Indian Epigraphy c16.s2.165

c16.s2.165

That the word *anudhyāta* has been used in many cases in the inscriptions in the sense of ‘meditating on’ is indicated by the fact that occasionally we have *anudhyāna-rata* in its place. Thus the grant of Silābhanja Tribhubhanakalasa mentions the king as *mātā-pitṛ-pād-ānudhyāna-rata* instead of the usual *mātā-pitṛ-pād-ānudhyāta*.² That however the expression was sometimes understood in the sense of ‘favoured by’ is also clearly indicated by some records. Thus verses 22-23 of the Talagunda inscription state that Ṣaḍānana (i.e. the god Kārttikeya-Mahāsena), together with the Mothers (i.e. the Mother-goddesses), anointed the *Senāpati* (i. e. Kadamba Mayūraśarman) [as king] after having favoured (*anudhyāya*) him,³ while in many Kadamba records Mayūraśarman’s family is described as *Svāmi-Mahāsena-Mātṛgaṇ-ānudhyāt-ābhiṣikta* (favoured and anointed by the lord Mahāsena and the Mothers)⁴ obviously with reference to the same event.⁵