Kolhāpur Śeṣaśāyī Temple Inscription of the Reign of Gaṇḍarāditya

Verse 1

May the resonant utterance of the very name of Ādi-Jina, the very personification of Nārāyaṇadeva, fulfil the desires of the king Gāṇḍaradeva, who is like the great wish-fulfilling tree dallying with the creeper that is the damsel of wealth, who is like the virtuous Bhīṣma, who is born in the family of the Lord of the Vidyādharas, and who is a Nārāyaṇa in comeliness.

Verse 2

Seeing that the Law of Manu was his own law, the form of cupid his own form the family of Jīmūtavāhana, whose greatness was praised all over, his own family, could the lofty fame of the right path, personality and family of this Gaṇḍarādityadeva be ordinary?

Line 2

You, the illustrious Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Gaṇḍarādityadeva, be victorious!

Verse 3

Even as a grove looks beautiful by a tender mango tree, a clear tank by a lotus, an ornament by a ruby, and the sky by the moon, so has the lineage of Koṃḍakunda now become purified by Māghanandi-Muni, who is unwavering in his attachment to the established religious truth by virtue of having served at the lotus feet of Kuḷacandradeva.

Verse 4

Who will stand comparison with Campakāmbike whose deity was the Supreme Jina, whose husband is Nākarasa, and whose sons are Bhillarasa, Nimbarasa and Kāvarasa of great fame.

Verse 5

Can any queen equal Karṇādevī, the wife of Gaṇḍaradeva, daughter of Nākirāja and devoted to the feet of Arhaddeva?

Line 5

Barevarāditya (lit. the sun among writers), a good poet, a cupid, among the reading and the readable ………………

Verse 6

The scent-elephant (i.e. the supporter) of Nāgaladevī, whose food is the magnificent army of the enemy kings, whose bed is the dusty soil of the burnt city of the enemy, whose great fame is his drum of victory—which elephant is the very personification of enchanting glorious valour—has become fit enough to be the royal elephant of his overlord.

Verse 7

……………… Well done by you Sir! in the matter of  interest, taxation or loan on personal security. You have kept up the promise with the countrymen and thus you have become a suppliant for great fame, Oh! you, Nākirāja, the Lord of feudatories, Nākarasa great among feudatories, Nāgārjuna, Indra among feudatories.

Verse 8

…………… He indeed is the helper who puts to flight the poverty of the world, who is steadfast in his utterances, who gives no scope to untruth, who is endowed with good character, who has arrested the evil power of the Kali Age, who is pure, who has excelled the son of Gaṅgā (i.e. Bhīṣma) in purity and the ocean in sagacity. Who is greater than Sāmanta Nimba?

Verse 9

Thus flourished the excellent Nimbadeva, who has made the whole land full of the temples of Jinanātha, the entire country full of Jineśvara’s …………, the entire excellent village full of pleasingly good Jainas, the whole surrounding full of the pervasive influence of the words, meanings and essence of the Jaina tattva.

Verse 10

Why say more? Nimba, a store of all good qualities, is flourishing being liked by the modest people through his trustworthiness, and being a shelter to the ascetics through his fourfold gifts.

Verse 11

Nimbadeva has caused to be constructed by Indra this temple of Āditīrtheśvara, looking beautiful with extensive canopies and extraordinarily pleasing with excellent merchant’s quarters, with courtesans’ houses on both sides, with a large mānastambha, with a storeyed house, having doors which had acquired beauty through gold platings.

Verse 12

The Jinamandira is like the heap of the merit which Nimbadeva of pure fame has earned, its very unique and beautiful golden kalaśa is like the pinnacle of his greatness, and in the dance-hall, door to door, are numerous statues which stand as if to give boons to those who look and seek.

Verse 13

Thinking that this new and extensive mandāra tree (i.e. the temple) is most worshipworthy on earth, Śakra (i.e. Indra) has come down forgetting his paradise, and is dancing ostentatiously on the best and extensive kumuda.

Line 10

Casting off her feminine form, the goddess Sarasatī (i.e. Sarasvatī), who wants to reside now in the facile writing instrument in the hand of Barevarāditya (lit. the Sun among the writers), having obtained the letters and words from him, sends forth her great splendour.