's not elucidated by the fanciful explanation of

it given in line 35 of the inscription. The word kita has a variety of meanings; trikita may denote a mountain with three peaks, or a temple with three cupolas; but Trikātāśvara, as a name of

Siva,

299

GADDAK INSCRIPTIONS.

OctoRER, 1873.]

can have no allusion to moun

tains, and, I think, has no particular allusion to temples; ‘trikāta' in this compound appears to me to be probably a symbolisation of the three powers of creation, preservation, and destruc tion, as personified by the well-known triad of

Brahma,Vishnu, and Siva ; the three heads on the altar among the emblems will then denote

Siva as representing, in the eyes of the worship pers of the linga, this triad, the Śakti to the left of the altar being his goddess or female principle, Pârvati. The inscription, which has been extremely well preserved, consists of fifty-six lines of about fifty-four letters each. Though the char acters are Old Canarese, the language is Sans krit. A copy of it will probably be found in the Elliot collection, as it is apparently the one alluded to by Elliot in the notes to his essay on inscriptions at Gaddak No. 2. The substance of it also has been given by Dr. Bhàu Dāji.” As, however, it is always desirable for pur poses of comparison to obtain copies of inscrip tions by different hands, and as Dr. Bhàu Dāji's version is anything but correct in some of its details, a transliteration and a translation of this inscription are appended. The inscription relates to the Hoysala dynasty of D v à r à v a tip ura, an offshoot of the Y a da v a race, and gives the following genealogy:Yadu.

Hari (Krishna). Sala or Hoysala. Vinayiditya. Ereyanga. |

sons of E I e y a ng a are mentioned, is not very certain. It seems pretty clear that he had three sons, but Ud a y á d it y a may be the eldest or the youngest of the three, according as we take the word ud yáditya-paschima u as a Tatpurusha or as a Bahuvrihi compound. I have followed Elliot in making him the young est of the three, and I think that this view is

borne out by the context. I am also aware that N a r a sim ha and his successors are given by Elliot as the descendants of U da y á d it y a ; but this is certainly not supported by the present inscription, which is clear enough on the point of Narasimh a being the son of V is h m u v ar d h an a .

The grant recorded in the inscription is made

to the god Trikātāśvaradºva in Saka 1115t (A.D. 1193), the Paridhávi Samvatsara, by Wi r a ball a lad & va, who, having wrested the country of Kun tala from the Yadava dyn asty of D & vagiri, had fixed upon Lok ki gun q i, the modern Lakku I, di, as his ca pital. TRANSLITERATION OF GADDAK INSCRIPTION No. 2.

Svasti || Trailokyan pályaté yéna sadayath satva (ttva)writtinä Sa dévo Yadušârddulah Sripatih gréyasé & stu vall Dēyah samastasāmantama stakanyastašāsanah || Achaindrárkkain nripah pāyādbhuvamambhôdhimékhalām || Asitkshitau kshatriyapungavånäſmill sirómalih Sriyadunā madhéyah Yadanvavāyā sa Harirdhdha(rddha)2

• 3

ritribhārāvatārārtthamajó pi jātah || Tadanvavāyū bahavo babhāvurbhbhu(rbbhu).jödbhavá višru

takirttibhājah Adyāpi lókö charitädbhutäni yóshān puránºshu pathaſhti saintah || Kālakra mēlātha babhūva kaśchinmahi-patistatra Salā bhidhānah | Kulasya kritvá vyapadéSamanyam vismåritó yéna Yadustadādyah || Kénôpi bra(vra)tipatinâ svadévakāryyé šárddulain grasitumupa gatamin niñantum | Ådishtah Sašakapuré sa Hoysaléti prápattan kila vinihatya Hoysalākhyām | Tatah prabhriti tadvanść pravrittah Hoysalā khyayā

Šárddalaścha dhvaja-ºyasidahkah

Šatru-, |

Ballāla.

Vishnuvardhana.

Udayāditya.

Narasimha m. to Echaladévi. | Viraballāla.

bhayanilkarah || Aparèshu cha tadrājyam bhukta vatswatha rājasu | Vinayāditya ityásitkramaśah

prithivipatii,

Ereyaſhgābhidhãnã bhūnnripati

stasya châtmajah

Gurairananyasūmānyaih pra

khyātah prithivitaló || Atha tasyāpi Ballālavish

The meaning of lines 8 and 9, in which the

nuvarddhananámakau | Abhātāmātmajanmånåmu

• See Journal of the Bombay Branch of the R. Asiatic

Soc. vol. IX. p. 321 ; Ind. Ant. vol. I. p. 158.-E.D.

+ According to the original, “eleven hundred and fourteen of the years of the era of the Šaka king having elapsed.”