Kappe Arabhatta

Kappe Arabhatta ( kn, ಕಪ್ಪೆ ಅರಭಟ್ಟ) was a Chalukya warrior of the 8th century who is known from a Kannada verse inscription, dated to c. 700 CE, and carved on a cliff overlooking the northeast end of the artificial lake in Badami, Karnataka, India. The inscription consists of five stanzas written out in ten lines in the Kannada script. Stanza 2 (Lines 3 and 4) consists of a Sanskrit ''śloka''. Of the remaining stanzas, all except the first are in the ''tripadi'', a Kannada verse metre.

Stanza 3 (lines 5 and 6), which consists of twelve words of which nine are Sanskrit loan-words in Kannada, is well known in a condensed version, and is sometimes cited as the earliest example of the ''tripadi'' metre in Kannada. However, neither stanza 3 nor stanza 4 strictly conform to the precise rules of the ''tripadi'' metre; they each have more than 18 moras in line two, in excess of the allowed 17.

Location

According to , the Kappe Arabhatta inscription overlooks the artificial lake (on the south-east corner) of Badami town, and:

Kappe Arabhatta inscription text

The following is the text of the five lines written out in ten lines in the inscription. The meanings of the words are provided in the footnotes below the text. Lines 3 and 4 consist of a Sanskrit sloka, and is not translated. Here , denotes the end of each line of the ''tripadi'' metre and , , , the end of the stanza:

Dictionary for Translation of inscription

1a "Kappe," Kannada, "a frog; that which hops" and has cognates in related languages: Telugu "kappa - a frog;" Tulu "kappe - a frog, probably from 'kuppu' - to hop, or 'kappu' - to cover;" 1b "A''r''a" and "bhaṭṭa" are both Prakrit words: the former means "virtue," the latter, itself derives from Sanskrit "bhartā." 1c ''Śiṣṭajana priyan'': Beloved of the good people. Sanskrit. priya,

2a ''kaṣṭajanavarjitan'': avoided by evil people, adj. s. m. sg. nom. qualifying Kappe-Arabhattan. Sanskrit. ''kaṣṭa'', ''jana'', ''varjita''; 2b ''kaliyugaviparita'': an exceptional man in the kaliyuga. Sanskrit, ''viparita'' adj. s. m. sg. nom qualifying Kappe-Arabhattan;

5a ''sadhuge'': to the good people. Sanskrit sadhu, s. n.; 5b ''sadhu'': Good, kind, person. Sanskrit. s. m.; 5c ''madhuryamge'': to the sweet. s. m. sg. dat Sanskrit. madhurya-; 5d ''madhuryam'': sweetness. s. m. sg. nom. Sanskrit; 5e ''bādhippa'': causing distress, fut. p. of badhisu - to cause distress, from Sanskrit bādh - to harass.

6a ''kalige'': to the kali age. s. m. sg. dat. Sanskrit . kali-; kali - hero.; 6b: ''Madhavan'': Visnu, Sanskrit. Madhava - s. m. sg. nom.; 6c: ''ītan'': this man, dem. pron. m. Telugu: ītadu - probably i + tān - this self (speaker) or ī + tan - this of mine; 6d: ''peran'': another. From pera - outer place; the outside. MK hera; NK hora; Tamil: piran - a stranger; Malayalam: piran - another; Telugu: pera - another; 6e ''alla'': is not, neg. pr. of intr. ''al'' (to be fit); Tamil ''al'', ''alla-'': no, not; Malayalam ''alla'': no, not.

