Epigraphia Indica Vol 24

SR No.: 032578
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1937
Total Pages: 472
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 320

No. 37.]
TWO INCOMPLETE GRANTS OF PRAVARASENA II.
261
Atirätra in l. 1 of Set A and atit- in l. 25 of Set B. The subscript t is usually looped and to distinguish it from n its loop is elongated, see e.g. - Aptöryyām- in l. 1 of Set A, but instances of the unlooped subscript i also occur sporadically, see e.g. kārtta-yuga in I. 12 and bhukti in l. 13 of Set A. The use of the looped form of thas led to the confusion of t and n in some cases; see e.g. Pravara-sētasya for Pravarasēnasya in ll. 12-13 of Set B, where n is shaped exactly like an unlooped t. In other respects the characters show the same peculiarities as those of the Tirodi. and Pattan plates of Pravarasēna II.
The language is Sanskrit. The existing portion of Set A is wholly in prose; that of Set B is also in prose except for two benedictive and imprecatory verses in 11. 27-29. The orthography of both the sets shows the same peculiarities, viz., (1) the vowel ti is used for ri and vice versd, see pautyinah and Prithivisēnasya in l. 9 of both the sets. In vishrita l. 16 of Set B, the vowel i is used for r. (2) Similarly li is used for the vowel li in sa-klipt-Opakliplela in . 22 of Set B. (3) The palatal & is used for the dental in Suryya-in l. 14 of Set A. (4) The consonant following , and that preceding r and y are doubled, see e.g. -abhivarddhamana. in l. 8 and sarvväddhyaksha in l. 15 of both the sets and vikkrama in l. 7 of Set A. Besides these, both the sets show such mistakes as the use of the short for the long vowel, ungrammatical forms of words, etc.
Both the sets of plates were granted by Pravarasöna II of the Vākāțaka dynasty. His genealogy is traced here from Pravarasēna I exactly as in his other grants, his maternal grandfather Chandragupta II being called Dévagupta. The plates of Set A were issued from Nandivardhana. The place of issue in the case of those of Set B is unknown owing to the loss of its first plate. The former record the grant of the village Mahalla-Lāta in the Asi-bhukti, which was situated on the road to Sailapura, while the latter register the donation of two villages viz., Dirghadraha in the Päkkaņa-räshtra and Mahallama-Laţa. Of these latter villages, the second is plainly identical with the village Mahalla-Läta of Set A as it is specified exactly like it. The grant recorded in Set B is, therefore, later than that of Set A. The donee of both the grants was the same, namely, Suryasvamin of the Kābyapa-gotra and Taittiriya-sākha, who was a resident of the place Pravarēsvara-shadvimbati-văţaka. Both the grants were again made at the victorious place of religious worship (vaijayikė dharmasthänē) for the increase of religious merit, life, strength, victory and fortune of the donor. The date of the first record is missing, but that of the second is given at the end. The latter was written, while Chitravarman was Sēnāpati, on the thirteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kärttika in the eleventh regnal year. This is the oarlist known date of Pravarasana II.
Like the Riddhapur grant of Prabhāvatiguptă this second grant was evidently made on the twelfth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kärttiks after observing a fast on the preceding Prabodhini ēkādati. Pravarasēna II was himself a devout worshipper of Mahekvara (Paramamahēšvara), but that he chose to make a grant on the afore-mentioned tithi, which is sacred to Vishnu, shows that he was not a bigoted Saiva. This is also indicated by his authorship of the Präkrit poem Satubandha' which glorifies Rāma, an incarnation of Vishnu.
The Poona platese were issued by Prabhāvatiguptā as regent for her minor son, the yuvarāja Divakarasēna, in the thirteenth year, evidently from the latter's accession. In her Riddhapur
1 Above, Vol. XXII, pp. 167 ft.
Ibid., Vol. XXIII, pp. 81 ff. . Loc. cit., p. 84. .. Above, Vol. XV, pp. 89 8.