Prince of Wales Museum Plates of Mummuṇirāja

Success. May there be victory and prosperity!

Verse 1

May that Gaṇanāyaka (i.e. Gaṇapati) protect you from calamity—he who destroys obstacles and who, by means of worship, receives attention in all undertakings!

Verse 2

May that Śiva always protect you—he on whose head the Gaṅgā shines like the bright crescent of the moon as it rises over the peak of Sumeru! 

Verse 3

Jīmūtavāhana, the ever compassionate son of Jīmūtaketu, is well-known in the three worlds—who, valuing his own body as not better than a straw, saved, indeed, Śaṇkhacūḍa from Garuḍa.

Verse 4

In his family was born king Kapardin I, the ornament of the Śīlāra race, who was adventurous like the illustrious Sāhasāṅka (i.e.Vikramāditya) and whose stainless foot-stool was covered with the splendour of fresh jewels on the heads of all kings.

Verse 5

From him sprang his son, Pulaśakti by name, who represented the limit of political wisdom taught by Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of gods; who, having vanquished all enemies in the forefront of the battlefield, ruled over the world, free from trouble.

Verse 6

From him again sprang his son, the younger Kaparadin (i.e., Kapardin II), the crest-jewel of kings, who was as it were a sharp goad to the elephants in the form of his enemies; the world being exceedingly whitened by his fame, neither the heavenly elephant (Airāvata) nor the moon nor the milk-ocean could be distinguished.

Verse 7

From him again sprang his son, the illustrious Vappuvanna, the worthy abode of prosperity, an ornament of royalty, who sanctified the whole circle of the earth. Having one of their tusks forcibly cut off by the creeper-like sword of him who was delighted to fight on the field of battle, all the elephants of the enemies were turned into Vināyakas i.e. they become Gajānana, who has only one tusk.

Verse 8

From him sprang his praiseworthy son, the illustrious Jhañjha, who delighted all people even as the moon does, and who destroyed all blemishes even as the sun dispels all darkness; who erected twelve temples of Śiva, named after himself, which served, as it were, as steps to pious people, ready to repair to the path of heaven.

Verse 9

Then there rose his brother, the illustrious Goggirāja, who having a mass of brilliant fame, brightened the entire circle of the earth, and who mighty among the mighty; when that king bent down in the act of drawing the string of his bow, Bhīṣma, Droṇa, the son of Pṛthā (i.e. Arjuna) and others felt surprised in their minds.

Verse 10

From him sprang a son named the illustrious Vajjaḍadeva I, famed for his astounding and attractive deeds, the crest-jewel of the circle of the earth. Royal Fortune, approaching him, all of a sudden and of her own accord, on the battle-field, felt delighted while sporting on the bosom of him whose strength lay solely in his own arm, as it does on that of Murāri.

Verse 11

To him was born an illustrious and virtuous son named Aparājita as Jayanta was to Indra and as the six-faced Kārttikeya was to Śiva.

Verse 12

He was Karṇa himself in respect of liberality, Yudhiṣṭhira in that of truthfulness, the refulgent Sun in that of valour, and was the rod of the god of death to his enemies.

Verse 13

Victorious is that king, who protected even the feudatories of other kings when they sought refuge with him, and who rightly obtained the title of "the adamantine cage giving protection to those who seek it.”

Verse 14

What else can be described of him who welcomed in various ways Gomma, who resorted to him for protection, who caused to be made firm the infirm rule of Aiyapadeva, who gave protection to Bhillama, Ammaṇa and Mambuva, and who was thus veritable Rāma among title-holders.

Verse 15

From him was born the son named Vajjaḍadeva II, who was conversant with political wisdom and was a veritable crest-jewel of kings,—whose deeds all people even now praise, with their creeper-like bodies having clothes of horripilation.

Verse 16

Then there was born his brother, king Arikesarin, who had the grace of the thunderbolt in destroying the principal mountains in the form of arrogant foes; who, even when he was a boy, went with an army to Someśvara and having seen that god, came back after offering him the whole world by the order of his father.

Verse 17

Thereafter his brother’s son the illustrious Chittarāja became king, who, noble as he was, raised his Śīlāra family to great eminence, though he was then only in his boyhood.

