Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

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t.J{ /4-.*,, Q.^{,% t( ( z-- t) Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakdfaka Kingdom Hnrus BnxxEn The fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era are often seen as the. classical period of the'cultural history of India. During this period India between the HimAlaya and Vindhya mountains was united in the kingdom of the Cuptas, whereas the northerrr part of the Deccan, south of the Vindhyas,r,vhich today forms the state of Maharasl'rtra, r,vas ruled by Ve kataka kings. As the major powers of their times, these two kingdoms, the northern and the southern, Gupta and Vakdtaka, though formally independent, were connected through continuous exchange, ranging from military to matrimonial, from political ideology to culture, from religion to mcrchandise. The aims of this article are (1) to take a closer look at the historical process that threaded both kingcloms together and occasioned the rise of the dynasty of the Eastern Vdkatakas, (2) to focus on how the Vhkataka rulers of the first half of the 5th century translatecl their sovereignty into monumental art, espccially at the site of Mansar,and (3) to sketch how the culture. of the eastern Vakataka kingdom lost its momentu m. The Rise of the Eastern Va kataka Dynasty -['he second quartcr of the 4th century A D. hacl seen two power blocks beginning to emerge in northern India, both consoliclatec-l by strategicmatrimonial ailiances (see genealogy in Appendix I). [n the Gangetic ptain Samudragupta had ascended to the throne, inheriting Candrargupta I's kingdom as well as the territories of the [-icchavis, a p;rtrimony to which he was entitled through his mother, Kurnaradevi. To the south of the northern plains the Vakataka king Rudrasena I inherited at least parts of the kingdom of his grandfather, pravarasena I, as well as the territoriesof the BharaSivas, a branch of the Ndga dynasty that ruled from padmavatl, modern l'awaya. Rr-rdrasena's father, Cautamiputra, had died beforc he could ascend the throne; his mother was a daughtcr of king Bhavarraga of the Bharasiva lineage, who was, it would scent,without male offspring, which made lluc{rasenar, Iiker Samudragupta, a "daughter,s son hcir" (dauhitrn).l A war in the sixth decacleof the 4th century betwccn thesc tw. powcr blocks resultcc-l in a clefe;rt of the Na ga-Va kataka alliance at the hancls of samudragupta. The Naga were reduced to subordinate status in Vidisa and Padmavatl; the Vdkdtakas, or at least one branch of the family, were forced to give up their homeland, which, as has been arguecl by A.M. Shastri, was possibly located in the Vindhyas (Vatsa, i.e. Bundelkhand).2 They founded a new kingdom in Vidarbha, in the fertile Wainganga plain south of the satpura Range- Nandivardhana became the residence of these kings. Samudragupta's son, Canclragupta II, concluded the peace with the old enemy by giving his daughter in marriage to Rudrasena II, the grandson of Rudrasena I, his father's former adversary. This princess, known from her charters as Prabhavati Gupta, is one of the most remarkablewomen of classicallndia. An inscription found in the Kevala_Narasimha Temple on Ramagiri, Ramtek Hill, a steep hill c. 5 km north of the. residence at Nandivardhan, reveals the dramatic history of l,rabhavatl's mother, KuberanagA, the Naga queen of Candragupta II. In describing the Cupta lineage the inscription suggests that the power (sakti) of the Nagas had been curbed Qtrntisirtdha) to such an extent that onc of their young princesses, who ,,had grown up like a flame", could be withdrawn from her father's authority Q_titur grltitn) in order to be brought up at the Gupta court.l This princess, KuberanAga, was subsequently, probably with a view to pacifying thc Nagas, given in marriage to Samudragupta's son Canclragupta II as one of his chief wives (mahndeui). The history of Prabhavati's mother, born in the Naga House, but grown up at the Gupta court, may have incluced Prabhdvati to style herself, in her own inscriptions, explicitlyas'princessof the Naga as well as Cupta family'. It seems even likely that her gotra, 'Dhdrana', was that of the Naga family and not, as is usually assumedon the basisof later practice, that of her patcrnal lineage,the Cuptas.aThe name Dharana occurs in the Malmblnrtrtalist of Nagas, said to be the sons of Ka5yapa (MBh 5.101.16). Prabhavati's own inscriptions prove in any case that it was possible for princessesof high birth to retain their own gotrn after bcing marriecl.s -l-he ,gofrn of the (,uptas, if any, is unknor,vn, since it is ncver nrentioncdin their own inscriptions.Wc may ask with Trautmann (7972, p 15,n.31):

description

Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

Transcript of Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

Page 1: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

t.J{ /4-.*,, Q.^{,%t ( ( z - - t )Religion and Politics

in the Eastern Vakdfaka KingdomHnrus BnxxEn

The fourth and f i f th centuries of the Christ ian era areoften seen as the. classical period of the'cultural history ofIndia. During this period India between the HimAlayaand Vindhya mountains was united in the kingdom ofthe Cuptas, whereas the northerrr part of the Deccan,south of the Vindhyas,r,vhich today forms the state ofMaharasl 'r tra, r,vas ruled by Ve kataka kings. As the majorpowers of their t imes, these two kingdoms, the northernand the southern, Gupta and Vakdtaka, though formallyindependent , were connected through cont inuousexchange, ranging from mil i tary to matrimonial, frompol i t ica l ideo logy to cu l ture , f rom re l ig ion tomcrchandise. The aims of this art icle are (1) to take acloser look at the historical process that threaded bothk ingc loms together and occas ioned the r ise o f thedynasty of the Eastern Vdkatakas, (2) to focus on howthe Vhkataka rulers of the f irst half of the 5th centuryt rans la tec l the i r sovere ignty in to monumenta l ar t ,espccial ly at the site of Mansar, and (3) to sketch how thecu l t u re . o f t he eas te rn Vaka taka k i ngdom los t i t smomentu m.

The Rise of the Eastern Va kataka Dynasty

-[ 'he second quartcr of the 4th century A D. hacl seen two

power blocks beginning to emerge in northern India,both consoliclatec-l by strategic matrimonial ai l iances (seegenea logy i n Append i x I ) . [ n t he Gange t i c p ta i nSamudragupta had ascended to the throne, inherit ingCandrargupta I 's k ingdom as wel l as the ter r i tor ies o f the[- icchavis, a p;rtr imony to which he was enti t led throughhis mother, Kurnaradevi. To the south of the northernp la ins the Vakataka k ing Rudrasena I inher i ted a t leastparts of the kingdom of his grandfather, pravarasena I, aswel l as the ter r i tor ies o f the BharaSivas, a branch of theNdga dynas t y t ha t r u l ed f r om padmava t l , mode rnl 'awaya. Rr- rdrasena 's fa ther , Cautamiput ra , had d iedbeforc he could ascend the throne; his mother was adaughtcr o f k ing Bhavarraga of the Bharas iva l ineage,who was, i t would scent , w i thout male o f fspr ing, whichmade l luc{ rasenar , I iker Samudragupta, a "daughter ,s sonhcir" (dauhitrn). l

A war in the s ix th decac le o f the 4 th centurybetwccn thesc tw. powcr blocks resultcc-l in a clefe;rt

o f the Na ga-Va kataka a l l iance at the hanc ls o fsamudragupta. The Naga were reduced to subordinatesta tus in V id isa and Padmavat l ; the Vdkdtakas, or a tleast one branch of the family, were forced to give uptheir homeland, which, as has been arguecl by A.M.Shastri, was possibly located in the Vindhyas (Vatsa, i.e.Bunde l khand ) .2 They f ounded a new k ingdom inVidarbha, in the fert i le Wainganga plain south of thesatpura Range- Nandivardhana became the residence ofthese k ings. Samudragupta 's son, Canc l ragupta I I ,concluded the peace with the old enemy by giving hisdaughter in marriage to Rudrasena II, the grandson ofRudrasena I, his father's former adversary. This princess,known from her charters as Prabhavati Gupta, is one ofthe most remarkable women of classical lndia.

An inscription found in the Kevala_NarasimhaTemple on Ramagir i , Ramtek Hil l , a steep hi l l c. 5 kmnorth of the. residence at Nandivardhan, reveals thedramatic history of l ,rabhavatl 's mother, KuberanagA,the Naga queen of Candragupta II . In describing theCupta l ineage the inscript ion suggests that the power(sakti) of the Nagas had been curbed Qtrntisirtdha) to suchan extent that onc of their young princesses, who ,,had

grown up l ike a f lame", could be withdrawn from herfather's authority Q_ti tur grl t i tn) in order to be brought upat the Gupta court. l This princess, KuberanAga, wassubsequently, probably with a view to pacifying thcNagas, g iven in marr iage to Samudragupta 's sonCanclragupta II as one of his chief wives (mahndeui).

The history of Prabhavati 's mother, born in theNaga House, but grown up at the Gupta court, may haveinc luced Prabhdvat i to s ty le herse l f , in her owninscr ip t ions, exp l ic i t ly as 'pr incess of the Naga as wel l asCupta family' . I t seems even l ikely that her gotra,'Dhdrana ' ,

was that o f the Naga fami ly and not , as isusually assumed on the basis of later practice, that of herpatcrnal l ineage, the Cuptas.a The name Dharana occursin the Malmblnrtrta l ist of Nagas, said to be the sons ofKa5yapa (MBh 5.101.16) . Prabhavat i 's own inscr ip t ionsprove in any case that i t was possible for princesses ofhigh birth to retain their own gotrn after bcing marriecl.s- l-he

,gofrn of the (,uptas, i f any, is unknor,vn, since i t isncver nrent ioncd in the i r own inscr ip t ions. Wc may askw i t h T r a u t m a n n ( 7 9 7 2 , p 1 5 , n . 3 1 ) :

Page 2: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

f {ANS

l . Fagade o f Cave | 2 Udayag i r i .

Was l ) rabh iva t i ' s ma te rna l l r r r c r c la t t , r i t o f J f i -u , r , -ga

I thegrea t -g rea t -g rand fa th t ' r o f he r h r rsb . r r r r l l l The Ian , o fp roh ib i ted degrees wh ich ne i the r thc ( ,up t . r s r ro r thcV t i k j t akas a rc o the rw ise knou . r r t ( ) have v io l ; r t cc lp robaLr l y ru les ou t too c l c l sc . r r c l , r t ronshrp , bu t i t r stemptrng t ( ) see in [ ) ra[ ' rh ivat i 's

\ , i ; i . r conncxion t l r t .renewal of an . lc l . r l l iance l - retrvccn t l r t , \ ' . ik ; i takas ancl theNagas , as wr : l l . r s thc s t . r r t o f c l l t ch .o r r r , r r ' i t l r t l r e C ,up t . r s

As w ,c w i l l sce , thc ru l cs re fe r rc r l t o were a t l eas t c lncev i o l a t e d a n d ' l ' r a u t m a n n ' s s u g g t ' s t i o n o f a c l o s ere la t i onsh ip w , i t h t l r e l i neage o f Bhavan . iga has the re fo rc rbecotnc ntore [e.rs ib le. I 'hc rveclc l ing betr t , r .er-rC a n d r a g u p t a ' s d a u g h t c r P r a b h a v a t i a r r r J t h c V a k a t a k ap r i n c c R u d r a s c n a r n u s t h a v c t a k t ' r r p l a c c i n t h c r r i n t hdecac l t ' o f t hc 4 th cc r r tu ry . r ' ' l ' he F ) r i n t t , ss b rough t w i th t r c rt h c V a i s n a v a t l h a g a i , a t a f a i t h a r r c i t h c e u l t u r a l ; r s s e t s a n ds o p h i s t i c a t i o n o f t l ' r c ( , u p t a c o t r r t I i r y u d g c b v h c rin . sc r ip t i o l r s , i r r wh ich scvcn l i l r es a rc c l r vo te r { t o thceu logy t t f he r i r t rp ' r1 'p i .1 l g r ig ins an t j < , r r l y gnp l i p t t 9 f t e rVa ka taka l rusb . r r r c l - c l t ' r - ro t i l t g l t c ' r l . r t l r c r C . . r r - r c i ragup ta .15Ma l rJ ra jadh i r ; r j ; r , l r t ' r l r usbar r t l as i \ 1 . r l r , i r J ; ; l - sh t , rn ig l r th a v c t l r . u g l i t h c r s . l [ [ a r a L ' r . r . t , t l r . f ; r r . i l v . ll r c r i n - l a w s , t h . r . r g h l r c : r m a r r i . r g e w ( l s a r . t r r a l l v , i l rDlrarnta( ; is t r , r c . r t t 'gr t r t t ,s , t t t t uI ( ) t I t ( t :

A t r a g i t ' c r , ' t ' r r I r n t a n I t l t . r t t l r t ' ( , t r p t . r p r r n c e s s l t a t l

t o assume f r - r l l r espons ib i l i t y fo r thc rov . r l hoL rs t i n wh ich

she had mar r iec l A i te r a ru le o f l ess t l ran , r r i ecadc he rh u s b a n d d i e c l i n c . A . D . 4 0 5 , l c a v i n g h c r i n h e r e a r l v

th i r t i cs w i th th ree bo1 ,s and a t l e . r s t ( )nc c laugh tc r .

She acted as regcnt f i l r hcr e ldest sor-r , tht r luunral t

D ivakarasena , i o r a t l eas t th i r teen vca rs as i s shown bv

the Poona I ' l ; r tcs of I ' rabharvat i -gupt . r .8

lJowever, the crow,n-pr incc di t ' t l bt ' iorc hc wzrs

a l l owec l to ; ' r sce l r t l t l r t ' t hn rne . l r rabhava t i ' s regcnc \ , ' ovc r

he r t r . r ' o r cma in ing s ( ) l t s rnay h ; r ve l , t s t cc l o r re o r two

years n ro re , wh ich l r rough t the to ta l c ]u r . t t i on o f thc ru le

o [ th i s dowagcr quccn to th i r t ccn o r fou r t ccn v 'ea rs , f rom

c . A . l ) . 1 0 5 t o 4 1 9 , a r r c r c e p t i o n a l l y l o n g t e r r r r b y I n d r a n

s t a n c l a r d s . ' I f s h c h a r l n r . r t h a d t h c i u l l b a c k r n g o [ t h e

power fu l ( , up ta fa rn i l 1 , , i t ce , rns un l i ke l t , t h . r t he r r cgcnc ) '

wou ld [ ru rvc l . r s tec l so l o r r13 - l ' hc

c ( ) l l c l L l s i ( ] l r i s cv i t l cn t :

I ) r a b h . l v a t f n r o r c t l r . r r r j u s t a r c g e n t , v v d s v i r t u a l l y

w c a r i r t g t h t ' 1 1 r 1 , ; 1 I r ' r r r , , r ' r r o f t l t c V i i k J t a k . r s , r r r r c l o u b t t o

t l x r s a t i s [ a c t i o r r o i l r c r ( , u p t , r r e l a t i v c s . ] i '

E v i t l t . t r c t ' o f . t l r c a f o r c - r n c r r t i o r r c c l K c v a [ . t -

N . r r a s i t r r h a ' [ L ' r n p l r ' I n s c ' r i p t i t t n s u p p o r t s p u r i r r f r t r c n c c

t l r . r t t l i c [ ) ( )we r o l [ ' r ' , r t rhJva t i ( i r rp t . r w , , . l s l rascc l on he r

l l l i a r r c t ' w , i t l r t h r ' ( , r r L r t . r s . l r r r t r t l r . r t o r ' o r r s o l i c l ; r t c t l r i s

re la t i on s l t t ' h , r r l h t , r . t l , r ug l r t t , r , w , l ros , ' r ' l . l r r t c r s p r . r r t l l '

i l l t ' g i l ' l r ' [ r u l r r r . r v l r , r r l l , r ' t , n z \ t i l , l r . r r . , r t i { r ' - t l ) , r r t , t r r i t ' t l

t " j t i

Page 3: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I{ELtGloN AND I '}OLll- lCS tN'fHE EASTERN VAKAIAKA KINGDOM

off to her half-brother, Ghatotkaca Gupta,l l who ruled as

a viceroy in VidiSa over eastern Malwa and Bundelkhand

at the t ime her other brother, Kumaragupta, held the

imperial off ice.r2 The most probable date of this wedding

is between Candragupta I I ' s death (A.D. 415) and

Pravarasena's succession to the throne (A.D. 479/422?).

Thc former as well as the latter may have objected to

Prabhavati 's extroardinary pol icy of taking advantage of

her tfuee-cornered relationship connecting her with the

Cuptas, Va katakas and the Nagas, over whose lands

Ghatotkaca may have re igned as Gupta v iceroy. ls

Atibhavati, referred to as his niece (bhagineyt), may have

been about sixteen years old at the t ime of her wedding

to her maternal uncle. This princess, to whom the

Ramtek Inscription may be ascribed, boasted of her

Gupta aff i l iat ion rather than of her Vakataka one. Just asin the inscript ions of her mother, the Gupta dynasty iseulogized extensively at the expense of Atibhavati 's

Vakataka relat ives. I t may be objected that this type of

maternal uncle - niece marriage would be against the

law (dlmrma), but so is the rule of a dowager, and it is afact of life, in India as well as elsewhere, that power

politics remains within the precincts of the law only aslong as suits i ts aims. The present case corroborates anobservat ion made by the foremost scholar o fDharmaSastra, P. V. Kane, to the effect that "a verystr iking instance of the l imits of sapinda relat ionship notbeing observed is the practice among certain sections ofeven brahman as. . . marry ing the i r own s is ter 'sdaughter." la I t thus seems that we are here concernedwith an unprecedented example of matr imonial pol icy toconsolidate matri l inear bonds. Whether everyone in theVakataka family was happy at the wedding is anothermatter. As wil l be shown below, the gir l 's brotherunder took ser ious s teps to annul th is matr imonia lal l iance after her husband's death.

It thus appears that Prabhdvati Gupta, thoughresiding in Nandivardhana in the Northern Deccan,was very wel l acquain ted wi th the s i tuat ion inDabarnade6a, i .e . eastern Malwa. She might have v is i tedVidi65 as a young gir l to see her mother's relat ives andnearby Udayagiri to admire the religious monumentsthat were constructed under her father's patronage.Later she must have kept close contacts with her brotherChatotkaca when he was stat ioned in Vid6a, and shemay have occasional ly visi ted his court to see herdaughter. I t seems more than l ikely that the grandeur ofthe western capital of the Cupta empire and the art ist icach ievements o f the re l ig ious monuments in i tssur roundings, such as Udayagi r i , made a las t ingimpression on the ambit ious Cupta princess. Once inpower at Nanci ivardhana, shc clccided not to lag behind,but to construct her own holy mountain, the showpieceof hcr faith in the God, Bhagavat, by whose grace sheprofesscd to rule. T'hus the ternple complex ()n the

Ramagiri came into being. Two attempts were made toexcavate caves in the mountain, but they were eclipsedby a better idea, to build structural temples on top of thehill, five of which still stand. Central in this group is thehuge image of the boar, Vardha, the rescuer of the earth.But unlike his Udayagiri counterpart, this VarAha iscompletely theriomorphic and no anthropomorphic

supplicant Naga king is shown at his feet, a royalallegory that served well the Gupta kings, but not theproud daughter of a Ndga princess.ls Instead the worldserpent is unassumingly sculptured as the support of thedeity and the world that he sustains. The Udayagiri

Temple I has its counterpart in the so-called Bhogarama

Temple on the Ramagiri, albeit that the colonnade of theformer is extended to six pillars in the latter.16 The semi-anthropomorphic Narasimha, found in Udayagrri forinstance at Cave 12 in relief (Fig. 1), assumed majesticform in two temples on the Rdmagiri, reflecting, as I haveargued elsewhere, the power of Prabhavati's deceasedhusband, Rudrasena.lT

At the foot of this sacred hill-turned-into-state

sanctuary was the residence of the Eastern Vakdtakas,known from their inscriptions as Nandivardhana andidentiJied with the present village of Nagardhan. Littleremains to testify to the former glory of the place, but itmay be more than coincidence, contrary to what Isuggested in my VAkAtukabook (Bakker 1997), that thethree images found there represent an iconographic

programme that is seen several times in Udayagiri,for instance in Cave VI, namely the not fully under-stood juxtaposit ion of Gane6a, Visnu and DevrMahisasuramardini. l8

In this way arose h the Wainganga Plain some-thing that was consciously conceived of as a worthyequivalent of Cupta magnificence, not slavishly copied,stylistically different, continuing the sculptural traditionfound in ear l ie r cu l t cent res wi th in the Vakatakakingdom such as Mandhal, but all the same, inspiredby the art ist ic achievements of their imperialcontemporaries.

