boḻamma.

Commentary

There is a present-day village Nimmaluru at 16° 16′ 13.08″ N, 80° 59′ 48.12″ E, in Gudivada taluk of Krishna district (so probably in Gudrahāra Viṣaya), though not in West Godavari district, where the inscription is said to have been found. There is a stream (koḍu?) to the west of this village, but I find no names recognisable from the grant in its vicinity.

Bibliography

Reported in Krishnamacharlu 1938, p. 7, appendices A/1934-35, № 19 without discussion of details. Edited by R. Subba Rao (1930-1931, № 1), probably from the original as well as from estampages, with estampages (of the plates and the seal) and translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on photos of the original taken by myself in February 2023 at at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Museum, Kakinada, collated with Subba Rao’s edition and his facsimiles. Minor typographic mistakes in Subba Rao’s edition are ignored in the apparatus here.

Primary

[SR] Subba Rao, R. 1930-1931. “Two new copper plate inscriptions of Vijayaditya I.” JAHRS 5, pp. 51–56. Item 1.

Secondary

Krishnamacharlu, C. R. 1938. Annual report on South Indian epigraphy for the year ending 31st March 1935. Delhi: Manager of Publications. Page 7, appendixes A/1934-35, item 19.

Notes

  1. 1. This reading strikes me as strange; I would expect "conquered" here. See the apparatus to line 7.
  2. 2. As per the received text, the qualification “versed in the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas” applies to the donee, but I believe it was intended to describe his father; see the apparatus to line 16.