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THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS
TRANSLATION
(Lines 1 to 6, containing the whole of the first verse and the first half of the second, are entirely broken away and lost.)
((Verse 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in the giving of gold . . . . . . . . . . (by whom) Pṛithu,
Rāghava and other kings (were outdistanced.)
(Verse 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . there was ( a king), Samudragupta, who was equal to (the
gods) Dhanada and Antaka in joy and wrath1 (respectively), through (his excellent knowedge
and) policy; (and) (by whom) the whole tribe of kings upon the earth was (through mere
mandate) set up firm with their own sovereignty and wealth.
(Verse 4) (Who) became a king of irresistible prowess,2 (Indra on earth), being (honoured)
with the title and glories of a king, consecration by besprinkling, etc., surely by (his father),
urged by supreme joy, being satisfied with (his) devotion, policy and valour.
(Verse 5) (The Goddess of Wealth), whose purchase price was provided by his manliness
and prowess, who was possessed of an abundance of (elephants), horses, gems, money and
grains, who passed over to (his) many sons and grandsons, settled down in (his) family, being
(always) contented, as a wife of good birth, observing the vow (of chastity);3
(Verse 6) Whose deeds in battle (are) mighty, being fired with prowess; (whose brilliant
and) very extensive fame is always circling round about; and whose enemies are terrified,
when they think, even in dreams, of (his) vigorous (deeds) in battle-fields;
(Verse 7) (Having arrived, with a view to show his devotion to the feet of Achyuta) at a
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1 Compare the customary expression Dhanada-Varuṇ-Ēndr-Āntaka-sama-occuring in line 26 of No. 1 above,
lines 2-3, of No. 10 and line 2 of No. 16 below.
2 This agrees with the suggestion of John Allan that in the couplet of the Aśvamēdha type “the last word is
aprativāryavīrya, a known epithet of Samudragupta.” (Catalogue of the Coins of the Gupta Dynasty, Inro., p. cxi; p.
21).
3 This verse is taken by Fleet to refer to Samudragupta’s wife, Dattadēvī. But the expression paurusha-parākrama-dattaśulkā cannot possibly apply to her. Obviously, the whole stanza refers to Śrī (Goddess of Wealth) which
word must have stood originally at the beginning of the verse and of line 17, but has now been obliterated.
4 Bhōga signifies ‘enjoyment, use.’ This enjoyment may be of a village or of a country. In the former case it
becomes ‘possession, usufruct,’ and in the latter, ‘rule, sway.’ Both the senses are met with in epigraphy. In fact,
a village is represented as being enjoyed in an eightfold manner, s-āshṭa-bhōga. Thus the Naḍupūru grant of Anna-Vēma speaks of that village being granted by that king “together with . . . . . . . . . . the eight enjoyments” (Ep.
Ind.,Vol. III, p. 292). Similarly, the Koṅkuduru plates of Allaya-Doḍḍa refer to the s-aiśvarya-bhōg-āshṭaka grant
of the Gumpiṇi village (ibid., Vol. V, p. 59, lines 46-47). What these eight bhōgas are reputed to be has been explained by Mr. G. V. Ramamurti who edited these plates in ibid., p. 57, note 4. Even the derivative word bhōgika in the sense of ‘one who enjoys the bhōgas’ is found in inscriptions. Thus a Sāṅkhēḍā inscription has at the end
the following: likhitaṁ ch=ātra Sāndhivigrahikēn=Ā(ṇ=Ā)ditya-bhōgikēna (ibid., Vol. II. p. 20, lines 9-10). As
Sāndhivigrahika is the office designation of Āditya, Bhōgika must be taken to be his personal title indicative of his
zemindary. Similarly, the Koṇṇūr inscription of the Rāshṭrakūṭa Amōghavarsha I was drafted by Vālabha-kāyastha-vaṁśa-jātēna dharmmādhikaraṇa-sthāna Bhōgika-Vatsarājēna etc. (ibid., Vol. VI, p. 33, line 57) “by Vatsarāja born
in the race of Vālabha Kāyastha, who held the office of Dharma, i.e., of the Judge, and was a Bhōgika, i.e., a
a Zemindar”. But the word bhōga occurs in epigraphic records also in the other sense, namely, ‘a tract or country
enjoyed by way of rule or sway.” The derivative bhōgika and the compound word bhōgapati are also met with in
this sense. Thus the Sātārā grant of the Eastern Chālukya Vishṇuvardhana has Śrīnilaya-bhōgē Aṇōpaly-agrahārasya (Ind., Ant., Vol. XIX, p. 309, line 18). Again, the Vaḍnēr plates of the early Kalachuri Buddharāja have Vaṭanagarabhōgē Bhaṭṭaürikā-Pratyāsanna-Kōniyānāṁ ēsha grāmas=etc. (Ep. Ind., Vol. XII, p. 34, line 19). Exactly in the preceding line in the same inscription occurs rāja-sāmanta-bhōgika-vishayapati-, etc. And the question arises in what sense
we are to take this word bhōgika. As it comes immediately after rāja and sāmanta, it seems to signify ‘a zemindar.’
On the other hand, as it immediately preceeds vishayapati, it appears to denote some officers set to govern a bhōga, a
territorial division apparently more extensive than vishaya. But it is worthy of note that in line 23 of the same Vaḍnēr
grant we have āgāmi-nṛipati-bhōgapatibhiḥ. It will thus be seen that in one and the same record we meet with both
.......................................................................................................................(contd. on p. 224)
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