Peddāpurappāḍu plates (set 3) of Viṣṇuvardhana II

Editor: Dániel Balogh.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00096.

Hand description:

The only halantas character occurring in the text is an unclear final M in line 35, which seems to be a reduced and simplified ma.

Original punctuation marks are plain verticals, used in profusion for segmentation into units smaller than sentences, and often in groups to punctuate larger units. Elaborate florets mark the ends of sections, and the end of the text is signified, in addition to three vertical bars, by a sign that I classify as a gomūtra symbol with tails to both the left and right, but which may in fact be two separate symbols, a plain circle and a clockwise spiral with a tail to the right, plus some damage.

Other palaeographic observations. Anusvāra is typically a small circle at head height to the right of the character to which it belongs. Headmarks are prominent V shapes. Dependent e is often (e.g. l2 mahāsena, l5 samuditendu) written by closing the left-hand stroke of the headmark downward into a small circle. The glyph for li in l26 cānupālitā has a flat body not normally found in Eastern Cālukya inscriptions, but which is attested for example in the Reyūru Grant of Pallava Narasimhavarman (Desai [1957] 1951–1952), written in an ornate Andhra-style script. The same form (much the same as the subscript form used in lla) is also found in the first Peddāpurappāḍu set. Rare initial Ai occurs in line 25, and an unusual glyph in line 26 that I cannot identify with confidence is probably initial Au (possibly Ū).

Language: Sanskrit.

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

Version: (c66dc65), last modified (184e36f).

Edition

Seal

⟨1⟩ (v)iṣa(ma)siddhi

Plates

⟨Page 1r⟩

⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨1⟩ ✤ svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmat(āṁ) sakala-jagad-abhiṣ¿ṭh?⟨ṭ⟩¿u?⟨ū⟩yamāna-mānavya⟨2⟩-sagotrāṇāṁ| hārīti-putrāṇāṁ| svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu⟨3⟩dhyātānāṁ| k(au)śikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rājyānāṁ| bhagavan-nā⟨4⟩rāyaṇa-prasāda-samāsādita-vara-varāhalāṁ⟨5⟩chanānāṁ| cālukyānāṁ kula-jaladhi-samuditenduś śrī⟨6⟩-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājaḥ| tasyātmaja⟨ḥ⟩ śrī jayasiṁ¡gh!⟨h⟩avarmmaḥ| ⟨7⟩ tat-priyānujasya| Indra-bhaṭṭārakasya priya⟦ḥ⟧-tanaya⟨ḥ⟩ śrī-viṣamasi⟨8⟩ddhi-mahārājaḥ||| yāpanīya-vr̥kṣa-mūla-gaṇa-tilakasya bha⟨Page 2r⟩⟨9⟩gavataḥ kanakanandy-ācāryya-dharmmopadeś¿a?⟨e⟩na kasumi-sthitā⟨10⟩ya jinālayāya| bhagavatām arhatāṁ bali-vaiśvadeva-¿ś?⟨s⟩araṇā⟨11⟩rtthaṁ sva-dharmmābhivr̥ddha⟨ye⟩|

Aṣṭami-viṣaye kākaṇḍipaṟṟu nāma ¿grāmasya?⟨grāme⟩ ⟨12⟩ jinālayasya sthala-bhoga-kṣetrasya Uttarataḥ rathyā-mārggaḥ pū(r)vvataḥ ⟨13⟩ panth¿a?⟨ā⟩ḥ dakṣiṇatas taṭākaṁ paścimatas taṭākād udag ¡ri!⟨r̥⟩⟦tyā⟧ju-gatyā ⟨14⟩ rathyā-mārggaḥ|||| grāmasya pūrvvasyā⟨ṁ⟩ diṣi kummaṟa(mm?)u (nāma) ⟨15⟩ kṣetra⟨ṁ⟩ dvādaśa-vrīhi-khaṇḍikā-phala-sthānaṁ| Anyaṁ pitaṟeka⟨16⟩padhuga nāma kṣetraṁ dvādaśa-vrīhi-khaṇḍikā-phala-sthānaṁ| grāmasya ⟨17⟩ dakṣiṇataḥ triśata-kramuka-vr̥kṣ¿ā?⟨a⟩-vāṭaṁ|| ✤

