Pāśupatācāryo Vidyācakravartī of Ujjain

Since this seems to have even escaped at least one specialist of the Pāśupata religion, I post here a partly emended transcript of a copperplate inscription by the Paramāra sovereign Bhojadeva (1004–60 AD) that I happened to see with Sam Fogg Rare Books and Manuscripts a few years back. No, this is not a bad joke, there really was a genuine praśasti by the celebrated patron of Sanskrit poets Bhojadeva for sale in London. The plate measured 305 by 202 mm and had two holes for binding. Originally, there must have been a second plate attached by rings to the present plate. This would have contained the date, an engraved facsimile of Bhojadeva's handsome signature, and the royal seal of Garuḍa mauling a hooded cobra. Needless to say, I handled it with some awe. I never succeeded in making a legible photograph, but I believe the copperplate was sold to a Museum (in Baltimore ?)



Like other copperplates issued by Bhojadeva this plate gives the lineage of the Paramāra's back to Harṣadeva alias Sīyaka II (=Siṃhaka). The succession is: [1.] Harṣadeva (alias Sīyaka II), [2.] Vākpatirājadeva, [3.] Sindhurājadeva [4.] Bhojadeva. That Harṣadeva must indeed be none other than Sīyaka II is established also by the Paramāra court poet Padmagupta (alias Parimala) in his elaborate eulogy of his patron in the Navasāhasāṅkacarita.


Although Paramāras ruled from their capital city of Dhārā, it is supposed that they originally had their court in Avanti or in the ancient and wealthy city of Ujjain, which they appear to have visited regularly. This copperplate grant is in fact issued in Ujjain. One plausible reason I have seen adduced to explain this supposed transfer of the capital city is the proximity of the factitious Solanki dynasty in neighbouring Aṇahilavāḍa.


The present inscription mentions by name a Pāśupata preceptor dateable to the reign of Bhojadeva: Vidyācakravartin. Bhojadeva makes his land grants with his express “permission”! (…pāsupatācāryya[bha-]ṭṭārakaśrīvidyācakravarttinām anuj[ñ?]ayā…)



As is customary, the edict begins with homages to Śiva in his manifestation as Vyomakeśa, the tutelary deity of the Paramāra's state religion.



“Oṃ Hail! Triumphant is Vyomakeśa, who, for the welfare of his creation, bears on his head the lunar crest, [curving] as though it were the sprout from which sprung the universe. May the matted locks of the enemy of Cupid, tawny like writhing lightning in the dread sky at the end of the world, ever grant you favours. The sovereign monarch, King over kings, paramount lord, the illustrious Bhojadeva, in good health, the successor to the sovereign monarch, King over kings, paramount lord, Sindhurājadeva, the successor to the sovereign monarch, King over kings, paramount lord, Vākpatirājadeva, the successor to the sovereign monarch, King over kings, paramount lord, Harṣadeva…”


Bhojadeva then addresses all of his officials, and states that he has arrived in Ujjain from his capital Dhārā. He introduces the substance of the grant with graceful language as follows:



“After paying homage to [Śiva] the husband of Bhavānī, the Lord of all that moves and all that moves not, and realising that worldly existence is without essence, and that this [my] sovereignty over the world is as uncertain as clouds blowing in the wind, that the enjoyment of sensory objects endures but for a flash, that for humans the vital breaths are as uncertain as a drop of water on the tip of a blade of grass,—Alas! my friends, Dharma is the best aid on the journey to the next world. Fortune is like the felly of the wheel of becoming, those who gain it and do not donate it in charity reap a reward of deep regret.”



As an aside, it is amusing that Mammaṭa censures the form bhavānīpati on the grounds that the pratyaya ṅīṣ already adds the sense “wife of Bhava (=Śiva)”: Kāvyaprakāśa 7.50–51: …atra bhavānīpatiśabdo bhavānyāḥ patyantare pratītiṃ karoti / indravaruṇabhavetyādinā puṃyogān ṅīṣpratyayena bhavasya patnī bhavānī /. The result is that it evokes a repugnant possible meaning: “lover of Śiva’s wife (but not Śiva himself!)”.