After her long rule as regent for her sons,Prabhavati Cupta continued to play an important role inthe affairs of the kingdom. This follows from charters ofland donations made by her in the nineteenth andtwentieth regnal year of her son Pravarasena II . lePravarasena I thus rqled for at least twenty years with

this extraordinary mother at his side (A.D. 422-443), amother who, no doubt, will have ensured that relationswith the mighty northern neighbour, her brotherKumdragupta, remained good. I t is a l l the morenoticeable that Pravarasena had returned to the faith ofhis ancestors. In the six inscript ions that we have of him

pertaining to the period that his mother was st i l l al ive hestyles himself as a pnramarnahetuara, who by Siva's grace

Page 4: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I I A N S B A K K E R

2 View of che Rimagir i f ronr the Hidimba Tekdr

c ; r r r i ( . d t l i c l a . cc ( ( r l l r r ) i ns tcad o i t he r i i se r r s ( tnk ru ) . l r Andpcrhaps cvcn nt() rc col- lsplcuous, . l t J ( . r , r t . t i r - r s t . rge 0fh i s ru l c l i e had begur r t r i ssuc h i s c l i , i ' t e rs n ( ) I o r rge rf r c t m N a r r d r v a r d l r a r r a , b u t f r . r - n . r r e s i r l t , r r t . c a l l c c JI t rava r . rp - ru ra , cv i c l cn t l y l ra rncc l a f t c r h r r r r s t ' l i tVhercast h c l o c a r t i o n o f N a n c l i v a r c l h a n a i s u l r c r r n t t , : t t ' L i . a t t h c f o o to f i he Rhrnag i r i , t hc s i t c o f p r . t r . . r r c )p1 .11 - .1 \ \ . ,AS , un t i lr cce r r t l y , con t rovc rs ia I A rch ; rco log ic . t I c \P I1 r5 .111 , ,ns nca rt h c v ' i l l a g c . f M a r n s a r . a v i l l a g e s i t i r . r t t , t l i k r n r v c s t . fRarn tck t { i l l , has , i t r . r , , ou l c l scc ,n r , [ ru t . r r r t , n r ] t o th rsc o n t r o v c r s y . F o r t h c c o n t i r r t r i r r g s t o r - t o l [ ' r a r r r r a v a t i ' sson , P ra ' " ' . l r i t scna , t ve have to tu rn to \ l . l l . r r , r r . ' t

l - he I {eydays : [ , rava ra pu ra (Mansar )

I o t h e ' e . i s t o f t l r c v i l l a r ; t ' o f M a r r s . r r r r . r l r i l l o t - k L 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 1t t t c iav as I l i c l i r nba i I ckd i , l . r . rn thc t .P 1y1 r , r ' l r r ch , r r r : h . s. t c - l i * ' c t v i .w o f [ { ; r r t r . t g i r r c ' l ue t ' as t ( t i r g 2 ) S r . r r .e th t :l r cg r r r l t i l r g o f I . r s t c ' r ' r r t u rV thc l r r l l < i1 l i 11 - . ' t l r . twn th t :a t t c n t r o n o i s c h o l . r r - s [ . r t ' t - a u s c o f a r r i n s t - r r f ) t i o n i n ' s h c l ls c r i p t ' ( s a n k h n l i p t ) , f . r l r r J . r r t h e l a c t ' . r t l r t ' r , c k . i t r r .w c s t c r n s l o p t ' ( l r i g s I & . 1 ) , l i k t , t l r t , s l r c l l s r . r r F r ti n s c r i P t i o r r s i r r L J d a y a r ; r r i ( l r i g l ) , l , r , r h . r t , l r , n r ( , . r n t . t s . ls c t r t o f r l n r t r n r e n t . l t i o n o r s i g r r . r t u r r ' l l r ) \ \ ( ' \ ' ( ' r , t l r c l r i i lt t t l V [ r t ' c . r r . t , w t ' l l - k r ] ( ) \ \ , l r l I t t ' r l t J T ] , r r l r t , , , r s P l 1 , 1 1 1 l i 1 ls c u l p r t u r t r , r u ' f t - ' r r c t l I r r . r s t I r c M . u t s , r r S r r , , r ( l r q 5 ) r v a s1 < t u r r r l h c r c [ ' n r v i o u s l v N 4 a n s . r r h , r t l t . r c l i l t , t l \ ( ] l n ( , s l o r r r ,s c . t t l p I g r t ' s t h a t h a v t , s n l ( ( , ( t l s ( l l ) J ) ( , ( l r - t , t l , ] ' , u r r l , r s t , t o I l r v t ,V z r k ; l t . r k a c o P P t ' 1 ' P 1 . 1 1 1 . q , t l i t ' w l t t ' r t , , r I r i r t r t s o f I o r r r o lw l t t r ' l r a l r c u n k o l t , r r . ( ) r r t ' l r l . r t t ' l r t l t v t ' r . r , r ! \ , ( l s \ ( l v t , r l . r r r r lp t r b l i s l r t : c l b y M i r , r s l r u l r ( l t ' r t l r t ' r r r r s l t , . r t l r r r r i n . r r r r t ' . fI i , r t r t t l i ' k l ) l t t l r o l l ' r r t i , i u t t ' . r ' r r r r I l ) \

N ' l a r . I1 ' . n thc bas is . f t h i s t : r ' r c l c r r c t , , I . r c i ' ancec lthc h l ' p ro thcs i s tha t the supF ' rosec l S iva te r r r ; r l c o r r t h i s l i i l ls h o u l c l p c r h a p s b c i r l t ' r r t i i i e c i c r s I , r . l \ , . t r c s v a r a , c ls a n t - t u . l r v k n o v r r l r f r o r n a c h . r r t e r r s s u t ' t l b _ r ' k r n g

I ) r . t v a r a s c l t d I I r v h u n h i s r e s i c l c n c t ' L v c t s s t r l l . t tNanc l i r ' . r r t l hana , a tnc l o r r t : t l r a t r vas i rnp r l r ;1 ; r r t t , r ro l r i ] l r t o

posscss s ( ) r ) r c I . ruc i . r r l r r t l r t ' t ' l t ' ven th r c -gn . r l t ' c . r r o f . t h i s

k ing a r t s i c l cn t o f t I r r ' 26 t l r i , i l nkn o f [ , r . t , " , . l r c ( r ' a r . r ,

Su r l ' . r sv ' . i r n in , r t , ' as t l t c r c t i i r i cn t o f i r g ran t l ' ' As . - l

c o r o l l a r v o f t h i s h 1 ' p r o t h c s i s I c o r r j c c t u r c r l t h . r t t l t r , . r r c ; r

an ru r rc l t l r i s h i l l n - l c - r v l rave [ - t ccn t t r t ' r o r . r l r t ' s i dc r r t c

Pra \ , . t r . tPL r r . t , t o r , vh i ch th i s k i l rg anc i h i s co r - r r t t ' r , e r r tu . t l l \ r

n r o v c ( i l ' ' - [ ' h i s n t ( ) \ , t : n t a \ ' ( ] c ( - ( ) u r r t i r l r t [ r t ' f a c t t l t . r t t h e

I ' r ; l v . r r t : s \ ' . t r . r t t - r n p l r . h . t t l . r c t l r r i r t ' c l t h t ' s l . t t u s o l . . t s t , r t t '

sa r t c tu . r r y l r ) ' t [ re r .n t ] t r l ' l ' r . r va ras ( 'n { t s r r r l t ' F ron r

t h i s s t a t c ( , , t r l n r l t k t d l t t r r r t , r s t l r r t r t t t ) S i u t t t u J l - \ , c a l l c ' c l' l : ' r a t , . t r t s r ' . t ra t l c , r ' ak t t l , t s t l t . t

n ( l , ( - l c l t . t r t t ' r w . rs i ss r r t . c l i t r

h i s 2 9 t h r c g n a l v e . 1 r ( t - . i \ I ) . t r 5 1 ) , i r r r , r ' l r i c l r l o t r r - t , r a l r r n i n s

b c l o n t l i r r e t r l t h t ' V a ; . r s . r r r r . \ ' a b r i r r r c h o l t l r t ' f V h i t t '

Ya ju r " ' t ' r l a . r r c rn t ' r r t i t ' l r r c t i . r s t l r e r i on rcs o f . r I . r r r c l g r . rn t . l '

Wh t 'n l r v r r r t t ' r t r r , ! ' i i k r l l r rA r r [ , ook l co r r l t l n t r t l r . r r . , r ' ] ro ; t r : t i

t l r . t t t l r t ' l r r ' P o t h c ' s i s , t r i l ' . l n r t ' r l ' , r ' t r r r l t l [ r t ' i , 1 r t t o t l r t . t c s t S o

s ( ) ( ) n [ : r c a r ' . r t i o t t s i r t \ . 1 . t n \ ( l l ' n t r t ' t . t ' t t t \ , ( ' ( l l . \ - [ r 1 t l r t .

[ ) r ' p ' r . t 1 - 1 1 l q 1 ' 1 1 1 o l r \ n r - i c r r t l n t l i a n I I i s t o r - r ' , ( ' u l t r r r t . . r n c l

A r c h , t t ' t , l o g v o f t l r t ' N . r g 1 ' 1 1 r [ _ i r r i r , t ' r s r t r ' , [ r ) t l - r c

A r c l t . t t ' r l l o g i t ' . t l S u r v t . \ , o l l r r t l t . r t r n t l t ' r ' t J t r ' t l u ' ( . ( t t ( ) n t ' J [ ) r

A t t t a r t ' n t l t ' . t \ , , t t l r , a n r l t l r t ' ; r r 1 . q 1 ' 1 t t t t x t ' , r 1 . 1 [ j 1 r 1 1 s . r t t l r t '

I I i c l i r r r l r , r l t ' k t l i i t s t ' l i t . r r r r c r l o r r t [ ' r r , f . [ ' f o s l r r a n c l z \ K

S l t . t r t n . t ( A S I ) l r a v t ' r , s t , r l r l r s l r t . t l [ , c ' \ , e p t l t l p r r t r t t h a t t l r c

s i t t ' . t r o 1 1 1 1 1 1 t l t r s l r r l l v r ' , r s , l n n l l l ) ( ) t - t . l l t I l r . t l r r t , r t r ( l r . t r ( ' ( l l l l

t l r t ' l r l t l r r ' t ' n t t r r t ' A [ ) ' \

| l r r , t ' ' , t . r r ' . r t r o n l r v t l r t ' L r r r v t ' r s l t ]

t l f N , t r ' 1 - 1 1 1 ' 1 1 , l ( i 8 ( ) ( l l r ) ( l ( , t - t l t r , t l i ; t . r t r r r r r t , l l ) r l s r r r . r i l

Page 5: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

i t l . L l C , l ( ) N r \ N t ) l ' ( ) l I I I C S I N I I I H t - - A S l ' f : l ( N V i \ K i \ l A K . , \ K l N ( ; l x ) l v l

J . Wesrern S lope o f che Hrd imba Tekd i (be fore che excavat ion)

4 . S h e l l s c r i p t r n s c r r p t r o n o n r h e w e s r e r n s l o p e o f r h e H i d r n r b , r T e k d i

Page 6: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I . ]ANS BAKKER

I i ' : i

5. The Mansar Sr ta

6\ t t t t l l t r \ s r r l r r . \ / t i r i r r ' s i d

I

Page 7: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

t tE I i ( ; ION , \ND POL, I I ICS IN I ' I . I i - [ ; \S I 'E ITN VAKATN KA K INCDOM

5 Br ick s t ruc tu res excavared by Dr Nath c . 100 m eas t o f the H id imb i rekd i

*iffi

Kr l l e ' l l u ) a t t hc foo t o f t he t l i d imb ; r ' l t ' kd i

(now ca l l e r l\ iNS- l ) has no t bec r r pub l i shcc l , bu t Joshr & SharmarcPor t t ha t son re

' vc rv i r r rp rcss i vc b r i ck s t ruc tu res ' w ,c rc

Io t rnc ' l f EM 127)

Dr Na th exc . t vA tc r l (pa r t o f ) t he rves te rn s ide < t f ar r i ound (now ca l l cc l \ , 1NS-2 ) , s i t t ra tec l . rpp rox in ta tc l v oncl r r r r r r i r e d r n c t r t ' s e a s t o i t h r f l i d i m b a

- f c k c j i , e r p o s i n g a

l . r r g c b r i c k s t r u c t u r e ' o f u n u s u a l p l a n ( f r i g . 6 ) A s h o r tr o p o r t r v . r s p u b l i s h e c i i n I A I t 7 g 9 l - L ) 5 [ 2 0 0 0 1 , 5 j - 7\cco rc { ing to th i - s repor t

[ ' ] r ese c r r t t i ngs have revca l t : t l a po r t i on o i rn . t ss rv t , [ ru rn t -[ rnck s t ruc tu ra l con rp le r i n rnuc l -n raso r t r v w , r t ] r r r r t l r np r o j c c t i o n s , t c n t . r t i v e l v s h o l v i n g t h r e t : p h a s e s o fc 'ns t ru t t i , n . ' r l . r r ' t i ' r t i es Ihe s t r t r c tu ra l . t c t i v i t i cs o f phaseI hav t bcc r r no t i ced i r r t l r r c r r t t i ngs l17 , i lB and C7 ,compr i s ing c ( ) re . t r ca , sho rv ing the wes t t , rn e i cva t ion o f arnoulc i t ' t l adl t is t l t i t ru, coul , le of ' -spp411115, prr tdt tk. r i tupntha.rncl an err t rance to tht ' t .ornpl t ' r . The t ,nt i rc c.omprlg ls( 'cnrs to h i tv 'e becn r .ncl r lsct i hy a pr ik t i rn w,r l l wi th lowb . r l us t rad r ( ' ^ t r . l ^c ( ' r . t hc c ( )n lu r , f w ' . s t c r r r w ' . r l l I r t hest 'conr l ph.rst ' of constructron, thc t tdhrst l t i r t r t s t , t , rns t<rh a v e b t ' c r r e ' r r l a r g e t i w ' i t h o u t . 1 ' r l u l t r r n g t l r t : o r r g i n a lgrourrc l p l . r r r of c() r ( ' ( l r ( ' ( l In phasc I l l , t l rc ) ( ) / r / t / losl r - ' . rd i r rg t< l th. f l . . r . f odl t tsr l r t l r r t wt : re f r t r . r r l t l .scd byr , r i s r r rg r .1 ; r r l a r w , , r l l s ac r . ss t l r c rn a r rc l u l t ' ' . r t . i 1 , i r l l cc iw ' r th [ r r i r k - t r . r t s Abov ' t ' t hc r r r i l r r s l / rd r r r r , f ro r t rons . f . r Po rc l r, r n d s r , r l r s 1 s l i . 1 1 1 ' s l r r i r r t ' s ' r t r t s n o r t l r t : r n , i l l r l t ' a s t u r r r\ ( ' g , r I l ( ' r ) t s h . r r , ' r , b t ' t ' r r r ro t r c t ' t l ( l / \ l { I ( J ( ) .1 ( ) i , p i t , }

[ ] i r r t h e r r m o r e t h i s e x c a v a t i ( ) n v i e l c l e d " s e a l e d c l a yi r r rages" , "a few la rge -s i zec i s tand ing c lav images o fr l i v r r r r t i es and Lh ,a rnpa las " , " scu lp tu red ob jec ts f rom theptrrc ' l r ancl shr ine f loors" -"Uma-MaheSvara, L.a j ja gaur i " ,"L r lac lue c le rp i c t i ng padap i tha " anc l "a s i zab le number o ft l , n ' i i gu r ines " ( i b id , p . 56 t )

' l o j udge- by the i l l us -

t r . r t i ons in the rcpor t (P la tcs XXXI -XXXI I I ) , t hese las t( ' ( ) l r e c r n m i n o r f i g u r e s o r f i g u r i n e s w h o m a V h a v e

ar lo rned (house) a l ta rs , w i t l r t he in t r i gu ing excep t i6 rp l 6 fthc " rno r - r l ded human sku l l " , ca l l ed "heac l po r t i on o f at l i v i n e f i g u r c i n c l a y " i n t h e c a p t i o n o f l ) l a t e X X X I I B o fthe rcpor t .

