We are happy to present this first English translation of the Kurmasatakadvayam two inscribed Prakrit Satakas on Kurma, the Tortoise who supports the Earth attributed to the renowned scholar-emperor Bhojadeva of Malwa in Central India (c. AD 1000-55). We reproduce here the Prakrit text of the two poems originally edited by Prof. R. Pischel, in the Epigraphia Indica, Volume VIII, published by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1905-06. We have carried out corrections in the text of the two Satakas, as per Prof. Pischel's directions in his footnotes. We thank the Archaeological Survey of India for permission to print the Prakrit text.
In the inscription, the first poem is entitled Avani-Kurma Sataka, while the second one is not given any name. We call this monograph " Kurmasatakadvayam, two Satakas on Kurma.
We express our deep gratitude to the late Professor Harivallabh Bhayani who first drew our attention to these two inscribed poems on Kurma. We are indebted to Prof. M. A. Dhaky for going through the Introduction and making valuable suggestions. We are grateful to Dr. Jitendra B. Shah for publishing this monograph. We warmly thank Ms. Tulsi Vatsal for editing the Introduction and going through the translation of the poems.
We hope that these 11th century poems on Kurma, representing a rare extant example of the inscribed poetry in India, will be of interest to Indologists, historians, students of mythology as well as to lovers of the tortoise, the animal who is a model of self-control and restraint, a much desired ideal in this terror-stricken world.
Though technically the word "turtle" (sea or freshwater reptile) rather than "tortoise" (land or freshwater reptile) would perhaps be more apt in the context of some Indian myths, we have continued to use the traditional translation of Kurma and kacchapa as "tortoise" throughout the text.
Notably, the poems do not refer to the Churning of the Milky Ocean myth associated with the Kurma avatara of Visnu who supports the Mount Mandara, rather, as discussed in the Introduction, they pertain to Kurma 's role as Dharani-dhara, support of the earth, a role said to be played by a successful monarch who supports the earth over which he rules. To Dharani-dhara, Kurma as well as the great King Bhojadeva, we dedicate this monograph.
The two Prakrit Satakas on Kurma, the Tortoise who supports the Earth, are attributed to the illustrious Paramara King Bhojadeva of Malavadesa in central India (c. AD 1000-55). The two Satakas, each actually having 109 stanzas and composed in the Arya metre, are inscribed on a stone slab at Dhara (Dhar), Bhoja's capital town. It was in 1903 that K. K. Lele, Superintendent of Education at Dhar, discovered the stone slab bearing the inscribed poems, from among the ruins of a monument that was originally Bhoja-sala, a school of learning, and brought it to the notice of Prof. E. Hultzsch, the government epigraphist. Prof. R. Pischel, who has edited the inscription in the Epigraphia Indica, Volume VIII, tells us that it consists of 83 lines and is engraved with great care. The language of the poems is Maharastri Prakrit.
The poems were not translated into English to this date and I am happy to say that on my request, Dr. V. M. Kulkarni, eminent authority on Prakrit and Sanskrit studies, undertook their translation and prepared a Select Glossary. He desired that I write an Introduction to this book, a request with which I readily comply with because of my own interest in the kurma symbolism in Indian art.
These Satakas, as Pischel says, are of doubtful poetical value, but are historically important for two reasons. First, they are among the rare extant examples of inscribed poetry in India. The other known examples, also inscribed at Dhara, are Khadga Sataka, Kodandakavya, attributed to Bhojadeva, and the play Parijatamanjari composed by a preceptor of the Paramara King Arjunavarman in about AD 1213. Secondly, the Satakas are significant from the viewpoint of kurma symbolism. They represent the full-blown development of the idea hitherto found only in stray, single verses of the Tortoise (rather than the Boar or Serpent) as the support of the earth; and, analogically, of the king as the support of the earth over which he ruled. This concept must have fascinated and flattered Maharaja Bhoja enough to have the two poems inscribed on stone.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist