Goharwa Plates of Karṇa

Line 1

Success! Hail! Om! Adoration to Brahman! 

Verse 1

Adoration to that reality, Brahman, which is attributeless, all-pervasive, eternal and auspicious, the ultimate cause of the universe, (and) supreme light conceivable by the mind! 

Verse 2 

Glorious is that Brāhmī, which sages plant like a creeper in the pure field of their hearts, and which though subtle, bears the great fruit of final emancipation. 

Verse 3 

From the milk-ocean there came out this moon, the store of immeasurable nectar, which is an ornament of Śiva. From him was born Buddha. He, they say, obtained a jewel-like son, (namely) the primeval king Purūravas. 

Verse 4 

In that great family of the nectar-rayed (moon), there was born a king who appeared (bright) like a pearl. He, the universal sovereign Bharata, obtained (the distinction of) being the sole ornament of the three worlds. 

Verse 5 

In this very illustrious family of kings there was born, in course of time, the lord Haihaya, the universal sovereign; being caught in the midst of whose cage-like mighty arms, the ten-faced (Rāvaṇa) was, as it were, confined in a prison. 

Verse 6 

Finding himself (quite) helpless in the bondage of the marvellous arms of (that) crest-jewel of kings (i.e., Haihaya), who being thousand-armed routed his enemies even as the thousand-rayed (sun) dispels darkness, the leader of demons (i.e., Rāvaṇa), who had lifted up the mountain of Śrīkaṇṭha (Kailāsa) with his sportfully waved arms, himself thought that his previous valiant deed was like a dream and an illusion. 

Verse 7 

From him were descended many kings who pleased Indra with the smoke of their sacrificial fires; in whose kingdom there never ceased showers from the clouds which were the eyes of their enemies’ wives. 

Verse 8 

Among them was born in course of time Lakṣmaṇarājadeva (II) who was clever in routing the king of Baṅgāla; who defeated the Pāṇḍya (king); who was adept in plundering the king of Lāṭa; who vanquished the Gurjara king; and whose footstool was honoured by the crowns of the heroes of Kaśmīra. 

Verse 9 

The ocean, which became red, being flooded with (the streams of) vermilion from the heads of the huge scent-elephants in (his) army through exertion caused by his victorious marches, and which dashed against huge mountains with its dancing high waves, appeared to be filled as it were with the flooding streams of blood from the cut-off stiff necks of his enemies. 

Verse 10 

From him was born that Yuvarājadeva (II), the moon-like lord of Chedi, the sole object of veneration to the (whole) world, who was fond of literature as a lover is of his beloved, and who, like the serpent Śeṣa, supported the whole world. 

Verse 11 

Three things found a footing simultaneously, (namely) youth in his body, (his) valour on the heads of (his) enemies, and (his) enemies in the thickets on the principal mountains. 

Verse 12 

Through his devotion to Śiva he became actually an Emperor (or, Śiva incarnate), having acquired knowledge suitable for bearing the burden of (i.e., governing) the earth, being fond of the Vedas as Śiva is possessed of a body which is fond of serpents capable of bearing the burden of the earth; sending his adversaries along the path of heaven like Śiva; and leading his powerful army, famous in the world, which marched by several routes as Śiva bears on high the river Gaṅgā flowing in several streams. 

Verse 13 

From that crest-jewel of kings, there was (born) in course of time, (a king) named Kokalla (II), possessed of marvellous prowess, who planted a number of sacrificial posts in the farthest regions, and the drum, (beaten) at whose victorious march, served exceedingly well as an auspicious musical instrument at the commencement of the union of hostile kings with celestial damsels. 

Verse 14 

On the occasion of his conquest of the quarters, the lordly elephants (stationed) in the quarters, which raised their long trunks in rage on (smelling) the fragrance of his rutting elephants, despaired (of defeating them), (and) gave out, as it were, a distressing cry to the lord of celestial beings (i.e., Indra) through the hum of bees (hovering) over their temples. 

Verse 15 

While he, who was a store of valour and the sole source of (their) happiness, dwelt in the mind of (his) subjects, their inward distress completely disappeared even as the ignorance of the yogins does when the highest principle (Brahman), which is the repository of lustre and the unique source of bliss, shines in their minds. 

Verse 16 

His glory, rising high and breaking (to pieces) owing to its collision with (the upper shell of) Brahmā’s egg, has, I fancy, taken the forms of the moon, constellations, stars and so forth. 

Verse 17 

From him was (born) Gaṅgeyadeva, who threw into the cage of a prison the king of Kīra, who looked radiant with the mass of wealth of (the king of) Aṅga, who was fond of defeating (the king of) Kuntala in a (clever) manner, and who, strong as he was in the action of splitting open the temples of lordly elephants, made his (own) arm a pillar of victory on the shore of the (eastern) ocean, after vanquishing (the king of) Utkala. 

Verse 18 

By resorting to his divine person the goddess of fortune has now got rid of the infamy that she does not appreciate merit and is fickle. 

Verse 19 

Where he bestowed more wealth on suppliants than they desired, the wish-fulfilling tree was (no better than) an ordinary tree. He, who was to the enemies’ fame what the sun is to an assemblage of night-lotuses, begat the king Karṇa. 

