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

able, because he pleased the hearts of (his) subjects by properly preserving the path pre-
scribed by all the traditionary laws; who in beauty, lustre, stability, profundity, wisdom,
and wealth, surpassed (respectively) (the god) Smara, the moon, (Himālaya) the king of
mountains, the ocean, (Bṛihaspati) the preceptor of the gods, and (the god) Dhanēśa;
who, through being intent upon giving freedom from fear [to those who came for protec-
tion*], was indifferent to all the (other) results of his actions, as if they were (of as little
value as) straw; (and) who was, as it were, the personified¹ happiness of the circumfer-
ence of the whole earth.
(L. 15.)— His son, whose sins have been all washed away by the torrent of the
waters of (the river) Jāhnavī that was constituted by the diffusion of the rays of the nails of
his feet,—whose wealth and riches are the sustenance of a hundred thousand favourites;
who is with appreciation, as if from a desire for (his) beauty, resorted to by (all) the virtuous
qualities of an inviting kind;² who astonishes all archers by the speciality of (his) innate
strength and (skill acquired by) practice; who is the preserver of religious grants bestowed
by former kings; who averts calamities that would afflict (his) subjects; who is the exponent
of (the condition of being) the one (joint) habitation of wealth and learning; whose prow-
ess is skilful in causing annoyance to³ the goddess of the fortunes of the compact ranks of
(his) enemies; (and) who possesses a spotless princely glory, acquired by inheritance,—
(is) the Mahārāja, the illustrious Dharasēna (II.), a most devout worshipper of (the
god) Mahēśvara, who, being in good health, issues a command to all the Āyuktakas,⁴
Viniyuktakas,⁵ Drāṅgikas,⁶ Mahattaras,⁷ irregular and regular troops, Dhruvādhika-

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¹ pāda-chārin, lit. ‘moving on feet or legs;’ see Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar’s translation of line 7 of
the grant of Dharasēna IV. of the year 326 (Ind. Ant. Vol. I. p. 14.)
² The abhigāmikā guṇāḥ are explained by Kāmandaka in the Nītisāra, iv. vv. 6 to 8 (Calcutta
edition, p. 78), as quoted by V. N. Mandlik in the Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XI. p. 348, note;
they are—good birth, steadfastness in misfortune and prosperity, youth, a good disposition, civility,
absence of dilatoriness, speech that is not contradictory, truthfulness, reverence for the aged, grati-
tude, the state of being favoured by destiny, wisdom, being independent of trifles, capability of sub-
duing hostile neighbouring chiefs, firmness in attachment, far-sightedness, energy, purity, having
great aims, modesty, and firm devotion to religion and justice.
³ parikshōbha; other grants, drafted from the same form, and also No. 39 below, line 10, give
paribhōga, ‘(skilful in) enjoyment (of);’ which is a better reading.
⁴ This, and the following, are technical official terms, for which suitable translations have not
yet been fixed.—With the present term, Āyuktaka, we may compare the expression āyukta-purusha
in line 26 of the Allāhābād pillar inscription, No. 1, page 8 above.
⁵ Viniyuktaka; compare the use of niyuj, ‘to appoint; to commission,’ in line 9 of the Junāgaḍh
rock inscription, No. 14 above, page 59; also compare tan-niyukta in line 76 of No. 39 below, Plate
xxv.
⁶ Drāṅgika; other forms are draṅgika (Ind. Ant. Vol. V. p. 205, line 14; where, however, it may
be a mistake for drāṅgika), and drāṅgin (id. Vol. IV. p. 105, line 15). The present form, drāṅgika,
occurs again in id. Vol. IV. p. 175, line 6; and, in line 10 of the same grant, we have draṅga, which
is the origin of these terms, in Maṇḍalīdraṅga. Dr. Bühler, in the places quoted, proposed to render
draṅga by ‘township,’ and drāṅgika, &c., by ‘heads of towns;’ and Monier Williams, in his Sanskrit
Dictionary, gives draṅga as meaning ‘a town, a city.’
⁷ Mahattara is the comparative formation of mahat, ‘great,’ and is given by Monier Williams
in the special sense of ‘the head or oldest man of a village.’—In other inscriptions we have the
superlative formation, Mahattama, used in the same technical way.
V.