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

268 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
The inscription refers itself to the reign of some particular king; but his name has
been entirely broken away and lost in the first half of line 1. The recorded date, how-
ever, shews that it was either of the time of the Early Gupta king Skandagupta, or
immediately after his reign. It is dated, in words, in the year one hundred and forty-
eight (A.D. 467-68), on the twenty-first solar day, without any specification of the fortnight,
of the month Mâgha (January-February). It is a Vaishṇava inscription. And the object
of it is to record the installation of an image of the god Vishṇu, under the name of Ananta-
svâmin; and,—for the purpose of providing perfumes, incense, garlands, &c., and of exe-
cuting repairs,—a grant, the details of which are lost, but which would seem to have con-
sisted of some land at a village belonging to the same god under the name of
Chitrakûṭasvâmin, or 'the lord of Chitrakûṭa.'¹
TEXT.²
1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sya pravarddhamâna-vijaya-râjya-saṁvvatsara³-śatê-shṭâ-
chatvâriṁśad-uttarê Mâgha-mâsa-divasê êka-viṁśatimê [|]
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . puṇy-âbhivṛiddhy-arthaṁ vaḍabhîṁṅ=kârayayitvâ⁴ Ananta-
svâmi-pâdâṁ⁵ pratishṭhâpya gandha-dhûpa-srag . . . . .
3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s[phu]ṭa-pratisaṁskâra-karaṇ-ârthaṁ bhaga[va]ch-Chittra-
[k]ûṭasvâmi-pâdîya-kôshṭhê(?)ta-prâvêśya-mati .
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lâ dattâ dvâdaśa [||] Yainam⁶
vyuchchh[i]ndy[â]t=saḥ⁷ pañchabhiḥ mahâpâtakaiḥ sa[ṁy]uktaḥ
syâd=iti [||*]
TRANSLATION.
. . . . . In the augmenting victorious reign⁸ of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
in a century of years, increased by forty-eight, on the twenty-first day of the month
Mâgha;—
(Line 2.)—Having caused (a temple having) a flat roof⁹ to be made, for the sake of
increasing the religious merit of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and) having installed the feet¹⁰ of
(the god) Anantasvâmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . perfumes, incense, garlands . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . for the purpose of repairing whatever may become . . . . . . . . . . torn, there have
been given twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . belonging to the entrance of . . .
. . . . . . . . which belongs to the feet of the divine (god) Chitrakûṭasvâmin.
¹ The Chitrakûṭa referred to here is the modern 'Chatarkot,' 'Chitarkot,' and 'Chitrakote Hill
of maps, &c., in the 'Bânda' District of the North-West Provinces, forty-two miles south-east of
Bânda,' and seventy-one miles south-west of Allahâbâd; Lat. 25° 12' N.; Long. 80° 47' E. It is a
great place of pilgrimage, and is specially sacred to Vishṇu in his incarnation as Râma.
² From the original stone. ³ Read râjya-saṁvvatsara; see page 38 above, note 5.
⁴ Read vaḍabhîṁ kârayitvâ, or vaḍabhîṅ=kârayitvâ. ⁵ Read pâdân or pâdau.
⁶ Read ya ênaṁ, or yaś=ch=ainaṁ. ⁷ Read sa.
⁸ See page 38 above, note 5.
⁹ vaḍabhî (also valabhî, which occurs in line 6 of No. 18 above, page 81) is explained as mean-
ing 'the wooden frame of a roof; a flat roof, house-top, top-room, turret, top-floor, balcony; any tem-
porary erection on the top of a palace; an awning, a tent;' but it seems to refer to a building here, and
to denote 'a flat-roofed temple.'
¹⁰ i.e. "having installed an image;" see page 123 above, note 5. The use of the word pâda, not
pada, shews that the inscription does not refer to the foot-prints or impressions of the feet, which are so
frequently objects of worship. So, also, just below this passage, "the feet of the divine (god)
Chitrakûṭasvâmin" means simply "the divine (god) Chitrakûṭasvamin."