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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 1, PLATE I. 11
Samudragupta,¹—
(L. 1.)—[Who] . . . . . by his own kinsmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;—whose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;—
(L. 3.)—[Who] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
twanging (of the bow-string) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . burst open and
scattered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dishevelled . . . . . . . . . . ;—
(L. 5.)—Whose happy mind was accustomed to associate with learned people;—
who was the supporter of the real truth of the scriptures; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . firmly fixed
. . . . . . . . ; —who, having overwhelmed, with the (force of the) commands of the col-
lective merits of (his) learned men, those things which obstruct the beauty of excellent
poetry, (still) enjoys, in the world of the wise, the sovereignty of the fame (produced) by
much poetry, . . . . . . and of clear meaning;—
(L. 7.)—Who, being looked at (with envy) by the faces, melancholy (through the
rejection of themselves), of others of equal birth, while the attendants of the court breathed
forth deep sighs (of happiness), was bidden by (his) father,—who, exclaiming “Verily
(he is) worthy,” embraced (him) with the hairs of (his) body standing erect (through plea-
sure) (and thus) indicati on (his) sentiments, and scanned (him) with an eye turning

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Ijjâdêvyâm, in the Dêô-Baranark inscription of Jîvitagupta II., No. 46 below, Plate xxixB., lines 2 f.
and 5 f.; and, on the other hand, paramabhaṭṭâraka-mahârâjâdhirâja-paramêśvara-śrîmat-
Suvarṇavarshadêva-prithvîvallabha-śrîmad-Vallabhanarêndradêvaḥ, used in respect of the Râsh-
ṭrakûṭa king Gôvinda V in his Sânglî grant (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 251, l. 39 f.); and numerous
other instances.—It has been suggested that only śrî, nct śrîmat, is used in the case of paramount
sovereigns. But this is not the case. In addition to the passage noted above in connection with
Gôvinda V., we have paramêśvara-śrîmad-Avantivarmand, in the Dêô-Baraṇârk inscription, l. 15;
śrîmad-Âdityavarma-prithvîvallabha-mahârâjâdhirâja-paramêśvaraḥ, applied to the Western
Chalukya king Âdityavarman in his Karṇûl grant (Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVI. p. 234, l. 12 f.);
paramabhaṭṭâraka-mahârâjâdhirâja-paramêśvara-śrîmad-Dhârâvarshadêva, applied to the Râsh-
ṭrakûṭa king Dhruva, in the Waṇî grant of Gôvinda III. (Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. p. 159, l. 33 f.);
śrîmad-Amôghavarsha-Nṛipatuṅga, used of king Amôghavarsha I. of the same dynasty, in his Śirûr
inscription (id. Vol. XII. p. 219, l. 16); śrîmad-Vikramâditya-śrîmat-Tribhuvanamalladêva, used of
the Western Châlukya king Vikramâditya V., in his Kauthêm grant (id. Vol. XVI. p. 24, l. 73); and
many other examples of the same usage.
¹ As regards the termination gupta, the Vishṇu-Purâṇa, Book iii. Chap. 10, verse 9, says—
“(The termination) śarman is prescribed for a Brâhmaṇ; varman belongs to a Kshatriya; (and) a
name characterised by gupta or dâsa is approved of in the case of (respectively) a Vaiśya and a Śûdra.”
The commentary in the Bombay edition gives, as examples, Sômaśarman, Indravarman, Chandragupta,
and Śivadâsa. (See also F. E. Hall’s edition of H. H. Wilson’s Translation, Vol. III. p. 99 f.) — So
also in the Mânavadharmaśâstra, ii. 31 (Burnell’s Translation, p. 20), a rule of the same tendency
is laid down, though without specifying any particular terminations.—On this authority, it has been
suggested that the Early Guptas were not of high rank, being at the best of the Vaiśya caste; and that
this is the reason why they felt such pride in their alliance with the Lichchhavis, as shewn by the
record of the name of Kumâradêvî and of her family on some of the gold coins of Chandragupta I.,
and by the epithet, “daughter’s son of Lichchhavi (or of a Lichchhavi king),” that is always applied
to Samudragupta in the genealogical passages.—No doubt some such rules as those prescribed by
the Vishṇu-Purâṇa and Mânavadharmaśâstra, were followed more or less in early times. But, as
instances of deviation from them, we have the name of the well-known astronomer Brahmagupta, who
it can hardly be doubted was a Brâhmaṇ; and Dâsavarman occurs, as the name of a Brâhmaṇ, in line
36 of the Nerûr grant of Vijayâditya, dated Śaka-Saṁvat 627 (Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 131; Indian
Inscriptions, No. 20); and doubtless numerous similar instances might be found, if proper indexes
were available.
C 2.