BADAMI INSCRIPTION
(kappe arabhTTana shaasana,
700 A.D.)
Badami Inscription is well known because it celebrates
the virtues of an unknown warrior of Karnataka with admirable qualities. This is
a bi-lingual inscription using Kannada as well as Sanskrit. However the stanzas
praising kappe arabhaTTa are composed in Kannada using Tripadi an ancient indigenous
Kannada meter which can claim Dravidian ancestry. These are the earliest tripadis
found in the language.
Kappe arabhaTTa has precious little to do with frog
the English equivalent of ‘Kappe’. It is variously interpreted as kappeyara bhaTTa
(T.N.Srikataiah) and Kappadi yara BhaTTa. . (M.M.Kalburgi) Both
these etymologies are inspired by his family name.
The inscription may be summarised thus: ArabhaTTa is
avoided by villainous persons and liked by good people. This warrior is good to
those who are good to him and extremely cruel to those who inconvenience him. In
this quality he is none other than Lord Vishnu. There are people who indulge in
evil deeds consequent of their karma of the previous lives. These thoughtless people
will die a miserable death like those who unwittingly release a caged lion.
This inscription is cut on a cliff ten to twelve feet
above the ground, over looking the artificial lake on the south-east corner of the
Badami town. The
writing covers a space of 40 1/2 inches high and 34 1/3 inches broad. The meaning
is not clear, but it seems to be a record of Kappe Arabhatta, a saint of local fame.
Below the inscription and covering a space of about 3 feet 7 inches is cut a round
band with a floral device apparently a ten-leaved lotus inside it, and with what
seems to be a fillet, with a ribbon crossed in a double loop, hanging from it.
The Kannada used in
this inscription points to a stage when ancient old Kannada was gradually making
way to old Kannada. Some of the morphological and syntactic evidences bear ample
testemony to this.
Hence Badami inscription
is important for prosodic, lingustic and literary reasons.
THE TEXT OF THE INSCRIPTION IN KANNADA
ಕಪ್ಪೆ ಅರಭಟ್ಟನ್
ಶಿಷ್ಟಜನಪ್ರಿಯನ್
ಕಷ್ಟಜನವರ್ಜಿತನ್
ಕಲಿಯುಗ ವಿಪರೀತನ್
ವರನ್ತೇಜಸ್ವಿನೋ
ಮೃತ್ತ್ಯರ್ನತು
ಮಾನಾವಖಣ್ಡನಂ ಮೃತ್ತ್ಯುಸ್ತತ್ಕ್ಷಣಿಕೋ
ದುಃಖಮ್ ಮಾನಭಂಗನ್
ದಿನೇದಿನೇ ಸಾಧುಗೆ
ಸಾಧು ಮಾಧೂರ್ಯ್ಯಂಗೆ
ಮಾಧೂರ್ಯ್ಯಂ ಬಾಧಿಪ್ಪ
ಕಲಿಗೆ ವಿಪರೀತನ್
ಮಾಧವನೀತನ್ ಪೆರನಲ್ಲ
ಒಳ್ಳಿತ್ತ ಕೆಯ್ವೊರ್
ಆರ್ ಪ್ಪೊಲ್ಲದುಮ್
ಅದರನ್ತೆ ಬಲ್ಲಿತ್ತು
ಕಲಿಗೆ ವಿಪರೀತಾ
ಪುರಾಕೃತಂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ
ಸನ್ಧಿಕ್ಕುಂ ಅದು
ಬಂದು ಕಟ್ಟಿದ ಸಿಂಘಮನ್
ಕೆಟ್ಟೊದ್ ಎಮಗೆನ್ದು
ಬಿಟ್ಟವೊಲ್ ಕಲಿಗೆ
ವಿ[]ರೀತ ಅಹಿತರ್ಕ್ಕಳ್
ಕೆಟ್ಟರ್ ಮೇಣ್ ಸತ್ತರ್
ಅವಿಚಾರಮ್
ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION
kappe arabhTTan shiSTajanapriyan
kaShTajanavatjitan kaliyuga vipareetan varantEjasvinO mrutyu na tu mAnAvakhandanam
mruttyustatkaNikO dukham mAnabhngan dinEdinE
sAdhuge sAdhu mAdhUryyange mAdhUyyam bAdhippa kalige kaliyuga viparItan mAdhavan
Itan peRanalla oLLitta keyvor Ar ppolladum adaRnte ballittu kalige viparItA purAkrutam
illi sandhikkum adu bandu kaTTida singhaman keTTod En emagendu biTTavol kalige vi[p]arItan
ahitarkkaL keTTar mEN sattar avicAram