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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 39, PLATE XXV. 185
quired the (whole) surface of the earth by (his) prowess alone ; who approved not of making
his couch among stupid people ; who was one of the best of men of a kind that was unpre-
cedented ; who, as if he were the personification of religion, properly regulated the prac-
tices of the different castes and stages of life ; whose lofty and excellent white banner of
religion was hailed by the three worlds that were gladdened by (his) collecting together,
in the joy of (his) very upright disposition, and then assenting to (the continuance of the
enjoyment of), even those grants to gods and Brâhmaṇs that had been confiscated by
previous kings, who were made avaricious by a little greed ; who glorified his own lineage ;
(and) who, having done worship to the gods and Brâhmaṇs and spiritual preceptors, filled
all the circuit of the regions with the continuity of (his) excellent reputation acquired by
(their) satisfaction produced by (his) settlement of liberal grants of the udranga¹ and
other (rights) which were ceaselessly made (by him) according to the merits (of the
recipients.)
(L. 47.)—Of his elder brother,² the illustrious Śîlâditya (II.),³—who made all the
regions white with (his) fame, as if with the light of the full-moon that makes the beauty
of the waterlilies to develop itself ; (and) who was the lord of the earth, the bulky breasts
of which are the Vindhya mountains of a dark-blue colour like cakes of ointment made of
pounded aloe-bark,—the son (was) the Paramabhaṭṭâraka, Mahârâjâdhirâja, and Paramê-
śvara, the glorious Śîlâdityadêva (III.),—who day by day increased (his) circle of
accomplishments, like the new cold-rayed (moon) day by day increasing (its) digits ; who
adorned the goddess of sovereignty, like a young lordly lion adorning a forest on a mountain ;
who, like (the god Kârttikêya) who has the banner of a peacock, was adorned with a beauti-
ful lock of hair on the top of the head, and was possessed of excessively great energy and
majesty ; who was [full of glory (and) possessed ample treasures*],⁴ like the approach of
autumn, [which is full of warmth (and) causes the waterlilies to bloom *] ; [who used to part
asunder in battle the elephants of (his) enemies, just as the young sun, hot (even) in (its)
rising, parts asunder the clouds*] ; [who used to steal in war the lives*] of (his) enemies ;
who was a most devout worshipper of (the god) Mahêśvara ; (and) who meditated on the
feet of the Paramabhaṭṭâraka, Mahârâjâdhirâja, and Paramêśvara, (his) glorious uncle.⁵
(L. 51.)—His son (was) the Paramabhaṭṭâraka, Mahârâjâdhirâja, and Paramêśvara,
the glorious Śîlâdityadêva (IV.),—[who achieved*] supreme lordship⁶ [by engaging in
the creation of another world] ; the diffused fire of whose great prowess played about on
the temples of (his) enemies' elephants, which were split open by the blows of (his) sword
that was drawn in anger ; who acquired a firm position on the earth by encircling it about
¹ See page 97 above, note 6. ² See page 177 above, note 4.
³ In Dr. Bühler's genealogical table (Ind. Ant. Vol. V. p. 208 ; and Archæol. Surv. West. Ind.
Vol. III. p. 26), this Śîlâditya, because he did not actually reign, is passed over without being
numbered ; with the result that the last of the family, the maker of the present grant, is called Śîlâditya
VI., instead of Śîlâditya VII. But this arrangement, if endorsed, would place us under the incon-
venience of having to refer to him in a very roundabout way, by specifying his father, son, or brother,
in any discussion of the history of the family. He belongs to the direct line of descent ; and all con-
siderations of expediency require that he should be duly numbered, quite as much as his grandfather
and descendants of the same name.
⁴ See page 177 above, note 8.
⁵ bâva.—See page 178 above, note 1, and page 186 below, note 1.
⁶ See page 178 above, note 2.—In this passage, Śîlâditya IV. is likened to the god Śiva, under the
name of Paramêśvara or 'the supreme lord,' and as the creator (see page 155 above, note 1.)
2 A.