7a ''oḷḷitta'': what is good (adj. s. n.); 7b ''keyvōr'': those who do; 7c ''ār'': who (inter. pron.); 7d polladum: The evil also. adj. s. n. sg. nom. + um (NK holladu, hole)—Tamil: ''pol''—to agree with, negative of this is ''pollā''. Tamil: ''pollā'', ''pollāda'': bad, vicious (neg. of pon: to shine), Malayalam: ''pollā'' - to be bad, evil; ''pollu'' - hollow, vain, useless; Telugu: ''pollu'' - useless; Tulu: ''polle'' - slander, backbiting. 7e ''ada''r''amte'' - like that (adv.) (''adara'' stem. pron.) ''amte'': adv. p. of ''an'': to speak.; 7f ''ballittu'': Strong adj. s. n.;

8a: ''purākṛtam'': the ancient karma (Fleet); the deeds done in the past. Sanskrit ; 8b ''illi'': here. 8c: ''samdhikkum'': 8d ''adu'' - it (pron); 8e ''bamdu'' - having come (adv. pp. of bar - to come. Tamil vandu; Malayalam vandu; Telugu vacci;

9a ''kaṭṭida'' - bound pp. of kattu - to bind; Tamil: kaṭṭu, Malayalam: kaṭṭu; Tulu: kaṭṭu - to bind; 9b ''simghaman'' The lion. Sanskrit. simgha-, s. n. sg.; 9c ''keṭṭodē'': harmful thing; 9d ''en'' what (intl pron.) 9e ''biṭṭavōl'': in the same way as releasing. adj.;

10a ''ahitarkkaḷ'': the enemies (Sanskrit. ahita- ); 10b ''keṭṭar'' : were ruined; 10c ''mēṇ'': and (conjunction, Middle Kannada (MK) ''mēṇ'' and ''mēṇu'': what is above, from ''mēl'': above. Malayalam: ''mēṇ'': what is above; superiority; ''menavan''—a superior ''śudra'' (modern Malayalam ''mēnon''), replaced by ''mattu'' in Modern Kannada. 10d ''sattar'': died; past pl. of sā - to die. Tamil cā - to die, past. Sattān. Malayalam cā - to die; Telugu - caccu - to die; pp. caccina. Tulu sāy, sāi - to die, pp. satta-; 10e ''avicāram'': without foresight. (Fleet translates as "without doubt.") Sanskrit. ''avicāra''.

Literal translation

1 Kappe^1a Arabhata,^1b beloved of the good people^1c

2 avoided by evil people,^2a an exceptional man in ''Kaliyuga''^2b

5 To the good people,^5a good;^5b to the sweet,^5c sweetness;^5d , causing distress^5e

6 to the kali age,^6a an exceptional man in ''Kaliyuga'',^2b , Madhava (or Vishnu),^6b this man^6c another^6d is not^6e , ,

7 What is good^7a those who do^7b who^7c the evil^7d like that^7e , strong^7f

8 exception to (or opposite)^2b the ancient karma^8a , here^8b ''samdhikkum''^8c it^8d having come^8e , ,

9 Bound^9a the lion^9b harmful thing^9c what^9d , in the same way as releasing^9e (Translated in , "In the same way as releasing the bound lion, saying 'What is the harm to us?'")

10 exception to or opposite^2b the enemies^10a , were ruined^10b and^10c died^10d without foresight (or without doubt)^10e , , (Note: 10c, 10d, and 10e are translated in as "And they died undoubtedly (for want of foresight)")

Popular version of Stanza 3 in Kannada script

A condensed version of Stanza 3 seems to be well known, both in the Kannada script:

kn, ಸಾಧುಗೆ ಸಾಧು

ಮಾಧುರ್ಯಂಗೆ ಮಾಧುರ್ಯಂ

ಬಾಧಿಪ್ಪ ಕಲಿಗೆ ಕಲಿಯುಗ ವಿಪರೀತನ್

ಮಾಧವನೀತಂ ಪೆರನಲ್ಲ!

and in the English poetic rendering:

"Kind man to the kind,

Who's sweet to the sweet,

Very cruel to the cruel

He was nothing but God Vishnu in this regard"

See also

*Badami
* Chalukya dynasty
* Kannada literature

Notes

References

*
*
*
*

External links

*{{cite web , url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/literature/history1.htm , title=History of Kannada Literature, Dr. Jyotsna Kamat, access-date=2006-11-12

Chalukya dynasty

History of Karnataka