North Indian Inscriptions

ADDITIONAL INSCRIPTIONS

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TRANSLATION

Success ! In the victorious twenty-seventh-20 (and) 7-year, augmenting [his dominion for a thousand years] of the Rājan (and) Mahākshatrapa Śrīdharavarman, the son of the Śaka Nanda-the righteous conqueror,¹¹ who has obtained abundant fame by means of victories won by his valour, [who meditates on the feet of the divine Mahāsēna whose army has never been vanquished¹² on this day (namely) . . . . . . . . . .¹³ in the adhishṭhāna (town) of Ērikiṇa in (the territorial division of) Bāhirikā in this āhāra of Nagēndra, a tirtha (i.e., a flight of steps) [at the river Vēṇvā][has been caused
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‘a territorial division’, may have followed बाहिरिकायां. The river at which the tīrtha was constructed may also have been named. The lost portion may, therefore, be conjecturally restored as follows:--पयके देण्वानछां कारितं नरा-.

¹ Restore-ष्ठानस्य स्वस्त्यषं. Compare स्वस्त्यस्तु  गोव्राह्मणपुरोगाभ्यः in the Ēraṇ inscription of Budhagupta. C.I.I., Vol. III, p.89.
² Restore मातापित्रो. पुण्या-.
³ Read राज्ञ वारक्षिकेण.
⁴ There are fairly clear traces of these two aksharas, but whether the intended word was महाराज- or महाराष्ट्‌-, it is difficult to say. As Śrīdharavarman bears the title Rājan in lines 1 and 6, it appears more likely that the word was महाराष्ट्‌. The missing words may be conjecturally restored as महराष्टा-मिजननावानां प्रमुखेन.
⁵ The word is formed according to Pāṇini, IV, 3, 90.
⁶ The lost aksharas may be restored conjecturally as -भोगाघिष्ठानैरिकिणो
Cf. यष्टिरभ्युच्‍इछ्‌ता.in the Ēraṇ inscription of Samudragupta, C.I.I., Vol. III, p.20 and स्वभोपनवरंरिकिणप्रदेशे घ्वजस्तम्मोन्पुच्‍इचृतः in the Ēraṇ stone pillar inscription of Budhagupta, ibid., p.89.
⁷ Two aksharas, both prosodially short, are wanting here.
⁸ The correct form would be ईशाने.
⁹ Read बष्‍इटश्‍इक्षष्टा-. As the root शासू is Parasmaipadī, the correct grammatical form would be चास्तु
¹⁰ Metre: Sragdharā.
¹¹ Kauṭilya speaks of three types of kings: (i) dharmavijayiṅ or a righteous conqueror, (ii) asuravijayin or a devilish conqueror and (iii) lōbhavijayiṅ or an avaricious conqueror. Arthaśāstra, adhikaraṇa xii, 1. Kālidāsa describes Raghu as dharmavijayiṅ, Raghuvamśa canto iv, v. 43. Here as well as in the Kānā- khērā inscription Śrīdharavarman claims to b e a righteous conqueror.
¹² The portion in the rectangular bracketes in this and other places is the translation of the ex- pressions restored conjecturally in the foot-notes to the text. See above, p. 609, n. 6; cf. l. 1 of No 5, above.
¹³ The portion lost at the end of line 3 probably mentioned the month, fortnight and tithi of the event as in 1. 3 of No. 5, above.

CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM
VOL. IV. PLATE XCVIII.
ERAN STONE PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF SRIDHARAVARMAN