' l - he s i te . i s r i ch i n " vases" , " s to r ; rge -vases" ,

r , ' a r rous t vpes o i bc lw ls , d i vc rse o rnaments , and c ln a r ray

o f i ron imp le r len ts ( i b id , P 56 f . ) . "On the bas is o fr r l r r r r i smat i c c la ta " - "a s i l ve r po r t ra i t co in anc - l a c t rup le o fc ' o i n - m o u l d s , a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e K s h a t r a p a s " , " i l f e w

c i r t ' u la r copper co ins , one a t t r i bu ted to the V ika takas

. r r r r i t h t ' o thc r to thc Indo-Sass . rn ians " - t he s i te wast t ' r r t a t i v t ' l v "ass igncc l t o ; r pe r iod be tween A .D j00 andb50" ( i b i r l , p 57 )

' [ ' he comp lcx sccms to h . r v t , bcen

r l t ' s t royec l by f i re Somc s t ray co ins apar t , l e thc absc .nceo i S , i t . t va hana t -o inage on thc one l rand anc l t he p rc ,sencet r t ca r the nware o f " g r i t t y n r i cac ious red warc o f r .ou rse

t . r l r r i c . i nc l po l i shcc j rec l ware r o f f i nc fab r i c " on t l r c o the rs ( ' ( - rT l i r - r t l i ca t i vc o f t he s i t c bc : i ng "V . r ka taka" . No t c r t rp ler r l r ( r g ( ' s s u c h a s t h o s c f o u n d a t t h c n e , a r b y t l i t [ m b J I l : k c - l iv \ ' ( ' r r ' r cc ( ) r ' ' r rec i f rOm th i s s i t t ' . [ { cnce t } r c cOnc lus i . ' n t i r . t t

Page 8: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I ]N KKEI i

7. Hidimba Tekdi excavat ions. Enrrance easrern s ide

w e a r c c o n c c r n c ( l w i t h a s a c r e c l c o m p [ e x s e c m sprenral ture-

' l 'hc pr .st -nt exc.rvators, Slrarma and J.shi ,

i n te^d to e rx t :ava t t ' t t r i s r r r .u . c l [ u r the r f r .m i t s eas tL , r rs i c le ; un t i l t h i s has b .e l r c . r r r i cd .u t , " r , r ' sh . r l l no t kn .w f . rc c r t a i r r w i t h w h a t k i . c r . f b u i r c r i n g w e a r e r r c r econcc rned . I l ow ,cv t ' r , i t l t t c rv r c - l u t i o r . r s l r , , bc sugges tcc lt h a t , i n v i c w . f t l r t , l . i t - t t l r a t t l r . g r e a t n r a j o r i t y o f t h ca r te fac ts cou lc l l r c lonq to an1 , housc l ro l r l , t hc hypo thcs rstha t we mav hav t ' l r i t t rpon a r r : s i c l cn t i a l bu i l c j i ng , thcroya l pa lacc (? ) , r i cs t ' r vcs sc r ious cons ic l c ra t i on . r0

' l ' he f i r s t phas . . f t hc cxcava t i r r - r s a t t he I I i c l r r .ba

l t rkdi i tsc l f , MNS-3, urrr ier the cr i rce t i . r r . f J p. J.s l r i arr t lA .K . Sharma las tcc l f ro rn J . rnu . r rV to M. r rch

.199g . ] t - l ' hc

sccond plrasc- star tcc l , r r [ ) t :ccnrLrcr 26 . i t ] rc sc lmc yearand rvas s t i l l g r i ng ,n i n March r999 , rn ,hcn I v i s i t cc r t r res i t c . ' [ ' h e t h i r t l f i c l r l s . a r s . r r t . . k p r i r c e r . t h e w i r r t e r . f2000

' l 'he excav. t i . .s , l ic t : r rsccl t ry tht . ASl , takc placc

undcr the auspict 's of . r r r r l c l r r , [ )6] t - { l t , f i r ranced b1, t l rcBoc l l r i sa t t va N . ig ; i r j u .a Snr ;1 rak Sar rs thJn o r ccn t re . fl l u d d h i s t A r c h a t ' o l o g \ , ( N a g p u r ) ; t h i s o r g a n i s a t i o n ,w h i c h o w n s t l r c l . r n t l . . . r r r c l . r r u r r t l t h c h i l l , a l s . L r u i l t . rt nuse( rm a t thc s i t r ' , i r r w ,h i r . l r t l r t , i r r r . rgcs a rc kcp t . i 2

W h e n I r c . r t l d l r i r p t ' r . l l r p L r t t l r r s s i t t , a t t f t c S r r l r f / rAs inn Arc l tneo log r l ( ( )n r ( ' r ' ( , nc t ' i r r r . t ' i t r t ' l r n r l 9c )c ) , I hac - l t hcg ' o r l f o r t u n c . f h , r ' i r r g r r v t r y P . t l r t , t i c a l i d e n t i f i c a t r o r rt ' . n f i rn rcd b ) ' I ' r . f , \ j . r ' M i t r . s r ras t r i , r vh . rep . r t cc l t h . r ta f t c r n r y v i s i t t . t l r t ' s i t t ' s . . r l i ^ g s l r a r l r r . c n f . u n c i i n t l r t :I l i c l i n i b a

- l i ' k d i . ' \ ( . 1 \ ' , l t i ( ) r r r t , a c i i r r g , , I r r a v . r r c ! \ , a r a , , ' ,

f h . f i n c i r n l 3 . I t l r t ' s t ' . r l i . 1 i s i s t r r r f i r r r r t , t i i r r t l r t r r ] r ) ( ) r t ( ) r . r

,;; i'+ Cii.f i'

th is cxr - . rvat ion th . r t ru 'as rcc( 'n t ly publ isht 'c i by Josh i . i r rc iSharrna (ENa) .

' f h c r n o s t n ( r t c ' . ' ( ) r t l t \ t r r r t . i r s t h c f a c t o r v s r t t , o l c . l a v

s c a l i n g r r r r t h e n o r t l r t : a : t e r n ( ' ( ) n r e r , ; u s t a t t h c , b . i s c o f t l r t ,n . r t h t ' r n r o w ' . f s l r r r . t ' .

- J l i t ' l r a k t ' r l c l a v s t ' a l i r r g L r e ; r r t h .

I t ' g c n d i n b o r l r t ' , t , l t ' t 1 I l t t l r r r t t c h . r r . t r . t t , r , r t , a c l i r r g' l ) re i , t t r t , su , t t rasrTr r '

( l i ; i I I , \ f .o r t f ro rn , r n r r rn t re r r o fs t t . t l i l rg tha t L rc . - r r the lcgcr r . l I r r r t t ' t t r t , s l t ia t t t . t t< t l t t ' a r rc l , ,S / r r r

l t r u i r d l t t ' , s . r n e s t ' . r l i r f s L l t ' p i q . l e l . p [ . 1 n 1 , t ] r e . r r r i r . a l t h . r ti l l ) p ( ' a r s I o l r a v c [ . t ' t , n o f g r t , a t i n r [ r t r r t . r r r c t , t o t h r ,' E . ts tc rn Va ka t . r k . rs . ' I I

' l ' h e c x c i l u , . r t o r s t l r s t i r r g u i s h t h r c e p c r i ( ) c l s . A n t t . t r l y

o n a 1 1 , [ 1 i 6 l r t ] t e v c l a t t ' t o t l t t ' J r r d c c l t t l r r v I l ( ' t o 2 5 0 A . t ) . , a

Vak. r tz - rk . r onc (25() to 5(X) , , \ t ) . ) anc l . r t l r i r r l p t - r io t l r la t rngf rom c i rca 5(x) to 700 A l ) I h is pcr iod is . r i io r r is r - ro t g ivcna sc i cn t i f r c bas rs [ r \ ' . r s t r a t i f r ap I i c ; r t : cg r r l r t i 1 i t hc c l i gg ingt f a r r y s r r t . r . c l t l r us . r f ) l ) t ' a r s r l ucs t i o .a t r l c . l i r t he f i r s tpt 'r i ocl thc c xca v;r to rs,rsr ' r i [r t ' rru f t ,r . rr1irr t l rc lrrrck rern;r i nsof thr t ' t ' s f r . rTr r rs ( l rN l l2 f i )

- [ ' l t t ' t ' . t r l r , : l t i l r r t , t l s 9 i t , r r l t l r 1 t l r c t . t , r r t r . r l d r ( , . ] 1 1 . a s [ a v i n g

t ' x t . t t t I f o t t r [ o l i " ' 1 . r ) 1 r ' \ ( , \ 9 f [ r r r t . k s r l r , a s r r r r r r l i . l i J x 2 5 r 8

. r r r i r r s r z t ' . i l r r s t ' , r r l r t ' s t ' 1 r r / , , r ( S t t r P a r ) * , r s r r . r ' r n g . r c l i a

o l I r r r N o t n r u t ' l r r ' o 1 1 1 1 . i I r r , s , r r r l , r l r o r r t i t s s L r I r t , r s t r u c t L l r c

. t s t t s t l r r t ' t ' s r t l t , s w ' r ' r t ' \ l t [ ) ( ' r u n l ) ( ) s t , t l w , r t h r r i , r s s i v , t , l a t t , r

s t r t t r t t t r t ' s l v l t t r ' l r r o t l l , l ' , , r I l r t ' r . t , n r o r " . t , r l I l r r s . l t 4 r r r w . t s

l . r t t ' r . t ' r r l a r q t ' t l [ , 1 , u s r l ; i l , r r , k s 9 l ' t l r t , s i z t , . 1 2 x 2 2 r 7 c - r n

( S t t r 1 , , 1 2 ) t ' l t w ' ( r \ n ) ( r ( . . 1 \ t ' t i l , r , r r r . r k i r r g [ , r r r . k I r t , r t ^ s f r l l t . t l

w ' r l l r t ' . r r t l r , r . t l s r r r , r l l I r , t r l , l t , r s , . r t r , r . l r r r r t l r r t , r , l ' l r r r r l t l i r r r ,' . ! t t 1 , 1 1 , t l s o l o t r r r t l , r t l ' , r r r r 1 I l r r ' 1 - r 1 1 , , - 1 , 1 1 1 , r , , . , r r l , r l , l t , l r t . r g l r t

5 i r r r l i r , ' \ ' 1 , 1 , 1 " 1 1 1 1 / 1 1 ' s

/ 5 II

Page 9: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I t t lLIGION AND POLITICS IN TI{E EASTERN VAKATAKA KINGDOM

fr,a1ii1;;1

;-;":ii1

Uma -Maheivara image, Hidimbi Tekdi.

Page 10: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I IANS FJAKKt l l t

9 . K r n n a r a , H i d r m b i T e k d i

\ t t L t l l t , , \ : : , t r u t . S / i r , 1 t r r , / , { t " tt 0

l 0 H e a d o f a r l a l e a s c c r r c . H r d r r n b a T e k d i

Page 11: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

{ \ I j t - l ( r i L / t \ r \ i \ l - . , , 1 \ - / L r r r \ - J 1 r \ l r l f - L . r \ ) t L l \ l \ v 1 \ N 1 \ l . r a \ / \ N 1 r \ \ J t L ) l v l

l l . Linga shrine at the south-western corner of the HidimbiTekdi.

thus achieved was 2 m in the peripheral area and 3.6 m inthe central area of the stipa boxes. The approximate diaof the stipa is 14 m. It has a brick pradaksinapatln aroundit ancl a rectangular projectron is also available in theeastern side. . . .Another sfr ipa (Stupa-3) roughly roundishin shapes of undressed boulders having a dia of 11 mwith an extant height o( 2.70 m has 7-8 courses ofundressed stones. l t has a Pradakshina path of 1 m widewhich has been built right over the northern wall of thelast box of the Stupa-2. This -sfr ipa came into disuse alongwith Stupa-2.

-fhere is no denying that the natural hul lock is covered by

severa l layers o f la rge br ick const ruct ions (F iS 7) .[{owever, neither I nor any other scholar who has been tothe s i te whom I cou ld consul t has been ab le todist inguish anything remotely resembling a st ipa in theremains of terraces and walls.

' fo endorse their Buddhist

identi f icat ion the excavators adduce the f inding of "a

fragment of a soap-stone rel ic-casket along with a l idfragment" recovered from the "peripheral area of thisst ipa" ( i .e. Stupa 2). There is l i t t le to corroborate theircontention that we are here concerned with a rel iquaryrather than with an ordinary stone casket, which couldhave been used for al l sorts of purposes. Not a singleBuddhist image or artefact has come to l ight so far. Thehypothesis that ascribes the lower brick layers to a st i lpais therefore open to serious doubt. This doubt is onlyaggravated by the fact that the excavators ascribe (EM128) to the same period, albeit to the end of i t , " two

sacrif icial altars, one in the shape of a (yenn-cif i and theother a kirrnn-cif i , made of bricks" and "the f igurc of aPu rusa made o f l ime" ( see be low) . Ad jo i n i ng t heso-cal led kunnn-cit i the excavators dcscribe a "small

lmuana-kut . tda, a l ime k i ln and a square shr ine nrade of

bricks which apparently appears to have been a Saivashrine as there is a hole for outlet of water." The lack ofdrawings of the actual layers, plans and stratigraphic

charts makes this hotch potch, in which Buddhist, Vedicand Saiva material apparently alternate pell-mell, fail tocany conviction. To the earliest layers of the site mayalso belong some finds which are described under theheading "Period Il", e.g. "an earlier inscription datable to2nd century 8.C." (EM 130). Unfortunately we do notlearn more about this ancient inscription.s In the SiteMuseum I saw a fragment of a sprinkler of Red PolishedWare (not mentioned in the report),37 which could,possibly, be dated to the 3rd century AD, but it may alsobe later. It should further be noted, that, unlike someother Buddhist sites in Vidarbha, like Pauni for instance,none of the three excavations in Mansar has, to the bestof my knowledge, yielded Satavdhana coins so far. Insum, the whole of Joshi and Sharma's "First period" maybe an i l lusion.

The second period dist inguished by theexcavators, the Vakataka period, is characterised by

a magnificent temple with plinth of dressed sand stoneblocks and supper structure of bricks bui l t by theVakatakas. This temple with two phases of constructionhas yielded many f ragmentary sculptures havingimpressive headdress and bedecked with jewellry. Theseare in the best rradit ions of the Vakataka art. . .

North-south width of the temple is 12.60 m. In order tostrengthen the northern and southern slopes of thehillock massive pitching walls were raised to an extent of60 m on each side, using huge boulders. Due to thispitching the temple complex would have looked like afortress. (EM 128f.)

Though obviously much of the original temple wallsremain, the excavators note that a "major part of thetemple complex is concealed under the walls of the latersttlpa " (EM 129). This later stupa must be Stupa 4, whichis bel ieved to belong to a Period II I and was "bui l t at thetop and remained in existence till the end of the 7thcentury A.D" (EM 131). The report gives the impressionthat some walls are counted twice, once as temple walls,then again as sttrya "walls". Many (fragments of) imageshave been found, al l Hindu in nature. Among the mostimpressive ones is a fragment of an Uma-MaheSvaraimage, of which only Siva's head and the arm of hisspouse around his neck is preserved (Fig. 8). Thisbeaut i fu l scu lp ture is carved out o f the same redsandstone as the Mansar Siva and some of the sculpturesof the Ramagir i area. Another impressive image is that ofa Kinnara made of chert stone (head is missing), showingthe rotund body that is the hal lmark of the Vakataka art(Fig. 9). Several stocky torsos and loose heads of redsandstone have been uncovered, among which the headof a male ascet ic (S iva?) wi th f lower cap (F ig . 10) . Amongthe other str iking features of the site is a series of small

1 1

Page 12: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I JANS BAKKER

Above

l2 Derai l of the l ingo of Fig. l l showing pirsovosutro andbrohmosAtro.

Below

lJ . Area o f the br ick 'a l ta rs ' and Man o f Mansar (covered) .

Photograph Yuko Yokochi

Top r ight

14 . The man o f Mansar made o f c lay , H id imba Tekd i .

1 2

Page 13: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

l i l , l i ( , 1 ( ) N A N [ ) l ' ( ) [ I I l c s I N t ' t l l ] L , \ S t l i l i N V A K , . \ l . \ K A K I N C I D O N I

fi-,:fi

/ r i i g r r sh r ines ' l - t r c rc

a re s i x / r r i , g r l s cxpose t l , s i t u . t t c t l ha l f -

vvz rv a long the sou thc rn anc l wes tc r t r s lopes o f thc h r l l

I ' hcv a re i r - r s ta l l cc i o t r squarc p r la t fo rn i s . t n t l e t r sh r i t r t t t ' i

( e ' r r c ' . t f ' , su l a ted ra i l - r c r ) i t r b r i ck cons t r l t c t i ons o f c t l r

i l r t r i ca tc L - r . l t t c rn f t ' a tL r r i r - rg p ro j c ' c t i r rg a t r t l reccc l i t rg

su r iac - t : s (F ig 11 ) . T 'he 'exc . t \ ' . t t o rs repor t t ha t ten l t t ( ) re

s [ r r i n c s l r a v e b c c n u t ' t c o t , t ] r c c l , r v i t h o u t / i r l , q r r s . ' l

] r c

pecu l i . r r i o rn r o I t hcsc sh r ines i s c l r - s t r i L rc r i . r s i o l l ow 's

\ / c ' r t r c . r l l 1 , a l l t hc sh r i l res havc L reen t r - r r l t i n the io r r r t ' i' l o t t r s l r r r c l s ' b t ' a r l op t ing thc t r ra r rg l t ' s an t l r t r r ; e r t t ' r i

t r rang les ( t ' c l u i l a te ra l ) . l v l t ' t hod fo r r . r i s i r rg pc ta l s , t l r a t

t r l t i r r r . r t c l v c lose i r r to c r p - ro i111" .1 e r rc l mak inq th t ' c los r roo t

of thc 5tk l tnr t t l r t rs Ltc 'crr aeloprtct l Is ic l Thc cvrr lerrec c lcar lv

s l ro r r ' s tha t the rvho lc co rn f r l e r r r ' as p [ . r s t c r - t ' c l r v i t h I i r r r t '

u r o t ' t . r r . ( F N l I 2 9 i . )

I ' l - ro r rgh rnos t o f t l ' r c /u ig r rs a re c rode t1 , ( )nc r r f t l r e rn s t r l l

t l ca r I v shows a p r i r s ' i , ns rJ f r r l . t nd b rn lu r r t t s t l t r . n ( [ r i r : . l ] ) ,

i n a s [1 ,1e tha t bes t resemb les t ) ,pc e as [ r r csen tc r ]bv N , l i t t cnv . r l l r re r (1981 , p 19 ) ( " [ )eog . r r l r , L iP , i r t ' r r r

I { a j g h ; t t f , c i l . e a r l v s i r t h c e r r t u r v i \ . t ) " ) W e r n ( r \

t c r i t . r t i vc l y r l e r l t r cc f ro r t r t h i s th . r t t h t - . s t ' l r r i g r r s t r c long to

thc Vak i taka L re - r i oc l , t ro t e . r r l i e r , , ' l p r l p re [ . r$1 , 1e t l a t t ' r ;

t h . r t i s , t hev a rc r i gh t l v . r sc r i l r cc l t o f ) c r i o t l U a r r t ] secn r t ( )

L , e . r n i n t c g r a l p r a r t o f t l r e o v c r a l l \ l a k a t a k . r c t ' r n s t r L r c t i o n

a n t l l r r o r e ( ) r l c s s r ' o n t c r n p r t r a n c o r r s r . r ' i t l r t h e o i l r t ' r

sc l r l p tu r cs ( )n accou r r t o f t l r i s ne rv cv i r l rn ( ' ( , n rv t ' a r l i t ' r

t rbsc r r ' . r t i o r t ( [ ] akkc r l 9L )7 , p 75 ) to t l r c t : t f - c t r t t h , r t" l v l J l r t ' ( r ' a r i r w o r s h i p o f t h c t t l i t t ' i r r t l r t ' V . l k i t . r k . i

consr rucr ion ar rhe nor rhern s ide in te rpre ted by Josh i and Sharma as an Agn icayana a l ta r in the fo rm o f a hawk (syenoc i t i )

i : ;. / t t -

{;tll

r;4

k i r rg t ' lom rv . , rs i con ic , I . to t . t t t i c r rn ic r r r semt-anrconrc" rs to

L- rc recons ic le rec l .- f h e

m o s t s p e c t . r c u l . r r L r : r r t o f t h i s s i t e , h o w e v c r , i s

t l t r . a r e i t i r r v y h r c I t h c t w o p ' r u t a t i r r e a l t a r s z r r c f o u n d n e r t

t o t h e m o r e t h ; i n l i i e - s i z c f i g r - r r e o f a m a n m a d c o f c l a l ,

( F i g s 1 3 a n c l l - l ) :

, \ i t c r ; r r r . r c c t t r l t t l . r t i r r n o f l . ) 5 r r t r l e p o s i t , a t t h e t ' r r r l c r f t h t -

S . r tvahar r . r per ioc l anc l L 'cg inn i r . rq c r f the \ /aka t . rk r l r t - ' r io t l

t r v o s a c r i i i c i . r l a l t . r r s , ( ) n t l I r t t h c ' s h a ; r e o i . t : ' t T c t t r t r ' r l r . r r r c l

t l r t t r t l re r a k t i r t r t t t c i l r , n r . r r le o f [ . r i cks ha . , ' c L rc t 'n e rxp- r1 r511 i

I a t t h e s o u t ] r c r n s r d c l . - f h e : ' y r ' t t r t t ' t l l r . r ' h i c h i s i r r t h e r r o r t h

n ' . r s n r a r l t : a f t e r s n r a s h i n g t h e c r o s s - v r ' . r l l s o f t h e c a r l i c r

. / r r , l r r r w 'h i r :h has go t re o l t t o i the t tse LrV th . r t t i r r re r r tak i r rg

t l rc g ror r t rc l le " ' c l lec l . In the jy r ' r r r r - t ' r l i , Ia ] f igur t ' o i a [ ' t t rusa

r r rac le o i l i rne l ras L t t ' c t r f r ' tu t rc l sacr i f i c r .d v r ' i th h ts he . rc l

s rn . rs l r t ' r l . ' l ' l r c hc . r t l o f the f ig t r rc i s o r ie r r i t ' t l [ ( ) r ' v . l rc ls

r .ves t , rv l r t ' re . rs thc l cgs . r r r 'p t t t to r r ' . r rds t ' . t s t , A i ' r ' r / i i n the

t h t ' s t p o r t i o n v v i t h a h o l t ' f t l r f i r i r r g . t t / r t i f r o v t r t t w ' . t s

r r rac lc . r r r t l . rn car the t r I c l I r l [ ' r ! r , ' .1s fo t tn r l kcp t r r t 'a rb \ ' . ' fw t r

f .o ts l ra r , 'e a lso beet t k t :p t r t t -a r t t re k t rcc rc r l t ( )11 o i thc

t i g u r c r r , ' l r i c l r l i e s o r r l r i s r i g h t s i t l e t r ' i t h . l r r i r ( ) r r s r r a k t : k e p r t

ncar l r i s l t ' f t t i re , look i r rg to r . r ' . r rds the l t t r t t r . t t ' t f ig t r re .

