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

tuous people, (as he was). He also (like the god), carried a discus in the palm of (his)
hand ;¹ to him also belonged a bow made of horn, and a pleasing sword (which was em-
ployed) for the destruction of (his) enemies (and) the happiness of his friends ;² (and),
when the slaughter of (his) foes had been achieved, . . . . . . . . . . . . was averted by him ;
. . . . . . . . . . . . people did obeisance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "(My) mighty enemies have been
slain by me in battle ; there remains nothing more for me to do,"—thus he, the hero,
determined in his mind ; (and then) with the desire to associate himself with the glorious
Harshadêva³ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(L. 15.)—His son was the illustrious one, named Âdityasêna, the best among kings,
whose scimetar was sullied with a thick coating of dust in the shape of the pearls from the
temples of the lordly elephants⁴ of (his) enemies that were split open (by it), . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maintaining the supreme renown, that (his)
perfect praise, coming from . . . . . . . . . . (and) rising from the destruction of (his)
enemies, is worthy to be lauded in the presence of all wielders of the bow,—a continuous
line of blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cleaning with the edge of
the silken cloth of a banner, (used) under the excuse of (wiping away) sweat in battle, (his)
sword that was stained with the rut (of the elephants slain by him), and was covered with
sand in the shape of the minute fragments of the pearls (from their foreheads) through
. . . . . . . . . . . . that was broken to pieces, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the
destruction of rutting elephants, in the course of which many swarms of bees, led into a
mistake by the copious fragrant juice that trickled forth, were attracted by their perfume.
. . . . . . . . . . . in battle which is full of terrible and repulsive frownings . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . (he) is accustomed to laugh in a charming manner in the gatherings of
(his) favourites and servants. His [wife], truthfully constant to (her) lord ; performing
penance with the excellent qualities of (her) mouth (?) ; . . . . . . . . . . . laughter . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . Being . . . . . . . . . . (and) being the greatest cause of the destruction of the
power of all (his) enemies, (and) being possessed of his own mighty prowess, even when
he is full of weariness produced by the fatigue of drawing (his) sword forth (from its
scabbard) and (dealing) blows (with it),— . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the foreheads
of rutting elephants in battle, [he is verily] a guardian of the world, by whose white um-
brella the whole circuit of the earth is covered. He, the king, has had both (his) gleam-
ing arms increased in bulk by splitting open the temples of rutting elephants in war ; he

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¹ The god carries an actual discus ; the king had the mark of a discus (see page 183 above,
note 4).
² The allusions here are to the discus of Vishṇu (Mâdhava), to his bow of horn named Śârṅga,
and to his sword called Nandaka.
³ Harshavardhana of Kanauj.—The present form of his name occurs also in the Harshacharita
(Kaśmîr edition), p. 119, line 5.—I notice that he is often called Śrîharsha, and Śrîharshavardhana ; as
if śrî were a component part of his name, instead of being only the honorific prefix. But I cannot find
any authority whatever for this. I cannot trace a single instance in which the reading of any inscription
or book is śrî-Śrîharsha (see page 8 above, note 3) ; while, in line 26 of the Kauthêm grant of
Vikramâditya V. (Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 22), he is distinctly called Harsha-mahânṛipa, "the great
king Harsha." So, also, Bâṇa's book about him and his history is always called simply Harshacharita,
not Śrîharshacharita, in the colophon of each division of it ; and the śrî, which is prefixed on the
title-page of the Kaśmîr edition, only qualifies Harshacharita, as the name of the book, in the sense
of "the famous history of Harsha."
⁴ The belief, to which there are constant allusions in Sanskrit poetry, was, that there are pearls
to be found inside the foreheads of elephants.