North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

which is much damaged, recording the performance of a Satī rite, has been engraved at a much later date on the back side of this pillar.

       The inscription is written in seventeen lines covering an area about 8 inches in breadth and about 22-½ inches in height. The characters are the same as in the contemporary inscrip-tions of central part of India such as the earlier records of the kings of the Parivrājaka and Uchchakalpa dynasties.1 The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and the composition is in prose throughout. In respect of orthography, it may be noted that the consonant following r is reduplicated, e.g. dharmma, line 6, and Vargga, line 15; sometimes the consonant preceding r is also reduplicated, e.g. vikkramēṇa, line 5 and –gōttra-line 14. Vanśa is written for vaṁśa, line 1 and chatvārinśa for chatvāriṁśa, line 9.

       The inscription refers itself to the reign of Skandagupta of the Imperial Gupta dynasty. He is called here as Mahārāja, rather inaccurately. The data of the record is given in lines 8-9 as year 141 of the reign of Skandagupta. The details are given in lines 16-17 as the second tithi of the bright half of the month of Jyēshṭha. The year are has to be referred to the Gupta era and its equivalent would be 460-61 A.D. The object is to record the erec-tion of the bala-yashṭi, which was a gōtra-śailikā, by Varga-grāmika. This Varga is stated to be the brother of Śrīdatta and Chhandaka, son of Hari-śrēshṭhin and grandson of Kaivartti- śrēshṭhin. Śrīdatta is described as kuṭumbika i.e. husbandman residing at Avaḍara while Varga is described as grāmika i.e. village headman, apparently of Avaḍara. Thus his family members were śrēshṭhin (banker), kuṭumbika and grāmika.

       The stone pillar bearing the inscription and erected by Varga is called bala-yashṭi in the epigraph. Yashṭi here means a memorial pillar which is also called gōtra-śailikā i.e. ‘family (pillar of) stone’ because Varga erected this pillar in memory of all the members of his family mentioned therein.

       Only one geographical name occurs in the record viz. Avaḍara which cannot be indenti- fied. It may be a locality in the neighbourhood of Supia.

TEXT²

1 [Srī]-Ghaṭ[õ]tkacha[ḥ | *] tad-vanśē³ prava . . ⁴
2 [nē]⁵ mahāra(rā)ja-śrī-Samu[dragu]pta[ḥ |* ] ta[t-pu]-
3 [tra][ḥ*] śrī-Vikramā[ditya]ḥ |*] ta[t-putra] [ḥ*] mahārā[ja]-
4 [śrī]-Mahē[ndrāditya][ḥ |*] tasya [pu]tra[ḥ*] Chakkra[va]-
5 [rtti]-tu[lyō] [mahā]-bala-vikkra[mē]ṇa Rā[ma]-
6 [tu]lyō dha[rmma]-pa[ra]tayā Yudhishṭhira6 sa[tyē]-
7 nācharavi]naya⁷ mahārāja-śrī-Ska[nda]-
8 guptasya⁸ rājya-[samva]tsara⁹-śatē ēka-
9 chatvāri[nśōtta]rakē¹⁰ [|*] [asyāṁ] divasa-pū-
10 rvvāyāṁ (yām) Avaḍara-vāstavya-kuṭumbi[kaḥ*]
11 Kaivartti-śrēshṭhi-naptṛi(ptā) Hari-śrēshṭhi-pu[tra][ḥ*] Srida-
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¹ CII., Vol. III, 1888, Nos. 21-31.
² From an impression.
³ Read tad-vaṁśē.
⁴ The two lost aksharas may be restored as rttamā or rddhamā.
⁵ The damaged letter looks more like nāṁ.
⁶ Read Yudhishṭhira-tulyaḥ.
⁷ Read ⁰n=āchāra-vinayaiḥ or better saty-āchāra-vinayaiḥ.
⁸ Read ⁰guptaḥ | tasya.
⁹ Read saṁvatsara.
¹⁰ Read ⁰riṁśad-uttarake.