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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 23, PLATE XIV. 107
symbols for 1, 3, 90, and 100.—The language is Sanskrit; and, except for the bene-
dictive and imprecatory verses in lines 13 to 18, the entire inscription is in prose.—In
respect of orthography, we have to notice (1) the use of the guttural nasal, instead of
the anusvâra, before h, in siṅha, line 20; (2) the doubling of k, g, and t, in conjunc-
tion with a following r, in vakkrâ, line 18; viggrahika, line 19; and chaittra, line 2,
and pittrôr, line 7; but not in other places, e.g. in sagôtrêbhyaś, line 8; (3) the doubling
of dh, in conjunction with a following y, in avaddhyânêna, line 12; (4) the occasional
use of b for v, in sambatsara, line 2 (twice), and sambat, line 20; and (5) the occasional
use of v for b, in vrâhmaṇa, line 5, and vahubhir, line 14.
The inscription is one of the Parivrâjaka Mahârâja Hastin. It is dated, both in
words and in numerical symbols, "in the enjoyment of sovereignty by the Gupta kings,"
in the year one hundred and ninety-one (A.D. 510-11), in the Mahâ-Chaitra saṁvat-
sara, and on the third lunar day of the dark fortnight, and the third solar day of the
whole month, of Mâgha (January-February).¹ Except for the opening invocation of the
god Śiva, under the name of Mahâdêva, the inscription is non-sectarian The object of
it is to record the grant, by the Mahârâja Hastin, at the request of a certain person
named Mahâdêvidêva, of the village of Vâlugarta to certain Brâhmaṇs.
*TEXT.²
First Plate.
1 Namô Mahâdêvâya || Svasty=Êka-navaty-uttarê=bda-śatê Gupta-nṛpa-
râjya-bhuktau śrîmati pravarddhamâna³-
2 Mahâ-Chaittra-samba(mva)tsarê Mâgha-mâsa-bahula-paksha-tṛitîyâyâm=asyâ[ṁ]
samba(mva)tsara-mâsa-divasa-pûrvvâ-
3 yâṁ⁴ [|] Nṛipatiparivrâjaka-kul-ôtpannêna mahârâja-Dêvâḍhya-pranaptrâ
mahârâja-śrî-Prabhañjana-naptrâ mahâ-
4 râja-śrî-Dâmôdara-sutêna gô-sahasra-hasty-aśva-hiraṇy-ânêka-bhûmi-pradêna
guru-pitṛi-mâtṛi-pûjâ-
5 tatparêṇ=âtyanta-dêva-vrâ(brâ)hmaṇa-bhaktên=ânêka-samara-śata-vijayinâ sva-
vaṁś-âmôdakarêṇa mahâ-
6 râja-śrî-Hastinâ Mahâdêvidêva-sukha-vijñaptyâ Vâlugarttô nâma grâmaḥ
pûrvv-âghâṭa-parichchhêda-ma-
7 ryâdayâ s-ôdraṅgaḥ s-ôparikarô=ch[a]ṭa-bhaṭa-prâvêśyaḥ mâtâpittrôr=
âtmanaś=cha puṇy-âbhivṛiddhayê Mahâdê-

rect ancient form of the letter is used throughout the rest of this inscription also, e.g. in yuva, line 2, and vijaya, line 3.
¹ The double record of this date is of considerable importance. In line 2, the day is distinctly specified as the third lunar day of the dark fortnight; while, in line 21, in numerical symbols, it is shewn as the third day of the month, without any specification of the fortnight. So, again, in No. 25 below, page 114 f., the thirteenth lunar day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra (line 2 f.), is shewn in line 24 as the twenty-ninth solar day of the whole month. The four entries together prove that, as might be expected in the case of an era belonging to Northern India, the arrangement of the fort-nights of the months of the Gupta year followed the northern custom, with the dark fortnight preceding the bright.
² From the original plates.
³ The vowel ô, of nô, appears to have been engraved and then cancelled here. In Plate xvB, l. 2, the reading is as I transcribe it here.
⁴ Supply tithau.
P 2.