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

92 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
The inscription, which does not refer itself to the reign of any particular king, is
dated, in both words and numerical symbols, in the year one hundred and ninety-one
(A.D. 510-11), on the seventh lunar day of the dark fortnight, and solar day¹ of the month,
of Śrāvaṇa (July-August). It is a non-sectarian inscription ; the object of it being only to
record that, in the company of a powerful king named Bhānugupta, a chieftain or noble
named Gōparāja came to the place where the pillar was set up, and fought a battle ; that
Gōparāja was killed ; and that his wife accompanied him, by cremating herself on his
funeral pyre.²
TEXT.³
1 Ôm Samvatsara-śatê êka-navaty-uttarê Śrāvaṇa-bahula-paksha-sap[t]amy[ām]
2 samvat 100 90 1 Śrāvaṇa ba⁴ di 7 ॥ [—]la(?)ksha⁵-vaṁśād=
utpannô [— —]
3 râj-êti-viśrutaḥ tasya puttrô=ti-vikkrāntô nâmnâ râj=âtha Mâdhavaḥ ॥
Gôparâja[ḥ]
4 sutas=tasya Śrīmân=vikhyâta-paurushaḥ Śarabharâja-dauhittraḥ sva-vaṁśa-
tilakô=dhu(?)nâ(?) [॥]
5 Śrī⁶-Bhânuguptô jagati pravîrô râjâ mahân=Pârtha-samô=ti-śûraḥ tên=âtha
sârddhan=tv=iha Gôpar[â]j[ô]
¹ The day is indicated as a solar day, as well as lunar, by the use, in the numerical-symbol
record, of di, the abbreviation of dina, dinê, divasa, or divasê, in addition to, in the fuller record,
saptamî, which denotes the lunar tithi.—The abbreviation di is preceded by ba, which stands for
bahula-paksha or bahula-pakshê. Sometimes, instead of ba, we have va; e.g. in line 17 of the
Bengal Asiatic Society's grant of the Mahârâja Vinâyakapâla, samvatsrô (sic) 100 80 8 Phâlguna va
di 9 (Ind. Ant. Vol. XV. p. 141); in which case va may, according to the general orthography
of the particular record, stand for ba; or it may be an abbreviation of vadya, which is a synonym
of bahula, and is of common enough use in the present day, though it was not so in ancient times.
The corresponding method of denoting the bright fortnight, is by the use of the abbreviation śu,
which represents śukla or śuddha, similarly in composition with paksha or pakshê; e.g. in line 14 of
the Bôdh-Gayâ inscription of Mahânâman, No. 71 below, Plate xliA., samvat 200 60 9 Chaittra śu
di 8.—These abbreviations, śu di and ba di or va di, are often quoted as if they were words in them-
selves (śudi, badi, vadi), meaning respectively 'the bright fortnight' and 'the dark fortnight.'
And Monier Williams, in his Sanskṛit Dictionary, gives vadi as an indeclinable word, meaning 'in
the dark half of a month;' with the remark that, according to some, it stands for badi, and is a con-
traction of bahula-dina; but with an intimation of his own opinion that it represents vadya. But
I doubt whether the Hindus themselves, even when using the abbreviations, look on them as words.
And it is worth noting that Molesworth and Candy's Marâṭhî Dictionary, which is very comprehen-
sive, does not include these expressions, either as abbreviations, or as words. Even if a modern
practice of treating these abbreviations as words, should be proved, it is an erroneous practice. By
origin, the syllables are nothing but distinct and separate abbreviations, of which the first denotes
the fortnight of the month, and the second; the day of the month or fortnight. And this is the
point of view from which they have to be looked at, in dealing with any ancient records.
² i.e., according to the colloquial expression, she became Satî ('Suttee').—With this early in-
stance of the cremation of widows, we may compare the indication of the same practice that is given
in Bhagwanlal Indraji's Nêpâl inscription No. 1, of Mânadêva (Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 164, line 7 f., and
p. 165), when Râjyavatî, the widow of Dharmadêva, bids her son Mânadêva take up the government,
in order that she may follow her deceased husband to the other world. This instance belongs to about
A.D. 705 (see id. Vol. XIV. pp. 344, 350).—As noted by Gen. Cunningham, there are several other
Satî-pillars, but of much later date, at Êraṇ.
³ From the original stone. ⁴ i.e. bahula-paksha.
⁵ Metre, Ślôka (Anushṭubh); and in the next verse.
⁶ Metre, Indravajrâ; and in the following verse.