The Aihole inscription, also known as the Aihole prashasti, is a nineteen line Sanskrit inscription at Meguti Jain temple in Aihole, Karnataka, India. A eulogy dated 634–635 CE, it was composed by the Jain poet Ravikirti in honor of his patron emperor Pulakeshin II Satyashraya of the Vatapi Chalukya dynasty. The inscription is partly damaged and corrupted – its last two lines were added at a later date.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 1–11
Since the 1870s, the inscription was recorded several times, revised, republished and retranslated by Fleet, Kielhorn and others. The inscription is a prashasti for the early Western Chalukyas. It is notable for its historical details mixed in with myth, and the scholarly disagreements it has triggered. It is also an important source of placing political events and literature – such as of Kalidasa – that must have been completed well before 634 CE, the date of this inscription.
Location and history
The Aihole inscription of Ravikirti, also known as the Aihole Inscription of Pulakesin II, is found at the hilltop Meguti Jain temple, southeast of Aihole Durga temple and archaeological museum The temple is referred to as the Melu-gudi, lit. "the temple that is high above", also Myagudi, Myaguti and Megudi – rustic and phonetic variants of Melu-gudi.Fleet (1879), p. 237 Aihoḷe – also known as Ayyavole or Aryapura in historic texts – was the original capital of the Chalukyas dynasty founded in 540 CE, before the capital moved to Vatapi in the 7th century. The Malprabha valley sites;such as Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta emerged as major regional centres of arts in early India with Dravida and Nagara styles of temple architecture. Meguti Jain temple is only one among hundreds of temples built in that era. They were preceded by the famed Badami cave temples and many other forms George Michell (2014), pp. 65–68Adam Hardy (1995), pp. 65–68
Fleet was the first to edit and publish a photo-lithograph of the Aihole inscription in 1876.J. F. Fleet (1876), pp. 67–73 Fleet published an improved photo-lithograph, a revised version of the text with his translation in 1879.J. F. Fleet (1879), pp. 237–245 The significance of the inscription as well as issues with reconciling the text with other inscriptions attracted the interest of other scholars. The Sanskrit scholar, Kielhorn published a revised version of the photo-lithograph. in 1901.
Description
The inscription has 19 lines of Sanskrit in old Chalukyan script. It is on a stone set as a part of the east outer wall of the Meguti temple, with the text covering about 4.75 feet by 2 feet surface. The letters are between 0.5 and 0.62 inches in height. The stylistic difference suggests that the 18th and 19th lines were added later, not attributed to Ravikirti.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 1–3
The Aihole inscription is in Sanskrit verse in classic chhandas (meters, Sanskrit prosody). The 17 original lines consist of 37 verses. The meters deployed include the standard shlokas in 7 verses, 2 in aupachchhandasika, 3 in arya, 4 of vasantatilaka, 5 in malini, 3 in sardulavikridita. Further verses use distinct cases of chandas such as upajati, indravajra and vamsastha. The strict rules of Sanskrit meters are visible in the Aihole inscription, which suggests that the early 7th-century Ravikirti wasa master of classical Sanskrit tradition.
The inscription is a prashasti. weaving mythologies. The author compares his patron Pulakesin II to legends and himself to some of the greatest Sanskrit poets such Kalidasa and Bharavi – revered in the Hindu tradition. The inscription borrows phrases from Kalidasa's influential work, from well known 6th and 7th-century inscriptions found in Nagarjuni hills, in Bodh-Gaya, and one of the earliest known inscriptions in Cambodia.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 1–4 Ravikirti builds upon several verses found in Raghuvaṃśa of Kalidasa and the Kirātārjunīya of Bharavi – famed works of Hindu Vishnu and Shiva traditions respectively. Ravikirti credits these authors by naming them indirectly in his Aihole inscription, by calling himself as good as them.P. B. Desai (1957), Jainism in South India and Some Jain Epigraphs, Jain Saṁskṛti Saṁrakshaka Sangha, pp. 104–105 The purity of the Sanskrit and the poetic flourishes of Ravikriti's composition in the alamkara-sastras place him "in the front rank of court-poets and writers of prashastis".Kielhorn (1901), pp. 3–4 According to Richard Salomon, the Aihole inscription excels as a literary form alongside many early Sanskrit inscriptions at Allahabad and Deopara.Salomon (1998), p. 95
The Aihole inscription is a Jain inscription opening with salutations to Jinendra in verse 1.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 1–11, footnote 15 on p. 7 A 'prashasti', it praises Pulakesin II for his generosity.