Verse 20 

The feet of him (i.e., Karṇa) who was skilled in war, appeared lovely, being warm as if because they had trampled over the spreading valour of the neighbouring haughty princes. 

Verse 21

Under the sole guise of (the symbols of) the thunderbolt and the discus on his hands, he bore (with himself) the goddess of fortune herself, who (usually) shines with Indra and Upendra. 

Verse 22 

His arms, which were long like the trunks of the elephants of the quarters, which have lifted up the earth with their heads, were delighted to rescue the earth with ease. 

Verse 23 

The two large (symbols of) conches on (his) hands were, I imagine, the treasure (of Kubera) which the Creator offered after doubling to him who was intently attached to charity. 

Verse 24 

At his march, the spray of water, which issued from the tips of the formidable trunks of the elephants in (his army) and which was turned to particles by their puffing, appeared like an umbrella in the sky. 

Verse 25

I do not harbour, O Lord! the families of (your) enemies; nor have I transgressed the past limits. In order as it were, to say this to the King of Chedi, who was over-running the circuit of regions, the ocean roared in a deep sound, throwing about his arms of waves to scoff at the movements of the trunks of elephants in the army which, being fatigued, (had encamped) in its vicinity. 

Verse 26 

In his war, when the farthest confines of the circuit of regions were filled with the noise of the loud clapping of the goblins who were dancing in intoxication caused by drinking the liquor-like blood flowing from (the bodies of his) enemies wounded by his arrows, the ceremony of choosing (their) husbands in an assembly was, for a short time, performed with difficulty by the immortal (i.e., celestial) damsels, who could not hear one another’s words, by means of the hasty signs such as those of their hands. 

Verse 27

On the stage of battle-field which was strewn with flowers scattered by the gods who were stupefied with joy, the heroic deeds of the valiant (Karṇa), whose arms were merciless in forcibly dragging the (enemy’s) fortune, were represented in dancing by headless trunks in the presence of kings. 

Verse 28 

He thus showed himself to be a unique teacher of the four āśramas to his enemies, who were first taught the vow of the Brahmacārin by being separated from (their) wives, (then) the order of the house-holder by being imprisoned together with their kinsmen, (then) that of the forest-dwelling hermit by (being forced to seek) shelter in the woods, and that of the religious mendicant by (being made to live on) alms. 

Verse 29 

Having heard the loud proclamations, resounding in the land extending from the eastern to the western mountain, that the hosts of suppliants (coming) to him would obtain gifts exceeding their desires, the self-existent (Brahmā) was long perplexed with the thought, ‘Alas! this brahmāṇḍa has already been created so limited in expanse! How will the glory of the King of Chedi be contained in it?’ 

Verse 30 

What can we describe of that king Karṇa by whose copper-charters, (given) to Brāhmaṇas, which made a loud noise as multitudes of closely packed letters were being incised on them, the (whole) universe is deafened. 

Lines 33 to 37 

This paramabhaṭṭāraka, mahārājādhirāja, and parameśvara, the illustrious Karṇadeva, the devout worshipper of Maheśvara, the lord of Trikaliṅga; who has by his arm acquired sovereignty over the three kings, namely, the lord of horses, the lord of elephants, and the lord of men, (and) who meditates on the feet of the paramabhaṭṭāraka, mahārājādhirāja and parameśvara, the illustrious Vāmadeva, being in good health duly honours, informs and issues the (following) command at his victorious camp fixed at the famous Karṇatīrtha, to the following, namely, the mahādevī, the mahārājaputra, the mahāmantrin, the mahāsāndhivigrahika, the mahāmātya, the mahādharmādhikaraṇika, the mahāpratihāra, the mahākṣapaṭalika, the mahābhāṇḍāgārika, the mahāsāmanta, the mahāpramattavāra, the mahāśvasādhanika and other unnamed officers appointed to their respective posts as well as all people residing in their respective places in the village Candapahā in the pattalā of Kauśāmbī; 

Lines 38 and 39 

Be it known to you that for the increase of the religious merit and fame of our parents and ourself, we, having bathed at the glorious Arghatīrtha here and having worshipped the divine (god) Śiva today, Thursday, the full-moon day of Kārttika in the seventh year of administration rendered glorious by (us) the illustrious Karṇa; in the aforesaid year, month, fortnight, tithi and day respectively, have given as a grant, with the words ‘this village is his,’ this village, with its four boundaries well-determined, inclusive of water and land, the mango and madhūka trees, together with its pits and barren land, together with mines of iron and salt, extending to its boundaries and together with woods, meadows and pasture-lands, to last as long as the moon, the sun and the earth will endure; to the Brāhmaṇa the illustrious Paṇḍita Śāntiśarman, the son of Āvasathika Mālhū and grandson of the Upādhyāya Sīlū, of the Vājasaneya śākhā, the Vidarbhī-Kauṇḍinya gotra and the three pravaras Āṅgirasa, Ambarīṣa, and Yauvanāśva. Knowing this and submitting to him by listening to his commands, you should pay all royal dues such as bhāga, bhoga, gold and others to him as you paid them (to us in the past). None should trespass with a view to harm him. In this matter there occur the (following) holy verses: 

(Here follow six benedictive and imprecatory verses.) 

Line 49 

This has been written by the Karaṇika, the illustrious Sarvānanda and engraved by Vidyānanda. (May there be) bliss and good fortune!