This Sanskrit stone inscription, incised near the top of a pillar at Chhoti Deori (modern Deori, Jabalpur) in Madhya Pradesh, is an eleven-line record engraved in the proto-Nāgarī script and composed in Sanskrit language.
The text opens with an auspicious invocation and a verse magnifying Śaṅkara, detailing his attributes as the bearer of matted hair, a crescent moon, a skull garland, sacred ashes, and serpent bracelets. It proclaims the sovereign rule of the Kalachuri king Śaṅkaragaṇa I and identifies his local official, Cūṭu Nāgaka, who held administrative charge over the Kakaṇḍakuṭu viṣaya (district). The record documents Cūṭu Nāgaka's personal endowment of a granary located within the territories of Karikatin and Asekatin. The charter concludes with a dual, overlapping legal declaration explicitly asserting that the written ordinance is completely authoritative and binding on the land.
1. siddhiḥ | namaḥ | jaṭādharaḥ khaṇḍaśaśāṅkaśe-
2. kharaḥ kapapālamālaḥ sitabhasmadhūsaraḥ | durā-
3. tmahā pannagahastakaṅkaṇaḥ sadāśi-
4. vam vovidadhadhātuśaṅkaraḥ || 1 || ka kadakuṭu–
5. dhutu śakara śrīśaṅkaragaṇade-
6. varājye kakandakuṭuviśaye śrīcuṭu-
7. nāgakaḥ | karīkatini aseka–
8. tini amukenaiva likhitam kṛda-
9. ram purnalikhatam tat sarva pramāṇamiti |
10. haike likhitam ta sarvam pramāṇa-
11. mitiḥ |
Line 1 to 3
Success! Adoration!
Verse 1
May that Śaṅkara, who wears matted hair, who has the crescent moon on his head, who wears a garland of skulls, who is grey with white ashes, who destroys the evil-minded, who has bracelets of serpents, always cause your welfare!
Line 4 to 6
During the reign of the illustrious Śaṅkaragaṇa (I), there is the illustrious Cuṭu Nāgaka in charge of the viṣaya of Kakandakuṭu.
Line 7 to 11
He has himself recorded the gift of a granary in the villages of Karīkatin and Asekatin. Again, whatever is written here is authoritative. Whatever is written here is authoritative.
| Dynasty: | Kalacuri |
| Ruler: | Śaṅkaragaṇa |
| Date: | c. 750 CE |
| Donor: | Chuṭu Nāgaka |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Script: | Proto-Nāgarī |
| Religion: | Śaivism |
| Nature of grant: | Religious endownment |
| Purpose: | To record and authorise a religious donation |
| Provenance of inscription: | Deori Chhoti, Madhya Pradesh |
| Type of Inscription: | Stone Inscription |
| Source: |
Bibliography & Research
- Cunningham, A. (1885). Reports Of a tour In Bundelkhand and Rewa in 1883-84 And of a tour in Rewa, Bundelkhand, Malwa And Gwalior in 1884-85. Archaeological Survey of India Report, Vol XXI (Parts 1 and 2).
Bhandarkar, D. R. (1905). Progress report of the Archaeological Survey of Western India for 1903–1904. Government Central Press.
Hiralal, R. B. (1916). Inscriptions in the Central Provinces and Berar. Government Printing.
- Mirashi, V. V. (Ed.). (1955). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. In (Vol. Vol 4 (Part 1), lxvii-cviii and 174-176. Archaeological Survey of India.
