The Rashtrakutas and their Times c20.32

c20.32

It need hardly be added that there was harmony prevailing among the followers of the different sects of Hinduism, since it existed even among the followers of the orthodox and the heterodox religions. The opening verse in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa copperplates pays homage to both S'iva and Viṣṇu. Their seal is sometimes the eagle, the vehicle of Viṣṇu, and sometimes S'iva in the posture of a seated Yogin. The Gahadwal kings were themselves Saivites, but they used to worship both S'iva and Viṣṇu at the time of making land grants.²⁵ There is a verse in the Surat plates of Karka stating that Indra, the father of the donor, did not bow his head even before any god, S'ankara excepted.²⁶ This smacks a little of the sectarian narrowness and some people may have occasionally exhibited it in our period. But it is not improbable that even in this verse the poet may have exaggerated the reality in order to develop a contrast. The general spirit of the age cannot be regarded as embodied in this verse. In the 10th century there existed at Salotgi in Bijapur district a temple constructed for the joint worship of Brahmadeva, S'iva. and Viṣṇu.²⁷ At Kargudri there existed another shrine erected for the joint worship of S'ankara, Vishnu, and Bhāskara.²⁸ These temples are more illustrative of the spirit of the age than the verse in the Surat plates referred to above.