A Note on the Keshari Grant of Satrubbasija

This note critiques Binayak Misra’s reading of a Keshari (Kesari) copper-plate grant issued by Satrubhanjya. Misra had identified the figure Ganadanda-Virabhadra mentioned in the grant with Chandragupta Maurya and suggested that the Mauryas used the peacock as a totem. The author rejects these interpretations. First, he argues that Ganadanda-Virabhadra is a Saiva ascetic: Virabhadra is a fierce form of Shiva, Gana refers to Shiva’s attendants and Danda is another name for the god. Thus the name signals a Saivite context, and the grant is more likely associated with a Shaiva monastery than the Mauryan empire. Second, he notes that Asoka’s Rock Edict I records that the Maurya king ate peacock meat, making the peacock an unlikely totem. The grant says that Ganadanda-Virabhadra, with 88,000 disciples, received a grant of 88,000 gramas from a donor named Ramadeva. The author compares this to the case of Sadbhavasambhu, a Saiva monk who was granted three lakh gramas; he argues that “grama” here denotes units of assessment, not individual villages. The note criticises Misra’s suggestion that the grant parallels the vast Maurya empire and that titles like Mahamandalikapati indicate imperial status; it explains that terms such as Mahamandalika, Mahamandalesvara and Maharajadhiraja were often used by feudatory chiefs. The author calls for careful philological and historical analysis before making identifications and emphasises that misreadings can lead to fanciful conclusions.

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