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

224 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
(id. Plate x.) reduced from a copy made apparently by himself, to accompany his
“Notes on the Caves of Barabar.”—And this was followed, in the same volume, p. 594 ff.
by Dr. Rajendralala Mitra’s reading of the text, accompanied by a reprint of Sir Charles
Wilkins’ translation.
The Nâgârjunî Hill, which, in line 8 of the following inscription of the same
chieftain, No. 50 below, is spoken of as (a part of) the Vindhya range, is about a mile
away on the north side of the village of Jâphra,¹ which is about fifteen miles to the
north by east of Gayâ, the chief town of the Gayâ District in the Bengal Presidency.
It is the most eastern part of the group of hills that includes the Barâbar Hill,
mentioned in connection with the preceding inscription, page 221 above. On the north
side of the hill, there is a cave-temple, which is shewn to belong to the Asôka period by
an inscription, in four lines, of Dasalatha-Dêvânampiya on the rock over the entrance,
and which, from the first two words of that inscription, has been named the “Vadathi
Cave.”² The present inscription is on the smooth and polished surface of the granite
rock, on the right hand in the entrance to the cave.
The writing, which covers a space of about 4' 2¾" broad by 1' 5½" high, is in a
state of excellent preservation throughout.—The average size of the letters is about 1".
The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets, and are of precisely the
same type as those of the preceding inscription of the same chieftain, No. 48 above,
Plate xxxB., exhibiting, in the same way, the fully developed mâtrâs.—The language
is Sanskrit; and, except for the opening symbol representing the word ôm, the inscrip-
tion is in verse throughout.—In respect of orthography, the only points that call for
notice are (1) the use of the dental nasal, instead of the anusvâra, before s, in ansa,
line 5; and (2) the customary doubling of t, in conjunction with a following r, in
kshattra, line 1, and nêttra, line 2.
The inscription is another record of the Maukhari chieftain Anantavarman.
It is not dated. It is a Śaiva inscription; the object of it being to record the installa-
tion in the cave, by Anantavarman, of an image representing Śiva, in the form of
Bhûtapati or “the lord of beings,” and his wife Pârvatî, under the name of Dêvî. The
image was probably of the kind called Ardhanârîśvara, combining Śiva and Pârvatî in
one body; the right half being the male god, and the left the female.
TEXT.³
1 Ôm⁴ [||*] Âsît⁵=sarvva-mahîkshitâm=Anur⁶=iva kshattra-sthitêr=ddêśikaḥ
śrîmân=matta-gajêndra-khêla-gamanaḥ śrî-Yajñavarmmâ nṛipaḥ [|*]
2 yasy=âhûta-sahasranêttra-viraha-kshâmâ sad=aiv=âdhvaraiḥ Paulômî chiram=
aśru-pâta-malinâṁ dhâ(dha)ttê kapôla-śriyaṁ ||
¹ The ‘Kootbunpoor-Jafra’ of the Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 103. Lat. 25° 0' N.; Long. 85° 8' E.—
The name of the hill is not shewn in the map.
² Marked G. in Gen. Cunningham’s sketch given in the Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. I. p. 40
Pl. xviii.
³ From the original stone.
⁴ In the original, the symbol for this word, ôm, stands in the margin, opposite the commencement
of line 3.
⁵ Metre, Śârdûlavikrîḍita ; and in the following verse.
⁶ Sir Charles Wilkins and Dr. R. Mitra both read mahîkshitâṁ Manur=iva; but there is no
anusvâra over the tâ.