History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.207

v5.c74.t2.207

Dr. Barua has also misunderstood verse 12 of the inscription at Gayā edited by Dr. Kielhorn in I. A. vol. 16 p. 63 ff. The verse¹⁴⁷⁵ set out below may be translated as follows: That wise (prince Yakṣapāla) caused to be constructed a temple for the images of Maunāditya and the other gods (mentioned in it), he dug up the famous Uttaramānasa lake and established a sattra (charity house for food) near the Akṣaya (vaṭa)'. This inscription of the reign of Nayapāla was engraved about 1040 A.D. Dr. Barua thought that Uttaramānasa was dug up at that time and therefore Uttaramānasa tank is taken to be not older than 1040 A. D. and that it and many of the sacred spots must have been later and the Gayāmāhātmya which speaks of Uttarmānasa must be much later than the 11th century A. D. But Dr Barua is entirely mistaken in this. If a tank was dug up for the *first time* at the time of the inscription, it is impossible that it should have been called ‘khyāta’ (famous). The tank can become famous some centuries after it was dug. Uttarmānasa tank is mentioned as a sacred spot in Vāyupurāṇa 77. 108 (which verse is quoted about 1110 A. D. in the Kalpataru on tīrtha at p. 168), Vāyu 82. 21, Agni 115. 10. Therefore Uttaramānasa tank was well known at least in the 8th or 9th century A. D. What the inscription means is either that the famous tank had silted up and so it was dug up or that it was made longer, broader and deeper in about 1040. That is all.