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

202 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
applied to the alphabet for so long a time, there seems no objection to continuing it.
The alphabet of the present inscription might be called the Kuṭila variety of the Maga-
dha alphabet of the seventh century A.D. It really differs but little from the modern
Dêvanâgarî. The form of the lingual ḍh, which occurs in gâḍha, line 1, and dṛiḍha,
line 2, is almost quite identical with the modern Dêvanâgarî form. The form of the
lingual ḍ, which occurs in chûḍâ, lines 3 and 16, in khaḍga, line 18, and jaḍô, line 21, is
still rather transitional, differing but little from the form of the dental d. And the
most antique remnant in the whole inscription is the form of r, in conjunction with a
following consonant, e.g. in harsha, lines 2 and 15, dhanur-bhîma, line 2, sindhur-
llakshmî, line 7, and artha, line 12; following the custom noted at several places above,
but practised in the earlier inscriptions in respect only of r in combination with a follow-
ing y, it is formed throughout on the line of writing, instead of above it; and in the
rya of śaurya, in line 7, we have an exact reproduction of the same letter as it was
written nearly two centuries before, e.g. in kuryât in line 12 of the Majhgawâṁ plates
of the Mahârâja Hastin, of the year 191, No. 23 above, Plate xiv.—The language is
Saṁskṛit; and the inscription is in verse throughout. It offers about the earliest instance
of the hyperbolical expressions and mythological allusions with which the later inscrip-
tions abound, distinguishing them so completely from the artistic, concise, dignified,
and frequently really poetical, style of the more ancient records.—In respect of ortho-
graphy, the only points that call for notice are (1) the doubling of t, in conjunction
with a following r, once, in âtapattra, line 21; where, however, it may possibly be due
to a mistaken idea as to the etymology of the word; and (2) the use throughout of
v for b, e.g. in vivuddha, lines 9 and 11; valinô, line 14-15; vabhûva, line 15; and vibhratî,
line 17.
The inscription is one of Âdityasêna, of the family of the Guptas of Magadha.
It is not dated. It is a Vaishṇava inscription; the principal object of it being to record
the building, by Âdityasêna, of a temple of the god Vishṇu. But it also records the
building of a religious college or monastery by his mother Śrîmatî, and the excavation
of a tank by his wife Kôṇadêvî.
TEXT.¹
1 Ôm [||] Âsîd²=danti-sahasra-gâḍha-kaṭakô vidyâdhar-âdhyâsitaḥ sad-
vaṁśaḥ sthira unnatô girir=iva śrî-Kṛishṇaguptô nṛipaḥ | dript-
ârâti-madândha-vâraṇa-ghaṭâ-kumbhasthalîḥ kshuṇḍatâ yasy=âsaṁkhya-
ripu-pratâpa-jayinâ dôshṇâ mṛigêndrâyitaṁ || Sakalaḥ³ kalaṅka-rahitaḥ
2 kshata-timiras=tôyadhêḥ śaśâṅka iva | tasmâd=udapâdi sutô dêvaḥ śrî-
Harshagupta iti || Yô⁴ yôgy-âkâla-hêl-âvanata-dṛiḍha-dhanur-bhîma-
vân-augha-pâtî mûrt[t]aiḥ sva-svâmi-lakshmî-vasati-vimukhitair=îkshitaḥ
s-âsru-pâtaṁ | ghôrâṇâm=â
3. havânam likhitam=iva jayaṁ ślâghyam=âvirddadhânô vakshasy=uddâma-
śastra-vraṇa-kaṭhina-kiṇa-granthi-lêkhâ-chchhalêna || Śrî⁵-Jîvitaguptô=bhût=
kshitîśa-chûḍâmaṇiḥ sutas=tasya | yô dripta-vairi-nârî-mukhanalina-van-
aika-śêsêra⁶karaḥ ||
¹ From Major Kittoe’s impression; so, also, the lithograph.
² Metre, Śârdûlavikrîḍita. ³ Metre, Âryâ.
⁴ Metre, Sragdharâ. ⁵ Metre, Âryâ. ⁶ Read śiśira.