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

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 46, PLATE XXIX B. 215
ginally looked upon as one of the twelve Âdityas, or forms of the sun, the offspring of
Aditi.¹
The importance of this inscription consists, first, in its continuation, for three more
generations, of the genealogy of the Guptas of Magadha, including the name of Dêva-
gupta, which, as will be seen hereafter, gives the clue to the date of the Vâkâṭaka
Mahârâjas; and secondly, in its recording the names of certain previous kings, who each
in succession had confirmed the grant. The names that are now legible are those of
Bâlâditya, who, as is known from the writings of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang,
played so important a part in connection with Mihirakula; Śarvavarman, who is evident-
ly the Maukhari king Śarvavarman, whose copper-seal we have in No. 47 below, Plate
xxxA.; and Avantivarman, who is probably the Maukhari Avantivarman, mentioned in
Bâṇa's Harshacharita as the father of Grahavarman who became the husband of Râjyaśrî,
the sister of Harshavardhana of Kanauj.²
Of the places mentioned in the inscription, Gômatikoṭṭaka, the fort whence the
charter was issued, must evidently be looked for somewhere along the river Gômatî, the
modern Gômti or Gumti, which, rising in the Shâhjahânpur District of the North-West
Provinces, passes Lucknow and Jaunpur, and flows into the Ganges about half-way between
Benares and Ghâzîpur, and about eighty-five miles to the west of Dêô-Baraṇârk. And
Vâruṇikâ is plainly the modern Dêô-Baraṇârk itself. In the modern name, the first
component is dêva, 'a god;' and the second, a corruption of Varuṇârka, evidently gives
the name of a later conception of the original god, embodying the attributes of the Sun
(arka) with those of Varuṇa.
TEXT.³
1 ..........⁴ [na]maḥ [||] Svasti Śakti-ttray-ôpâtta-jayaśabdân=mahâ-nau-
hâ(ha)sty-aśva-patti-sambhâra-durnivâraj=jaya-skandhâvârât Gômatikoṭṭaka-
samîpa-vâsa-
2 [kât] .....⁵ [śrî-Mâdhava]guptas=tasya puttras=tat-pâd-ânudhyâtaḥ
paramabhaṭṭârikâyâm râjñyâm mahâdêvyâm śrî-Śrîmatyâm=utpannaḥ
paramabhâgavataḥ śrî-Âditya[sê]-
3 [nadêvas=tasya] pu[ttra]s=tat-pâd-ânudhyâtaḥ paramabhaṭṭârikâyâm râjñyâm
mahâdêvyâm śrî-Kôṇad[ê]vyâm=utpannaḥ paramamâhêśvara-
paramabhaṭṭâraka-mahâr[â]j[â]-
4 [dhirâja-paramêśvara]-śrî-D[ê]vaguptad[ê]vas⁷=tasya puttras=tat-pâd-ânu-
¹ See, for instance, Monier Williams' Indian Wisdom, pp. 12 f. and 68; and Muir's Sanskrit
Texts, Vol. I. p. 27, note 42.
² See FitzEdward Hall's preface to the Vâsavadattâ, p. 52; and the Harshacharita, Kaśmîr
edition, p. 311 ff.
³ From the ink-impression..
⁴ Bhagwanlal Indraji supplied varuṇavâsi-bhaṭṭârakâya here. But only about five aksharas, or
at the most six, appear to have been destroyed.
⁵ Some sectarian title of Mâdhavagupta must have been destroyed here; but there seems hardly
room enough for paramabhâgavata or paramamâhêśvara.
⁶ Read śry-âditya.
⁷ This name of Dêvaguptadêva,—which is of considerable importance, from its bearing on the
date of the Vâkâṭaka Mahârâjas,—is very indistinct; but I agree with Bhagwanlal Indraji that it
can be read with sufficient certainty.