गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 1, PLATE I. 9
30 bhavana-gaman-âvâpta-lalita-sukha-vicharaṇâm-âchakshâṇa iva bhuvô bâhur-
ayam=uchchhritaḥ stambhaḥ [।*] yasya ¹ pradâna-bhujavikkrama-
praśama-śâstravâky-ôdayair-uparyupari-sañchay-ôchchhritam-anêka-mârggaṁ
yaśaḥ
31 punâti bhuvana-trayaṁ Paśupatêr-jjaṭ-ântar-guhâ-nirôdha-parimôksha-śîghram-iva
pâṇḍu Gâṅgaṁ p[ayaḥ] [॥] Êtach-cha kâvyam=êshâm-êva bhaṭṭâraka-
pâdânâṁ dâsasya samîpa-parisarppaṇ-ânugrah-ônmîlita-matêḥ
the fourth century A.D. (2) that, in the well-known name of the Buddhist saint Upagupta (e.g.
Buddh. Rec. West. World, Vol. I. p. 182; Vol. II. pp. 88, 93, 273), we have a precisely similar
instance of a past participle, meaning ‘hidden, concealed,’ standing by itself as a proper name; as
also, in its feminine form, Upaguptâ, in line 5 of the Asîrgaḍh seal of Śarvavarman, No. 47 below, Plate
xxxA. (3) that, when śrî is an integral part of any proper name of importance, it was customary to
emphasise it and prevent the possibility of doubt, by inserting the honorific prefix before it; thus,
mahâdêvyâṁ śrî-Śrîmatyâm=utpannaḥ, “begotten on the Mahâdêvî, the glorious Śrîmatî,” in line 2
of the Dêô-Baraṇârk inscription of Jîvitagupta II., No. 46 below, Plate xxixB.; śrî-Śrîpathâyâṁ
purî, “at the famous city of Śrîpathâ,” in verse in line 6 of the Byânâ inscription of Vikrama-
Saṁvat 1100 (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 10); and śrî-Śrîpathâyâṁ, “at the famous Śrîpathâ,” in
prose in the Byânâ inscription of Vikrama-Saṁvat 1503 (id. Vol. XV. p. 239). The analogy would
require here the reading of mahârâja-śrî-Śrîgupta-prapautrasya; which, however, does not once
occur in the Early Gupta inscriptions. And (4) the word gupta does not appear at all in the name
of Ghaṭôtkacha in the next generation; it is only in the case of his son, Chandragupta I., and the suc-
cessors of the latter, that the word is of necessity only an integral part of a fuller name.—There is,
therefore, no objection, but on the contrary every reason, to read the present name as simply Gupta.—
The possibility remains, however, of its being an abbreviation of some fuller original name, other than
Śrîgupta. And on this point I will produce here a note with which Dr. Bühler has favoured me:—“I
“should say the name of the founder of the family was Gupta, not Śrîgupta in the sense of śriyâ guptaḥ
“(protected by the goddess Śrî). The name Rakshita occurs repeatedly among Brâhmaṇs and Buddhists;
“and means the same thing. The origin of such names as Datta, Gupta, Rakshita, &c.,” [the two first of
these are well-known surnames in Bengal in the present day] “must, I think, be sought for in the habit
“of the Hindus of shortening their names by giving only the first part or the second. The former prac-
“tice is alluded to by Kâtyâyana, in a Vârttika on Pâṇini, vii. 3, 45, where he teaches that, when the
“second part of a compound is left out, the a is to remain unchanged before the feminine termination
“â; thus, the feminine form of Dêvadattaka is Dêvadattikâ; but, if Dêvaka is substituted for
“Dêvadattaka, then the feminine is to be Dêvakâ, not Dêvikâ. The second shortening also is com-
“mon; thus, we have nâbhi for mṛiganâbhi, ‘musk;’ tâla for haritâla, a kind of tree; vâlî for
“khalêvâlî, ‘the post of a threshing-floor;’ and Bhâmâ for Satyabhâmâ, a proper name. From
“these facts it would seem that Datta, Gupta, &c., are abbreviations of longer names.”—The only
epigraphical instance that I can quote, of the omission of the first part of a proper name, is the use
of Śarman for Dhruvaśarman in line 11 of the Bilsaḍ inscription of Kumâragupta, No. 10 below, Plate
v. But instances of the omission of the second part of a name are common enough. Thus, we have
the use of Samudra on some of Samudragupta's gold coins, e.g. Jour. Beng. As. Soc. Vol. LIII. Part
I. Pl. ii. Nos. 3, 4, 5, and p. 173;—of Chandra and Kumâra, for Chandragupta II. and Kumâragupta,
in the same series;—of Vikrama and Mahêndra, for their full titles Vikramâditya and Mahêndrâ-
ditya, illustrated partly in the same series, and partly in Kumâragupta's silver coins (Ind. Ant. Vol.
XIV. p. 66);—of Śârdûla and Ananta, for Śârdûlavarman and Anantavarman, in the Barâbar and
Nâgârjunî Hill inscriptions, No. 48 below, Plate xxxB. ll. 1, 4, 5, and No 49, Plate xxxiA. ll. 1, 8;
—of Kâkustha and Mṛigêśa for Kakusthavarman and Mṛigêśavarman in one of the Halsî grants
(Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 28, ll. 3, 4);—of Harsha, for Harshavardhana of Kanauj, e.g. in the Kauṭhêm
grant of Vikramâdtya V. (id. Vol. XVI. p. 22, l. 26);—of Vikrama, for the Western Châlukya king
Vikramâditya VI., e.g. in one of the Narêgal inscriptions (Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XI. p. 226,
l. 24);—and of Padma and Sûrya, for Padmapâla and Sûryapâla, in the Gwâlior inscription of
Mahîpâla (Ind. Ant. Vol. XV. p. 36 ff., ll. 1, 9, 22, 58.)
¹ This mark of punctuation is unnecessary.
C₂