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THE ŚALLENDRAS OF JAVA 91

in unpsyan ) which; could be transformcd into a slronghold by means of dcfcnce works built up with hundreds of Stones. Howcver, before having succeedcd in establishing an almosl unconqucrable position he was attacked and defeatcd by Kumbhayoni, who was as swift as thc wind and wiped him olT from there. Presumably, Bfilapulra was not killed in battle, but being chased from his slrong posilions he managed to escape to Sumatra, where he bccame a king of Srivijaya in a manner still complelely unknown.⁴⁴

The translalion of the first ąuarter of thc stanza needs to be emended to: He was Maheśvara and the consort (patnl) of this hero (sura) was iśvari. The royal couple were the veritable divine couple of Uma-Maheśvara. Vatunn has becn translaled as vatu ⁴ stone, rock* by Casparis. Vatun means ⁴ to weed out*. The reading uńsyan ⁴⁴ is not beyond doubt⁴⁴ in the words of Casparis himself (2.312 n.7). The word uńsyan meaning ⁴ (place ofl refuge⁴ is crucial to the hypothesis that Balaputra had retired to a place that could become a stronghold of dcfcnce. The word uńsyan itself is uncerlain, a wcakhold, how can we make it a stronghold of an argument. We cannot rule out thc possibility that both thc King and Qucen, supervised for a long year, hundreds of persons who wccdcd out or clcarcd thc sitc on thc mountain for a Siva tempie, which was an extcnsive complcx sprawling over a vast arca.

The fourth ąuarter is again not apparent. Avali mvań ⁴ (on a) lcvel with, as fast as⁴. Avati= avaluy is ⁴ to come back, return⁴ (Zoctmuldcr). A tcntative intcrpretalion can be: finally (hanta = anta) they returned with Balaputra. The mother of Balaputra was thc daughter of Varmasctu of the great Lunar Dynasty (soma-kul-anvayasya mahalah), likc Tara and her name too was Tara. The Nalanda inscriplion comparcs Balaputra to Skanda, thc son of Siva and Urna (Skando... Samb hor Umayamiva). There are olher Saiva comparisons too in the Nalanda inscriplion which point to rcvercnt rcspccl for Lord Siva in the mind of Balaputra. The thesis of Casparis posils a conflict betwcen thc Sivailcs and Buddhisls which is not borne out, and on thc contrary confuled

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and refuted by the Nalanda Charter. Evcn the Saiva inscriplions of the Ratubaka plateau and the OJ mctrical inscriplion dated A. D. 856 (nos.X and XI is Casparis 2) secm to indicatc amicable relations betwcen Kumbhayoni and Balaputra. The third Sanskrit inscriplion from Ratubaka regarding the setting up of a Haralińga by Kalaśodbhava, that is Kumbhayoni Rakai Valaiń, clearly says that thc King was bom in thc Lunar Dynasty (himakantih... tadanvaySt prasutoyam vara - sństra -ka!anvitah raraja ma nu ja-śrcsthah kalasodbhava sarfijńitah, Casparis 2.277). The mother of Balaputra should have come from this Lunar Dynasty and hcncc cordial ties betwcen the two royal houses. The Ratubaka plateau was the countcrpart of Sriśailam in India which was a major centrę of Mahayana as well as had Mallikarjuna Jyotir-lińga, one

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oi thc twclve Jyotirlirtgas of thc Saivas. The setting up of a Sivalińga at