Verse 18

He caused the ladies in the harems of his enemies slain by his sharp sword drawn out of its scabbard to have dangling unbraided hair, to discard necklaces from their pitcher-like breasts and to have eyes without collyrium applied to them.

Verse 19

The creeper of his fame rises above the bower of the Brāhmāṇḍa as if because it is made to grow with the sprinkling of water in the form of tears from the eyes of the wives of the enemies slain by him.

Verse 20

Thereafter, his younger brother Nāgārjuna became king—he who, resembling Nārāyaṇa in regard to the good fortune of courtesans, was, by his anger, the fire of destruction to his arrogant foes. Having heard from afar about the superhuman power of his arms, the itching of the strong arms of his enemies, fond of fighting on the battlefield, goes to sleep as it were.

Verse 21

The quarter-elephants, the streams of whose ichor have dried up by the breezes blowing over the rutting juice of the intoxicated scent-elephants in his unique camp, open their eyes after a long time—the eyes which were closed for fear of the great masses of smoke spreading from the burning of his enemies’ cities and enveloping all quarters.

Verse 22

Thereafter, his younger brother Mummuṇi, Cupid incarnate, who destroyed the prosperity of the foes killed by him, became king. When he raised his bow at the end of the waving of lights before his horses at the commencement of his march for digvijaya, even the mighty Indra gave up his own bow (i.e. the rain-bow).

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Now, while the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious Mummuṇirājadeva—who, by his religious merit, has obtained the five mahāśabdas and who is adorned with all royal titles such as mahāsāmantādhipati, ‘the lord of the City of Tagara’, ‘a king of the Śilāhāra family,’ ‘a scion of the family of Jīmūtavāhana’, ‘he who has the ensign of the golden Garuḍa’, ‘he who is the ocean of pride’, ‘he who has surpassed the world in liberality’, ‘he who is the foremost among heroes, well-known for liberality in the world (Jhampaḍas)’, ‘an adamantine cage for the protection of those that seek his refuge’, and so forth,—is ruling over the Koṅkaṇamaṇḍala consisting of fourteen hundred villages headed by Purī, and while the administration (Śrīkaraṇa) consisting of the mahāmātya, the illustrious Daddapaiya, the mahāsāndhivigrahika, the illustrious Viṭṭhapaiya and so forth is bearing the burden of the cares of his kingdom, at this time the mahāmaṇḍaleśvarādhipati, the illustrious Mummuṇirājadeva addresses, with salutation, honour and respect, all assembled princes, counsellers, the family priest, the ministers, and the principal and subordinate officers, whether connected with him or not, officials and non-officials and also the heads of the rāṣṭras, viṣaya, towns, villages as well as the artisans, guilds and three classes of townsmen and others as follows:-

Be it known to you that though realising that prosperity is unsteady; youth is momentary and life lies in the jaws of Death, still men are indifferent as regards the acquisition of the other world! Oh! How astonishing is this action of men!

And having considered that youth is being devoured by the demoness in the form of old age and that the pangs of separation after union with one’s dear ones are like those caused by falling into a hell after dwelling in heaven, that the body is subject to old age, death and disease, that worldly existence is worthless like the interior of a plantain-tree, that wealth and life are extremely fickle like drops of water on a lotus-leaf tossed by wind, one should accumulate the reward of a gift with firm non-attachment. Having pondered on the sayings of ancient sages, who are  adept in distinguishing between what is righteous and what is not, such as the following:-

‘Gold was the first-born of Fire, land sprang from Viṣṇu, and the cows are the off-springs of the Sun. He who gives gold, land and a cow gains the religious merit of giving the three worlds.’

And being desirous of acquiring spiritual welfare of my parents and myself, I – having bathed at an excellent tīrtha on the holy occasion of the lunar eclipse on the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Bhādrapada in the cyclic year Virodhin after nine hundred years increased by seventy-one had passed by the era of the Śaka king, in figures, the year 971, the bright fortnight of Bhādrapada, the tithi 15, Friday, and having offered an arghya of various kinds to the divine Sun, the sole crest-jewel of the sky, the lover of the lotus-plant and having worshipped Śiva, the lord of the three worlds and the guru of all gods and demons,—I have given, with great devotion, with the pouring out of water and by means of a charter, to the following Brāhmaṇas, residing in Brāhmapurī, an agrahara founded by the illustrious mahāmātya Daddapaiya, who are engaged in the six duties such as sacrificing for themselves and for others and so forth, and who are proficient in the performance of sacrificial rites, the name, gotra, and so forth of each being as follows:-

