MISCELLANY - A Note on the alleged metrical defect in the Legend-verse on the seal of the Pipard?l? Copper-plate Inscription
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.
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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.