1: [oṃ] svasti ja[yati] vyomakeso [']sau yaḥ sarggāya bibhartti tāṃ [aiṃdavīṃ] śirasā lesā[ṃ] (em: lekhāṃ) jaga[-]
2: db[ī]ajāṃkurāk[ṛ]t[iṃ /1/ tanvaṃt]u vaḥ smarāteḥ (em: smarārāteḥ) kalyāṇam anisaṃ jaṭāḥ / kalpā[ṃ]tasamayoddāmavyomataḍidvalapapi[-] (em: °valaya°)
3: ṅgalāḥ /2/ paramabhaṭṭārakamahārājādhirājaparamesvarasriharṣadevapādānudhyātaparamabhaṭṭā[-]
4: rakamahārājādhirājaparamesvaraśrivākpatirājādevapādānudhyātaparamabhaṭṭārakamahārā-
5: jādhirājaparamesvaraśrīsiṃdhurājadevapādānudhyātaparamabhaṭṭārakamahārājādhirājaparame-
6: [svara]śrībhojadevaḥ kuśalī śrīmadujjayanyuttarapathake [?]ḍakheṭakacaturāsītau makaralāyagrāme
7: ta**[pa]liyāgrāme [']grasyā eva pūrvvapathake ra{}uṇījīgrāme samupagatān samastarājapu mupra (em: °rājapuruṣa°)
8: pra[tinivāsipa]ṭṭakilajanapadādiṃsca bodhayaty astu vaḥ saṃviditaṃ / yathā śrimaddhārā[t]aḥ śrīmadujjayanyā[ṃ] samāga[-]
9: tair asm[ābhiś ca]rācaragukaṃ (em: °guruṃ) bhagavantaṃ bhavānīpatim abhyartha (em: abhyarcya) saṃsārasyāsāratāṃ dṛṣṭvā tathā hi vātābhravibhramam idaṃ va[-]
10: sudhādhipatyam āpātamadhuro viṣayopabhogaḥ / prāṇās tṛṇāgrajalabiṃdusamā narāṇāṃ dharmmaḥ sakhā [param aho] pa[-]
11: ralokayāne / bhramatsaṃsāracakrāgradhārādharām imāṃ śriyaṃ / prāpya ye na dadus teṣāṃ paścāttapaḥ (em: paścāttāpaḥ) para[ṃ pha]laṃ / iti
12: jagato vinasvara[ṃ] svarūpam ākalayyādṛṣṭaphalam aṃgīkṛtyoparilikhitamakar[a/e]lāyagrāmaṃ s[v]asīmātṛṇakāṣṭhayūtigocarapa[-]
13: ryaṃttasavṛkṣamālākulaḥ sahiraṇyabhāgabhogoparikarasarvvādāyasametaś ca devabrāhmaṇabhuktivarjaṃ pāsupatācāryya[bha-]
14: ṭṭārakaśrīvidyācakravarttinām anuj[ñ?]ayā deva[śr]ī-iṃdresvarāya tathā ghaghaliyāgrāmīyahalacatuṣṭayaṃ gṛhasthānasa[metaṃ] d[e]va[śrī-]
15: brahmesvarāya tathā raüṇījīgrāmīyahalapaṃcakaṃ gṛhasthānasametaṃ devaśrī iṃdresvarasatkajaga[tnī]sarasvat[oroharadgrā]mīya ((or: jagattīsarasvataurāharadgrāmīya))

16: halapaṃcakaṃ gṛhasthānasametaṃ devaśrī[kaṃtha]ḍesvarāya [terthatadgrāma]halapaṃcakaṃ gṛhasthānasametaṃ devaśrīsuvalla[ṃ?]-

17: svurāya ((or: khurāya?)) tathā śrī ujjayanīma[ḍadhikādāyātu] / śrī-iṃdresvaradevāya [a]ṃgabhogārtha[ṃ] [?]lakārthaṃ tathā devaśrībrahme


Notes: bhoga = district. A hala is an extent of arable land that can be ploughed with one set of oxen.