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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS ; No. 13, PLATE VII. 55
(L. 5.)—His son (was) the most devout worshipper of the Divine One, the Mahâ-
râjâdhirâja, the glorious Kumâragupta, who meditated on his feet, (and) who was
begotten on the Mahâdêvî Dhruvadêvî.
(L. 6.)—The son of him, the king, who was renowned for the innate power of (his)
mighty intellect (and) whose fame was great, (is) this (present) king, by name Skanda-
gupta, who possesses great glory ; who subsisted (like a bee) on the wide-spreading
waterlilies which were the feet of (his) father ;¹ whose fame is spread far and wide ;—who
is amply endowed with strength of arm in the world ; who is the most eminent hero in the
lineage of the Guptas ; whose great splendour is spread far and wide ; by whom, prac-
tising (good) behaviour, the conduct of those who perform good actions is not obstructed ;
who is of spotless soul ; (and) who is well disciplined in the understanding of musical
keys(?) :—
(L. 8.)—By whom,—having, with daily intense application, step by step attained his
object by means of good behaviour and strength and politic conduct,—instruction in the art
of disposition (of resources) was acquired, (and) was employed as the means of (subduing
his) enemies who had put themselves forward in the desire for conquest that was so highly
welcome (to them) :—
(L. 10.)—By whom, when ne prepared himself to restore the fallen fortunes of
(his) family, a (whole) night was spent on a couch that was the bare earth ; and then,
having conquered the Pushyamitras,² who had developed great power and wealth, he
placed (his) left foot on a foot-stool which was the king (of that tribe himself) :—
(L. 11.)—The resplendent behaviour of whom, possessed of spotless fame,—inherent,
[but increased] by . . . . . . . and patience and heroism which are emphatically unequalled,
(and) which destroy the efficacy of the weapons (of his enemies),—is sung in every region
by happy men, even down to the children :—
(L. 12.)—Who, when (his) father had attained the skies, conquered (his) enemies by
the strength of (his) arm, and established again the ruined fortunes of (his) lineage ; and
then, crying “the victory has been achieved,” betook himself to (his) mother, whose eyes
were full of tears from joy, just as Kṛishṇa, when he had slain (his) enemies, betook himself
to (his mother) Dêvakî ;—
(L. 14.)—Who, with his own armies, established (again) (his) lineage that had been
made to totter . . . . . . . . . (and) with his two arms subjugated the earth, (and) shewed
mercy to the conquered peoples in distress, (but) has become neither proud nor arrogant,
¹ This expression is very analogous in its purport to the tat-pâd-ânudhyâta of line 5 above.
Compare Amôghavarshadêva-pâdapaṅkaja-bhramara, “a bee at the waterlilies which are the feet of
Amôghavarshadêva,” in line 17 f. of the Śirûr inscription of Śaka-Saṁvat 788 (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII.
p. 219.)
² The second syllable of this name, like the rest of the inscription, is damaged. But, as regards
the lower component,—comparing it with the subscript y of this inscription, e.g. in pradasya, line 2, and
dauhitrasya, line 3 ; and contrasting it with the subscript p, e.g. in tat-parigṛihîtô, line 4, and tat-pâdá,
line 5,—it is plainly y. This passage, therefore, shews that the correct form of the first part of this name
is pushya, not pushpa ; a point which Dêvanâgarî manuscripts have not sufficed, and cannot suffice, to
settle. And it bears out the Prâkṛit form, Pûsamitta, of the name of the early king Pushyamitra,
the contemporary of Patañjali, in the passages given by Dr. Bühler from the Prâkṛit Gâthâs accord-
ing to Mêrutuṅga, Dharmasâgara, and Jayavijayagaṇi (Ind. Ant. Vol. II. p. 362 f.)—Pushyamitra is
the correct form according to Prof. Weber also (Sanskrit Literature, p. 223, note 237).