History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c17.2

v1.c17.2

The first group of Kara kings were decidedly Buddhist. The first king of this group, Kshemaṅkara, is called simply a lay worshipper (*Paramopāsaka*). His son, Śivakara, is, styled the devout worshipper of the Tathāgata (*Parama-Tathāgata*) and his grandson, Śubhakara, is styled the devout Buddhist (*Parama-saugata*). Śubhakara was a contemporary of the Chinese Emperor, Te-tsong, and in Chinese records he is described as one "Who had a big faith in the Sovereign Law, and who followed the practice of the Sovereign Mahāyāna." His name is given as "The fortunate monarch who does what is pure, the lion." From this M. Sylvain Levi guesses that the name of the king of Orissa was Śubhakara Keśari. In the year 795 A.D., the Chinese Emperor, Te-tsong, received an autograph manuscript containing the last section of the *Avataṃsaka*, which is the section dealing with the practice and vow of the Bodhisattva Sāmantabhadra. M. Levi, therefore, guesses that the work presented to the Chinese emperor was really the *Gaṇḍavyūha*, "of which the original is preserved among the Nepali collections." The autograph manuscript and the letter from king, Śubhakara, was entrusted to the monk, Prajñā, who was requested to translate it. The Prajñā was an inhabitant of Ki-pin or Kapiśā near Kabul, who had begun his studies in Northern India and then migrated to Nālanda, where he had resided for some time. After spending eighteen years in study, he settled down in the monastery of the king of Orissa to study Yoga philosophy. Then he went to China as the ambassador of the king of Orissa.¹ Though Śubhakara and his ancestors were Buddhists, the villages granted by him by a grant, discovered at Neulpur, was given to Brāhmaṇas. The villages of Kompāraka and Daṇḍaṅkiyoka were situated in the districts (vishaya) of Pañchāla and Vubhyudaya in Northern Tosali. The grant was issued in the 8th year of the reign of Śubhakara.² The genealogy is carried one generation further in the Chaurāśī plate of Śivakara II. This inscription is of great importance, as it supplies much interesting information. After the name of Śivakara I the word *Kara*, which appears to be the family name, is repeated, a feature which is to be found in some of the inscriptions of the second group of Kara kings. We know from this new inscription that Śivakara I married Jayāvalidevī from whom was born Śubhakara, the contemporary of the Emperor Te-tsong. From Śubhakara by his queen Mādhavadevī was born Śivakara II. The Chaurāśī plate records the grant of the village of Vuvrada situated in Southern Tosali to a number of Brāhmaṇas in the thirteenth year of the reign of the king on the 12th day of the bright half of Kārtika. Śivakara II and his father Śubhakara are given the Imperial title *Parameśvara-Mahārājādhirāja* and *Paramabhaṭṭāraka*.³ The village of Vuvrada granted by Śivakara II, was situated in the Antarudra district (vishaya)