South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE EARLY GURJARAS

TRANSLATION
[ For a translation of lines 1-15, see above, pp. 87 f.]

(Line 15) His son (was) the illustrious Ahirōla,―the pair of whose feet was kissed by the crest-wreaths of kings who held their heads on high by reason of (their) valour and army; who was freely chosen by the goddess of fortune, her mind being overpowered by love for all his attractive royal qualities and other excellences; who provided the peaks of the Mēru (mountain) with the crest of (his) fame, spotless like the mass of lunar rays on the full-moon day; whose staff-like arm was wont to destroy crores of excellent elephant hosts of the enemies on the battlefield; who delighted his subjects with the paths of moral conduct properly laid by his great wisdom enhanced by the acquisition of the four lores; who, noble-minded as he was by nature, was not affected by the blackness of the Kali age; who, being naturally averse to pleasures (derived) from the enjoyment of innumerable objects close at hand (which were) presented by (his) youth, controlled all his sense organs; who was adept in the use of the six measures of policy¹, whose greatness was increased by the triad of powers (śaktis)², who was the devout worshipper of Mahēśvara, attained the pañchamahāśabda and was the lord of the great feudatories.

(L. 21) The son of him, who was an ornament of the whole world, is the illustrious Jayabhaţa (IV),―who is adorned with the wreaths of his numerous virtues ; the pair of whose lotus-like feet is saluted by many hosts of eminent kings; who has white-washed the whole orb of the earth with his fame, which in brightness resembles kunda³ flowers, the moon and white sīnduvāra⁴ flowers; whose extremely terrible fire of valour has put an end to the troubles of the whole world; who with the showers of his irresistible arrows has routed the hosts of all his foes; who is clever in piercing the crowds of elephants that are openly made to charge in great wars; who appears resplendent by his destruction of troops of swift and tall horses that trot and prance about on the battlefield; the top of whose right arm becomes dark-blue with the multitude of rays from his creeper-like sword, which becomes uneven with clusters of pearls from the frontal globes of elephants cleft in haste; who has manifested many auspicious marks⁵, as a lotus-pool exhibits cranes, but who, (unlike the lotus-pool which contains a store of water), has not an insensible heart; who has required the multitude of all fine arts even as the moon contains all digits, but who, (unlike the moon that marks the night), has no blemish; who has given refuge to a multitude of hostile princes as the ocean gave shelter to a number of wingless mountains, but who, (unlike the ocean that is infested by alligators), is not affected by greed; who destroys his enemies with his well-equipped army just as Nārāyaņa (Vishņu) does with his discus, Sudarśana, but who, (unlike Nārāyaņa who is dark complexioned), is not evil-intentioned; who has acquired abundant prosperity just as Śiva takes a large quantity of ashes (to smear his body with), but who, (unlike Śiva whose body is entwined by serpents), is not surrounded by dissolute men.

[For a translation of 11. 30-34, see above, pp. 101.]
(L. 34) “Be it known to you that for the increase of the religious merit and fame, in this world and the next, of (My) mother and father and of Myself, I have today on the new-
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¹These are sandhi ‘peace,’ vigraha ‘war’ yāna marching, āsana ‘sitting encamped,’ dvaidhībhāva ‘duplicity’ and samśraya ‘alliance with a more powerful king.’
²These are prabhutva, ‘power derived from one’s royal position’, mantra, ‘the power of good counsel’ and utsāha, ‘personal energy’.
³Jasminum multiflorum.
⁴Vitex Negundo.
⁵For the explanation of the puns in this and the following clauses, see above, p. 101, notes 4?8.