tasyaiva ¿ṣ?⟨p⟩rati⟨Page 2v⟩⟨18⟩baddhe| tūṟaṁgū nāma ¿grāma-?⟨grāme ⟩jinālayasya sthala-bhoga-kṣetrasya ⟨19⟩ pūrvvataḫ panth¿a?⟨ā⟩ḥ dakṣiṇataḥ rathyā paścima(ta)ḥ rathyā Uttarataḥ gocā⟨20⟩raṁ||| grāmasya Uttarataḥ tāḻammu nāma phala-kṣetraṁ⟨.⟩ tasya pū⟨21⟩rvvataḥ gocāraṁ dakṣiṇataḫ panth¿a?⟨ā⟩ḥ paścimato (U?)(bbu)gaddā ⟨22⟩ Uttarataḥ dammiguṇḍa-kṣetraṁ||| ✤ |||

tasyaiva pratibaddhe ⟨23⟩ ⟦ga⟧ kḻoyyūru nāma ¿grāma-?⟨grāme ⟩jinālayasya sthala-bhoga-kṣetrasya (pū)⟨24⟩rvvataḥ rathyā dakṣiṇato ⟨’⟩raṇyaṁ paścimato vaṭa-vr̥kṣaṁ Uttarato ⟨25⟩ rathyā-mārggaṁ⟨.⟩ grāmasya Aiśānyān diśi Aṣṭaśata-khaṇḍikā-phala⟨26⟩-sthānaṁ trirāva nāma kṣetraṁ| tasya pūrvvataḥ (Au/Ū)ṣara-kṣetraṁ dakṣiṇa⟨Page 3r⟩⟨27⟩to navarāmaṁ paścimato grāmasya mahā-sīmā Uttarasyā⟨m a⟩pi mahā⟨28⟩-sīmā| Anyaṁ dviśata-khaṇḍikā-phala-sthānaṁ dvirāvaṁ grāmasya dakṣiṇa⟨29⟩taḥ ṣaṭ-khaṇḍikā-kodrava-bīja-phala-sthānaṁ ✤

Ity evam-ādi kṣe⟨30⟩trasya Ubhaya-sasya-bhogyasya sarvva-kara-parīhāro dattaḥ

I. Anuṣṭubh

⟨31⟩ bahubhir vvasudhā dattā|||

a

bahubhiś cānupālitā|||

b

ya⟨32⟩sya yasya yadā bhūm¡i!⟨is⟩|||

c

¡st!⟨t⟩asya tasya tadā phalaṁ|||

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

na vi⟨33⟩[ṣaṁ vi]ṣam ity āhuḥ|||

a

deva-svaṁ viṣam ucyate|||

b

viṣam ekā⟨34⟩[kinaṁ hant](i)|||

c

deva-svaṁ putra-pautrikaṁ|||

d
III. Anuṣṭubh

sva-datt¿a?⟨ā⟩ṁ para-datt¿a?⟨ā⟩ṁ vā|||

a

⟨35⟩ [yo haret]¿(i)?⟨a⟩ vasuṁdharā(M)|||

b

ṣaṣ¿ṭh?⟨ṭ⟩ir vvarṣa-sahasrāṇi|||

c

viṣ¿ṭ?⟨ṭh⟩hāyāṁ jā⟨36⟩[yate kr̥mi](ḥ)||| <gomutraDouble>

d
⟨Page 3v⟩

Apparatus

Seal

⟨1⟩ (v)iṣa(ma)siddhi • The ARIE reports the seal legend as śrī viṣamasiddhi. There is no visible śrī on the seal, and although the left-hand point is broken off, there does not seem to have been room for another character before the legend, unless it was crammed in at the left below the rest of the legend.

Plates

⟨10⟩ -vaiśvadeva-¿ś?⟨s⟩araṇā⟨11⟩rtthaṁ • The first Peddāpurappāḍu set, ll17-18, reads mahā-bali-vaiśvadeva-navakarmma-saraṇārtthaM (now confirmed from photos of the original) in the same context. I feel that saraṇa is more appropriate to the context than śaraṇa, but I am far from certain;ācaraṇa or some other word may have been intended in both cases.

