North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

(all) debt (to his master);¹ striving for the welfare of the whole world; who, again, is capable in the lawful acquisition of wealth, in the preservation of it when acquired, and further in causing the augmentation of it when preserved, and in the dispensation of it on worthy objects when augmented;² whom among all my servants put together, shall govern the whole of the Surāshṭra country? Ah! I know it; (there is) just one man, Parṇadatta, competent to bear this burden.”

       (Verse 12) By the lord of kings, having so decided with his own deliberation for a number of days and nights, who (Parṇadatta) was appointed somehow with pressing, to protect in a proper manner the land of the Surāshṭras.

       (Verse 13) Just as the gods, having deputed Varuṇa to the west became contented and unperplexed, so the king, having deputed Parṇadatta to the region opposite to the east (i.e., the west), became happy.

       (Verses 14-16) His son, possessed of a filial disposition; his own soul divided into two; guided by self-control; worthy of being protected by the all-pervading soul as if it were (his own) self; always self-possessed; with (his) form as lovely as that of cupid;³ with (his) whole disposition permeated by continuous joy in consequence of varied pastimes consonant with his (graceful) form; with his face resembling a lotus (coming) from a tank of full-blown lotuses; the protector of men who come for refuge–and has become renowned under the name of Chakrapālita on earth; who is dear unto the people; who has excelled (his) father by his own pristine noble qualities.

       (Verses 17-18) In whom dwell all these qualities pre-eminently and inseparably, namely, forbearance, masterfulness, modesty, prudent behaviour, great respect for (all) heroism, except heroism represented on the stage,⁴ eloquence (?), self-restraint, liberality, high-spiritedness, civility, freedom from debt (to the master), freedom from listlessness, beauty, control of (people) other than Āryas, freedom from arrogance, fortitude, and generosity.

       (Verse 19) There exists in this whole world no one where a comparison with his virtues may be made; verily he has become, in all entirety, a standard of comparison to men endowed with virtuous qualities.

       (Verse 20) Who, being appointed by (his) father, after testing in person these qualities mentioned above and many others than these, has afforded the protection of (this) city excellently, surpassing his predecessors.

       (Verse 21) Relying upon the prowess of his own two excellent arms(?), not on the conceit of another man, he has harassed no one in this city, and published the wicked only.

>

________________________________________________

¹ This sentiment of a servant towards his master may be traced even in an edict of Aśōka. Thus, while expostulating with his Mahāmātras in charge of Kaliṅga, the Mauryan monarch says e.g. in Second Separate Rock Edict at Dhauli: hevaṁ cha kalaṁtaṁ tuphe svagam ālādhayisatha mama cha ānaniyaṁ chatha, ‘If it is performed well, you will gain heaven and also discharge your debt to me” (D. R. Bhandarkar’s Aśoka, 2nd ed., p. 362).
² The author of this praśasti is here also obviously indebted to Kauṭilya who, in his Arthaśāstra (I..4. 5-6) says: tasya (daṇḍasya) nītir=Daṇḍanītiḥ; alabdha-lābh-ārthā, labdha-parirakshaṇī, rakshita-vivardhanī, vṛiddhasya tīrthēshu pratipādanī cha, “The wielding of it (i.e., of Daṇḍa) is Daṇḍanīti which concerns itself with (1) the acquisition of what has not been acquired, (2) preservation of what has been so acquired, (3) augmentation of what has been so preserved and (4) distribution amongst the deserving of what has been so augmented.” For the exposition of this passage, see D. R. Bhandarkar’s Some Aspects of Ancient Hindu Polity , pp. 16 ff.
³ Ātmaja-kānta-rūpaḥ Fleet translates by “endowed with a naturally beautiful form.” But ātmaja has also the sense of ‘cupid’ which suits here better.
⁴ What we have in the text is śauryam vinā śaurya-mahārchanam which Fleet renders by “heroism without (too) great an (e)stimation of prowess.” He, however, forgets that lexicons give for this word also the sense of “representation of war and supernatural events on the stage; cf. ārabhaṭi”; “the heroic branch of dramatic art (=ārabhaṭī).” This suits here excellently as it draws a sharp contrast between the two śauryas one real and the other unreal, because represented on the stage.