MISCELLANY - A Note on the alleged metrical defect in the Legend-verse on the seal of the Pipard?l? Copper-plate Inscription
By S. P. Chaturvedi
Summary
On the Pipardil Copper-plate Legend-Verse The article addresses the criticism made by D. C. Sircar and L. P. Pandeya (Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIX, p. 142 and 145) that the legend-verse on the seal of King Narendra of Sarabhapura�s Pipardil copper-plate inscription contains a metrical defect (specifically a laghu-?a??ha in the first foot) and should be emended from jitabh?va? to jita-k?ite?. S. P. Chaturvedi refutes both points: The occurrence of a laghu-?a??ha in the first foot of an odd quarter (vi?ama p?da) does not violate metrical rules of the ?nu??ubh metre, because the restriction on guru-?a??ha applies only to even (sama) quarters. Numerous examples from standard poets�K?lid?sa (Raghuva??a I.23), Bh?ravi (Kir?t?rjun?ya XI.15), M?gha (?i?up?lavadha I.12), and Bhavabh?ti (Uttaracarita III.29)�demonstrate that the rule was not universally enforced. Therefore, Sircar and Pandeya�s charge of faulty versification is unfounded, especially as the verse occurs on a royal seal, where defective metre would have been unacceptable in official charters. Regarding the proposed emendation to k?ite?, Chaturvedi calls it �a remedy worse than the disease.� He demonstrates (drawing on his prior study of the ?nu??ubh metre in Nagpur University Journal, Vol. II [1936] and Vol. VI [1940]) that: If the 5th and 6th syllables are short and long respectively, the 7th must be long for the verse to remain permissible. In the suggested khadga-dh?ra-jita-k?ite?, the syllable k?i is short, thus violating metrical structure. Hence, the emendation is entirely untenable, and the original reading stands metrically valid.
Conclusion
The examination conclusively establishes that the alleged metrical defect in the legend-verse on the Pipardil copper-plate seal of King Narendra of Sarabhapura is unfounded. The presence of a laghu-?a??ha in the first foot conforms to accepted variations of the ?nu??ubh metre in odd quarters and cannot be deemed an error. The criticism by Sircar and Pandeya therefore rests on a misapplication of metrical norms, and their proposed emendation (jita-k?ite?) violates metrical principles more seriously than the original reading. The verse, preserved on a royal seal used in official charters, must be regarded as both deliberate and metrically sound, reflecting the versifier�s competence rather than his inadequacy.