Candrehe Stone Inscription of Prabodhaśiva

Line 1

Om! Adoration to Śiva!

Verse 1 

Glorious is that Śarva (Śiva), in whose coiled matted hair, which is like a cloud, being dark with the hissing of serpents on his body, and which resounds with the water of the heavenly river i.e., Gaṅgā as a cloud resounds with thunder, there flashes the fire of his third eye like lightning flashing in a cloud; and whose wreath of human skulls resembles a garland of campaka flowers, even as the shower of the accumulated lustre of the moon on his head!

Verse 2 

May the mass of lustre of the laugh of Śaṅkara clad in an elephant-skin,—which, white like the goose, is spread round his face and which, being slightly darkened by the effulgence of his (blue) neck, at once assumes the clear splendour of the moon emerging from a cloud,—grant you prosperity!

Verse 3 

May the tāṇḍava dance of Śiva, the husband of Caṇḍī, give you delight! The dance which makes the hoods of the lord of serpents bend under (the weight of) the bowl-like earth which revolves on account of the movements of his feet, skilled in the cārī step; which puts to flight the elephants of the quarters; which causes a sudden movement of a part of the universe by the revolutions of his staff-like arms, and which is accompanied by the deep sound of the ḍamaru!

Verse 4 

May this continuous succession of the Śaiva ascetics of the Mattamayūra clan purify the three worlds, like the Gaṅgā in which was born Purandara, who performed austerities, and who was the spiritual preceptor of kings. His disciple was Śikhāśiva, who was like fire and who, refulgent with the lustre of his austerities, stood like a lamp on the path of final beatitude, having dispelled the pitchy darkness of ignorance.

Verse 5 

From him i.e., Śikhāśiva, who was the lord of Madhumatī, was spiritually descended Prabhāvaśiva, who accumulated great austerities, was the crest-jewel of all Śaivas, and was revered by many kings. He who was the foremost among ascetics, was made by Yuvarājadeva (I) to sanctify, by his feet, the wanton woman that was the earth.

Verse 6

After him there was his disciple, the moon-like Praśāntaśiva, who was pure even as the moon is bright; whose real nature was manifested in his attempt to destroy ignorance as the moon’s form is seen dispelling darkness; who brightened the faces of all quarters by his bright fame as the moon does with her lustre, and who bestowed prosperity on the meritorious Śaivas as the moon bestows splendour on the fibrous night-lotuses.

Verse 7 

He, the virtuous one, the companion of sages, who lived on fruits, lotus-stalks and roots, and who sanctified the surface of the earth by the rows of his footprints, built an incomparable and quiet hermitage, well-known to the people, at the foot of the Bhramara hill covered with the forest of priyāla (trees) (and situated) at the confluence of the river Śoṇa.

Verse 8 

His fame is continuously sung with delight and in a high tone in every month of Māgha by the gandharvas and vidyādharas, in the assembly of Indra held in the celestial garden, by Nandin who, to please Śiva, pays less attention to instrumental music, and the charioteer of the sun, who gracefully waving his head from side to side in joy, allows the reins (of his horses) to slip from his hands.

Verse 9 

There was the foremost of his disciples named Prabodhaśiva, as Paraśurāma was of Śiva the enemy of Madana, who, conquering all his enemies, adorned the faces of the quarters with his fame, and bestowing wealth on the meritorious, placed the earth under obligation.

Verse 10 

He was like Kumāra i.e., Kārttikeya, whose one hand was skilled in making offerings at the proper time to the high flames of fire as Kumāra’s hand is in feeding his mighty peacock; who like Kumāra, always avoided the company of women; who showed the effect of his power on mighty kings as Kumāra exhibited that of his dart on the Krauñca mountain, who was devoted to Śiva, the enemy of the mind-born as Kumāra also was dear to him; and who performed all his duties towards the gods as Kumāra accomplished the work of the gods, viz., the destruction of the demon Tāraka.

Verse 11 

He, having thought over all the scriptures, realised God by the performance of religious austerities and meditation, and living on the fruits of priyāla, āmalaka, greens and śālūka, caused the wonder of the world by practising austerities even in his boyhood on the bank (lit., the surface of the land) washed by the river Śoṇa, imitating his spiritual preceptor.

Verse 12 

He, having attained power, has acted like the rising sun, whose feet are rendered more resplendent by the jewelled crests of kings who bowed to him, even as the sun’s rays are when they fall on the peaks of mountains; who has done the work of destroying ignorance as the sun dispels darkness; who is revered by all people at the time of making peace as the sun is at the beginning of twilights; and what more need be said, having attained greatness, has pervaded the three worlds by his power as the sun does by its heat.

Verse 13 

He, by the process of excavating, breaking and ramming heaps of large stones, has constructed a wonderful way through mountains and across rivers and streams, and also through forests and thickets, as Rāghava (did) across the ocean. A great deed of the mighty proclaims wonder in the world!

Verse 14 

At night this hermitage, that which is wafted with breezes, is extremely cool with the sprays of the water of the Śoṇa, which makes the sky reverberate with loud roars of lions, and which has bee-like clouds hovering round mountain peaks, causes people to suspect lightning on account of the phosphorescence of great medicinal plants growing near it.

Verse 15 

In this place herds of monkeys kiss the cubs of lions, and the young one of a deer sucks at the breast of the lioness. Other hostile animals forget their natural antipathy to one another; for the minds of all become tranquil in penance-groves.

Verse 16 

Near the temple built by his preceptor, the tranquil Prabodhaśiva caused this lofty and spacious monastery, which is, as it were, his own fame resembling white clouds. Thereafter he excavated a sea-like lake, by the side of the mountain, and also a well having copious water.

Verse 17 

On account of devotion to his preceptor, he caused to be rebuilt with a wonderful masonry of large stones and then re-excavated very deep the well, which had been dug by the illustrious Praśāntaśiva at this place, but which had become dilapidated and full of wood fallen into it, in course of time.

Verse 18 

There was a dīkṣita named Mehuka, whose fame was known on the earth. He, who was foremost among good men, begot a son named Jeevika. To him was born, from the womb of Amarikā, the poet Dhāmsaṭa. He composed this praśasti couched in a beautiful arrangement of letters.

Verse 19 

May this eulogy endure unchanged on this earth as long as the divine river i.e., Gaṅgā, meandering through the coiled matted hair of Paśupati i.e., Śiva, with its waters shattering on the surface of the rocks on the Himālayas, flows to the sea, the lord of rivers, along the path shown by Bhagīratha, sanctifying the earth with its bounding waves.

Verse 20 

The wise and renowned Dāmodara, the son of Lakṣmīdhara and the younger brother of Vāsudeva, wrote this praśasti in excellent letters!

Line 27

This praśasti has been inscribed by Nīlakaṇṭha by the order of the sūtradhāra Sūrāka. The year 724, the month Phālguna, the bright fortnight, the lunar day 5.