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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS: No. 6, PLATE IV A. 35
is proved by its date to be one of Chandragupta II.,—shew that the king mentioned here
is Chandragupta II., not his grandfather, Chandragupta I. It is a Śaiva inscription;
and the object of it is to record the excavation of the cave as a temple of the god Śiva,
under the name of Śambhu, by the order of a certain Vîrasêna, otherwise called Śâba,¹
who was one of the ministers of Chandragupta II
TEXT.²
1 Siddham³ [||] Yad⁴=a[ṁ]tarjjyôtir-arkk-âbham=urvvyâm [— — ᴗ — ᴗ ᴗ —
— — — — ᴗ —]vyâpi Chandragupt-âkhyam=adbhutam [||] 1
2 Vikram-âvakraya-krîtâ dâsya-nyagbhûta-pârtthiv[â] [— — —]mâna-saṁraktâ
dharmma[— — ᴗ — ᴗ —] [||] 2
3 Tasya râjâdhirâj-arshêr-achinty-ô[— ᴗ —]rmmanaḥ anvaya-prâpta-sâchivyô
vyâ[prita-san]dh[i]-v[i]grahaḥ [||] 3
4 Kautsaś-Śâba iti khyâtô Vîrasênaḥ kul-âkhyayâ śabdârttha-nyâya-lôka-
jñaḥ-kaviḥ-Pâṭaliputrakaḥ [||] 4
5 Kritsna-prithvî-jay-artthêna râjñ=aiv=êha sah-âgataḥ bhaktyâ bhagavataś=
Śambhôr-gguhâm=êtâm=akârayat [||] 5
TRANSLATION.
Perfection has been attained! . . . . . . . . . . which shines⁵ like the sun,⁶ radiant
with internal light, . . . . . . . . upon the earth . . . . . . . ., pervades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(and) has the appellation of Chandragupta (II.), (and is) wonderful ;—
(Line 2.)—Bought by the purchase-money of [whose] prowess, [the earth], in which
(all other) princes are humiliated by the slavery (imposed on them by him), . . . . . . .
gratified by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . religion.
(L. 3.)—He who holds the position, acquired by hereditary descent, of being a minister
of that same saintly sovereign,⁷ possessed of inconceivable . . . . . . . ., (and) [has been
appointed to] (the office of arranging) peace and war; (viz.)—
¹ See page 27 above, note 4, for some similar instances of second names.
² From the original stone.
³ In the original this word stands in the margin, opposite the commencement of line 3.
⁴ Metre, Ślôka (Anushṭubh) throughout.
⁵ From the use, in line 5, of the imperfect past tense akârayat, ‘he caused to be made,’—and
from the natural length of time required for the completion of the cave, before the inscription could
be engraved inside it,—a considerable time must have elapsed between the visit of the king and his
minister, and the engraving of the inscription. But there seems no special reason for supposing that
the work was not all finished during the lives of Chandragupta II. and Vîrasêna. Accordingly, in
translating, I have given a present sense to the contents of lines 1 to 4.
⁶ There seems to be intended a play on the words ‘sun’ and ‘moon,’ the latter of which
(chandra) forms part of the king’s name.
⁷ Râjâdhirâja; lit. ‘supreme king of Râjas or kings.’—This was, in earlier times, one of the
technical titles of paramount sovereignty. In its Pâli or Prâkṛit form of Râjadhiraja, it occurs as
the representative of the Greek basileus basileon, sometimes by itself, e.g. on some of the coins of
Maues (Gardner and Poole’s Catalogue of the Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of India in the
British Museum, p. 68 ff., Nos. 4, 5, 9, 11, and 17); and sometimes in conjunction with Maharaja
(Mahârâja), e.g. on some of the coins of Azes (id. p. 85 ff., Nos. 138, 140, and 157). And another
almost identical title, viz. Râjâtirâja, lit. ‘superior king of Râjas or kings,’ occurs in the same
F 2,