⟨11⟩ Aṣṭami- • ARIE reports the district as Nātavāḍi. The reading is clear here, and the name Nātavāḍi does not occur in the charter. However, no other charter of the dynasty mentions an Aṣṭami-viṣaya. I wonder if this might be a scribal error for asmin viṣaye, coupled with an omission of the address to the householders of a particular district. — ⟨11⟩ ¿grāmasya?⟨grāme⟩ • I emend tentatively; see the commentary.

⟨13⟩ udag ¡ri!⟨r̥⟩⟦tyā⟧ju-gatyā • Probably udagatyā was first inscribed, then corrected to udagrijugatyā by adding subscript r and i to ga and striking out tyā.

⟨18⟩ ¿grāma-?⟨grāme ⟩ • I emend tentatively; see the commentary.

⟨21⟩ (U?)(bbu)gaddā • Part of the first character is obliterated, only a curve resembling a Latin C remains. Its shape corresponds exactly to other instances of initial U, but the text generally observes standard sandhi, so I am hesitant to read U here. Another candidate on the basis of shape would be ṭa, but I believe that o sandhi is even less likely before that character. My impression is that the glyph is not tall enough to be part of la, and some vestige of the central part of la also ought to be visible if that character had been engraved. The bottom of the extant part is distinctly not notched, ruling out readings such as ḍa, da, va and ma.

⟨23⟩ ⟦ga⟧ • This character is clearly recognisable, but faint and has probably been hammered or rubbed out. It is below the centre of the hole, positioned slightly lower than the rest of line 23, to which it is in all probability not connected at all. I have no insight into why it may have been engraved here. There is no indication whatsoever of the plate being a palimpsest, and I consider this sign unlikely to serve pagination. — ⟨23⟩ ¿grāma-?⟨grāme ⟩ • I emend tentatively; see the commentary.

Translation by Dániel Balogh

Seal

Plates

(1–11) Greetings. From the ocean that is 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 were deliberately appointed (to kingship) by Lord Mahāsena, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who acquired the superior Boar emblem by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa—had arisen a moon [who was] His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣṇuvardhana. His son was His Majesty Jayasiṁhavarma (I). The dear son of his dear younger brother Indra Bhaṭṭāraka, [namely] His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣamasiddhi (Viṣṇuvardhana II), [has made a donation] according to the religious instruction of His Reverence Master (ācārya) Kanakanandi, a forehead mark on the Yāpanīya Vr̥kṣamūla gaṇa, in order to increase his own merit (dharma), to the Jain temple located in Kasumi, for the ¿perpetuation?1 of bali and vaiśvadeva [ceremonies] for the Reverend Arhats.

(11–17) At the village of Kākaṇḍipaṟṟu in Aṣṭami district (viṣaya), the field (kṣetra) which is the land endowment (sthala-bhāga) of the Jain temple2 [has the following boundaries]: to the north, the course of the highway; to the east, a road; to the south, a tank (taṭāka); to the west, the highway proceeding straight northward from the tank. [Also,] in the eastern direction of the village, the field named Kummaṟammu, an entity (sthāna) yielding twelve khaṇḍikās of rice.3 Also, the field named Pitaṟekapadhuga, an entity (sthāna) yielding twelve khaṇḍikās of rice. To the south of the village, an orchard of three hundred betelnut trees.

(17–22) Allocated to the same [temple]: at the village of Turaṁgū, the field (kṣetra) which is the land endowment (sthala-bhāga) of the Jain temple [has the following boundaries]: to the east, a road; to the south, the highway; to the west, the highway; to the north, a cow pasture. [Also,] to the north of the village, the fruit orchard named Tāḻammu. [The boundaries] of that [are]: to the east, a cow pasture; to the south, a road; to the west, Ubbugaddā; to the north, the Dammiguṇḍa field.

(22–29) Allocated to the same [temple]: at the village of Kḻoyyūru, the field (kṣetra) which is the land endowment (sthala-bhāga) of the Jain temple [has the following boundaries]: to the east, the highway; to the south, a forest; to the west, a banyan tree; to the north, the course of the highway. [Also,] in the northeastern direction of the village, the field named Trirāva, an entity (sthāna) yielding eight hundred khaṇḍikās. [The boundaries] of that [are]: to the east, a saline field; to the south, Navarāma; to the west, the greater boundary (mahā-sīmā) of the village; to the north, also the greater boundary. Also, the Dvirāva [field] to the south of the village, an entity (sthāna) yielding two hundred khaṇḍikās, [and] an entity (sthāna) yielding six khaṇḍikās of kodrava seed.4

(29–30) For the [plots of] land as listed above, which are suitable for the cultivation of both [kinds of] crop,5 a remission of all taxes has been granted.

