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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 20, PLATE XII B. 91
No. 20; PLATE XII B.
ERAN POSTHUMOUS STONE PILLAR INSCRIPTION
OF GOPARAJA.
THE YEAR 191.
THIS inscription, which has not previously been published, was discovered in 1874-75
or 1876-77 by General Cunningham, and was first brought to notice by him in 1880, in the
Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. X. p. 89 f.
It is another inscription from Êraṇ,¹ in the Khurâî Sub-Division of the Sâgar
District in the Central Provinces. It is on a small pillar, afterwards converted into a liṅga
or phallic emblem of Śiva, which stands under some tall trees near the left bank of the
Bînâ, about half a mile to the south-east of Êraṇ, and half-way between it and the neigh-
bouring village of Pêhêlêjpur.² The original lower part of the pillar is now broken away
and lost ; the remnant of it is about 3' 11" high and 1' 6" in diameter. The bottom part
is octagonal ; and the inscription is at the top of this octagonal part, on three of the eight
faces, each of which is about 7" broad ; the bottom line is about six inches above the level of
the ground. Above this, the pillar is sixteen-sided. Above this, it is again octagonal ;
and the faces here have sculptures of men and women, who are probably intended for the
Gôparâja of the inscription, and his wife and friends ; the compartment immediately above
the centre of the inscription, represents a man and a woman, sitting, who must be
Gôparâja and his wife. Above this, the pillar is again sixteen-sided. Above this, it is
once more octagonal ; and on two of the faces here, there are the remains of a quite
illegible inscription of four lines, in characters of the same type with those of the inscrip-
tion now published. Above this, the pillar curves over in sixteen flutes or ribs, into a
round top. The pillar was converted into a liṅga, by fitting an ablution-trough to it ; this
was attached over the part where the inscription lay ; and it was only by the breaking of
it, that the greater part of the inscription was disclosed to view.
The writing, which covers a space of about 1' 9" broad by 11" high, has suffered a
good deal from the weather, and from the sharpening of tools on the edges of the stone ;
but, on the original pillar, it is fairly legible almost throughout ; and the only historical
items that have been lost are, in line 2, the name of Gôparâja's grandfather, and of the
family to which he belonged.—The size of the letters varies from ⅜" to ⅝". The
characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, and, though not quite so well
formed, are of almost precisely the same type with those of the Êraṇ pillar inscription of
Budhagupta, No. 19 above, Plate xiiA. The letter r, as the first part of a compound
consonant, is formed within the top line of the writing in pârtha, line 5, and bhâryâ, line 7;
but above it in sârddham, line 5. The characters include, in line 2, forms of the
numerical symbols for 1, 7, 90, and 100.—The language is Sanskrit; and, the
inscription is in prose as far as the end of the date, in line 2, and the rest in verse.—In
respect of orthography, the only points that call for notice are (1) the use of the guttural
nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before ś, in vaṅśa, lines 1 and 4; and (2) the doubling of
k and t, in conjunction with a following r; e.g. in vikkrânta and puttra, line 3.
¹ See page 18 above, and note 1.
² The 'Pahlechpur' of Gen. Cunningham's map (Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. X. Pl. xxiii.)
N 2.