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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 36, PLATE XXIII A. 159
clinging to its mane and bristles.¹ It has the earth, represented as a woman, hanging on,
in accordance with the legend, to its right-hand tusk ; and over its shoulders there is a
small four-sided shrine, with a sitting figure in each face of it. There are several very
serious cracks in the Boar ; one of which, right through the centre of it from front to back,
shews in the lithograph published herewith. The surface on which the inscription is, is
slightly concave.—The writing, which covers a space of about 2' 9" broad by 10¾" high,
has in one or two places suffered a good deal from the weather ; but, except where a few
letters have been entirely destroyed through the stone breaking away at the edges of the
crack mentioned above, it can be read with certainty throughout. The bottom line is
about 6' 0" above the level of the ground.—The average size of the letters is about ⅜".
The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, and are very similar in type
to those of the Êraṇ pillar inscription of Budhagupta, No. 19 above, Plate xiiA. The two
methods of forming the letter r, in combination with a following consonant, are illustrated,
on the one hand, by paryanta, line 5 and, on the other, by ghûrnṇita, line 1, pûrvvâyâm,
line 3, and artha, line 7.—The language is Saṁskṛit ; and the inscription is in verse as
far as the end of the date in line 3, and the rest in prose.—In respect of orthography,
the only point that calls for notice is the doubling of k, t, and dh, in conjunction with a
following r; e.g. in kkriyêṇa, line 6; maittrâyaṇîya, line 3; pauttrasya, line 4; (but
not in bhrâtrâ, line 6); and mahîddhraḥ, line 1.
The inscription refers itself to the reign of Tôramâṇa. It is dated, in words, in the
first year of his reign, without any reference to an era ; and on the tenth day, without any
specification of the fortnight, of the month Phâlguna (February-March). It is a Vaishṇava
inscription. And the object of it is to record the building of the temple, in which the Boar
stands, by Dhanyavishṇu, the younger brother of the deceased Mahârâja Mâtṛivishṇu.
The mention of Mâtṛivishṇu in this inscription as deceased, is of importance, as shew-
ing that Tôramâṇa comes, so far as his possession of Eastern Mâlwa is concerned, shortly
after Budhagupta, in whose time Mâtṛivishṇu, then alive, in conjunction with Dhanya-
vishṇu set up the column that bears Budhagupta's inscription of the year 165, No. 19
above, page 88.
TEXT.²
1 Ôm [||] Jayati³ dharaṇy-uddharaṇê ghana-ghôṇ-âghâta-ghûrnṇita-mahîddhraḥ
dêvô varâha-mûrttis=trailôkya-mahâ-gṛiha-stambhaḥ [||] Varshê⁴ prathamê
prithivîm
2 prithu-kîrttau prithu-dyutau mahârâjâdhirâja-śrî-Tôramâṇê praśâsati |(||)
Phâlguna-divasê⁵ daśamê | ity=êvaṁ râjyavarsha-mâsa-dinaiḥ [|*] êtasyâṁ
3 pûrvvâyâm | sva-lakshaṇair=yukta-pûrvvâyâm⁶ |(||) Sva-karmm-âbhiratasya
kratu-yâjinô=dhîta-svâdhyâyasya vipr-arshêr=Mmaittrâyaṇîya-vṛishabhasy=
Êndravishṇôḥ prapauttrasya |
¹ I noticed a similar boar, almost entirely buried, by the roadside, about half way between
Sâñchi and Udayagiri; but I had no means of raising it to ascertain whether there is any inscription
on it.
² From the original stone.
³ Metre, Âryâ.
⁴ This sentence is in prose, though it commences like a verse in the Âryâ metre.
⁵ Metre, Âryâ. ⁶ Supply tithau