Chiplun Copper-Plate Grant of Pulikeshin II (ca. 609-642 CE)

        Victorious is the footprint, interspersed with the brightness of the toe-nails .............................................. .................... bowed down, of (the god) Vishnu, the creator of the (three) worlds, who traversed the whole universe in three strides!

        (Line 1.) -In the lineage of - the Chalukyas, who are of the Manavya gotra (and) are Haritiputras, -of Kirtivarman (I.), the first maker of Vatapi, whose pious form was thoroughly well moistened by ablutions performed after celebrating many sacrifices, who was the abode of all auspiciousness, who was the king of favourites, (and) who was endowed with fame, the son (is)-

        (L. 3.) -That ornament of the family of the Chalukyas, that asylum of all good qualities, that person who has but few foes, the glorious Satyashraya-(Pulikeshin II.) by name, whose besmearing with sandal-wood oil is rubbed off by (the clinging of) the bulky breasts of the goddess of fortune who practises (towards him) the vow of treating a husband like a god; whose pure fame plays the part of a husband towards the women of the Kinnaras in the hall of (Indra) the lord of the gods; who is a very sun just risen above the mountain of dawn which is (his) elephant, infuriated with rut, the head of which is bathed in the trickling stream of blood that flows forth from the hearts of the enemies which are cleft open by the thunder-bolt that is its tusk; who punishes wicked people; who receives with hospitality learned people and friends; who confers favours upon servants; who has lit up the field of battle with the flames of the fire that rises from the tusks of the elephants of the hostile kings which are split by the sword that is held in (his) hand; who is the sole aim of the arrows which are the eyes of nice young women; whose keen intellect is capable of examining the essence of the meaning of various Sastras; (and) who, (indeed) a king, having bravely planted (his) footstep over (his) enemies, has taught the goddess of fortune, who is fickle by nature, the observances of a true and faithful wife.

        (L. 8.) -He, the king, issues a command to the inhabitants of the Avaretika vishaya to this effect :- "My maternal uncle, the ornament of the Sendrakas the most devout worshipper of (the god) Maheshvara, Srivallabha-Senanandaraja, who has acquired (a knowledge of all) the proper and improper practices of noble people, (and) who has covered all the spaces between the quarters of the compass with the canopy of (his) fame that was purchased by the price of his valour,-he, the king, in order to increase the religious merit of (his) parents and of himself, has given to Maheshvara, the son of Krishnasvamin, of the Atreya gotra, who has, performed sacrifices, these two things, free from the right of entry by the irregular and regular troops, by messengers, and by the king's servants,- (viz.) the village of Amravatavaka, and twenty at (the village of) Avanchapali on the (river) Varubenna. Let all kings, born in my race, and other rulers of the earth, and (all) feudatory chiefs in the world, be made to know (that) any ruler of the earth who may obstruct the enjoyment of this (grant), -to him will attach the penalty of one who commits the five sins."

        (L. 14.) -And it has been said: -The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it)! The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant), and he who assents to (an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number of years in hell! O Yudhishthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has previously been given to the twice-born; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) is more meritorious than making a grant! Whosoever confiscates land that has been given, whether by himself or by another, -he is born as a worm in ordure, and is consumed together with (his) deceased ancestors! Those grants, productive of religion and wealth and fame, which have been formerly given here (on earth) by (previous) kings, (are) like worn-out garlands; verily what good man would take them back again? He who grants land, (whether simply) ploughed, (or) planted with seed, (or) full of crops, -he is treated with honour in heaven, for as long as the worlds, created by the sum, endure!

        (L.20.) -Let prosperity attend the writer, the reader, and the hearers! Om!

From: Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1894-95, 52-53.