Indian Epigraphy c16.s8.14

c16.s8.14

Among Sanskrit words with modified meaning we may refer to the following expressions in Viṣṇuṣena’s charter : *chātra* (literally ‘an umbrella-bearer’ but actually the leader of a group of Pāiks, Piādas or Peons), *karaṇa* (court), *vārika* (official), *atiyātrika* (tax for crossing the boundary), *vahitra* (wagon carrying merchandise), *viṁśopaka* (a particular coin), *avalokyā* (detection), *dhārmika* (a levy in the name of a religious festival), *prāveśya* (entry tax), *nairgamika* (exit tax), etc.² The word *vārika* is used in some records in the sense of a temple superintendent like the Paṇḍā of today.³ The Midnapur plates of the time of Śaśāṅka not only uses the word *karaṇa* in the sense of *adhikaraṇa* but also *adhi* or *ādhi* for *adhikaraṇika* or *ādhikaraṇika* in a verse.⁴ In medieval inscriptions from Orissa, the king is sometimes indicated in expressions like *śrī-hasta* and *śrī-caraṇa*.⁵ The words *kīrti*, *kīrtana* and *kīrtanā* are sometimes used to indicate a performance (e.g., a temple, an image, a grant of land, etc.) calculated to render the person responsible for it famous.⁶ The word *pūrvā* is often used with special reference to a *praśasti* (eulogy) or *tithi* (lunar day) even though essentially it means ‘the above’ i.e. the above-quoted or above-mentioned thing in the feminine gender.⁷