( t , l v l I 23)

. \ p l a n o r c l r a r v i n g o f t h c s c L r r i c k ' a l t . r t ' s ' i n w ' h i c h t h c

t o r r r r s o [ . r h a r v k ( ( - r 1 c r r a ) a n r l t u r t l e ( A r i r - r t t r t ) a r e ' l i n e c ' l o u t

r r o t r l t l h a v c b c c t r h c l p r i L r l . ' l

l r c L r r c s c r t t i t t t t h o r h a s t c r

a c l r n i t t h a t r r c i t h c r t i u r r r r g h i s s t ( t v , t t t h c s i t e , l r ( ) r

. t l t e I ' v va rc l s l vh i l c s t t r c l v i r r g i - r l t o tog ra l ' r h i c t l oc t t t nc t r t a t i o t r ,

I r . rs l rc L .ecn ab le t t t r l i scor . ' t ' r r t t tV a t l i r t t . l l fo r t l - t , ( ) r

1 3

Page 14: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

HANS BAKKER

15. lron snake ar rhe left foor of che clay figure, Hidimbi Tekdi.

whatever other form for that matter, in theseextraordinary brick constructions (Fig. 15). What I didsee, however, were workers who, while the excavationswere still going on, lvere engaged in "restoring,, thedi lapidated walls with the help of stray bricks andmortar (F ig . 18) . A l though the excavators avo idmentioning i t expl ici t ly in iheir report, the idea behindthe al leged "altars" and "sacri f iced purttsf l , ' is that we arehere concerned with an Agnicayana altar, which, as iswell known, may have the form of a hawk.3e This idea,which raises the subject . f the Vedic r i tual of the pi l ingup of the f ire-altar, deserves serious consideration. Anoutl ine of the major features of the Agnicayana altar andits r i tual construction is prresented in Appendix I I

Romila Thapar ( in Agni I I , pp. 2-40) examined thearchaeological sites that have been connected with theAgnicayana altar. These sitcs are few "and of these onlyone is accepted as genuine, since i t carr ies an inscript iondescribing i t as an altar" ( ibid, p.26), viz. the altar foundin Jagatgram in the Dehra Dun distr ict.3s Here ,, thlee

sites were exposed wherc a king hacl performedA6vamedhas. Each sitc consistec-l of an eagle-shapedaltar. lnscribed bricks from the f irst si te provide theinformation that a king, Si lavarman, performcd fourAJvamedhas at Jagatgram" ( ibid, p. 34).Comparisonwith Mansar shows that the constructions in the twoplaces are very d i f ferent . Onc of the conspicousdifferences is that the Jagatgram altars were buirt in anopen f ield (k.scf ra), as one woulci indeed expect. Anotherplace that has bcerr associatcd with ar-r Agnicayana altarwas f ound a t t he excava t i ons i n Kausamb i . , , The

archaeological clata" of this site, as clescribccl by C.R.Sharma (1960) , "c lcar ly reveal a r i tua l a l tar o f thc shapeof a f ly ing b i rc l " .4rWi th in the f ive laycrs o f the a l tar , ,alarge number o f human sku l ls and bones of an imals o fci i f ferent species, meticulously aranged" were found.a2In layer one t l rc excavators four rc l , in te . r a l ia , a , ,human

skul l " , " the shc l l o f ; r tor t . ise" ar rc- l " the i ron rnoc{c l o f a

17. lron snake found in Kausambi.(from Sharma 1960, Plate 4j No.3g).

snake".43 Laycr three "yielded thc largest number ofbones with a preponderance of human bone,,: ,,three

complete human skul ls, ten skul l pieces anci otherskcletal material".s Summarizing Sharma states that"there is suff icient evidence to conclude that this f i realtar was pi lecl up for the performance of thePurugamcdha" . {s

Sharma's conclusions have been chal lenged byvon Schlingloff (7968-69). The latter's criticism is inpart icular directed against t l -re al leged historici ty of thehuman sacr i f ice (purusantedha) .a6 Romi la Thapar ,scri t icism takes a dif ferent route. I t is not so much that shedoubts the historicity of the purusnnrcdln, but that shecal ls the ' f i re a l tar ' i tsc l f in to quest ion.

Thc identi f icat ion of the sitc as a f ire altar does raise someproblems. The iocation of the altar so close to theramparts of the city seems unusual. . . .The shape of thebird as presently reconstructed appears to be rathercurvilinear, whereas the bricks use.d for the altar woulclindicate a more recti l inear form. The interpretat ion of theobjects found is also not convincing. . . .nor is the ironmodel of the snake recognizable. . . .The frequency ofhuman skul ls and bones would also seem to suggest ari tual dif ferent from that describcd in the texts ancl i tcertainly is in excess of what is required. . . . there can be,l i t t le doubt that the structure cl id represent some kind ofsacri f icial or funerary site.{7

Whatever doubts one lnay have concern ing theKausambi excavation, i t is obvious that i t is one of themain sites that shoulcl be cornpared with that of theHidimba Tekdi. I f anything, this is appararent from thefigure of the iron snake found in Mansar at the bottom ofthe brick construction near the left foot of the clay f igure(F ig . 16) , which so much rcsemblcs the ' i ron model ' o fKausambi (F ig . 17) , that Thapar 's doubts in th is respectcan be laid to rest.a8 However, as far as I know, no skul lsor bones were found in the altar area of the HidimbaTekdi .4e

A comparison of the actual f incls on the Hici imbdTekd i w i t h t hc t cx tua l p r csc r i p t i ons f o r t he r i t ua lconst ruct ion o f thc . Agnicayarra a l tar , inc lud ing the

7 4St tu l l t As i t r t S l r r r / r r . ' . s 18

Page 15: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

I { t r l - i c ; l L ) N 1 \ N l ) l ' ( ) l - l t l ( S l \ I l l l : l : , \ S l t : l i N \ ' , { K ; \ 1 , \ K n K l N t , l X ) N l

' j

. l e

.,$4'l

18. Br ick cons t ruc t ion on rop o f the H id imba Tekd i , in te rpre ted as a s t0pa (S tupa-4) by Joshr and Sharma

i r r rp l i cc l p rn 'uson tL 'L / / r r t , ra i ses l - l ro rc qL tcs t i ons than t t so l ves

(see App- rc r rc l i r l [ ) , l us t as th i s i s t l - re case i11 the o thc r

. l rch.reoIogical s i tcs . rss()c i . r tcr l w' i th surch . rn a l t . r r , wi t l - r

t l r c poss ib l r : e rxccp t ion o f j aga t { r run . fhe - re a rc p r l t ' 111y ' e1 '

c len re r r t s t t ra t e lo r ro t l i t t he t cx t r - r . r l r l csc r ip t i o r r s . F t r r

inst . r r rce ' , tht ' i r t r r r snakr: d i rccteci tovr , 'arc{s the Trrrr r l -s(r ls

t i o t t l r c same. rs t l r c hcac l o f . r r ca l sn . r ke tu rnec i ( r i v i l \ /

f ro r r r ( t h r . sku l l s o f ' ) t hc s . r c r i i i c i . r l v i c t i n rs ; acco r r l i r rg to

thc t cx ts the l ' r t ' a t i o f t l r t ' h r rn ra r r f i gu r t ' s l rou r l c i h . r ve hccn

s i t r - ra tcc l i n t l - r c t : . r s t i ns te . r r l o f t hc r vcs t ; t he squarc su r f . r ce

r v i t h a h o l c i n t h t ' r n i r l t i l c o r r t h r r r r a n ' s b r e . t s t , t h c s o -

ca l l cc l i ' r ' r i i (F ig l J ) , t l o t ' s r ro t co rues l ) ( ) r r r l t o . rnv th ing

k r r o n ' r r f r o r n t h c , \ g r r r c a V a n . r t e x t s . - l ' h e

s a c r i i i c i a I p o l e

( r / r r . s l i o r q t rp t t ) , acc t r r t i i n$ to the Sr . r r - r tas [ t ras , shoL l l r ] be a t

t l r c c . r s te rn t ' t l g t ' o i t he . t l i a r , c t c . c t c . - l -he

g rc . l t cs t

c l i f f rcul t \ , , l torvt : r ' r ' r , is f r rescnteci Lrv the i . - rct th. r t the ' br ick

c t l ns t ruc t i ( ) l - lS c r r ( )unc l t hc c laV rna r r c t re no t pg1- t rg r r r z . rb le

. r S . - l n a l t a r . r n r l c c r t a i r r l l , n o t . r s o r r t : t h a t c o n s i s t s o f ( o r r l v )

f r ve laVurs o [ p rec r - r l i a r l v s l rapec i l ' t r i cks .

O thc r i t r t e r l - r1 t ' 1 .1 t i t r t r s . t r ( ' p ( ' ) ss ib l c ' , t hg t rg l r t h i s r s

r to t t hc p l . r ce to g l .1 [ s . . , t t ' cx tc r r s i v t IV o r r t ] r tm . ( )nc i s

t l ra t r ve a rc hL - re concerncc l r , v i t h a r r . vak t r i za t i r rn o f t l r c

h u r r r a n s a c r i f i c c t h a t v \ ' ( t s , a c r - o r c l i n g t o t h e V V h i t t t

\ ' . r j u r l , ec1 . t t r . r r l i t i on , o r rc t :1 - l . t r t r r f t he cons t ruc t i o r r o f t hc

i \g r r i c . r1 'a r r . r . r l t a r , b r r t now t r . t ns t ' r t rn rcc i i n to a

c r l r r s t r t r c t i o l t ( ) r i r l u n d . t t i o n s a c r i f i t t t ' i n t h e c o n t c r t t l f

t t ' r n p l e / h o r r s c L r r r i l t ' l i n g . [ ' h c h r r r n . t n b e r i r r g , o r i t s r l . r v

s t r t r s t i t u t c , r n a Y l t a v e l r c c n t h o r - r g h t n c c c s s a r \ 1 , r r o t o n l v t r r

t o t ) f t - r s t r t : r r g t h t t l t h c b t r i l c l t t t q L r u t a l s s , . r s i p t l r t . , , l s e e f

the . r l t , r r , t o i r r t eg ra ie the t rmp lc bu i l c l i ng in to the cos rn i c

rea l i t v o f t he c i i r , ' i nc l ) r / - lS r r . [ {a rc1 cv idence fo r th i s t vpe

o i r i t ua l s i r - r I r r c l i a i s rncagre , bu t r cccn t l y Jo rc laan anc l

V V e s s i n g ( 1 9 9 9 ) h a ' u ' c a r g u c c i i n a n a r t i c l e , e n t i t l c . d

Crr i r .s f r t r r - f t t l t .Sr to ' t f ic ' t ' in Incl ia "scctr f rom thc ' East" , t [ r . l t

t l r c p r rac t i cc o I t o r r : t t ' L t c t i r rn s . r c r i f i ccs ( t t i s tu t l n j f i n ) l r l

Sor-r t l - r -Asia rxust h.rvc bt ' r ,n n, idt 'spreacl , as i t was rn

Sou th -eas t As i . ' r . I n t l r , s respcc t the "head pc l r t i on o [ . ' r

t i i . , ' i ne l - i gu re i n c l . r t " ' f ounc i by Dr N . r th i n V INS-2 mav be

s ign i i i can t as i t rn . r v havc io r rnec l pa r t o f . r l a rge r f i gu re

cor-r ' rp.r r . rb lc to thc orr t : io t - t t tc i in VINS-3.rnr1 l ike the l . r t ter

i t l r ra t ' havc se rvcc l i n a [ rouse-hu i l c ' l i ng r i t ua l .

A rn i ta R . ry s r . r r \ ' ( ' \ ' c r l r ' ' a r i o r - r s house-L r r - r i l c l i r rgs

r i t u . r l s i r r a l r c i cn t I r r t l i . r Shc c i - l rne to the fo l l o r t ' i ng

c o n c l u s i o n .

l n a l l t l r c s t , I r i t u . r l s l , L ( r r r v u ] g . r r r c i c s t a L r l i s l r n r e n t o f I i r e t o

.u r r i . r t t hc s i t c an t l r r r s r r i e t l r c b r r i l c l i r rg , t l f f e r i ng t l r t :

sa t r i f i ccs to thc s l ) l r i i s . r r r t l t hc l o rc l o f t l ' r c L / r i s l r r , t hc f i rn r

pos t s l ' r nbo l i s ing t l r t ' f i i s f t r sp r r t l r , t l r e hok : a t r c ' l f i l l i ng i t i r r

w i i l r r : . r r t h . rn r i s l . r [ , s o f s tonc . rnc l [ r r i ck , en te r inp ; the

hor rsc r v i t l r r r ' i f c t ' t c . l r c ( - ( )n ln to r r t o a l l l evc l s a t r r l

. t , l l ' , t ' i o l < o t ' i t ' t \ ' "

[ 'hc [ .orr i o i t l ' rc i lonrcstcacl , V 'astospat i , . r l rca111,

p r c s r r r t i t r t h c h 1 , 1 " t ' t o f t h c 1 ( { ' z ' c r l n 7 . 5 4 . 1 - 3 , i s

rcp rcsc l r t cd bv a i i r t r t Po51 , tn t l o t r t ' w t l t t r l e rs w l re thc r i he

l ro l t ' r r r t hc " r ' r ' t l i " on t l r t : b rcas t o i t l t t : t : l a t ' l i gu re n tav r - t r r t

oncc l ravc h t ' l t l s r r ch , l p t r s t , ' \ cc t r r r l i ng to Vcc l i r - c lo rn t ' s t i c :

r i t r r . i l " a r r o i i t ' r i n g ( s 1 / r r i l r y , r t A r r c ( ) ( ) k c ( l i n r n i l k ) i s r l a t i e t < r

l 5

Page 16: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

BAKKEI {

Vastosp. r t i l ' i th thc i .cant . r t ic ' r r r ' c l r i \ ,o a \vAv c ' i l ; rnakc

0ur n 'ca l th inr - re ' . rse; prc l tcc t t rs a l$ ,a , \ ,s e tc ' . " j r - l -h is

l inc c l Ithought leac{s us i r r t . the c t - r rccpt . f t l r r . "v l . r . or ' t l rcf jor 'cstead" Vastupurus.-, , rvhicl,r , as ()pposccl to *,hathas genera l lv L- reen he lc l , t l l c1) /actua l ly harre t had ( - lp rac t i ca l s i c i t ' t o i 1 , 11 ,o1 i s , i t r r r , r v haye l r c , i l r p . r r f o f a ss r to f ur ls tu ln t t t t t t tn or lnr t l i . i t " .

- f l - rus V. r ra t ramih i ra (nr ic l 6 th

cerr tury) begins h is chapr tcr on Arch i tec tur t , rv i th thcfol lor 'r ' ing tw(r verse-s, after havirrg saicr that thescie.ce ofl rouser-bu i ld ing ( t tn sht j n i r l r r ) car 'e crow,n f r . rn I l rahma :

Tcr bc rnore prec ise , thc rc \ \ ,aS c t be i r rg tha t by h rs bodv. l - rs t ruc tcd thc ear th and thc skr , ; tha t L . ,e ing n ,as f . rc ib lysc izcd L- rv thc imrnor ta ls , rn , l ro fc l led h in r , head_dor t ,n .And vr.here\/L-r a god helcl i t , the,re that gcrd becantces tab l i she t l ; the Creator o rc la i r red tha t the Hot rsc Mar r( i , i s t u - r r n r t ) w a s t ( ) c o n s i s t o f t l r o s e i n t m o r t a l s . 5 l

The pr i rnar l , and sc.cor rc- l . r ry l i te ra turc on theV ls tupu rusa an r l t hc re l a tec l conccP t o f t hc Vas tunAg . ris to. t 'xte'sive t. ai l .r t , aclecluate treatment in trrcpresent c .n text . suf f ice i t t . say ' that the ic ica , f theVast ,purusar 'ar rc la la , the cr iagram in w,h ich the c .n tours'f thc nracro-rnicrocosrnic lvlarr is marked ancl ivhich issupp-ro5gd t . under ly the I { i r rc lu ter . r rp le , is f i rs t andforenrost a tht-rtret ical corrcePt, vr.hich h.rcl harcl ly, i f at al l ,clemonstr;rLrte effects on the actual architectr-rre . f thctcmplc , . r i i s archae. l .g ' io r th . r t r ,a t tc r . 'F lorver rcr ,excavat rc ' r r rs by Dhaval ikar ar r i r Jamkhcc ' lkar e lsev 'here rnMaharasht ra , in Kanc lhar (Narr r lcc l d is t r ic t ) , c . 350 knrsouth-n,est o [ Marrsar , Lr rought to l ight

r c n r a l a s , i a L r r r i q u t ' s t ( ) a u s t r t r e t r r r t , v ' h i c l - r i s l r t r r . r r a ns h a r p r - c l ( 2 2 r n l . r r g a r r c l 7 r ' r r ' i r r r , ) d r l r i € . l r . r o s c c . | L r ' ad o r r b l c s t o n c ' v . t l l ( 3 7 r n x 3 3 n r ) I t r s p r 1 1 1 . 1 . 1 r , t 1 r r , i t l r . r ne n t r a n c r ' . n t l r c c ; r s t . I t i s f . r t r r t , r - i r s t t i r n c t h a t s u c h t v r r t ,o f s t r t t t l t r r t ' l r . r s I r g e 1 1 [ p u 1 1 , 1 r r r t l r r , s t r l r c o r r t i r r t , r r t , r n . l r tansrvers wc l l to the descr i l - r t i9n e l \ /as tu_p11 1L ls . i g iycn i r rS i / / rn tcx ts rvh ic l ' r o f ten cornp . r r t , t l r c t l v r ,e l l ing o f t l re g ( )c lw ' i t l r t l r c [ r u r r . r r r L r . d y / , , r r r . . , r . i ' r r t s t r a c t u r c r s L r r - r i r t , fc i rcsser l s to .c :s i r r n rud lnds( ) l r r \ , , th t ' r r r tc - r r . r . r r ing s l racsberng h l l cd i r r r ' i th ; - re L rb lcs . l l t c hc . t t l ; r , r t i . r r , r , r , l r i chis i r r thc nor th - r , r ,es t , i s 6 . j5 rn lons an t l l l {5 n r rv ic l t , l - l relegs , r ' vh ich . r rc in the south- r .as t cJ r r t . c t i c ) . , d re i ( ) Br t rnl ' n g a . r l t l r t ' i r r r r . r x i n r u r ' r . r ' i c r t l r a t t h t ' t l r r g l r i s 2 2 ( ) n r" ' N c a r t h t ' l c g s v r ' . - r s r . r . t r t : t ' r i a t - r r c r r a r p i t , l ' h i c h i s n , v *f u l l o l l , r l l t , r r r l r r r r e s .

