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

34 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
half, which is mine,¹ let the same number of five Bhikshus be fed, and (let) a lamp (burn)
in the jewel-house.
(L. 10.)—Whosoever shall interfere with this his arrangement,—he shall become
invested with (the guilt of) the slaughter of a cow or of a Brâhman,² and with (the guilt of)
the five sins that entail immediate retribution !³
(L. 11.)—The year 90 (and) 3; (the month) Bhâdrapada ; the day 4.
No. 6; PLATE IV A
UDAYAGIRI CAVE INSCRIPTION OF CHANDRAGUPTA II.
THIS inscription appears to have been discovered by General Cunningham, and was first
brought to notice by him in 1880, in the Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. X. p. 51 f., where he
published his own version of the text, and a translation of it by Râjâ Siva Prasad, accom-
panied by a lithograph (id. Plate xix.).—This rendering of the inscription has remained the
standard version up to the present time, except that in 1882, in the Ind. Ant. Vol. XI.
p. 312, Dr. E. Hultzsch pointed out some errors in the last line as published.
The inscription is on the back wall, a little to the left as one enters, inside a cave at
**Udayagiri,**⁴ in Scindia's Dominions in Central India, which is known as the "Tawâ
Cave," from the resemblance of the large flat stone, on the top of the rock in which it is
excavated, to a gigantic tawâ, or 'griddle for baking cakes.
The writing, which covers a space of about 3' 7" by 1' 2", has suffered a good
deal from the peeling off of the surface of the rock on which it is engraved; but the general
purport of it remains complete, and nothing of a historical nature appears to have been
lost.—The size of the letters varies from ¾" to 1¼". The characters belong to the north-
ern class of alphabets, and are of radically the same type with those of the Allahâbâd pos-
thumous pillar inscription of Samudragupta, No. 1, p. 1 ff. above, Plate i. They include in
the numbering of the verses, forms of the numerical symbols for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.—The
language is Sanskrit; and, except for the opening word siddham, the inscription is
in verse throughout, and the verses are numbered.—In respect of orthography, the only
point that calls for notice is the use of the jihvâmûlîya and upadhmânîya in jñah-kaviḥ-
pâṭali, line 4.
The inscription refers itself to the time of the Early Gupta king Chandragupta
II., whose name is recorded in line 1. As no date is given, there might be some doubt as
to whether the Chandragupta mentioned here is the first or the second of the name. But
the standard of the characters, as compared with those of the Allahâbâd inscription,
which was engraved in the time of Chandragupta II.,—and the fact that the inscriptior
records that the Chandragupta mentioned in it came in person to Udayagiri, coupled with
the existence at Udayagiri of the inscription of the year 82, No. 3, p. 21 ff. above, which
¹ It is not quite apparent who is speaking here; but probably Âmrakârdava is intended.
² brahman; see Childers' Pâli Dictionary, s.v. brahmâ.
³ viz. matricide, parricide, killing an Arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and causing
division among the priesthood (see Childers' Pâli Dictionary, s.v. pañchanantariyasammam and
abhithânam.)
⁴ See page 22 above, and note 1.