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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 32. PLATE XXI A 139
(L. 19.)—And it has been said in the Mahâbhârata, in the Śatasâhasrî-Saṁhitâ, by
vyâsa, the arranger of the Vêdas, the supreme sage, the son of Parâśara,—“O Yudhish-
ṭhira, best of kings, catefully preserve land that has previously been given to the twice-
born; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) (is) more meritorious than making a grant!
As a rule, indeed, no inauspicious condition is experienced by kings; but they are purified
for ever, when they bestow land! The earth has been enjoyed by [many*] kings, com-
mencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at
that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it)! The giver of
land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a
grant), and he who assents (to an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number
of years in hell! He who confiscates land that has been given, whether by himself, or by
another,—he becomes a worm in the ordure of a dog, and sinks (into hell) together with
his ancestors! Those who confiscate a previous grant, are born (again) as black serpents,
inhabiting the dried-up hollows of trees, in desert places destitute of water!”
(L. 27.)—(This charter) has been written in two centuries of years, increased by
fourteen, on the sixth day of the month Pausha, by the Sâṁdhivigrahika Nâtha, the
great-grandson of the Amâtya Phalgudatta; the grandson of Varâhadinna; (and) the
son of Manôratha. The Dûtaka (is) Dhṛitisvâmika.

No. 32; PLATE XXI A.

MEHARAULI POSTHUMOUS IRON PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF CHANDRA.

THIS inscription was first brought to notice in 1834, in the Jour. Beng. As. Soc Vol.
III. p. 494. where Mr. James Prinsep published a lithograph of it (id. Plate xxx.),
reduced from a facsimile made in 1831 by Lieutenant William Elliot, 27th Regiment N. I.
This lithograph was not accompanied by any details of the contents of the inscription;
and it does not represent a single letter of the original correctly, and is quite unintelligible
from beginning to end.—In 1838, in the same Journal, Vol. VII. p. 629 ff., Mr. James
Prinsep published a much improved lithograph (id. Plate xxxiii.), reduced from an ink-
impression made in the same year by Captain T. S. Burt, of the Engineers; and, with it,
his own reading of the text and a translation of it.¹—And finally, in 1875, in the Jour. Bo.
Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. X. p. 63 ff., Dr. Bhau Daji published a revised version of the text and
translation, including the correct reading of the king’s name as Chandra, with a lithograph
which appears to have been reduced from a copy on cloth made by Dr. Bnagwanlal
Indraji.²
Mêharaulî, or Mêmharaulî,³—an evident corruption of Mihirapurî,—is a village

¹ The translation is reprinted in Thomas' edition of Prinsep's Essays, Vol. I. p. 320 f.
² This paper was published in 1875; but it was read before the Society four years earlier, on
the 13th April 1871.
³ The ‘Maharoli, Manroli, and Muhroulee, of maps. Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 49. Lat. 28° 31′
N.; Long. 77° 14′ E.—The pillar has always been known as the “Dehli Pillar;” and I think the
name of the village in which it really stands, so important because of its obvious derivation, viz.
Mihirapurî, ‘the city of the sun, or of the Mihiras,’ was not put on record, in connection with the
inscription, until I noticed it (Ind. Ant. Vol. XV. p. 362.)
T 2.