- l ' hou reh t l r . s i z . . o f t h i s p l r ^ rs . r . -1 . ( i i t s l . rb r i c i s e . t i r c lY

c l i f f c re l r t f ro rn t l r c c la l , f i gL r rc l ' os1111 i r r Mans ; t r , t l r cc l i r cc t i on o i l r c . r r l an r l l cgs to sonr t - c , r t c ,n t . l g r r . , r , . i 5

l i t c . n c l u r l t , , u r L ' x c t . ' . A t l . l t . f t h c \ , , 1 a . . i M a n s a rw c n l ( l V o t r s c r v c t l i a t i r r t h t , P r . c s t , r - r t s t a t c o f ( ) L r rk nr l r , r ' l r . t l gc ' a t 'o l tc l us i r rc i r r tcrP rg l . l t iorr c .ur r ro[ [ r ( , g1 12e11.J ' l r c r , c ; r r r i . r . r . t l f u l - r c t i . r r . l t r r r s f i gu r t . , t l r e cc r r j r . ' . \ ,w i t h r t ' l r i c h r t n ' . r s i n s t a l l t , c l , . r r r c l t l r t , l ) L r r L ) ( ) s c o f r t st rakc rs r r r . r \ ' l r . r ' r , c ( ) ' - l p r - i s t t c l t , l e r r r t , r r t s l ' r . . r , . t l l t l r r t , ci t - t t t ' r p r t ' t . r t r < ' ' s t - l r . r r r t . s t l r . t t \ \ ( , l t i i ' t , r l i s c t r s s t t r l . U r t ,

rc rn tegrat ion o f nr ; rn and c locJ thr .ush the sacr i f ic ia lr .ser t i .n o f a (suhst i tu tc) hur .a . f ig r - r rc i . to t r re Lr r ickfunc lamcnts o i a sacred Lru i rd ing, the icJea of a ( l ru ' ran)sacri f icc to safeguard thc bui lding a.d to ward off g.r i i i/o ' ' arrd the idea of conjoining n-r icro- and macrocosrnos.

Joshi a .d Sharma d is t i .gu isr r a th i rc l pcr i .d , p 's t -Va kataka (500 - 700 AD), in r,r,hich

Thc Buddhists f inal lv bui l t a -slrTpn (Stupa_4) having 24br ick bu i l t b ' res rv i th a ce. t ra l box f i l l cd wi th rubLrre anc ist.nes. I t is having a diarnetc.f rE r. ancr stcps orr trreeastern siclc This large sf,pa lr .as bui l t at thc tclp andrc.rai lred in existence t i l r the errd ' f Ttrr centurl ,A.D (EN.{131 )

The in terpreta t ion o f these br ick co.s t ruct ions (F ig . 1g)as anothcr s tuTtn is open to the sarne doubt as the earr ierputat ir , ,e st i lpns. One is part icularl l , scef-rt ical becauscsomc of the Hindu scu lpr tu ls5 secm to have beenrecovcrecl fronr exactly this top la-1,er at the s.uth-western encl of the hi l lock, anr.ng v'hich the Mansar-S iva o f the Nat iona l Museum.s{ .

There are good reasons to assunte that the latterscu lp ture once was one of the rna jor images of thcPr ; r 'a redvara temple (F ig . 5) . I t c ' rc f ies ident i f ica t i 'n as. .c spec i f ic for r ' o f S i 'a or MaheS'ara, though i tsiclenti f icat ion as an idol of trr is gocl is safeguardcci L1, hisattr ibutcs, such as the rosary, the skul[, the crcscc.t, thenr.- i t ted hair etc.

' rhr, si te where the i*rage rvas [.uncl and

the shccr qual i t l ' o f the scu lp t r , r re , both po in t to rova lpatrrnage. Crnsidcrations .f stt ' rc l t 'acl to er clat ing .f thei rnage in thc scc. r rd quar ter o f the i i f th ce^turv a .d thuscoune-ct i t \^ ' i th thc t inre that prar, ' .rrcrscnc-l I I bui l t his rrcwrcsidcnce Pra'arapura, a nlovc th.rt rrr.ry lra'e sc-alecl thcpr()cess i . which thc king broke a\^/av frorn his nrothera ' c { h e r B h a g a v . r t a m i l i e u . A t t h c ' s a n r e t i r . e t h e[ 'rarrarcsvara sanctlrary ntay ha'e ente.red i ts secondphasc o f co r r s t ruc t i on (a l r ove t ) l l ) , i n n ,h i ch i tt leve loprc i in to thc pr inc ipra l s ta tc sc . lnc tLrar .y- . Thei cono log i ca l a r ra l vs i s o f t h i s i r l agc g i ven t - , ) , meclsewl rere (Bakker 1997, y ' t . 5) scerr rs to sup-rpor t th isconject urc. s;

' l -he Latter Years of Pravarasena,s Rule

we havc c- lcscr ibcc l thc r ise o f Vakatak. r cu l turc i r r thef i r s t ha l i o f t he 5 t r ' ce rn tu ry , as a t t es tec l L r v t hc s ta tes. tnc tuary on t l re [ {a magi r i , ar rc l \ \ ,e havc lookcc l a tUc lavagi r i as a l ikc lv sourcc 9 f i l s f - r r ra t igr r . Af t t - r t f tet: lrangirrg o1-the gr-rarci, whcrr prar.,ar;rst,n.r rrac'r takcl 'r ovcrf r . l ' h i s r no the r , r \ 1e saw the c .n r i . g i r t . l r c i . g . f t hel lc ! \ / rcs ic lc r rcc I ' rar r . t rapura anr l i ts s t t r tc sar rc t l r ; r ryl ' r .r t ' .1 rcsvara.

- i l rc brr i ldirrgs ulrc()vcrccr in M,insar nrark

thc l reyd; rys o f thc Eastcr l r V. rkat . rk . rs . - fhc

ne lv roya lt 'ct-t t t ' r ' evic' lcrr t l v rrre.r n t to countcr- [r .r la lr t- t , t hc o lcl q ucel l-t no t l r c r ' s f o rn r i c l a l r l c au t l r o r i t y i r - r r r r . r t t c r s o f t he s ta te . rnc lr t ' l i g i on , i l r r o t . r l so i n t hc po rs ( )n . l I sP l l gpq ,

' [ - l r r . r - c a r t t

l 6

Page 17: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

incl ic.rt ions that thc t leath of this extraordinary wolrran l l l

about A.D. 443 brought about a s ign i f icant change rn

Vakataka po l ic ies , po l ic ies which, to the taste o f

anrbit ious princes, may had tended too much towarcls

subservicnce to Gupta lvi l l . [n an inscript ion clat ing from

Pravarasena's twenty-third regnal year, i .e. soon aftcr his

nrothcr 's death, r\re encounter the f irst evidence that the

V;lkataka king hacl entered into the terr i tor ics oi his

uncle, the kingdom of Kumiragupta. These so-c. l l lccl

lndore Plates wcre issueci from the royal camp in -fr ipuri ,

the ancierrt capital of the Dahala country on the northern

barrk of the Narmada r iver.s8 A problematic verse in the

Bli i tar i Stone Pil lar Inscript ion of Skandagupta, in which

this king records horv he, already during the reign of his

father Kuma ragupta, had rescued the shaken fortunc's t ' r f

his family by vancluishing and subduing his enc'tnies

(CIl t l l , 315 vs. 4), rnay refer to this emerging confl ict.

The anonymous enemies, Mirashi argued, included thc

Va kdtakas.se

Pravarasena's intrusion into Gupta terr i tory and

thc response of prince Skandagupta may be seen as a

prelude to the war that broke out in North India during

the f i f t ies oi thc 5th century, in which the tensions

bctween the Cuptas and Vakatakas apparently came to

a head. At the dcath o f Kumaragupta in A.D. "154,

Pravarasena became mixed up in the war between

Chatotkaca and Skandagupta. We learn about th is war

from the Bhitari Stone Pil lar irrscript ion; Mirashi argued

convincingly that the verses 4 to 8 of this inscript ion"reler to three cl i f ferent struggles in which Skandagupta',vas involved", viz. (7) hosti l i t ies bctween Pravarasen.t

ar rd the Guptas whi le Kumaragupta was s t i l l a l ive ,

(2) thc war of succession, and (3) Skandagupta's struggle

ivi th thc F{inas.bo

Al though h is tory c loes not repcat i tse l i ,

geographica l pat terns o f sphercs o f in f luence ma) '

repcatecl ly produce power struggles that are structural lv

akin. Eastern Malwa, with i ts important centres of Vidi5a

anci Air ikina (Eran), had becn the sccne of an uprisirrg

against the author i ty o f the impcr ia l cent re , rvhen

Candragupta II oustcd his r ival Rd magupta after thc

cleath of Samuclrap;upta."r At the end of Kumaragupta's

rcign a similar power strugglc aPPcars to have taken

place. The viccroy of Vidi5a, Ghatcltkaca, contested the

right to the imperial throne oi his nephew Skandagupta,

a bastard of his brothcr Kumaragupta. In these struggles

between the western and eastern halves of the Cupta

ernpire, the viceroys of Vicirsa may have been supported

by Naga fcudatories, who had not yet forgottcn thctr

c le fcat by Samudragupta and were b id ing the i r t ime.

Vcrse 2 o f Skandagupta 's Junagadh Rock Inscr ip t ion

a l ludes to th is , w l ren i t re fers to Skarrdagupta as the ot re"w,ho forged an order with an eff igv, namely Carutia,

which rendered, devoic i o f po isot r , the Scrpent Rulcrs

I i .c . thc Nagas] , who up l i f tec l the i r hoods in pr ic le : i r rc l

ar rogance." ' ;2 In a l l probabi l i ty , Pravarascna in th is

confl ict stood at the side of his brother- in-law (who

happencd also to be his maternal uncle), with the result

that the olcl Vakatakas-Vicl i5a-Naga axis, nourished by

his mother Prabhavati , became re-establ ished in order tcr

ward off once again the irnperial claims of the rulcr of the

Doab on thc r ich plains of Eastern Malwa. The Kevala-

Naras inrha 1'emp le Inscript ion providcs further ev i derrcc

for this hypothesis. As we have secn above (P. 3), the

ruler of Vidi6e, Skandagupta's uncle and r ival to thc

throne Ghatotkaca, was married to a Vakataka princess,

his niece (bhagineyi ) to be precise. The inscript ion reports

that, aftcr the fal l of Ghabtkaca, the brother of his wife,

who can hardly be other than Pravarasena II , "brought

her home by force".63 The rnost plausible intcrpretat ion

of this extraordinary piece of evidence seems to be that

Pravarasena, having joined the sicle of Ghatotkaca, when

the al l iance had been defeated, prevented his widor,ved

sister frorn being confine.l by her Gupta in-laws bv

bringing her back to the haunts of her youth, at which

remarkablc feat he might have profi ted from the fact thert

Skandagupta was engaged in a protracted struggle with

the F{unas. br

The dramat ic events to ld in the Ramtek

Inscr ip t ion, s ince they seem to co inc ide wi th

Skandagupta's rvar of succession, must have taken place

in A.D. 454-5. The expedi t ion may have exhaustet l

Pravarasena and he probably died soon thereafter. This

r.t ,oulcl explain why we do not f incl al lusions to these

events in the Vakataka king's own inscript ions, the last

onc of which dates from his thirty-seconcl regnal vear

(c . A.D. 454) . The reason *hy Skandagupta in h is

inscr ip t ions re fers to h is v ic tory o \ /er anonymous

enemics (nmitrants) rather than mcntioning them by

their names, as indeecl the Hunas are mentioned, n1a)/

havc becn dictated by internal pol i t ical consideratious:

a f tc r a l l i t was h is unc le and cous in who had dr iven h im

into dire straits. We now understand why Skandagupta

after this victory ran towards his anonYmous mother, as

to ld in h is Bhi tar i P i l la r Inscr ip t ion, "which madc hcr

wcep l ike Devaki after Ktl lu hac-l ki l led his enemv",

r r a r l c l y h i s unc le (Kamsa) .65 W i th t h i s i n t c rnec inc

st ruggle ha l f a century o f peace, s tab i l i ty and prosper i tv

in V idarbha came to a c lose. Pravarapura los t much of i ts

glory. The unfortunatc wiclow, like her mother, issuecl

her charter from the state sanctuary of the Ramagir i .rnci

so cl id the latter 's great-granclson Prthivisena l l .

We have come to the encl of the story. After the

Eastcrn Vakatakas had forfci tecl the support of their

northern neighbours, thcy soon lost their indcpenclelrcc,

not to the Guptas however, but to their distant rclat ivcs,

the rulers in Vatsagulrna. I lar iscna !vas heir to the

cu l t u ra l ach ievemen ts o f t he eas te rn k i ngdom; rnc l

turned them in to someth ing ius t as aston ish ing, the

Buclc lh is t caves in A ianta. But here we enter another t i tn t '

l 7

Page 18: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

HANS BAKKER

Append i x I

Cupta - Vekataka Genealogy

Vyighradeva = ADhrradevi

Ifeyani rha

Appendix [ I

Excursus upon the Construction of the Agnicayana Altar

arrd another man's territory, where even Lticrt/adhnras fearto tread: that of the formidable Waltcr Spink.

Thc r i tua l o f p lac i r rg a go lden ( i .e . i rnmor ta l ) manat the base of thc f ire-artar is inter nrin crescribccl i .Apnstanfun Srautttsi l trs 16.22.3-4. Broacl ly speaking thcprocedure is as fol lows. After preparing the ground ofthe f irc-altar, a k.obbed, gorcr ct isk or prate is raid on alotus-leaf; on this (plate) a man of gold is laid, directedtowards thc East, stretched out on his back, to the r ighto f the ho lc ( in the p la te) . Then t r re purusasdman sr rourc lhe sung. ( ' ( ' Next , a f tc r the go lden nran has becn"touched" by u verse,67 the serpents (snrTra) should bcsa lu ted wi th three vcrses.68 Ghee is spr i .k red over thernan. on e i ther s idc . f the man a sacr i f ic ia l lac l le is la ic r .b ' ,I{ere after the laying of the bricks is begun, trrc f i rst onebeing thc suttr latrtnttnum ("the natural l-y piercecl one.,)placcd on the g. lcl rnan to ai low him to breathc. A I ivingt . r to ise is a lso bu i l t in to the a l ter . J -he^, a f ter a squarcmortar (ul iklnlnkrr) madc of udurnlrara w..d has becni r rs ta l lcc l a t thc 'nor thcrn

shoulc lc r ' ( t t i ln r t , ' r r i .sc) (o f thc

Prthivisna ll Vt lqialanahddcvi = Midhavavarrnan il Janisraya Eudhaguprr

IVrkramendnvarman I

f i re-altar) and thc f ire-pot (ukln) is praced irr the midcl leQnndhtlc),7t ' the heads of t l ' re f i 'c sacri f icial vict ims (pn'stts)are instal led: the human head i ' the midci le of thc f ire-pot, the head of a horse towards thc west, of a bul ltowards the east, of a ram towards the south, and of ag.at towards t lre nort lr , whi le seven gold pieces are laidin the scven ori f ices of thc human heacl. l iereafterApastanrba prescribes that a snake head (snrpni irns)s l rou ld be put on the r ight shoulder ( r /nks i ryc ,n . rse,

i .e .south s idc) o f the f i rc -a l tar (us ing thc ,homagc

to theserpents' verse), whiclr is tur.ed away from the othersacr i f ic ia l I reads les t , the Ta i t t i r iyn Snni l i tn (5 .2 .9 .5)remarks, i t shoulc i b i tc these domest icated an imalsi r rs tead of w i lcJ ones.Tr Af tcr the snake, Apastambacnjo ins t l ra t a hum;rn f igurc (p turusakr t i ) should beassembled (cinoti) Lry means of twelve ,turns'

Qtnrqayn)each spoken tr icc, a (r, i r tual?) body stretchirrg from eastto west , t l ie l reac l . f which co inc ides wi th the head of thegolden man (,prr11' lr .sndir ' /rs). - fhc

sacri f icer gives praisc tcrt l r i s co r r s t ruc t i o r r ( upn l t i t i ) bv t l r t : [ ) u rusa Na ra yana .72

I r lSr r r r / / r , , \ s i ru t S / r r r l i r s 1S

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RIILIG|ON AND POLITICS INTHE E,ASTEIIN VAKA-IAKA KIN-GDOM

' i -hough thcy seenr to dif fer with respect to whcre

exactly the prrra-sn ancl the sarynsirns are to be con-

s t ructcd,T3 both B lack Yajurveda branches ( the

Mai t r ; i yan iyas anc{ ' fa i t t i r iyas)

c l i f fc r f rom thc

VA jasaneyins (represented by the Satapatltnbrdhrnnrla and

Katy t l t lana Srnutnst t t rn) in that Srautasr - r t ras o f both

tracl i t ions prescribe this hurnan f igure and serpent head

to bc part of the f irst laver of the f ire-altar. Howcver, the

id iosyncrasy o f th is par t o f the r i tua l is ev ident in thc

a l tc rnat ivc a l lowed by two Srautas l t ras (Apastamba and

Manava) p constructing t l ' re serpent head only virtual lv,

bv means of formulas, and the ornission of t l -re hunran

f igure in BaudhA yana.7{

I t is c lear that the cent ra l ro le o f the human head

(and the four animal heads) in the pi l ing up of the f ire-

a l t a r p resuposes sac r i f i c i a l s l augh te r o f some so r t .

