Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t1: XXXI. Sittannavasal-B

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t1

Language
English

XXXI. Sittannavasal-B

c28.s8.t1.1

101.1 ***campoykaipēṭu*** (P.) lit., 'village with the beautiful pond'. The village made the endowment of the cave shelter collectively.

c28.s8.t1.2

**a. *cam-*** (adj.) 'good, beautiful'. Cf. *cem-* 'straight', *cemmai* 'beauty, goodness' (D. 2747). Cf. ***campokal*** **(105.1)**. The LT form *cem-* also occurs in the Corpus as in ***ceṅkuviraṉ*** **(22.1)**, ***ceṅkāyapaṉ*** **(61.4)** and ***cēntaṉṟaṉ*** **(109.1)**.

c28.s8.t1.3

**b. *poykai*** (n.) 'natural spring or pond' (D. 4533).

c28.s8.t1.4

Cf. LT *neṭunīr-p-poykai* 'spring with a large water-spread' (*Puṟa.* 287:8); *poykai* 'pond' (*Tivā.* 895; *Piṅkala.* 604; *Cūṭā.* 5:24).

c28.s8.t1.5

Cf. (inscr.) *poykainallūr* 'name of a village' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 264, ca. 9th cent. A.D.).

c28.s8.t1.6

**c. *pēṭu*** (n.) 'small town, village' (*TL*, not in *DEDR*).

c28.s8.t1.7

Cf. LT *pēṭu* 'hamlet' (*Piṅkala.* 476); 'village' (*Cūṭā.* 5:35).

c28.s8.t1.8

Cf. (inscr.) *kacci-p-pēṭṭu* 'at Kacci-p-pēṭu (Kanchipuram)' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 90: Line 59, 8th cent. A.D.).

c28.s8.t1.9

101.2 ***taita*** (*taitta*) (v.) 'which was made'; adjectival past participle from *tai* 'to make, create' (*TL*). (This meaning is not recorded in D. 3473.)

c28.s8.t1.10

**Analysis:** *tai* (stem) + *t* (past tense marker) + *a* (participial suffix). The consonant *-t-* is not doubled.

c28.s8.t1.11

Cf. LT *naṉ poṉ tai-iya pāvai* 'image made of pure gold' (*Aka.* 212:1); *vallavaṉ tai-iya pāvai kol* 'is (she) an image created by an expert!' (*Kali.* 56:7). See comments on ***tacaṉ*** (*taccaṉ*) 'carpenter, mason' **(73.8)** for possible etymological connection.

c28.s8.t1.12

101.3 ***kal*** (n.) lit., 'stone', but here the term stands for a rock shelter. See **14.3.a** for further comments.

c28.s8.t1.13

**symbol:** A symbol depicting the bow and arrow is engraved between the third and fourth letters of the inscription. Its significance in this context is not known. See section 5.18 and Fig. 5.11.

c28.s8.t1.14

102.1 ***pentōṭaṉ*** N. of the donor.

c28.s8.t1.15

**a. *pe(m)-*** (adj.) 'great'; contraction of *perum* 'great' (D. 4411).

c28.s8.t1.16

Cf. To. *pem* 'eminence' (ibid.); *pentai* 'hugeness' (*TL*).

c28.s8.t1.17

Cf. (Te. inscr.) *penpāṟa* 'great Brahman' (K. Mahadeva Sastri 1969: No. 9.3).

c28.s8.t1.18

Cf. LT *pemmāṉ* (*Tēvā.* I:1).

c28.s8.t1.19

**b. tōtaṉ** a personal name; probably 'one who wears an ear-ornament (*tōṭu*)' (D. 3545) or, 'one who is well-dressed'; cf. *toṭu* 'to wear (as clothes)' (D. 3482).

c28.s8.t1.20

**102.2 poykai** (n.) 'pond', which was probably dug or improved by the donor. See **101.1.b** for further comments.

c28.s8.t1.21

**103.1 nakkaṉ** N. of a person, probably one of the donors of the cave- shelter. Cf. *nagga* (Pāli) < *nagna* (Skt.) 'naked'.

c28.s8.t1.22

Cf. LT *nakkaṉ* 'naked person' (*Piṅkala.* 894; *Cūṭā.* 2: 47); 'an epithet of Śiva' (*Tivā.* 2; *Piṅkala.* 94; *Cūṭā.* 1:8).

