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

14 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III
(L. 22.)—Whose imperious commands were fully gratified, by giving all (kinds of)
taxes and obeying (his) orders and coming to perform obeisance, by the frontier-
kings¹ of Samataṭa, Ḍavâka, Kâmarûpa, Nêpâla, Kartṛipura, and other (countries),
and by the Mâlavas, Ârjunâyanas, Yaudhêyas, Mâdrakas, Âbhîras, Prârjunas,
Sanakânîkas,² Kâkas, Kharaparikas, and other (tribes);—
(L. 23.)—Whose tranquil fame, pervading the whole world, was generated by
establishing (again) many royal families, fallen and deprived of sovereignty;—whose
binding together of the (whole) world, by means of the amplitude of the vigour of (his)
arm, was effected by the acts of respectful service, such as offering themselves as
sacrifices, bringing presents of maidens, (giving) Garuḍa-tokens,³ (surrendering) the
enjoyment of their own territories, soliciting (his) commands, &c., (rendered) by the
Daivaputras, Shâhis, Shâhânushâhis, Śakas, and Muruṇḍas, and by the people
of Siṁhala and all (other) dwellers in islands;—who had no antagonist (of equal power)
in the world;⁴—who, by the overflow of the multitude of (his) various virtues adorned
by a hundred good actions, rubbed out the fame of other kings with the soles of (his)
feet;—who, being incomprehensible, was the spirit that was the cause of the production
of good and the destruction of evil;—who, being full of compassion, had a tender heart
that could be won over simply by devotion and obeisance;—who was the giver of many
hundreds of thousands of cows;—
(L. 26.)—Whose mind busied itself with the support and the initiation, &c., of the
miserable, the poor, the helpless, and the afflicted;—who was the glorified personification
of kindness to mankind;—who was equal to (the gods) Dhanada and Varuṇa and Indra
and Antaka;⁵—whose officers were always employed in restoring the wealth of the
various kings who had been conquered by the strength of his arms;—
(L. 27.)—Who put to shame (Kaśyapa) the preceptor of (Indra) the lord of the
gods, and Tumburu and Nârada, and others, by (his) sharp and polished intellect and
¹ pratyanta-nṛipati.—This may denote either the kings within the frontiers of Samataṭa and the
following countries, i.e. the ‘neighbouring kings’ of those countries, or the kings or chieftains just
outside the frontiers of them. Upon the interpretation that is accepted, will depend the question
whether Samudragupta’s empire included those countries, or whether it only extended up to, and was
bounded by, their frontiers.
² See page 8 above, note 1.
³ garutmad-aṅka.—Whether the bird be Garuḍa or not, we have here, I consider, a distinct
allusion to the ‘bird-standard’ on some of the coins of Samudragupta and his successors; see, for
instance, the coins given by Mr. V. A. Smith in the Jour. Beng. As. Soc. Vol. LIII. Part I. Plate ii.
Nos. 3, 4, 5, 14, Plate iii. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, Plate iv. Nos. 4, 5, 7; see also id. p. 131 f., and Ind.
Ant. Vol. XIV. pp. 93, 179. — garutmat is explained in dictionaries as meaning ‘a bird in general,’
as well as denoting ‘the bird Garuḍa.’ But its most usual and special signification is ‘Garuḍa;’ as,
for instance, in line 7 of the Râjim grant of the Râja Tîvaradêva, No. 81 below, Plate xlv.
⁴ Three of the habitual expressions of the Early Gupta records, applied always and only to
Samudragupta,—viz. the present one; "who was equal to (the gods) Dhanada and Varuṇa and Indra
and Antaka," which we have here in line 26; and "whose fame was tasted by the waters of the four
oceans," which occurs, for instance, in line 1 of the Bhitarî pillar inscription of Skandagupta, No. 13
below, Plate vii.,—are applied, curiously enough, to the Châlukya chieftain Vijayarâja of Gujarât, in
line 5 f. of his Kaira grant of the year 394 (Ind. Ant. Vol. VII. p. 248). The only difference is that,
in the second epithet, the reading there is sama-prabhâva, instead of simply sama.—Of the present
epithet, the latter part, apratiratha, was used on some of Samudragupta's coins; e.g. Jour. Beng.
As. Soc. Vol. LIII. Part I. Pl. ii. No. 6.
⁵ See the preceding note.