Dive Agar Plates of Chittarāja

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, Śaṅkhacūḍa from Garuḍa.

In his family-

Verse 4

There was first the illustrious Kapardin I, then Pulaśati (i.e. Pullaśakti), then his son, another Kapardin (i.e. Kapardin II); then his son Vappuvanna became king; thereafter there was Jhañjharāja. Thereafter there ruled his brother Goggirāja and after him there was king Vajjaḍācāryadeva. From him was born the son Aparājita, who was the veritable Sun-god in brilliance, an ornamental mark of the three worlds.

Verse 5

There was an illustrious king named Vajjaḍa II; thereafter there was the king, the illustrious Keśideva. Then his nephew and son of Vajjaḍadeva, the illustrious Chintapaiya became king.

Line 13-19

Now, the illustrious king Chittapaiyadeva—who has, by his religious merit, obtained the right to the five mahāśabdas, and who is adorned with all royal titles such as mahāsāmantādhipati, ‘the lord of the City of Tagara,’ ‘he who has excelled the world in charity,’ ‘an adamantine cage for the protection of those who seek refuge with him,’ and so forth—addresses, with salutation, worship and respect, all his followers, principal as well as subordinate, assembled here, whether connected with him or not, as follows :

“Be it known to you. One should accumulate the reward of charitable gifts by very firm non-attachment, having realised that this worldly existence is worthless and that wealth as well as life are extremely fickle like drops of water on the leaf of a lotus-plant tossed by wind.”

Line 20-29 

Having thought over the following saying of the sages, viz. in the Kṛta, Tretā and Dvāpara Ages penance is highly praised; the sages extol only charity in the Kali Age, I, having bathed at an excellent tīrtha on the holy occasion of the Udagayana which occurred on Monday the eleventh tithi of the dark fortnight of Puṣya (Pauṣa) in the cyclic year Prabhava after nine hundred years increased by forty-nine have passed by the era of the Śaka king, in figures, the year 949, the month Puṣya (Pauṣa), the dark fortnight, the lunar day 11 and having worshipped the Divine lord of Umā (Śiva)—have donated, with the pouring out of water, the revenue amount of twenty drammas, free from all dues, on the cluster of trees in the orchard donated by the Daṇḍanāyaka, the illustrious Nāgavarman, situated in the village of Velāsivāgara, comprised in the viṣaya of Mandaraja, to the learned Brāhmaṇa Govinda, the son of Saudapaiya of Tipaka, who belongs to the Kāśyapa gotra and Ṛgveda śākhā, who is residing at Dīpakāgara and is always engaged in the performance of his six religious duties.

Line 30-33 

Thereafter, none should cause any obstruction while he, together with his descendants and relatives, is himself enjoying or allowing others to enjoy the clusters of trees in his own orchard.

For, it has already been said by great sages:

(Here occurs an imprecatory verse.)

Line 35-40 

Having known this, all future kings should covet only the religious merit obtained by the protection of this religious gift, and none should be foremost in respect of infamy by the sin of confiscating that gift. 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 incur all the five sins together with minor sins, and will experience for a long time the pangs of hells such as Raurava, Mahāraurava, and Andhatāmisra.

Line 41-49 

And as it is, the giver of the charter records his approval by the hand of the scribe: “What is written in this charter has been approved by Me, the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious king Chintapaiyadeva, the son of the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara the illustrious king Vajjjaḍadeva.”

And this has been written by me, Joupaiya, the nephew of the Treasury Officer, the great poet, the illustrious Nāgalaiya, by the order of the King, the Sāmanta, the illustrious Chintapaiya. Whatever is written here—in deficient or redundant syllables—all that is authoritative.

May there be prosperity! May there be happiness!