Date The verses 33–34 of the inscription state the date, 3735 after the Bharata war, or saka samvat 556. This corresponds to 634–635 CE.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 2–4
Inscription The nineteen lines of the inscription have been variously translated, some of the music of the original lost in the European translation. The translation published by Kielhorn is as follows:Kielhorn (1901), pp. 7–11 + Aihole inscription Verses Translation(Franz Kielhorn) Notes V1–2 Victorious is the holy Jinendra ─ he who is exempt from old age, death and birth ─ in the sea of whose knowledge the whole world is comprised like an island. And next, long victorious is the immeasurable, wide ocean of the Chalukya family, which is the birth-place of jewels of men that are ornaments of the diadem of the earth. This 7th-century greeting remains a tradition among contemporary era Jains as "Jai Jinendra". V3–4 And victorious for very long is Satyasraya, who in bestowing gifts and honors on the brave and on the learned, both together on either, observes not the rule of correspondency of number. When many members of that race, bent on conquest, applied to whom the title of Favourite of the Earth had at last become appropriate, had passed away, This acknowledgment of gifts and honors from the patron being praised is a key part of a prashasti such as the Aihole inscription. The "rule of correspondency" is a reference to Panini's 1.3.10, which refers to the ancient Indian tradition where the brave were given gifts by the king, while the learned were given honors. Further, the poet calls his patron Satyasraya (ocean of truth).Kielhorn (1901), pp. 7 with footnotes 15–16 V5–6 There was, of the Chalukya lineage, the king named Jayasimha-vallabha, who in battle ─ where horses, foot soldiers and elephants, bewildered, fell down under the strokes of many hundreds of weapons, and where thousands of frightful headless trunks and of flashes of rays of swords were leaping to and fro─ by his bravery made Fortune his own, even though she is suspected of fickleness. The poet is tracing his patron's lineage, with poetic praise and exaggerated claims of thousands of elephants killed in wars by one of his ancestors. V7–8 His son was he who was named Raṇarâga, of divine dignity, the one master of the world, whose superhuman nature, (even) when he was asleep, people knew from the pre-eminence of his form. His son was Polekêśin, who, though endowed with the moon’s Beauty, and though the favourite of Fortune, became the bridegroom of Vatapipuri. Whose path in the pursuit of the three objects of life the kings on earth even now are unable to follow; and bathed by whom with the water of the purificatory rite, when he performed the horse-sacrifice, the earth beamed with brightness. Polekesin is dubbed as Pulakesin II in modern literature; while the city of Vatapipuri is now called Badami. The three objects of life are dharma, artha and kama, per Hindu texts. The horse-sacrifice (ashvamedha) is a Vedic ritual; this and other inscriptions of this era – such as the Mahakuta Pillar inscription – repeatedly affirm that the Badami Chalukyas cherished Vedic practices and were a Hindu dynasty. This acknowledgment from a Jain poet makes it notable. V9–10 His son was Kîrtivarman, the night of doom to the Naḷas, Mauryas and Kadambas, whose mind, although his thoughts kept aloof from others’ wives, was attracted by the Fortune of his adversary. Who, having secured the fortune of victory by his valour in war, being a scent-elephant of a king, of great strength, at once completely broke down the multitude of the broad kadamba trees ─ the Kadambas. The Kadambas referred to here are the same as the Karnataka dynasty discussed in the Talagunda pillar inscription.Kielhorn (1901), pp. 8–9 with footnote 6 V11–12 When his desire was bent on the dominion of the lord of the gods, his younger brother Maṅgalêśa became king, who by the sheets of dust of his army of horse, encamped on the shores of the eastern and western seas, stretched an awning over the quarters. Who in that house which was the battle-field, took in marriage the damsel, the Fortune of the Kaṭachchuris, having scattered the gathering gloom, the array of elephants, with hundreds of bright-rayed lamps, the swords. This is the same Mangalesha who helped build the Cave 3 (Vishnu) and Cave 4 (Jain) in Badami, and who is mentioned in the Cave 3 inscription and described in the Mahakuta Pillar inscription. V13–14 And again, when he was desirous of taking the island of Rêvatî, his great army with many bright banners, which had ascended the ramparts, as it was reflected in the water of the sea appeared like Varuṇa’s forces, quickly come there at once at his word (of command). When his elder brother’s son, named Polekêśin, of a dignity like Nahusha’s, was coveted by Fortune, and finding his uncle to be jealous of him thereat, had formed the resolution to wander abroad as an exile, An example of comparing Pulakesin II era to mythical legends, here to the forces of the sea deity Varuna. It also paints Pulakesin II as not eager for power, as he had resolved to leave Chalukya kingdom, self-exile and wander in far away lands. V15–16 That Maṅgalêśa, whose great strength became on all sides reduced by the application of the powers of good counsel and energy gathered by him, abandoned, together with the effort to secure the kingdom for his own son, both that no mean kingdom of his and his life. Then, on the subversion of that rule encompassed by the darkness of enemies, the whole world grew light again, invaded as it were by the lustrous rays of His irresistible splendor. Or when was it that the sky ceased to be black like a swarm of bees with thundering clouds, in which flashes of lightning were dancing like banners, and the edges of which were crushed in the rushing wind? These verses are the primary source for the war of succession between Mangalesha and his nephew Pulakesin II. It also claims that neighboring kingdoms saw this war as an opportunity to seize parts of the Chalukya kingdom, all to be defeated by Pulakesin II. V17–18 When, having found the opportunity, he who was named Âppâyika, and Gôvinda approached with their troops of elephants to conquer the country north of the Bhaimarathî, the one in battle through His armies came to know the taste of fear, while the other at once received the reward of the services rendered by him. When He was besieging Vanavâsî, which for a girdle has the rows of haṁsa birds that sport on the high waves of the Varadâ as their play-place, and which by its wealth rivaled the city of the gods, that fortress on land, having the surface of the earth all around covered with the great sea of his army, to the looker-on seemed at once converted into a fortress in the water. Bhaimarathi is same as river Bhimarathi V19–20 Although in former days they had acquired happiness by renouncing the seven sins, the Gaṅga and Âḷupa lords, being subdued by his dignity, were always intoxicated by drinking the nectar of close attendance upon him. In the Koṅkaṇas the impetuous waves of the forces directed by Him speedily swept away the rising wavelets of pools ─ the Mauryas.