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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 5, PLATE III B. 33
allotment of) Îśvaravâsaka, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . purchased with the endowment¹ of
Maja and Śarabhaṅga and Amrarâta² of the royal household,³ and (also gives) twenty-five
dînâras.
(Line 7.)—From [the interest of the dînâras⁴] given by him,—with half, as long as
the moon and the sun (endure), let five Bhikshus be fed, and let a lamp burn in the jewel-
house,⁵ for the perfection of all the virtues of . . . . . . . . the familiar name of Dêvarâja,⁶
. . . . . . . of the Mahârâjâdhirâja, the glorious Chandragupta (II.); and with the other

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Saṁvat 1046 or A.D. 1124-25 (id. Vol. XIV. p. 16), the terms dêśa and vishaya are both applied to
the division of India that is best known as Bharatakhaṇḍa or Bharatakshetra, and also to the Kûṇḍi
Three-thousand District in the Kanarese country; which would point to dêśa and vishaya being
synonymous.—Khaṇḍa occurs in another grant (unpublished) of Mahâ-Bhavagupta, recording a
gift of the village of Arkigrâma belonging to the Tulumba khaṇḍa in the Kôsala dêśa; which points
to khaṇḍa being a subdivision of a dêśa, and perhaps synonymous with vishaya.—Maṇḍala occurs
also in line 8 of the grant of Mahêndrapâla of Harsha-Saṁvat 155 or A.D. 761-62 (id. Vol. XV.
p. 112), recording the gift of a village belonging to the Vâlayikâ vishaya, which lay in the Śrâvasti
maṇḍala. And this, again, points to a maṇḍala being subdivided into vishayas.—As regards
râshṭra and vishaya, there were two classes of officials called Râshṭrapati and Vishayapati, lit.
‘lords’ or ‘chiefs’ of râshṭras and vishayas. And, on the one hand, such passages as those in line
8 f. of the Kaira grant of Vijayarâja of the year 394 (id. Vol. VII. p. 248), and in line 8 of the Kâvî
grant of Jayabhaṭa of the year 486 (id. Vol. V. p. 114), which mention first the Vishayapati, then
the Râshṭrapati, and then the Grâmamahattara or ‘village-headman,’ point, as indicated by Dr.
Bühler in editing the Kâvî grant, to the vishaya being a larger division than the râshṭra; as also
such expressions as “the cultivators, headed by the Râshṭrakûṭa (‘headman of the râshṭra’), dwelling
in the Pennâtavâḍi vishaya,” in line 39 f. of the grant of Amma II. of about Śaka-Saṁvat 867, referred
to above. But, on the other hand, exactly the opposite of this is indicated by such passages as those
in line 28 f. of the Sâmâṅgaḍ grant of Dantidurga of Śaka-Saṁvat 675 or A.D. 753-54 (id. Vol. XI.
p. 112), in line 35 f. of the Waṇî grant of Gôvinda III. of Śaka-Saṁvat 730 (id. Vol. XI. p. 159), and
in line 60 of the Kauṭhêm grant of Vikramâditya V. of Śaka-Saṁvat 930 (id. Vol. XVI. p. 24), in
which first the Râshṭrapati is mentioned, then the Vishayapati, and then the Grâmakûṭa or
‘village-headman.’ While finally, such expressions as “the Karmarâshṭra vishaya,” in line 12 of the
grant of the second year of Vishṇuvardhana II. (id. Vol. VII. p. 187), and “the Gôparâshṭra vishaya,”
in line 17 of the Nirpaṇ grant of Nâgavardhana (id. Vol. IX. p. 124), point to râshṭra and vishaya
being synonymous terms.—The subject requires further elucidation. And, as in the case of regal
and official titles, it is much better to use the original Saṁskṛit words, than to render them by such
terms as Zillâ, Tâlukâ, &c., which are of modern invention, and which cannot possibly be satisfactory
equivalents, even if they should happen to approach to the relative meanings.
¹ mûlya, lit. ‘an original sum,’ is equivalent to akshaya-nîvî, lit. ‘a capital sum that is not to be
wasted,’ which is of constant use in early inscriptions, and occurs for instance in No. 12, below, Plate
viB., line 26, and No. 62, Plate xxxviiiB., lines 3 and 8.
² Or Âmrarâta. ³ râjakula.
⁴ I supply these words, where the original has been effaced, on the analogy of line 3 f. of the
Sâñchi inscription of the year 131, No. 62 below, Plate xxxviiiB.
⁵ This is the literal meaning of ratna-griha. It seems to denote the Stûpa itself, as the abode of
the three ratnas or ‘jewels or precious things,’ viz. (1) Buddha; (2) Dharma, the Law or Truth;
and (3) Saṁgha, the community or congregation.
⁶ Prinsep translated this passage so as to make Dêvarâja another name of Chandragupta II.
This may be correct. But we have no other authority for giving him this second name. And the
lacunæ in the line render it impossible to say with any certainty whether it denotes him, or some
officer of his.—If the suggestion that I have made above (page 32, note 1) for filling up the
lacunæ, should be accepted, the translation would be—“for the perfection of all the virtues of him
who, having the familiar name of Dêvarâja, is a minister of the Mahârâjâdhirâja, the glorious
Chandragupta.”
F.