According to the Srautashtras of the Black Yajurveda, the

hurnan head should be cut off of a ksatr iya or vaisva

ki l led by an arro\^/ or l ightning,T5 after which i t has to be

covered with clay and set aside.76 The tradit ion of the

White Yajurvecla is more expl ici t that this r i tual requires

a hutnan sacr i f ice . ' fhe

Sntapnthabrnhmar la (6 .2 .1 .18)

unambiguously declares that "a rnan (purusa) shoulcl be

sacrif iced f irst, for man is the f irst of the sacri f icialaninrals (1taiu)" .The Kntynynntt Srntttnsutrn states th.rt thcvict im, a vais;,a or ra janya (16.1.17), should be sufiocatcdin a special secluded place,77 after which his head is

t . rken (16.1.18) , though i t a l lows the opt ion that a head of

gold or clay is used as a substi tute.T8 This nray have

bccome common practice when animal sacri f icc, not to

speak of human sacrf ice, had become taboo. The bodiesof thc four animal vict ims are thrown into the water

from where the clay is taken to make the bricks.Te What

is clone with thc decapitated human corpse renrainsurrc lear in the Sr . ru tasut ras. The Sntnpnt lmbrn l tn tn t ln

strongly suggests that al l trunks are thrown into thervater:80 "As to thesc glories,El they arc these very headsoi the sacri f icial vict ims and these trunks are the frr, 'e(altar) layers (cif i ) . Therefore, after having placecl thel 'reads of the sacri f icial vict ims, one pi les up the layers;then one unites these trunks with these same heads."82' l 'hough

the obvious intcrpretat ion takes the layers as asubsti tutc for the trunks, i t cannot be excluclcd that, inpart icular in the case of the human ltaiu, the body of thevict im was, occasional ly perhaps, interred into the altar,by which the purusn (Prajapati and sacri f icial vict im andqtjnmnnn) became reintegratcd in the sacri f icial sphere, arc in tcgrat ion that is the a lpha and the omega of thcAgnicayana, as ref lected, for instance in the golden marr.ln to ta l the a l tar cons is ts o f f ive laycrs o f br ick , whic l rnlcr| have the shape of a bircl , especial ly the Sqcnn(hawk) , which is s tanc larc l , but opt iona l ly a lso that o f at r iang lc , a c l - rar io t -wheel , a t rough, a c i rc le , or a bur ia lr r rour rd ( i .e . square) .81 When t [ - r is br ick a l tar has becnconrpleted the nlmztntir ln f i re is establ ishecl on i t .

ACKNOWLEDCEMENTS

This is a revised and elaborated version of a lecture

delivered for the Society of South Asian Studies at theBritisch Academy, London, 27 November 2000.

I am grateful to Yuko Yokochi for her unfailing

assistance during f ieldwork in 7999. The f ield-rvork for

this art icle has been made possible thanks to f inancial

suppor t o f the Nether lands Foundat ion for the

Advancement of Tropical Research and the Faculty ofTheology and Religious Studies of the University of

Croningen.

Though I see i t as my duty to assess the results of

their excavation cri t ical ly, I wish to express mv sincere

grati tude to J.P. Joshi and A.K. Sharma, who have givenme access without restr ict ion to their excavation in

Mansar and al lowed me to take photographs. I have

greatly profited from the scholarly spririt in which theyhave brought their f indings up for discussion. Dubitando

nd ue ri I n tem peruut int tts.

7 9

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I IANS I ] / \KKITR

NOTES

I B.rkker 1L)L)7, 9i.2 Slrastr i l r992. C(. Bakkcr j997, l } f t . Sec l r<, , , r ,cvr , r L- ,e,krn, n. 5Z

o l r i r . )? .

Kcva i i r -Naras imha ' I i ' n rp l c l r r sc r ip t i on (Bakkc r l gg7 , 164)v s 5 i l . 3 ) .I )oo r r .1 [ ' l a tes o f I ' r abhava t ig t rp td ( c l l \ / , 7 ) l l 6 g ( c f . i L r i d .36n . 7 - 9 )

5 S i r c a r 1 9 6 7 I , p p . 2 0 4 - 9 , 2 3 b ; 1 9 E 7 , p 2 ( , , . . f h esugges t ion b1 ' Ashv ' i n i r \ g raw,a l ( l 9S9 , p . S3) to r cac ld l t i r u t t tr s n g o t r a - n i g n k t r l tt t I n t r n a tl ri r t t i rr s tt,.r cl o i Ll l r,l r tt t n s n q o t r rit r t i g t k t t l L t l pn r r r tn t l i r r t i s no t s ,ppor ted b r . thc t cx t o I t l - r cInscr ipt ion rvhich c lear lv re;r r ' ls .sr l i r r fu. r i fcr lkrvr ,e.c l bt . h iar tus. Al r r . rh ln i r r l r c l . ng ing t . t h t , D l rd r . rn r t r r / r i r r r as the ' r t ' c iP ie r r t o fa g ran t b1 , the Paramabha t ta raka (E l XXXI , 263_268)

6 Bakker 7997 ,15 f .7 l )oorra [ ) latcs of Pralrh. ivat iguptd (CII \ , ; 7 l . g)8 Cf l V,7 l l .9-10-. qut ,n,r l ta( i r i )DIyA f t<nSnXnl , r r ra i . The seal

cr f these Po.na [ r la i tes of I r rabha'at i , issrr t ,d c l r_rr ing the,th i r tecnt l r 1 'ear of her rcgencv rrurs (CI I \ , : 6) . r , t lk t i t .akn-lnlirrtnstltt (krLt) rrrtt ltrt lptnttryrtiri1a (U I lntLttrtln tlrri,nrtl jnsrlttsr i_sr l l r? l r t . t l tu idsn (nnn l l ) .

9 Div. ikarasena is r ro l .nger rncnt iorrcd; ls ( ' l s() . r r r k in.g i r r t l rcl . - r ter chartcrs of l t ratrh iv. r t i ; in h is stc. t r tvr . , other sonso f he rs , Ddnrodar . t sena and p ra r . ,a r . r s t , r ra c l re ca l l ec lMahdra ja , CU V 36 l . I 0 : t , t i k t l t nkL i t t r j n . r t t r t l t r l r t l j o ! r i ( l t )I )AN4ODARA-SENAI ,RAVARASENi \7 , r r r , r i . l l r a t u .e a rehere actrra l ly conccrrrcc l w, i th t r r . 'o k i r . rgs io i lor t .s i rorn theMiregaon Plates of [ ] rabhivat i ( iuPtd (r t , ign of [ r r . rvarascnaI I , Year 20 ) , pub l i s l re r l bv Shas t r i & Karva t l ka r 2001 , o fwh ich char te r the se . r l r cads : t t i k r i t t t t t t / o t j t r t t t t r r t l ns t t ti,n k 11t okatt Lt rur d rnyit (l r ; 7 -ir.i pI{ A t}l IAVATIC; LJ t "I 'AYA ( F.l )sr ls t t t t t t r t r r ipu sdsnrt t ( r r r l l ) (op, c i t . p. l5 i )

l0 Cf . thc successi 'n t . the throrrc of s. r r 'as.r r . r I I . f theVats.r l ; l r lma brar^ch, * 'h ' w.rs onl_y 'c ight v ' t rars . l t j 'vhen hisfa the r c l i ed (C l l V , 108 vs l 0 )

11 Kcva la -Naras i rnh . r ' l ' cn rp le I r r sc r ip t i . n (Bakk t ' r 1997 , 1 ( t4 i . )v s s . I l - 1 3 .

12 chatotkaca Gupta * ,as t r . t i l recc.rr t l_r , . . lv krr . r r ' r r r r . r^ h isJ 'urnain inscr ipt ion . f A I ) . 435-6, a seal r .Lr111l i r r lJasarh,and tu,o gold coir rs (ASI Annual l {cport lg l l t - (1.+, l ( )7; ElXXVI , 117 ; C l l I l l , pp . 276-279 ,29 - t - l 9 r r ; ( )n r o i t he go lc lcoir rs is i r r t l re St PeterLrr_rr .g C_ol lect i . r r (Ai l , r r r lc) l -1, p l i r . , prrXXIV3) , t l r e o the r was pub l i shed bv A j i t Chosh in f NSI 22(1960), p 2( :Of . , Pl . 9 6 W,i th rcgard to the St [ , t . rerbtrrg c()r rI ' hap lya l 1972 ,67 re r r ra rks tha t , i f t h i s c . i ' r r , . r s i ss r . rec l [ r1 ,thc ( l ha to tkac . r o i t l r c '

- [ i r rna in Inscnp t i ' n , ' h t ,

r r r i g l r t a l soIrave unsrrcces.sfr - r l lV t 'orr tcrrc lcc l for t l rc i r r rpt : r ra l ( - r ( ) i \ rnagairrst Skzrnclagtrp ' r ta ' l 'h is asscssnt( ,nt rs l rascr j on t l rea f f i n i t v o f t l r c C l ra to tkaca co ins vv i th t l r t , , \ r c l r c r . ro ins o fvar ic ' tv L l s t r l rck bv Skanc' lagrrpr ta ( l (avcrr l ( )c)J, p l5 p I 3 l ) .' f hap r l l , a l ' s

co r r j e r tu rc [ ) r ( ) ves to L rc r i gh t , c lS ! \ , ( ,w i l l seehr ' l on

13 C, l r ; r totkac; l nra\ / l r . rv t 'Lrcc,r- r ins l .a l lc tJ [ . \ , I rs e lc lcr [ r rot l r t , rKu rn ; i ragup ta a f t t . r t l r c l ' h . r c l c l i n r i n . r t t , t j t l r e r r ( r , l c le r )[ r r r r t l rcr ( ior , , i r rc1.rgrJ[r ta (st i t , [ re l1rr , l , . r r 6] on l r . 2 l )

14 Karrc 1930-62 Vtr l l l , p .167l 5 C f . I l a k k c r 1 9 9 7 , I ' l . r r t . s X X X I I n n n r l X I . V I1 6 ( f . F , l ' l A l l l , I ' l a t c s l l a n t l l ? " 1 .17 l lakker lL)()2, 1,9(17 [ ' l : r r t ' XXXl l l .l l J C - f . Bakkc r 1997 , [ , l . r r . s X I IV B , X t . \ , n & l J a r r r l [ , l a r t , s

X X V I I I , X X V I I , X X I X Al c ) [ ( i d c l h a p t r r - [ ' l a t t ' s o f l , r a [ , h . i v . r t i g t r p t . i ( ( ' l l \ , I , p ] . 1 _ 1 7 )

; t r r t J N{ i r t ' r i . i o r r l ' l , t l cs o l I ' r abh i i r , ; r t i ( , r r t . l . r (Sh , rs t r . r &

Kar r ' . r t l ka r l tX ) l )2 0 c t [ \ / , I ] | 1 6 , 7 l l l . 1 _ 2 .21

' l ' l re ' i l l . rge . f Marrsar (Nlarrasara) is borc lcrecl . r t i ts c. rstc ' l

s ide br ' ' a i . rk t 'or l t ,ater-rcserv. ' i r 9p. C)p t l re i r r r t l - rcr , casrcrr . rs i c l c o f t l r i s l akc i s t l r e H ic r im t r . i H i l l . An a r t i f i c i a l c lan r a lo r rgthe sout l rcr . s ide of t l re rescr ' . i r cc) l lnccts thc ' i l lage v ' i tht l r c h t l l r \ su^ ' c r , ' . f t he a rca ( r r . , i t h n r . rP ) w , . r s f i r s t p r r r sg l l l gdbv !Vr- ' l ls tecl l9: l -1. At h is t inre thc rake aprparcrr t lv cxtc.r icc lfu r th . r t o the cas t , a lo r - rq the r ro r thc rn s i r l c . i t he I { i c r i r . b . rTekc l i . rh i s au tho r ; r l s . r ro t i ce r i ' t he

rn i l c - l . ng s t . r re fac i .go[ the lv lans.rr tarrk, drv l ru i l t of rarge. boul t l r . r rs arrc l s t .neslabs, r t ' rchi^s i ts greatest c lc 'e loprn.rr t at thc n- l ( ) l r . rs tcr \ ,s i te ' ( i e. lv lNS I I , scc bel . r r , ) T l re r rarne of thc ' i l lagc rst l ror-rght tc l r lcr ive f rc l rn the n.rnrer of t l re lake. As sr_rch isn ren t r .ncc l 'Man . rsa r . r ,a r . ' I { r t r ve 'e r , M i rash i 1959 . r r 22clcr i vcs the n.r rne f rorn ' lv l . r r r i k ; i Iasara. ' r r ,h ich he t l r i nks w.rsthc.r i11inal .arrre of t l re lake. The Rrrrr r lek sfr r r rc / r r .scr- i r t r i t t t r of 't l t t : t i t r tc of Rnnraclutn r l r r r nrerr t i i ' r r rs a ManikAlakuncla ( t3;rkker1989. p '18- l vs. 75). The ( late) s i r rdrT rnyi r t t r r i r r i t t t t t l r t 2. ( tnrentrons a t i t l r t t N, lanik i la * 'hc.re a man, a i te r a bath, shoulc jworsh ip I I i c l imLra . In t l r c S th ina p t r th i (p 5 ) o f t heMahar rubh . i ' a sc ' c t a s .a t . f c ak radhara i s n rc r r t i o . c t lca l l e t l l r l . t n . r s i l . r

22 lVe l l s t cd i93 '1 , p 16 .1 "Dur ins the c .u rsc r r i i r r ' t , s t rg . r t i . . sI in 192E] . r nurnbcr of c- . r r r ' 'ec1 st .nc f ragr lc. ts h r , r -e f .urr t l att h t ' s u r f a c c . r r t h e h i l l s l o p r e s t o t r . r c s o r , r t r r . f t l r . l a k eI i c . o n t h c s l o p c s . f t h e t I i c l i n r b a T c k d i l . " s . r n c . i t r r . s e . r r ei l lustratec ' l by Wel lstecl in I r late 1 l ; thtv a[)Pe(]r to bev a k i t a k d p i c c e s . l - h c s a r ' c a u t h . r . r l s . i l l u s t r . r t e s ( rf ragnrent of arr inscr ibecj st t - rnc show. ing 1-r .1 115 of fourcA..srrr r rs, appercnt [ \ , in Vdk; i taka scr ipt .

23 CII \ i pp 73-7)2 - l f t , r k k t , r l ' ) 9 ; , 8 7 [ , l ] l J 925 C I I V l9 l l , 13 - l - t & 1 - t -15 . I t i s gcnc . ra l l r l c rsSLra re t l t h . r t bo th

scts c ' r i [Jc lora Plat t -s (A & ts) , i r r r 'h ich the gra^ts r .Su ry . r s , " ' a rn in a re desc r ibe r j , \ ^ / c re i ssuer l f ro r r rNand iva rc lha r r ; r i r r t l r e 1 l t h r cg r ra l Ye . r r o [ [ , r . r r . . r ras t ,na ,thouglr set A, rvhich contai r rs t l rc i i rs t p l . r tc ant l t i r . ' rc ' foret l re p lace o f i ssuc (Nar rd i r , . r rdha l ra ) , l acks t l r c l . r s t L r l . r t t vv i ththc t l . r te, rvhi le set B, r t 'h ich is r lat r :c l i r r the l l t l r rcgnal yt , . t r ,nr isses t l re f i rs t p late arrc l herrce thc pr lace of issrre I ' i i t 'p1.111'5ha. , ,e L ' 'eor re-cxamincd bv A i r { Sl iastr r lShastr i l r )c)7, pp13-16) v r ,hc r c . rme to the co r rc lus ion t l ra t n .e a rc ac tu ; r l l 1 ,co l r cc rnc t l r v i t h o r re se t o r r l r ' ( p la te l I o f sc t [ ] L re i r rg ato rgc-rr, ' )

IJakker 191)7. .+t

l ' l r is c'orl m u n i t1, 6l lVh i te Ya j u n,t ' t i . t brah nrin s, prcsrul l .r L.r l Vl r ' ' ' i n g a t t h c s o u t h e r r r c c l g t ' o f ' t h c S a t p r u r . t l l . r n g c i n t h cC l r h i n d i , r , a r a D i s t r i c t ( N i I ' ) , h a r l p r r e v i o t r s l \ . [ . r c e n t l t er e c i p i e n t o f . r g r a r r t r l . r d c [ ' t , [ , r t ] r r v i r . i j a ( i . e . I ) r t h i v i s c n . r [ ,c . A I ) 3 6 ( ) - 1 9 5 ) , s i n c e t l r t ' g r c t n t b v P r a v a r a s c n a I I r l a s i n

e x c l t a t r q t ' o f a r r o t l r t ' r v i l l a g c ( \ / i y a l , a p r a l l i r . i t a k a ) , t . r r l i t ' r

t l o t r a t t t l h v t h e f o r r n e r k r n u ( C I l \ , ' , 6 f , l l . l 9 l ) ' I ' h c

r t ' c i p i c r r t s

t t f t l t c t t r . r r r v l a n c l g r . l n t s r . r l . l ' r , t r ' . t r a s c r r , r I l a r t ' I r r ; t l r r n i r r s ,

w ' i t l r t l r c r , x c ( . p t r o n o f o n t , r \ t l r , r n a v e r l r n ( C ' l l \ ; 5 ( l I l f i ) , a l t

Y a i t r r v e ' r i r r r s , r n o s t l v b r e l o n g i r r g t o t l r e l a i t t i r i l a [ ' ' r , t n c h ,

c l l t l r t n $ r r , l t o l n t h c ; 1 [ r 1 t v r , r n c n t i o r r r : c l S t l r l ' a s r ' . i r r r i l r ,

r e s i c l e n t o i t h c 2 t r t h l L i l r t l t t r t ' f P r . t v a r c s v . t r ( l , . r n c l t l r c

A r l h v a r v u A c i r v a [ ) r , r , . r s , r r r r r . r r r , r e r - i 1 ' r i c n t o f t l r t . r ' i l l a g t '

B t - a h r n a p r r r - . r k a ( C l l V p 3 0 ), o2 8 ( f i V c l l s t t ' c l 1 9 3 ' 1 , p . l ( r t : " l r r l ( 1 2 1 3 a c c . r t . r r n r n r ( ) u n tL l l r y c l l s t r ' c l l 9 . f i , p . l ( , t : " l r r l ( l f l 3 . r c c . r t . r r n . r r r r o u n t o l

t t t t c r t ' s t i r r g n t a t e r i ; . r l ( ( u l t ( ' t o l i g h t a n c i l t ' c l t ( ) t h t :

t ' r , t t t t t t t . r t i o n o f t h < ' r v h o l r ' ( r r ( , ( r \ u r r o u r r L l i n g N l , r r r s . r r t a n k ,

w i t l t t h t ' r t ' s t r l t t h . t t t l t t ' t r . , r r ' t ' s o l . r n t , r t t ' n s i v ' c t t r r r r r * l r r P r v t ' t . t '

c l i s t o q l ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 1 "

2627

20

Page 21: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

29 Ioshi . - rncl Sharrna i r r t l rerr rcP()r t o i the l { i t l i r t r [ r . i ' l -ekt l i

e \caVat ion (N'{NS-3) rePc)r t thc sr-r r i ' ]cc f inc l of " ' r s i lver coiu

o[rvesterrr Kshatrapa k inq s]rorr , ing swanl i Rt lc l raserr . r I l l 's

br- is t crr r the obverse atr t l t ln the rcverse ' l cat t \ " r wi th

i r rscr ipt ions rcacl ing lv la l ' r i r Kslr t rapa Slvami I (u, . i radar1]atr

I ) t r t . rsa l l .a ja Maha Kshtrapa sw.rn ' r i [ {udraserr . l 2 l Saka (348-

378 A . l ) . ) " . Cou le l i t be tha t th i s i s the samc co in as r cpo r ted

by ' D r Na t l r?

