Impact of Vedic Culture on Society
by Kaushik Acharya | 2020 | 120,081 words
This page relates ‘Mingling of Cultures (M): The Shailodbhavas’ 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.
Mingling of Cultures (M): The Śailodbhavas
After the downfall of the Matharas, the Śailoabhavas rose into prominence and established their political powers. They were also ardent followers of vedic worship. Mādhavarāja II and his son Madhyamarāja I, are known to have performed Aśvamedha and Vājapeya sacrifices.[1] Although they were staunch Śaivites, they showed greater interest in the Vedic practices to establish their imperial status[2] as the sacrifices associated with the consecration of an Emperor. They also issued land to the learned brāhmaṇas called Bhaṭṭas. They does that for religious merits and to get the support from the brāhmaṇas in consolidating their authority as well.[3] In the Copperplate charters of the Śailodbhavas we notice some of the donees and officers bearing the name MādhavaSvāmī.
Puruṣottampur Plates of Sainyabhita Masdhavavarman II Śrinivāsa (c. 633 CE)[4] issued by the King Mādhavavarman II of Śailodbhava dynasty records a land grant of a village Amba-grāma to a Bhaṭṭa-Nārāyaṇa of the Chāndo gya caraṇa (Sāmaveda) for augmentation of merit to his parents and himself. Again, Purī Plates of Madhavavarman (c. 633 CE)[5] records a land grant of a village to Bhaṭṭa-vittadeva of Kauthuma-śākhā of chāndo gya-caraṇa (Sāmaveda) for the same purpose.
The Śailodbhava rulers followed Śaivism. The word “Śailodbhava” etymologically means “born out of rocks.” Their myth of origin attributes the emergence of the dynasty’s founder to Śiva. The oldest surviving temple in Bhubaneswar the Paraśurāmeśvara Śiva Temple was probably built during the reign of Mādhavavarman II.
The Śailodbhava inscriptions begin with an invocation of Śiva and describe the king as Parama-Māheśvara (a great devotee of Śiva). But the engraving issued by the Śaivite Śailodbhava King Mādhavavarman II, as mentioned above, clearly shows the vedic learning and religious practices at that time.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
EI, vol. XI, pp. 281-287.
[2]:
Taittirīya-Saṃhitā (11, 7, 6, 1) and Taittirīya-Brāhmaṇa (V, 6, 2, 1) mention vājapeya as a ceremony associated with the consecration of an Emperor.
[3]:
EI, vol. XIII, pp. 123-31.
[4]:
USVAE, vol. IV, part I, pp. 453-456.
[5]:
Ibid., pp. 457-462.