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

148 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
prowess,—which were not enjoyed (even) by the lords of the Guptas, whose prowess was
displayed by invading the whole (remainder of the) earth, (and) which the command of
the chiefs of the Hûṇas, that established itself on the tiaras of (many) kings, failed to
penetrate:—
(L. 5.)—He before whose feet chieftains,¹ having (their) arrogance removed by
the strength of (his) arm, bow down, from the neighbourhood of the (river) Lauhitya up
to (the mountain) Mahêndra,² the lands at the foot of which are impenetrable through
the groves of palmyra-trees, (and) from (Himâlaya) the mountain of snow, the table-
lands of which are embraced by the (river) Gaṅgâ, up to the Western Ocean,—by
which (all) the divisions of the earth are made of various hues through the intermingling
of the rays of the jewels in the locks of hair on the tops of (their) heads:³—
(L. 6.)—He by whom (his) head has never been brought into the humility of
obeisance to any other save (the god) Sthâṇu;—he, through the embraces of whose
arms (Himâlaya) the mountain of snow carries no longer⁴ the pride of the title of being
a place that is difficult of access;—he to whose two feet respect was paid, with compli-
mentary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that
(famous) king Mihirakula, whose forehead was pained through being bent low down by
the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance:—
(L. 7.)—By him, the king, the glorious Yaśôdharman,⁵ the firm beams of whose
arms are as charming as pillars, this column, which shall endure to the time of the de-
struction of the world, has been erected here,—as if to measure out the earth; as if to
enumerate on high the multitude of the heavenly lights; (and) as if to point out the path
of his own fame to the skies above, acquired by good actions;—(this column) which
shines refulgent, as if it were a lofty arm of the earth, raised up in joy to write upon the
surface of the moon the excellence of the virtues of Yaśôdharman, to the effect that—
"His birth (is) in a lineage that is worthy to be eulogised; there is seen in him a charm-
ing behaviour that is destructive of sin; he is the abode of religion; (and) the (good)
customs of mankind continue current, unimpeded (in any way) by him."
(L. 9.)—From a desire thus to praise this king, of meritorious actions, (these) verses
have been composed by Vâsula, the son of Kakka. (This eulogy) has been engraved by
Gôvinda.

¹ Sâmanta, lit. 'bordering, neighbouring; a neighbour, a feudatory prince, the chief of a tribu-
tary district,' is a technical official title, denoting a rank next below that of the Mahâsâmanta, which
title occurs, for instance, in several places in the Nirmaṇḍ grant of the Mahâsâmanta and Mahârâja
Samudrasêna, No. 80 below, Plate xliv.—Sâmanta is of constant occurrence, in other inscriptions,
in its technical sense; but it is here used only in a general way, and is translated accordingly.
² See page 146 above, note 1.
³ chûḍâ is a single lock or tuft of hair left on the crown of the head after the ceremony of ton-
sure, which is performed in early childhood.
⁴ To complete the sense, we must apparently supply, in connection with vahati, the negative
particle na from the first pâda of the verse.
⁵ See page 145 above, note 2.