I i re o l . )serr , ; r t iorrs bV Wel lstct l . r r t r i the plan he provtc lecl of

the rnouncl i tsel f . rncl i ts surr t l t tnr i ings ( in rvhich \ \ 'e l ls tcd

s i tua tes thc ' ou t r r cou r t ' ) I r . i v r t t n io r t r - rna te lV bcc r l i gno rcc l

r r r the reprort o i t ) r Nath, br-r t t l - rcv arc wel l tv t l r t l i c luot tng

(Wcl ls tecl 193^1, p. 162) " ln t l re centre is a l . r rgt ' urount l

r t 'h ich r ises to a height ot -10 11 ; [sve the l t ' r "eI ancl

r -e56-nl l r les the- r r - r inecl st t rmp of a Buc' lc lh ist s t r - rpa in i ts

gerter i t l nPL)L' t t r0t ICc, nr t i r t t l r t ' t ' -sst tur u l t ic l r i< r to l c t t r r / i r r r te ' l L 'V t t

a1r)-sd c- \ r l1 l i , t t t t ior t , tu l r tCl t r r ' t , t ,Lt ls l r r tccs t r / r l r l rc l r l r l$ l rhr I tu i lL l i t tg

l , rdrTsr/ , ' r ,18 150 i t I 85 l i t t r t l te Lat t t r t t t f t l rc r i rorrr r i / l t is

possib lv t l ierefore thc r t ' tn ' l i r rs of a v i l r i r ' r t r r t ' t e I1 of ' t

: t 'c t r l r t r I , t t t l l i r ry ( , i t l t s t t r r t ' t r r r r i r r l . { ro l l r /s , b l r t r r 'h ' r tcr"er i ts

character , ivhich can t l t r lV l te rcvcalec. l Lr1 ' "* t " t " t i t l r r ,

i t

Obvior-rs ly coVeret l c t grLrup of bui lc l ins5 1r i gre. . - r t i r r rportance.

Unt i l qui te recent lv the s i tc h.rs L.r r -er t used LrV v i l l . lg t . rs; rs. r

L,r ick t luarr) , . so r t ruch so th.r t t t h. rs Lreen ptrssib lc to obtain

i ver) , to lcral r le ic lea of thc qr t tuncl p lan as reveale ' t l L-rv th is

r l es t r r , r c t i on . Th is i s sho ' " r ' n i r r [ ' ] a te [ ] " ( i t a l i cs m ine )

lVct ls ted gives a br ie i c lescr ipt ion r l f the s i te ancl r totc-s that

t l re s i zc o l ' t he L - r r i cks i s c 17" rc . ) " x3 " (45x23x8 cn t , c i above

p 8 )About th is s i te Wel lste c l I 93-1, p. 161 f . hat l o[5g1vgt l

( ignorecl by J P. )oshi . tnr- l , \ K. Sharnr. r ) : " l l i l l [J i t ' r rs

nppart ' r t l l t l L)r1arL)t t i l t i t ' i t l t t t ' t r t l t lcs ' tnc l a l l sur face i i r rds of

sctr lpturc have come i rorr l thcrc. Slrch as have L-eetr iound

exhiLr i t consic lerable ski l l . rnr i nrasterv i t t cxr 'cut t t r t l . l t td

f r ( rnr the r luant i tV arrc l d iVt ' rs i tV of chir racter tnt tst re [ ) resentd vc rv l a rge numbcr o i i n r . rqcs . ' l l l e s t r l nc t t sec l i s a f i ne -

gr . r iuecl a lumirrot ts sal lL lst t l l lC, c. rs l ' to wt l rk ar ld pcrmit t ing

.r f ine f i r - r ish." ( i ta l ics mine)

Thi s J a p.'r n- ba sccl f}-r c'l rl h i s t o rq.r rr i s.r tion p tt rc h;r sccl t he la nd

rrrr rv l i ich t l re crcav.r t i t t r rs i \ lNS -1 , -2, . rucl -3 h. l " 'c bt 'en

carr icc l otr t , i r rspi rcc l , i t lvor"r l t { sct f l l l , by tht 'e. r r lV st t rvcy of

I 'A lVcl ls ter i , who h.rc l r rot icccl at the s i tc o i MNS-2"renrains t r f . r grcat t t ton. ls tcr \ " ' ( . rs c i tc :c l in tAR 199+-95,55'

t rVl 127), though lVel ls tecl rvas . rct t ra l ly more c.rut ious in h is

ic lent i f icat ic ln than t l r is c i t . l t ior l sLrggests (sec . - rbove' n 30) '' I -he

I l ic l i r r lba- lekc ' t i h i l lock i tsel f vVas also takcrr ior a st t ipa,

especia l l l ' , i t woulc l s€-enl , a i ter Dr Nath 's t : rc . t r ' . r t i t ln of the'g re . r t n tonas te r ry ' a t N tNS-2 l - ra t l , c l i sappo in tc r ' 11y , no t

y i t : lc leci arry BLrcidhist ar tcf . r t t . L.orrg bctorc t l re; ' r rescnt

crcavat ions the olvncrs hacl p l i t tcc l a ( r re, , r ' ) Bucl t lh. r i r r rage

otr the top-r 1; i t l re l r i l lock to tn.r rk i ts a l legct l Buclc lhrst nature

( l r i g . 13 ) . T 'he t rad i t ro r r t ha t l l oc l l r i sa t t va N ; iga r iuna l i vcd in

. r cave c .3 kn r cas t o f t he Ramtek t r rav h . r vc , l l sc t . r r c lused

Bucldhist interest ( l I i r i la l l9 t l8, p 20a, pp. 2{-)6-2t)13). The

n . rn rc o f t hc o rga r r i sa t i on tes t i f i es to th i s t rac l l t i on . l l ca l

h i s t o r i c a l e v i t l e n c e i o r [ ] u d t i h r s t . r c t i v i t v i r r t h e

|re ight-ror-r rhoocl is Provic l t -c l bv three Btr t lc lh ist bronzes

iound in I I . rnr l i . rprur i , 5 krrr t t r thc East (J. lnrkht ' t lk . r r 1985) '

l l A f te r the conf t ' r t - l . t cc A .M. Shast r i r t ' ro te to mc i t r a le t te r

c la tcc l 13 .10 99 " In t l rc l r l ( ] c r r r t i t l l c - I hac i an oprp tor tu r r i t y t t r

t ' x a m i r r c t l r e N ' l a n s a r s c . r l i r r g s i n o r i g i n ; r l a s S h r i A K '

5 h a r t t r . r r v a t r t t ' c l t t r e t o g i v c t t r v r e . r t l i t r g s . I a m h a p p l ' t o

i n f o r r n r r o r r t h a t a l l i l f t h c n r . r r c s t ' . r l i r r g s ( r r o t s t ' a l s ) a t r c l 5 l r v e

t l r c r t ( l l r l C S [ ' r ' . l v . t r c s v a r a a t r c l J . r 1 ' a t ' r c l c l h r , s o t t r t ' t i t n c s

P r e c e t l t ' r - l l r v t l r e h o r l o r i i i c s r i , t t r t l t l r t ' l o r t t r e r s o l l l c t l m c s

errds i r r gert i t ivc s inqtr lar sr-r f i ix sv ' r ' "

34 EM 130. l t has to bc aclrn i t tcc l , thcrLrgh, that these legends are

not i tnrr tecl iatc lv c lcar i rom the "Age IEye-?] copy of the

insc r ibe r i sca l i ns " Pub l i shc ' c l i n F ig . 1 (EM 130) . Tvvo

imprcssions (seal ings) are rcdrarvrr in th is Figure; i t r one c l f

t hem Ican read : l r rn l to r t = t ' ; i t ' t t he c l the r : p r iun rn t t . The

reportecl reacling ltt it ' irt lhi mav be a corruptiorr of the

rearding jutlat,rdLll i as reprortcd L'r' A M Shastri.

35 Cf. t l re s ize of the br icks found in the excavat ion of thc

Vdkdtaka s i te i t r N' lanclhal . IAI{ 1975-76, p. 36 reports . rbort t

BI{K-t th. r t " the br icks used werc of tvvo s izes, v iz- 44x23x8

crn and - t0x24x| cnr" . Cf . Shastr i 1977 -78' p. 145 who reports

that the stze of the br icks oi s i te Vl t )L- l l is 44x23x8 cm.

36 A. lv l Shastr i wrote to tne in a let ter c latccl 24.4.2001:

"sharmaj i brought to tne t r r , 'o Lr locks of stone bear ing

fr . rgmentarv i r rscr ipt ions: one of thetn in late Vakataka box-

heacled char.rcters ancl the ot t rer in s l ight l l ' ear l ier nai l -

heaclcd characters. Thc let ters ou t l re lat tcr were alnrost

w'orn out rvhi le thctse on t l re f i rs t r r 'ere so far as preservecl

absolutc lv c lear ancl I gave hinr r r rv reacl ing."

37 EM 130 tnetr t iot rs "a base of an e. l r then iar ha" ' ing ele-verr

lroles on f irrc sli l ' 'ped recl lvare "

38 lhe accoutr t would have gainet l in p lausib i l i t l ' , i f paral le l

s i tes in lnc l ia woulc i have bcen el iscussed that l ikewise shorv

a cont inuous al ternat ion of Fl inc lu templcs ancl Buclc lh ist

stdpas (a long wi th the aclc l i t ional pecular i ty that onl ,v

l { i r rdu i rnages have been preservecl) .

39 I have nOt corne accross a refercnce to an al tar in the form of

a tur t le. Se'c above P. 19

+0 IAI{ 1953-5,1, l0f . Ramachanclr . rn l "951-52, pLt . 28-31.

41 Sh.rrm.r 1960, p 11E.

1Z Shartn;r 1t)60, p. 11ft.

43 Sharma 1960, p" 122f . See Plates 33, '13 No. 38.

44 Sharma 1960, p" 125. See Plates 36-3U.

45 Sharrna 1960, p.726..16 Von Schl inglof f 1968-69, p. lSt i "Die tats; ichl iche Erkl i i rung

fur c i re zwischerr c l ie Ziegel gelcgtcr-r Knochen ist t iberhaupt

nicht inr Ri tual c ler Feuerschichtung zu suchen, sc lncier t r

l iegt i r r e i t retn ganz ancleren Bcreich. Us gibt nt t r e inen Ri tus,

dc r c ias E i r r l egen vo l l Ceb t l i r r c l r zw ischen Z rege l

t r i o rc ie r l i ch mach t , unc l d ies i s t c l i e Sch ich tung e ine r

Grabs t ; i t t e ( . l n r r l sa r ra ) Nach c le r Le ichenverL r rennung

rverc let t d ic Gebeine eines Verst t l rbetren zuerst in e i r rer Urne

L-rc igcsetzt ; zu ei r rem spi i tererr Ze' i tpurrkt s ind s ic aus t ler

Urnc herartszunehrnen und - fa l ls der Verstorbcnc zu

[ -ebze i ten e ine Feuers tA t t c gesch ich te t ha t - i t r e tnc r

Cralrstat te r r iec lerzulegen, 11 ie i r r c lcr Art e iner Fctrerst i t te

17-1.9

arrgelegt wcrc ien sol l

I 'haparr in Agni l l ' , p.27.

Wel lsted 1934, p. 164 reports thc I ' inc l ing of ; r "snt ; r l l sn.rkc-

intage of grccnish soapr5leng atrc i sotnc pot tery" in a l r r ick

(b r - r r i a lT ) sha f t c . 1 .5 km to thc 'eas t o f t he H ic l imbd ' fekc l i ,

n ' l r i ch c r r€ kep t i r r t he Br i t i sh Muscun- r ( l t eg . No .

1 e 3 0 . 1 0 7 1 - 2 5 ) .- l -hough

rrr r t tnent i t lncd in the report , some Lrones ivL ' re

rcc() \ 'creLl f rom one of thc two t r . t tural c ; rves i r l t l re r t lck at

t l re no r the r r r s i t l e o f t he l r i l l du r r r rg n ry s tay a t thc s i te ' I n the

repor t t hese cu rves a re rden t r f i cc l as a "sh r i t re " ' l t t t l

" nrer l i tat i ( ) r r charnber" ( t iM 129)

I tay 1960, p. 311 Sce also lJot le ' ,vr tz 1977-78( loncl ; r 1980, p 154.

Br l ta t sn t r l r t t r i 53 2 - l : k r t t r i l l ) t k i l n l ' l t i l t o r t t i l : l r t n 'ad

r t t t t d l t r i t t u r t t r r r i / r t S i ; n r i r ( t l i I t R i I t t t t t l , ' t l t r l , l ( ' r l r l : l l l l r ? S t i

u r t t i g r l r t l i d l u t t r t t r k l t n r r . r t t t l n 5 t n t t t l l 2 l l t l r t t r r t ( ' r 7 . t l t t l t t

y r l r i t t t t t r i t t l t t t d l t t t t i d l t t s l / t t f t t l t s r r l t t l r 0 t a ' t t I l r l t l t t t t t r t r t t t t t t t l t t t t t

505 l;2

l0

l r

19

27

Page 22: Religion and Politics in the Eastern Vakataka Kingdom- Hans Bakker

BAKKER

t , id lu i l t l i ,astr t t t r t rnrr t kn!pnqr l t r t t ls t l l l 3 l l53 N I l . tsh. t t t , c leal i .g rvr t l r ,Ag;r . ras ancl Si lpa, .otes: , - lhe

pc r fo rn re r o f t l r e i r r s ta i l . r t i on cc rem( )nv the r r c l ra rvs . rc l iagranr cal led Vdstunrandara o. the s i te nrade even anclc l can . r r r l pe r f . rms . r f i r e r i t ua r to p l case the c re i t i es o f t r r clords of th is ma.c l . r ra V; is tu nreans a s i te for drvei l i r rg.Vistupurusa is a c le i ty rvho governs the s i te arrc l is lv ing onthe s i te, and his l inrbs are occup) iqf l b1, d i f ferent dei t ics.Before corrstruction, these' creities are to be pleased ancipermission to use t l - re s i te is t . be obtainecl . This r i tual isnamed uast1t t tpuj i ' (Bhat t 198.1, t5) .

54 IAR 1983-84, p. 58. I . t r re neighbourho.d . f th is s i te a f*r ,sculptural f ragr 'err ts, r .vhich the exca-vators ident i fy . rs'Kse t rapa la

Bha i ra , , , a , ' were f .und ea r l i e r l f comp le te i twou lc l have measurcc l c .17nr . Ou accc lun t o f s toncinscr ipt ions founcl in Kanci i rar of the t imc of the Rast rakutak i r rg K rsna I I I (A .D 939_65) , t he cxcava t , , r s i den i i f y theshr ine unearthed as that of t t re Ksetrapdla. I am muchobl iged to Frans Janssen who c l rew nrv at tentron to th ise rcav . r t i on .

55 The longi tudinal axis of the Marrsar crav f igurc runs f r .nrnorth-west to south-east rather t r ra l r f r .m w,est to east .

56 Accordi .g toJoshi and sharma th is image h,as founc{ "nc 'arthe south-we-stern cnd of the [Vdkatakal ternple, . (EM 129)

57 Tlre excavators ascr ibe the f i rs t phasc . , f i r r is iempre tc- ,f ' ravarasena I or h is son Rucirasena I (c. A.D.275 _ 36()) lnabsence of a detai led strat igraphic account th is hypothesiscan nei ther be proven nor r l ispro 'en. I f i t l r ,oulc l turn out tobe co r rec t , t he thes is ac l vancec l b1 ,A .M. Shas t r i anc iacceptecl by me, to the ef fect that the horneland of theVakit;rkas in the thircl arrd first harf of the f.r-rrth cenrurywas i r r Bunde lkhanc l , h . r s to be recons ide red . In thc .i r rscr ipt ions of h is succcssors k ing Pravarasena I (c. A.D275-335), cal lec l snrr t ra l , is said t . harre pcr formcd sever.r lVedic sacr i f ices: s ix ectvpes of the f l ,ot is toma, r , iz . theAgni5!oma, Aptoryama, Ukthya, SoclaSi r r , Atrratra, Vajapcl ,a( including thc Brhasp,rat isava), next to thc Sadyaskra ancl[ 'urr ASvamedha sacr i f ices. F ' r a l r these soma sacr i f iccs thcrf i r c -a l ta r cons t ruc tec i i r r t hc Agn ica l rana i s the n ros tp res t rg ious . Ba lanc in6 ; a l l ou r ev idc r rce o I thc ea r l vVakatakas, t rorvcver, i t appears as yc. t more plausi t r lc tcrassumc tha t P ravarcsva ra I I a t t hc beg inn ing o f h i s ru le ,wh i l c s t i l l r es i c l i . g i n Na .d i va rdhan . r , bu i l i t h i s t cmpr tr ramccl af ter h i rnsel f (prav;rrcsvara, see al rove l , 4) ancl later ,r" 'he. h is re-s idence had nr 'vec ' l to the foot of t i - rc h i l l , rebui l tor enlargeci th is tenrpr le to .1 statc sanctuar l , f rgnt r t , l rercofficial charters were issuecl (,nijnrlikndltnrrtttrtsthinrr, callecl" [ ) ravare Svaradevakulasthana, ' ; see abr lve pr 4)

58 ldent i f ied wi t l r the l rzrr l le t Terw,ar, c . 10 knr south-vvcst ofJab 'a lp t r r C i t y . M i rash i 1982 , 66 t . , y t .72 l 1 : t r i l t u r iT rn - .ok t i ( t )

.59 Mirashi 1982, p.70 f . ; c{ . N{ i rasl . r i in JESI (19g0), 86 f f t .heir r tcrpretat ion of th is vcrs* is c.ntr .vers iur l [ , -krct i . CIr I I r( l t l 88 ) , 53 -54 , l l . 1 ( ) - l l r c ( r r l s : sn t r t t r t l i ! a l t n ( l n )kos t i t r1tu(sr1n)rnr t t ' i r r . t i cu (1) i t i , i ; he t . rkes t l r is as a refr . r t , .ce t r - r th.t r i b t ' . f t l r c Pusyan- r i t ras . F rec t ad r . i t t ec i r r r . r . . t e tha t i l r csec.nr l s ' l laL-r le of thc .arne was darn.gcr ' r fv{ i rasrrr 1982( l l i l ) l , 70), fo l lowrng a l ) r ( ) -pes.r l 9[ Diyekar, c6r . r jcctures t l rcretrc i i r . rg. st t t r rudi tnbn( ln)k<ts i t t . rJudr l r r . t l Lt ) t r t i r r r l r t tsca (1)sr /z, r i ; thati s . ' a f t c r

hav ing v ; r .qu ishc t l i r r ba t t l c (qu t l l t t \ l r i s . r . r r . r r r r csr . v l r . s . wca l t l r an r l p ( ) \ ^ fe r hac l i ' c r cas . r l , , a r cac l r r rgacc t :p t t : r l i r r t l r c rev i s t : c i ec l i t i . r r ( l 9S l ) . f C l l I l l ( p 315 r , s .4 )

6 ( l M i r . r sh i 1982 (= l l { t , I ) , p . 706 l l ' he re i s a rnp lc e r , i r i . r r cc tha t V id i !a w . rs [ {a r r r . rgup ta ,s

s t r o r r g h o l r l , s e c I l X X X V l l l , p p 4 ( . _ 4 9 ; c i N l r r a s h i t 9 g 2 , p p5( r - ( r4 ; f . sh i l ( )92 , y t l 2 r

- r r r .ugh rcss n ,c i l , r t t t , s t c r r , , r s in r r r . r r

s t ruge le rna ' a l s . ' ave take . p race a f t c r thc dea t r r c , r ,Canclragupta I I , w,hen Kurndragupta hacl to adclress t l rccha l l enge . f h i s e rc le r (? ) [ - r ro the r Go ' i ndagup ta (E I xxv r ,pp 12 -18 ; Thap lya l 1972 , pp .66 ,96 ) .