c28.s8.t1.23

Cf. (inscr.) *nakkaṉ*, *nakkaṉ-kāri* 'personal names' (*SII*.V:Nos. 363 & 366 respectively, Pāṇṭiya, ca. 9th cent. A.D.); *nakkam-pullaṉ*, *pulla nakkaṉ* 'personal names' (*SII*. XIV:No. 26, Pāṇṭiya, ca. 9th cent. A.D.).

c28.s8.t1.24

However, it may be added that the title *nakkaṉ* (fem.) 'dancing girl', occurring frequently in the Bṛhadīśvara temple inscriptions at Thanjavur (*SII*. II. No. 66, Cōḻa, 11th cent. A.D.), cannot be derived from *nagna* (Skt.) 'naked' as suggested by T.N. Subramanian (with the gloss that the dancing girl was 'required to dance naked'; *SITI*. III:2, Glossary). In this case, *nakkaṉ* is to be derived from *na(m)-akkaṉ* '(our) sister', used as an honorific referring to the unmarried *dēvadāsī* ('servants of god') women. Cf. *akkaṉ* 'elder sister' occurring in the inscriptions in the same temple (*SII*. II:No. 1, Cōḻa, 11th cent. A.D.; see also ibid., p. 8, note 4). Cf. *akkaṉ* 'elder sister' (D. 23), *tamakkai* id. (*TL*).

c28.s8.t1.25

**104.1 korṟai** (P.) This word is not attested elsewhere. However, *korṟai* may probably be connected with *korṟavai* 'goddess of war and victory' (D. 2169).

c28.s8.t1.26

**104.2 kāyvaṉ** Read *kāyivaṉ*. N. of a person; probably one of the donors of the cave shelter. The name is derived from *kāśyapa* (Skt.). See **14.1.b** for further comments.

c28.s8.t1.27

**105.1 campokal** (P.) lit., 'good sanctuary'.

c28.s8.t1.28

**a. cam-** (adj.) 'good'. See **101.1.a.**

c28.s8.t1.29

**b. pokal** (verbal noun). *poku* (LT *puku*) + *al* (suffix of the verbal noun). Cf. *pukal* 'refuge') (D. 4238).

c28.s8.t1.30

Cf. LT *pukal* 'residence, dwelling' (*Aiṅk.* 295:3); *pukkil* 'place of refuge' (*Puṟa.* 221:6); *pukaliṭam* 'village' (*Piṅkala.* 475).

c28.s8.t1.31

The Tamil Jainas had a tradition of establishing sanctuaries called *añciṉāṉ pukaliṭam* (lit., 'refuge for those in fear'), generally within the premises of a *paḷḷi* (ARE 448/1937-38, Cōḻa, 13th cent. A.D.).

c28.s8.t1.32

**105.2 cāttaṉ** (N.) See **55.5.d.**

c28.s8.t1.33

**106.1** ***ciṟuceṇṇaṉ*** N. of a person; probably one of the donors.

c28.s8.t1.34

**a.** ***ciṟu-*** (adj.) 'small' (D. 1594). the term signifies 'little, young' when it qualifies a personal name.

c28.s8.t1.35

Cf. LT Ciṟumētāviyār (author, *Aka.* 394); Ciṟumōlikaṉār (author, *Naṟṟ.* 61).

c28.s8.t1.36

**b.** ***ceṇṇaṉ*** a personal name, derived from *ceṇṇam* 'beauty' (*Tivā.* 1400; *Piṅkala.* 1945; *Cūṭā.* 8:27); *ceṇṇu* 'to decorate, dress up' (*TL*).

c28.s8.t1.37

Cf. LT *ceṇṇa makaḷir* 'beautiful women' (*Peruṅ.* 1.38:306).

c28.s8.t1.38

Cf. (Ka. inscr.) *ceṇṇapayya* 'a personal name' (*Epi. Car.* Vol. XIII:Index).

c28.s8.t1.39

**107.1** ***kātaṉ*** N. of a person, probably one of the donors. The name is probably derived from *kā* 'to protect'. Cf. Ka. *kād-* (D. 1416). Cf. ***kāttāṉ*** (**58.2**). Alternatively, *kātaṉ* 'one with (beautiful) ears'.

c28.s8.t1.40

Cf. LT *veṇ kuḻai tōṭu viḷaṅkiya kātaṉ* 'one with ears adorned with tender sprout' (*Tēvā.* II. 13:3).

Linked texts (11)