South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE FEUDATORIES OF THE MAIN BRANCH

with religious rites ; (and) who made the gardens of the houses of his enemies crowded with wild beasts¹.

...(V. 3). There was the king, the illustrious Vatsarāja, who was magnanimous ; who extolled the good deeds (of others) ; who could differentiate between merits and was obliging to (his) people, righteous and devoted to good policy.

...(Line 8). His son was the illustrious Mahārāja Nāgabala, born of the illustrious (queen) Drōṇabhaṭṭārikā, who meditated on his feet ; who was a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara (Śiva) and a great patron of the Brāhmaṇas ; who was (regarded as ) the most revered teacher, a deity and the supreme divinity and was possessed of royal fortune.

...(V. 4). As he marched along, the earth, the paths on which were pounded by the hoofs of (his) horses, obscured the quarters, their farthest regions becoming dry and disturbed by dust ; (but) his elephants, whose temples were soiled with the rutting juice, immediately restored order to them, making them wet with the spray (of their rut).

...(Line 13). Then there is his son the illustrious Mahārāja Bharata, born of the illustrious queen Indrabhaṭṭārikā, who meditates on his feet ; who is a devout worshipper of Maheśvara and a great patron of the Brāhmaṇas ; (and) who (is regarded as) the most revered teacher, a deity and the supreme divinity.

...(V. 5). From her who was endowed with the qualities of compassion and good nature as also with generosity and wisdom, there was born the son (known as) Indra possessed of a spotless and lovely lustre, even as Kārttikēya was born from (Pārvatī) the daughter of the lord of mountains.

...(V. 6). He is (the god) Indra in the destruction (of his enemies) and (the god) Fire brilliant with lustre ; he is amiable and steadfast in his adherence to good behaviour ; he has attained authority and eminence in consequence of the (sacred) mantras recited by the Brāhmaṇas ; his appearance makes good persons happy and leads to attainment, by the people, of religious merit and prosperity ; he is always honoured by good persons with presents of wealth even as sacrificial fire kindled on the altar is with offerings (of ghee etc.).

...(V. 7). He, the powerful one, who has covered all regions with (the dead bodies of) the multitude of the mighty and roaring enemies whom he has forcibly overthrown even as an excellent quarter-elephant does with the lofty, thickly growing and resounding trees which it uproots. May the Earth, who yields (the three objects of) religious merit, wealth and enjoyment, produce abundant prosperity due to good government throughout the entire dominion of this king who thus exerts himself²!

...(V. 8). The illustrious king Bharata, the foremost among the lords of the earth, resembles (Indra) the lord of gods, in valour−(he) who has given shelter to the Fortune of the multitude of foes slain by him, when she resorted to his arm. The matchless one-

...(V. 9). who is, as it were, the Gaṅgā herself, descended here from the world of gods, sanctifying the peoples−(she) who has character, bright and spotless like crystal, which is purified by restraints and vows even as the Gaṅga has a pure stream of crystal-like white and clear water, which flows within its banks, (and) who is endowed with a multitude of tranquility and other virtues just as the Gaṅgā has its waves of water ;

...(V. 10). who, (named) Lōkaprakāśā, has become the best royal consort of the king Bharatabala, whose fame is (lovely) like the moon-beams ; who, being born in a family of the
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¹ He made the palaces of his enemies desolate.
² For the construction, see above, p. 85, n. 3.