62 Bharrdarkar 's t ransrat ion (CII I I I , pp. 2gg,30z) of : ( r rn)rnpatr( It I t ) u j n g a n a rrt t n ti n n dn t' 7r o t p r n r 1 a n n n1 p r n t i krt i ( gn ) r t t tl a j rr a ( r u)ntn ' is i (n l ) cni 'nkart i i l : ;1 The sanskr i t (and i ransrat ion; isp rob lcn ra t i c ; one wou lc l e )" i j it av a t t i,, i s i kn r t n r a g rec * i t n fpn"ul.,ta

" i'"T' ittl':r,,, i,t f;302 n. 3) that th is s imi le probabry ai lucre-s to the Ndgas, butun l i ke h im (C I I I i l , p . B1 ) , I assume tha t the .y wereChatotkaca's a l l ies rathcr than his adversar ies

63 Keva la -Naras imha Temprg Insc r ip t i o r r (Bakkc r 1997 , p .165)r , ' s . l 7 (1 . 9 ) .

64 The upheaval in the western part of the Gupta k ingdom isalso apparent f rom t l . re fact that f rorr i the I^" <: fKumdragupta 's death the issuing of chartcrs by the Cuptafeudator ies ru l ing in Valkhj (Anupa), south of Malwa, isdisrupted; these ru lers had in their many inscr ipt ions,which are dated in the Gupta era, referrecl t. ihe pTace: of thcpnrnrnahhnttarttka (Ramesh & Ter,vari 1990, p. vii i) About thi:st ime, or short ly af terwards, th is region came urrc ler thesway sf Vatsagulma (Bakker 1997,39)

65 Bhi tar i s tone Pi l lar Inscr ipt ion of skanciagupta (c i l I I r , 315l l . pp. 12-14) vs. G: p i t t t r i t l ionrrr upe(t t ) t , iL t lutnr t t( i ,n)r i ia lnksnim, b l ru jabalni , i j i tnr i r yah ptrat is t lm(pt1n) b l t t lynl ( | "1 j r tnm i t t pnr i rosart ( r r t )ntnranr snsrnrtcrrnrr t , r t r r ter i r t r t r i t , t r(kfl;ryo deztnkitrt ablryu(peta)lr ( l l 6. i l )

66 NS tO.ZZl . brnl t r t rn jn lnnnarn t t i pt t t5 l ;a;qplonto Lt l lar is tautr i rh a dl w n t r uknt n m u st tt tllny n h i ra t r t1 tt gn rbl t ah sn tn ait a r t n t d g r.ai t i t ns rn in l r i r a ru tn t l an t pu ru -san t p rnc i t t n t r r t t t t a r tu r r rdnksinertn tn,.rtttrt prnhnttrkrttt u.tttclhnyn lttt rttsastlrrrn gntlctrsLlr tpt 'L:st /dt i l l 3 l l . cr sgr z.q l .7-27 ancl the Tnr i t i r iquSru t r l t r t d (5 .2 .7 .2 ) i n the t rans la t i on o f Kc i th : , , l l e , pu ts downa golc l d isk; golc l is immort . ' r l i ty ; r ,er i l l , i r r imnrorta l i t l , he-pi les the f i re, for propagat ion Fle puts a golc icn man, tosupp.r t the rvor ld . f the sacr i f icer ; i f he r 'ere to put i t overthe perf ' rat ion in the br ick, he would obs1ps61 the L-rreath . fcat t lc ancl of t l re sacr i f icer ; hc puts i t c lown o. the south s ic lewi th heaci to the east : he supports the n,or lc l . f thc sacr i f ice;hc c i 'es not rbstruct the breath of cat t le and the sacr i f icer ."

67 TaiS 4.2.U.f ( t ransl . Kei th) : "The c l . rp hath fa l len orr thccarth, the sky, on th is seat , arrd on t l re onc vvhich, , r ,asafore- t inre; thc dr 'p that warrdercth .ver the th i rc l seat Iof fer in t l - re sc.ven Hotras."

6u ra i s '1 .2 8 .g - i ( t rans l . Ke i th ) : " l I 'mage t ' t he se rpe . t s v 'h i chare on the earth, the se.rpents in the atrnosphere, iu the skr , ,tcr thcrse scrp.nts homage t l" etc. Cf. Vtlraltt srnutttsL'ttrn2.1 6.16. Boudl i ryann Sratr tnst t t ra rn isses th is e lenrent

69 t$s to.zz '1: , l r i l rsa! cnskont lcr i pt t ru-<ntn nhrt i t rv ! , t1n , i r to t ls t ,sttr '|tclt l111q iti t isrhhir nlthirtrttt 'r lt 'r/t krrtusrn pajt itr ltLtncnbliru t tn rni,t 'd i itttt lt u rtr snrtt t,r/i xhi rv tt slrrcrii, ttTtttt lndl fi t i t rl t tktn trt

70

71

i l 1 t lAccordius t . t l rc t racl i t ic ln of the Va jasan. \ , i , ' . * is prraceci orrt l re nrcrr tar (sec SI l r 7.5. I .26).

; 4 , . - . ^ - ^ ^/\>> l( 't. l/./-1. ntuno ttstu sttry:blrtla itt dttksirrt: 'tttst'

snrpttsirttrpttlndlttlnd uisilc' irtnnJ pniLtii rsnrh.

' l 'he 'erb Ltyotllt i is usccj

fo r p i l i pg b r i ck .s as we l l as fo r the ins ta l l ; r t i on /p l ; r c ing o fo t l r c r i t t ' n rs , I t i s the rc fo re r ro t c lea r r . r , hc t l re r arepresctr tat ion i r r br ick ( t ' r1r) or a real srr . rke hc.ad is i r r terrdecll rer t : . Isrr j i l9{93, p. I56 takcs N\ i r r t t t ,usrnt t l ts [ t l rn 8.3 to nrean"pi l ing of a scrpcrr t l rcat l " Baudh; iyarra spr11l l i5 , of a "real"sr . r . rke l read (BSS l0 9, Agni l l , p. a99) th.r t s l rorr lc l I 'c p lacccit rn t l tc ' r ight (sorr t l r t ' r ' r r ) 1-r .111 <l f thc for t ' l t t :ac l . I t r l . r r ' , Lrct l i r - t ' t ' t c t l I o r r ' , r r . t l s th t ' r l i r t ' t ' t i on f ro rn w l r i c l r c l . r r r sc ' r t l - r r , , o t3 , l s

22- s r r r i l i t , ' l s t , t t t 5 1 1 1 , / i 1 ' . s 1 8

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t tE t - l ( ; l ( )N AND l 'O l - t ' f l cs IN T I IE EASTEI {N V I \KAIAKA K INGDOM

72thc country (BSS 10.30; Agt t i l l , p. 53c)) .

The Purusa F lv rnn , T . r iA r 312 1= l (V X .90 ) . As has L ree 'n

observccl by Cal . rncl , th is e lement may have been c ler iveci

f rorrr the t racl i t ion of thc Vla i t rdyaniyas (Mrr i t r r i ryar . i Sarry l i tn

3 .5 .1 ) , . r s i t i s no t i ou r rd i n the Tn i t t i r i t l t t Sa rn l i t a no r i n

Etutdlnt lLtntz Srnt t t ,ns[r t rn. The Srat t tasi l t ra of the Mai t rayani

yas. t l rc ' Mnntt le Srnutnsi l t rn, inc leed rcads;rs fo l lows (6.1.8.1,

3) : ' t le should construct the

'man- la! 'er ' (p111- l l -eacrf i ) on the

nrrr t l rerrr shouldcr (ut tnrnsnt i r r r t rur t .<c) . I the s.rnre formulas]

Alooi f rcrnr the upper part of the body (ut tnrardl r i t ) he

shor-r ld constr t rct the hcad of the snake (snqtni i r t ts) turned

away ( f rom thc body) by means of thc " l iomage to the

serpents" \ 'crses (sr t ryrnnarna); or he should assign i t (only)

ancl r rot (actual l l , ) construct i t . ' (The same al ternat i l 'e in ASS

16.27.23]l

1'he [1trar.tt1nkt3i Srsut,L,st?trn places the serperrt hcacl on the

left slroulclcr (see C.rlarrt ' l ad ASS 76.27.22) As to the placc

of the hl rman f igure C.r land (acl loc.) remarks: "Art undWeisc ih re r Sch ich tung s rnd undeu t l i ch " .I t l s conce i r , ' ab le tha t the theo log rnns o f the Wh i te

Ya;urvecla, the VAjasanevins (as wel l as Bauclhdyana), in

v ierv o i their ic lent i f icat ion of the al tar r , r ' i th thc PLrrusa (SBr

6113-7), took the tota l i ty of the br icks of the f i rs t layeri tsel f as a representat ion of the pturusn, wl i ich woulc l render

another L lLtrLtst l f igure, in acld i t ion of the man of gold and

the al tar i tsel f , redundant. On the other hand, though, the

omission of the serpent head remair-rs int r iguing. As we

have seen, the serpents were ear l ier invokecl , by the sarneverses but wi thout the exempl i fy ing head, af ter the man of

golc l had been instal led and the Purusasar-nan had been

sung .ASs to .0 .z -3 ; c f . VSs 2 .1 .1 .50 and MSs 6 .1 .2 .23 ( i , n r -1yn andrnj nntynbnn t//ru). Accord ing to Bautllmyatt S r Lttt tttsltt rLt 10.9 it

should be the head of a vai5ya k i l iec l in bat t le (Agni l l , p.1e9)t t r rd, i prnl i1rva nt la l l tnt t , ASS 16.6.7: cf BSS l t ) l0 (Agru l l , p501) . The r i t ua l acco rc l i ng to Ca land 's t rans la t i on o fApastamba is as fo l lows: "Dann geht er rn i t s ieben odere inu r rdz - rvanz ig Bohnen in c le r l - ' { anc l , un l c inen

Mcnschenkop f zu ho len , de r von e inem Va isya oderKsatr iya t rerr i ihr t , welc i rer c lurch einen Pfei l ( i rn Kr iege)oc- ler c l t r rch c len Bl i tz getotet worden rst Nach-dem er c l ieBohrren in dcr Ni ihe (des Korpers) h ingeworfen hat , haut erc len Menschenkopf ab mit der Formcl : "Der c lu l r ier b ist ,c lern di r d ieses Haupt angehi ; r t , c lurch dieses Haupt sol ls tdu c lor t inr [Jesi tze eines Hauptes sein" und legt dann an c l ieS te l l e dcs Kop fes e inen s ieben fac l r t l u rch locher tenAnreisenhaufen nicc ler . Er s i r rgt , w; ihrencl cr recl r ts unr r lasI Iaupt herumgeht, c l ie c l re i an Yarma ge.r ichtcten Versc [ . . . I(n Ss 16 6.2-4).KSS 16.1 .74'. 1tarii., rte Tttrrusnsanljinptnttttrt.KSS l6 1 .32 : n t t ya t r i c t t i h i ran tnaq in t ( , r i t r t n r r t t t r y i r r i

unnnl t tb l ryt t i tnn. Cf . [ ) t ,at t l ]n Sf i t rn (BSS 22 2) : "As for the

prepara t ion o f the heads o f the sac r i f i c i a l v i c t ims :

Bauc' lhdvana says they should be ei ther re.r l or m.rde of c lay.Sat i t i says that they should be real ones only. Aupa-rnan l ' ava says tha t they shou lc i be madc o i go ld " (Agr r r I I , p .61 3 )KSS 16.1 .19-20 catur t l i r r r a1tsu knt lnpr isar tLtr r r l l l9 l l tnto tnrdts tnk i r th ip t t i c t r l l 20 l l ; c f . n SS l6 . t t tSBr O 2. t 7. Cf . Ktrrnrntr t t t Sr l t r r r (BSS 2529\ rvhich refers toth i s p rac t i cc (A ,g r r r l l , p . 653 f )s r i qn l r , i r i en t i f i ed r v i th the e l i x i r o f l r f e ( r r r sn . ) i r r SBr 6 I 1 IS l l r 6 2 . 1 . t 1 .' lhrS

5.4 11 Sce BSS 17.21t (Agrr i l l , pp. 6{16-675)

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I tEL IC I tON AND l 'O t - t I l L .5 lN I I t L b r \5 t b l (N Vz \Kr \ l r \K / \ K INGDUM

thc coun t r r ' (uSS 10 .30 ; Agr r i l l , p . 53 t ) ) .

7? . fhe [ ' u r t r sa Hv tnn , T . r iA r 312 (= l t v X .90 ) . z \ s h . r s beer r

observccl bv Calarrc- l , th is e lemt 'nt tnay have bcen c ler ivecl

i rcrr r r thc t rar . l i t ion of thc- lv la i t rdv;rn iy. rs (A.4r i t f r r iqar i Satr t lutn

3 5. l ) , . ts i t is not iot r r rd in t l re Tni t t i r iyn Satnl t r t t i nor in

I l t r t t l l t t ivr t t r r r i r r t t r lns[r t rn. Tl re Srnrr la: i t r t t t t f tht ' M.r i t r . r t 'ani

r ras, t l re ' lv l t t t t t t ' t r Sr tutns[ t t rn, inc leed rcads as fo l lovvs (6.1.8.1,j ) : ' l l e

sho t r l c l cons t r t t c t t he ' tnan- lave r ' (T . r t t r t t . sac i l i ) on the

rrrr r thern s l ' rot r ldcr ( t r t tnr t ts t t t i t r t t r t r t tsc) . I the sanre forr lu lasl

Al<roi f r r r r r r the upper part o i the body ( t t t larL i rd l l i t l h 'e

shoulc l r -otrst rLtct t l " re hcad of the snake (snryai l r i r .s) turrned

ah 'a \ , ( f ron the body ) by means o f thc " l {o rnage to the

: jerpents" \ 'cr : ;es ( -sr t rpnnamn); or he shoulc l assign i t (only)

. rncl r rot (actLr . r t lv) construct i t . ' (The same al ternat ive in ,4,S-S

16 .17 23 )

73 1 'he [ { t r , t t t t l r tkc i t . \ ' r ' r t t i l , i -s t i l rn p laces the serprent hcaci on the

fef t s l rour lc icr (see C.r land ar- l ASS 16.27.22). As to the place

of the l r t r rn;r r r f igure Caland (ar l [oc.) remarks: "Art und

lVe- isc ihrer Schichtung s i r rd urrdeut l ich".

7 '+ I t l s concc i r , ' . r b le tha t the theo log ians o f the \ 'Vh i te

Yajun'e 'c la, th i : Va;asaneyins (as wel l as Baucl l ray. ina), tn

u1"1v o i t he i r i deu t i f i ca t i on o f thc a l ta r r v i t h the [ ' t r rusa (SBr

6 .1 .1 .3 -7 ) , t ook the to ta l i t y o f t he b r i cks o f the f i r s t l aye r

i tsel f as a representat ion of the;r t t r t t .sr t , whic l r rvoul t l rencler

another lLrr t rst t i igure, in addi t ion of thc man of golc l and

thc al t ; r r i tsel f , redunclant . On the other hancl , thoueh, the

omiss ion o i t he se rpen t head rema ins in t r i gu ing . As we

have scen, the serpents were ear l ier invokecl , br , ' the sarne

verses but rv i thout the exempl i iy ' ing head, . r f ter the man of

golc l l rar l beerr insta l led ancl the I 'urusasatn;rn hat l been

su ng .7 ; ASs 16 6 .2 -3 ; c f . \ /SS 2 .1 .1 .50 and MSS 6 .1 .2 .23 ( t ' r r i - ( r7a an t l

r i lnr tytbort t l l r r r ) Accorei ing to Bot tdhi t lnt tn Srt t t t tnsf t t ta l0 9 i t

should bc thc hcad of a vaiSy.r k i l lec l in bat t le (A,gr t i I l , p.-19e)

7(t t r t r t l r l 1, rn! i1r t1r t t t tdnLl l t t i t r , ASS 1667; cf . BSS 10.10 (Agrrr I I , p.

501) The r i t ua l acco rc l i ng t r - r Ca land 's t rans la t i on t l i

Apast . . rml ' ra rs as fo l lows: "Dann geht er mi t s iebcn t lder

e in r . rnc l z r r ' . r r r z - i g Bohr ren in c le r I - {anc l , t lm e inen

lv l cnscher rkop f zu ho len , d r : r von e ine tn V . r i 3v . r oc le r

Ksatr iya ht ' r r r - i l r r t , lvelcher durch einen Pfei l ( rm Kr iege)

or ier c lurch r len Bl i tz getdtet rvorden is t . Nach-t1cm cr t l ie

l lohnen in r lcr Nahe (de's Kdrpers) h ingeworfen hat , haut er

c ien Metrschenkop-r f ab mit c ler F-onnel : "Dcr du hier b ist .

r lc tn r i r r d iest :s Haupt angcht ; r t , c lurch dieses I laupt sol ls t

dr-r c lor t i rn f l t :sr tze eincs Haul-r fu '5 sein" und lcgt dann an t l ie

S te l l e - r l es Kop fes e inen s iebcn fach c lu rch locher ten

Arrre iserrh. lufen nicc lcr . Er s i r rgt , wihrend cr rcchts unr c ias

I l aup r t he rumgeh t , c l i e d rc i a t t Ya rm. r ge r i ch te te 'n V 'e rsc [ . . . ItASs r6.6 2-.r)

77 KSS 1t , .1.1{ . , r r r r r t i ' r t t ' . t t r ru-sasorr l i r inytnrrnrr t .

73 KSS l6 132 : u t r y i r t i i ' n h i rn tyna t4 in i t : t i n r r t t r t t n t l i n i

ut i t t i l t t l t l rVr t t t t l r t . Cf . L) t ,ar t lhn Si l t r t t (BSS 22 2) ' " ' \s for the

p r e p a r a t i o n o f t h e h c a d s o f t h e s a c r i f i c i a l v i c t i m s :

Bauclh. iv . rn( l savs they shoulc l bc e i ther real or rn. tde oi c [ay.

Sat i t i s . rys that they should be real oucs otr l \ ' . Atr ; ra-

rn i l l r t 'avd sat 's that thev should be made of golc l " (Agirr I l , p.( ) 1 3 )

79 KSS l6 . l . l 9 -20 (a tu r r t t l t t r r t psu k i t l np rnsn t tn r l l l 9 l lt s tnk i r t l t iT t r t s c r r l l 20 l l ; c f . ASS 16 u .1 .

,q ( ) Sgr O : . t 7 C f Knrn t i t r t L t S i t t rn (BSS 25 .29 ) r vh i ch

t o t o t r r r d

reft ' rs tcl

t h i s p r a c t i t c ( A t r r r l l , p 6 5 3 f )E I s r t r l t t l t , i c l c r r t r I i cc l r v i t h t l r t ' t ' l i x i r o f l i f e ( rn . .n ) i n 5 t ] r 6 .1 .1 .1i l 2 s B r ( ; . 2 . I I I8 l Ia iS 5 - l I I St 'c I - ISS l7 2r{ ( ,4grrr I l , pp.666-675)

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