The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c13.s5.48

v2.c13.s5.48

Arikesarī II was, according to Pampa, cradled in Indra’s arms—a reference at once to Indra III and to the king of the gods, calculated to pave the way for the identification of Arikesarī with Arjuna, the epic hero who was the son of Indra. Arikesarī married Indra’s daughter Rēvakanirmaḍi, according to the Vēmulavāḍa inscription. The Parbhaṇī plates, however, say that Lokāmbikā, also of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa family, was the name of Arikesarī’s queen. It is not clear whether Lokāmbikā was a title of Rēvakanirmaḍi or of a second queen. Both the Vēmulavāḍa inscription and Pampa indulge in much high-flown praise of Arikesarī, and so too do the Parbhaṇī plates. Without stopping to reproduce these vaguely resounding eulogies, we may summarize the historical data as follows: (1) Arikesarī gave protection to a Cāḷukya Bijja (Vijayāditya) who sought his protection against the anger of Govindarāja, who was his *sakala-cakravarti*, i.e. most probably the suzerain of both Bijja and Arikesarī; (2) when Arikesarī sheltered Vijayāditya, Govinda sent many *sāmantas* against him; Arikesarī defeated all of these and thus became *sāmanta-cūḍāmaṇi*; (3) he then fought against Govinda himself and defeated him, bestowing the empire on Baddega who had come to him for aid; lastly (4) with only one elephant he overthrew Bappuva, the younger brother of Kakkala, when Bappuva attacked him with a host of these beasts.