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
It is not [actual] poison that is [properly] called poison: it is the property of a god that is said to be poison. Poison kills just the one man, while [seizing] the property of a god [destroys] his progeny.
III
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.

Commentary

I understand the charter to endow a single Jain temple (jinālaya) located in Kasumi with primary and secondary plots located at three different villages. This is supported by the dative singular jinālayāya in the preamble (l. 10), as well as probably by the phrase tasyaiva pratibaddhe introducing the fields at the second and third village. However, the way the three parts of the grant are described implies that that each of these villages has a Jain temple (or that one is to be built in each), since the relationship of the village to the temple is expressed through the genitive in the first item, and through a compound in the other two. I assume, with some hesitation, that all of these were meant, instead, as locatives (or were intended, with a loose attitude to genitives and compounds, to qualify the respective kṣetra rather than the respective jinālaya). However, perhaps three satellite temples of the main temple in Kasumi are endowed hereby. I assume, without being certain, that sthala-bhoga, applied to the primary plots at each village, is equivalent to tala-bhoga, which probably means “land granted for the maintenance of a temple at the time of its consecration” (Sircar 1966, s.vv. tala-bhoga).

According to C. A. Padmanabha Sastry (1994, p. 46), the authenticity of these plates has been questioned by P. V. Parabrahma Sastry first in an issue of Bhārati subsequent to October 1983 (no closer details). In his English paper touching on the subject Parabrahma Sastry (1990, p. 168) asserts that the palaeography of the present plates is “clearly of a later period, say … tenth century A. D.”, and that the varāha emblem was never used before the time of Vijayāditya II. Neither of these seems to be a foregone conclusion to me. The writing of this set is much neater than that of the other two Peddāpurappāḍu sets, and it does exhibit some late features such as the v-shaped headmarks and the complexly curved glyph for ja, so its authenticity is not beyond doubt. Parabrahma Sastry apparently considers the grant an authentic reissue of an earlier grant, not a forgery.

Bibliography

Reported in Ravishankar 2011, p. 17, appendices A/1997-98, № 3 with description at Ravishankar 2011, pp. 3–4. The plates have been previously edited only in Telugu by J. Durga Prasad Durgāprasād 1983, with photographs. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on photographs taken by myself in 2023 at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Museum, Kakinada.

Primary

Durgāprasād, Jāsti. 1983. “Śrī Viṣamasiddhi Peddāpurappāḍu tāmra śāsanamu 1.” Bharati 80 (10), pp. 48–56.

Secondary

Ravishankar, T. S. 2011. Annual report on Indian epigraphy for 1997-98. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Page 17, appendixes A/1997-98, item 3.

Ravishankar, T. S. 2011. Annual report on Indian epigraphy for 1997-98. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Pages 3–4.

Notes

  1. 1. This word is problematic; see the apparatus to line 10.
  2. 2. See also the commentary about the three separate endowments in this charter.
  3. 3. The compound phala-sthāna is unfamiliar to me, but seems to mean plot or unit with the stated yield of crop. Elsewhere in the Veṅgī Cālukya corpus, a certain number of khaṇḍikās of seed are explicitly said to be the quantity it takes to sow a field, or seed/crop is mentioned without any particulars. This is the only instance I am aware of where the yield seems to be explicitly specified.
  4. 4. The text is vague here and some details may have been omitted. Since yields are specified separately as two hundred and as six, there are probably two separate fields, but the first one is referred to only by a name, and the second is not indicated by any noun except the problematic compound with phala-sthāna. The qualification “to the south of the village” may refer to either or both. In the second item, seed (bīja) is explicitly mentioned, so given the small number of khaṇḍikās, perhaps this is the amount of seed with which the field can be sown. However, phala is also present, so either this is a scribal mistake, or six khaṇḍikās is, after all, the yield of this plot.
  5. 5. I assume that rice (vrīhi) and millet (kodrava) are meant, since these crops have been named for some of the plots above. The text may also mean that the fields yield two harvests per year, not two kinds of crop (or the two may be ultimately the same, with rice and millet alternating seasonally).