(1) Koko-Paṇḍita, the son of Pitāmaha Paṇḍita, who is of the Śāṇḍilya gotra and the Kauthuma śākhā, and who has hailed from the Gauḍa country; 

(2) Devadhara Dīkṣita, the son of Yajñā Dīkṣita, who is of the Vatsa gotra and Bahvṛca (Ṛgveda) śākhā, and who has hailed from Muñja-sthāna comprised in the Madhya-deśa; 

(3) Dāmodara, the son of Kesaiya Dikṣita, who is of the Bhāradvāja gotra and Mādhyandina śākhā; 

(4) Sūdanaiya, the son of Someśvaraiya Upādhyāya, who is of the Bhārgava gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā; 

(5) Dāmodara, the son of Sūdana Dīkṣita, who is of the Upamanyu gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā and who has hailed from Bhṛgukachchha included in the Lāṭa-deśa; 

(6) Nārāyaṇa Upāsanī, the son of Dāmodara Upādhyāya, of the Ātreya gotra and Rāṇāyanīya śākhā; 

(7) Śrīpati Agnihotrī, the son of Keśava Upādhyāya, who of of Kuśika gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā; 

(8) Śrīpatibhaṭṭa, the son of Dugaiyā Upāsanī who is of the Ātreya gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā; 

(9) Kanakeśvara, the son of Velāditya Upādhyāya, who is of the Jāmadagnya gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā; 

(10) Velaiya Upāsanī, the son of Digvaiya Agnihotrī, who is of the Ātreya gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā; 

(11) Sarvadevaiya, the son of Īśvara Upādhyāya, who is of the Lokākṣa gotra and Yajña (Yajurveda) śākhā; 

(12) Viṭṭhapaiya Upādhyāya, the son of Śoḍhalaiya Upādhyāya, who is of the Ātreya gotra and Bahvṛca śākhā—to these and other Brāhmaṇas for the performance of the six duties such as sacrificing for themselves and for others, and for the performance of bali, caru, agnihotra and such other sacrificial rites—the village Kiicchitā comprised in the viṣaya of Mandaraja, together with all hamlets and together with orchards, areca-nut trees and minerals, and with exemption from taxes,—the boundaries of which are as follows: On the east, the boundary of the village Pāṇīvāḍa of the Śrīnera hill; on the north, the boundary of the village Nīmabā; on the west, the boundary of the village Mātara; on the south, the boundary of the Sāmbina river—the village with its four boundaries thus determined, extending to its own limits, together with grass, wood and water, and exclusive of the gifts previously made to gods and Brāhmaṇas, which is not to be assigned and not to be attached, and which has the income of fifteen hundred drammas derived therefrom—in figures 1500—which gift is to continue as long as the mountains and the earth endure, and as long as the moon and the sun continue to shine.

Therefore, none should cause any obstruction while these are enjoying or allowing others to enjoy, cultivating or allowing others to cultivate this; for it has been said by ancient great sages:‘Gold was the first-born of Fire, land sprang from Viṣṇu, and the cows are the off-springs of the Sun. He who gives gold, land and a cow gains the religious merit of giving the three worlds.’

Line 83

Having known this, the assembled princes or others should covet only the religious merit accruing from the protection of the religious gift. None should incur notoriety by the disgrace and sin of confiscating it. He who, on the other hand, though thus entreated, will confiscate it or allow it to be confiscated, with his mind clouded by the darkness of ignorance as a result of greed, will himself incur the five great sins or the five minor sins and will experience, for a long time, the pangs of the hells such as Raurava, Mahāraurava and Andhatāmisra.

And this has been declared by the holy Vyāsa:- 

                (Here follow six benedictory and imprecatory verses).

Line 92

And as it is, the donor records his approval by the hand of the scribe, “This has been approved by Me, the mahāmaṇḍaleśvarādhipati, illustrious King Mummuṇirāja, the son of the mahāmaṇḍaleśvarādhipati, the illustrious Vajjaḍadeva.”

This charter has been written by Nāgalaiya.