Impact of Vedic Culture on Society

by Kaushik Acharya | 2020 | 120,081 words

This page relates ‘Sanskrit Inscriptions (E): The Panduvamshis’ of the study on the Impact of Vedic Culture on Society as Reflected in Select Sanskrit Inscriptions found in Northern India (4th Century CE to 12th Century CE). These pages discuss the ancient Indian tradition of Dana (making gifts, donation). They further study the migration, rituals and religious activities of Brahmanas and reveal how kings of northern India granted lands for the purpose of austerities and Vedic education.

Sanskrit Inscriptions (E): The Pāṇḍuvaṃśīs

[Study of Sanskrit Inscriptions Issued During Early and Early Medieval Period (E): The Pāṇḍuvaṃśīs]

The Pāṇḍuvaṃśis were consolidated their power in Dakṣiṇa (south) Kośala in the sixth century. They extended their empire to the places Sambalpur-Raipur-Bilaspur region of contemporary Madhyapradesh, which presently situated in the state Chhattisgarh.

The fourth ruler in the dynasty was Mahāśiva Tīvara, who developed in the latter half of the sixth century CE.[1] He issued the Bonda Plates in his fifth regnal year viz. c. 600 CE.[2] Mahāśiva -T īvara -r āja orders to the residents of Bondaka and Avaḍika in Piharāja-bhukti that the village has been granted through a libation of water to increase religious merit of his parents and self along with the usual rights and privileges, such as nidhi, upanidhi, a prohibition on entry therein by the Cāṭas and Bhaṭas, a right to all taxes and ten crimes, and with a guarantee that the grant could be enjoyed by the donees so long as the world exists. The village was granted in favor of twenty-five brāhmaṇas that belonged to Yajurveda and Sāmaveda. Among the twenty-five brāhmaṇas, three of them were Avanti-vikram-opāddhyāya, Lāta-phaliha-svāmi, and Baṃdhudeva-yoraṅgaVishṇubhava-svāmi.[3] As the editor of the charter, D.C. Sircar[4] points out, the fact that these place names are attached to the names of the brāhmaṇas shows that they probably came from Avanti or western Malwa, Lāṭa or central and southern Gujarat. Possibly the prefix Yoranga was also the name of a specific place that has not identified yet. D.C. Sircar identified the Bondaka . He says Bondaka is modern Bonda, which is situated in about two miles from the bank of the Mahānadī in Raigarh district of Madhya Pradesh (Now in Chhattisgarh). The other locality mentioned in this charter viz. Avadika , yet to be identified, although the grant itself states that it was situated near to Bondaka. So it can be clearly said that these brāhmaṇas were emigrated from Mālwa (west-central region of Gujarat), and stayed in middle India, or specifically in Madhya Pradesh or Chattisgarh.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

There is a controversy regarding the date. However, the approximate time given is based on historical grounds and scholars like D.C. Sircar concluded the time period of Mahāsiva Tīvara to the third quarter of 6th century (EI, vol. XXXIV, pp. 112-113).

[2]:

USVAE, vol. IV, part I, pp. 47-48.

[3]:

Ibid., p. 51.

[4]:

EI, vol. XXXIV, pp. 111-116.

Like what you read? Consider supporting this website: