Raaladesha and more

[Mahes Raj Pant]

Dear list members

 

1. Two Nepalese inscriptions, the one from early 17th and the other from early 18th century, record the meritorious acts of the Vasis.Thagotrin BhaTTa Brahmins hailing from Raaladesha, situated on the bank the Kaaverii river. The latter inscription spells the desha in question as RaaDa. There is no problem in la and ra because we know that ralayor abhedah.

However, the problem lies in the identification of the desha mentioned in the inscriptions. Though I went through a few  books on Indian historical geography and also on South Indian history, I failed  in locating the Desha. Could you tell me where can I find the reference?

 

2. The sam.kalpavaakya, as you know, starts with om. adya brahmaNo dvitiiyaparaardhe s.vetavaaraahakalpe vaivasvatamanvantare'as.Taavim.shatitame caturyugasya kaleh. prathamapaade. I am not sure of with which to relate the word as.Taavim.shatitame. I have not seen the translation of the sam.kalpavakya except in Axel Michael 2005 (Sam.kalpa: the Beginnings of a Ritual, in Joerg Gengnagel, et al. ed., Words and Deeds, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 52), in which he relates the word into enquiry with manvantara. Could you enlighten me in this matter?

 

In passing, may I mention that Michaels' presentation of the text and translation of the sam.kalpavaakya are up to a certain point not correct: for example,  he offers the text as paashupater ks.etre  instead of pashupateh. ks.etre, or alternatively, paashupate ks.etre, and translates jalam aishaanyam. as  'to the noth' instead of ' to the norh-east'.

 

Thanking youin advance, I remain.

 

Sincerely yours

 

Mahes Raj Pant
 		 	   		  
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