Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s6: 8. Lakkhā Maṇḍal praśasti
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s6
- Language
- English
8. Lakkhā Maṇḍal praśasti
c14.s6.1
| Location | Lakkhā Maṇḍal Temple, at Maḍhā on the upper Yamuna River in Dehra Dun Dist., UP |
| Script | Siddhamātṛkā |
| Language | Sanskrit (verse) |
| Meters | *Āryā* (vv. 1–22); *anuṣṭubh* (23) |
| Type and format | Donative stone *praśasti* |
| Purpose | Records the dedication of a temple of Bhava (Śiva) by the Princess Īśvarā in memory of her late husband Candragupta of Jālandhara; the bulk of the text (vv. 2–18) is taken up by a eulogistic genealogy of Īśvarā’s family of kings of Siṃghapura |
| Date | None given; seventh or eighth century A.D. |
| References | G. Bühler, “The Praśasti of the Temple of Lakkhâ Maṇḍal at Maḍhâ, in Jaunsâr Bâwar,” EI 1, 1892, 10–15. |
c14.s6.2
Text
c14.s6.3
1. siddham [*symbol*] sargasthitilayahetor vviśvasya [brahma]viṣṇurudrāṇāṃ / mūrttittrayaṃ pradadhate saṃsārabhide namo vibhave // [\*1] yaduvaṃśabhuvāṃ rājñāṃ saiṅghapuraṃ rājyam ā yugād dadhatām [\*/]
2. śrīsenavarmmanāmā rājarṣiḥ prakrameṇās[ī]t // [\*2] tanayas tasya śrīmān nṛpatir abhūd āryavarmmanāmnaiva / āryavratatāṃ prathamaṃ khyāpitavāṃs tadanu yas caritai[ḥ] // [\*3] śrī[datta]varmma-
3. nāmā dattābhayavibhavavijayavidhva[ṅ]saḥ [\*/] bhītārtthikulāribhyo vabhūva tasyātmajo nṛpatiḥ // [\*4] sūnur abhūt tasya mahān bhūpālaś śrīpradīptavarmmeti / darppāndhaśattrupṛtanā-
4. pataṅgapaṭalīpradīptāgniḥ // [\*5] śrīśvaravarmmeti sutas tasyābhūd bhūpatiḥ pradānena [\*/] aiśvaryaṃ yaḥ kṛtavān bhava iva nicaye [bhavā]rtthānāṃ // [\*6] śrīvṛddhivarmmasamjñas tasya vabhūvātmajaḥ
5. pravṛddhaśrīḥ [\*/] candra iva tāpahārī nayanānāṃ nandano rājā // [\*7]
c14.s6.5
FIGURE 18. Lakkhā Maṇḍal *praśasti*. From EI 1, plate facing p. 12; copyright, Archaeological Survey of India.
c14.s6.6
svabhujārjjitaśaurya[ya]śā dānavatām upari dṛṣṭasāmartthyaḥ [*/]
śrīsiṅghavarmmanāmā tattanayo rājasiṅgho bhūt // [*8]
6. tasya s[u]to bhūd āśāpūraṇakarmmā janasya tāpacchit /
śrījalanāmā nṛpatiḥ kaliyugadāvāgnijalavarṣaḥ // [*9]
śrīyajñavarmmanāmā tadaṅgajo bhūn mahīpatir yena /
yajñājya-
7. dhūmajaladair nnityotkekāḥ kṛtāś śikhinaḥ // [*10]
puttras tasya vabhūva śrīmān rājarṣir acalavarmmeti /
kṛtayugacariteṣv acalo yaś ca sthairyādiguṇasāmyāt // [*11]
yas sama-
8. raghaṅghalākhyām anvartthavatīn dadhāra raṇaraudraḥ [*/]
aparām agaṇitasaṅgarakariradanāgrāṅkitoraskaḥ // [*12]
tasya divākaravarmmā śrīmāns tanayo vabhūva nṛpatīśaḥ [*/]
yasya divākaratā-
9. bhūt paratejobhibhavadharmmeṇa // [*13]
vāraṇaviṣāṇasaṅkaṭasaṅgaracalacāriṇaś śrutā yasya /
akarod arīn aśastrān sapadi mahāghaṅghalabhatākhyā // [*14]
tasya kanīyān bhrātā
10. śrībhāskara ity abhūn nṛpatipālaḥ /
ripughaṅghalābhidhānaṃ yo vahad ājau vijayamantram // [*15]
svabhujārjjitapararājyadraviṇasadādānakarmmaṇaḥ pāṇeḥ [*/]
yasyāsīd viśrāmo nata-
11. ripupṛṣṭhakṣaṇasthitiṣu // [*16]
yenābhiruhya padbhyām patatrigamyāni śailadurggāṇi [*/]
ākkramya yuddhaśauṇḍā hastikaraṃ dāpitā[*sic*] kṣitipāḥ // [*17]
tasya guṇārjjitadevīśavdā śrīkapilavarddhana-
12. sutābhūt /
rājñī prāṇeśā śrījayāvalīty ekapatnī ca // [*18]
tasyās tanayā sādhvī sāvittrīveśvareti nāmnāsīt /
jālandharanṛpasūnor jjāyā śrīcandraguptasya // [*19]
bharttari gatavati nākaṃ kari-
13. ṇa[*sic*] skandhād bhavāspadam idaṃ sā /
tatpuṇyāyākārayad ācāryānugatasatyena // [*20]
yāvan mahīmahīdharajalanidhayo yāvad induravitārāḥ /
tāvad idam astu kīrttisthānaṃ śrīcandraguptasya // [*21]
bhaṭṭakṣema-
14. śivātmajabhaṭṭaskandād avāptaśubhajanmā /
bhaṭṭavasudeva etām praśastim akarod ayodhyeśaḥ // [*22]
aśmanīśvaraṇāgena nāgadattasya sūnunā /
utkīrṇṇā sūtradhāreṇa rauhitakanivāsinā // [*symbol*] // [*23]
c14.s6.7
Line 3: *vabhūva*: i.e., *babhūva* (also lines 4, 7, etc.); the script of this inscription does not have a separate character for *b* but uses only *v*. Line 4: *kritavān*: for *kṛtavān*; *kri* is a common misspelling for *kṛ* in Sanskrit inscriptions; see 3.3.8.1. Likewise, *kritāś*, line 7.
c14.s6.8
Translation* (arranged by verse number)
c14.s6.9
1. Success! Homage to God (Vibhu) who breaks the cycle of existences, and who takes on the three forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva in order to create, preserve, and destroy [respectively] the universe.
2. Among the kings of the Yadu line who have ruled the kingdom of Siṅghapura since the [beginning of] the aeon, there was in the course of time a sage-king named illustrious Senavarman.
3. His son was the illustrious King Āryavarman by name, who first after emies' kingdoms which he had won by his own arm, found rest (only) in the moments when it lay upon the backs of his bowing foes.
c14.s6.10
17. He climbed on foot mountain fortresses which (only) birds could reach and attacked the battle-hardened kings (there), forcing them to pay him tribute of elephants.
c14.s6.11
18. His queen, sole wife, and lady of his life was the illustrious Jayāvalī, daughter of the illustrious Kapilavardhana, who by her virtues earned the title of Queen (*devī*).
c14.s6.12
19. Her daughter, Īśvarā by name, was as virtuous as Sāvitrī. She was the wife of the illustrious Candragupta, son of the King of Jālandhara.
c14.s6.13
20. When her lord had gone to heaven from his elephant's shoulder, she had constructed this abode of Bhava (Śiva) for the sake of his merit, as an (act of) truth (*satyena*) approved by her teacher.
c14.s6.14
21. As long as the earth and the mountains and the oceans (shall remain), and as long as the moon and sun and stars (shall shine), so long may this memorial of the illustrious Candragupta remain.
c14.s6.15
22. Bhaṭṭavasudeva, the Lord of Ayodhyā, who attained his fortunate birth from Bhaṭṭaskanda, the son of Bhaṭṭakṣemaśiva, composed this eulogy.
c14.s6.16
23. It was engraved on [this] stone by the engraver Īśvaranāga, son of Nāgadatta and a resident of Rauhitaka.
c14.s6.17
Notes
c14.s6.18
Verse 3: "noble piety" (*āryavratatāṃ*): The phrase plays on the king's name, Āryavarman. The same device is used throughout the genealogical portion of the record; for example, in the following verse, "who gave …" refers to the name Dattavarman.
c14.s6.19
Verse 8: "superior to [those of other] donors [/on the backs of rutting elephants]": *danavatām* has a double meaning with reference to the "lion of a king." With respect to the lion, it refers to the rutting elephants upon whose backs he demonstrates his strength; with respect to the king, it refers to other benefactors whose generosity he exceeds.
c14.s6.20
Verse 9: "fulfilled the people's wishes [/filled the directions] and removed their afflictions [/heat]": These epithets too apply punningly to both the king himself and the rain-shower to which he is metaphorically compared.
c14.s6.21
Verse 10: "made the peacocks cry out constantly": The smoke from Yajñavarman's frequent sacrifices deluded the peacocks, who thought that it was always the rainy season.
c14.s6.22
Verse 12: "‘Conqueror in Battle' [?]": The word *ghaṅghala* here and in *vv.* 14 and 15 is uncertain. Bühler (15 n. 18) notes: "I am unable to find in the *Koshas* and dictionaries accessible to me the word *ghaṅghala*. … [It is] probable that its meaning is ‘the conqueror;' very likely it is a Deśi word."
c14.s6.23
Verse 14: "they ran in panic (*-calacāriṇas*) over the battle ground that was thick with [severed] elephants' tusks": *vāraṇaviṣāṇasaṅkaṭasaṅgaracalacāriṇaś* can also be interpreted as modifying *yasya* (instead of *arīn*); thus Bühler, "when he nimbly strode over the battle (-field) …"
c14.s6.24
Verse 20: "had gone to heaven from his elephant's shoulder": This euphemistically means that he died in battle (not, as Bühler 15 n. 20, "that he fell from his elephant and broke his neck, or merely that he exchanged his princely pomp for a residence in heaven").
c14.s6.25
Verse 22: "the Lord of Ayodhyā": Bühler (15 n. 22) remarks that this "means, I suppose, only that Vasudeva was the owner of some village called Ayodhyā."