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379
Art. X.?An unpublished Valabhi Copper-plate Inscription
of King Dhruvasena I. By Dr. Til Blocii.
The two copper-plates from which the subjoined transcript has been made were entrusted by Dr. Burgess to Professor
Buhler for publication, and he has kindly allowed me to
edit them. They are now in the British Museum.
They contain a Sanskrit inscription of King Dhruvasena I.
of Valabhi, dated (Gupta) Samvat 217 (536-37 a.d.), Asva
yuja, ba. 13.
The plates are by no means in good preservation. Both
in the upper margin and low down in the left-hand corner
of the first some pieces are broken off, and the right-hand side of the second plate is in a similar condition, so that
in the beginning of the inscription the name of the place from which the edict was issued has been totally destroyed; and, further, through the destructive influence of time,
parts of many letters have been lost, leaving only a few, and in some cases almost unreadable traces of them.
Nevertheless, it has been possible, by the help of similar
inscriptions, to make out the majority of the words, and
only a few have remained uncertain, amongst them, un
fortunately, being the name of the village granted by the
king. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. It is written
in prose, with the exception of the two slokas from the
Malmbharata, quoted as usual at the end, to indicate the
blessings that follow land-granting, and the curses that will fall on those who steal land.
Concerning orthography or grammar there is nothing particular to notice except, perhaps, some of the usual clerical errors to be found in these plates, e.g. Bhatakkak instead of Bhatdrkkah (line 3) ; cf. another grant of
Dhruvasena I. (Ind. Ant. v. 205, plate i. 1. 4), and Seal
Th. Bloch, "An Unpublished Valabhī Copper-Plate Inscription of King Dhruvasena I" JRAS, (Apr., 1895), pp. 379-384
380 VALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION
of Maliya Copper-plate Inscription of Dharasena II.
(Corpus Inscr. Ind. vol. iii. p. 164), rdja-irih instead of
rdfya-irih (I. 8); cf. another grant of Dhruvasena I.
{Ind. Ant. iv. 104, plate i. 1. 9), and the spelling tdny=* eva instead of tdny-eva (1. 27), etc.
The inscription is in the usual form; after enumerating the well-known vamsdvall, beginning with the founder of
the dynasty, Srl-sendpati- Bhatarkkah, up to King Dhruva sena; I., it records the grant made by the king, strictly
prohibiting any future alteration of it, and concludes with
the subscription of the king's name and titles, the date
and names of the dittaka, Bhatti, and the writer, Kikkaka.
To give a translation, therefore, of the whole inscription would be a mere waste of time, and I think a few remarks
will quite suffice to assign to the inscription its true place in the rank of similar historical documents. Concerning its age, it may be noticed that though the date (Gupta
Samvat 217; 536-37 a.d.) does not precede the date of one other inscription published by Professor Buhler, Ind.
Ant. v. 205, viz. Gupta Samvat 207, which still remains
the first recorded date of King Dhruvasena I., nevertheless
it is one of the oldest Valabhl Inscriptions which have
come under our notice.
Its main object is to record a grant made by King Dhruvasena I., who calls himself by his usual titles?the
great chamberlain, the great general, the great kdrttdkrtika, and the great feudatory prince (1. 11), to the congregation of monks residing in the vihara, founded by the king's sister, Duddd (1. 17), and in another, founded by the
teacher, the venerable Buddhadiisa (1. 18, dearyya-bhadanta
Buddhaddsa). The grant consisted of a village, named,
perhaps, Vataprajyaka (?), which I have been unable to
identify, described as situated in the neighbourhood of a
district or village, the name of which is illegible, a few, most uncertain letters, aloue remaining (1. 14). Of the two
monasteries mentioned in our inscriptions, the first is well
known from other inscriptions of the same king and his
successors (e.g. Ind. Ant. iv. 175 ; ibid. 106; v. 63), and
OF KING DHRUVASENA I. 381
very often was favoured with land-grants by them. The
second is a new one, and, as far as I know, has not hitherto
been found in any other inscription. Probably it was one
of the some hundred sanghdrdmas, of which Hiuen Tsiang
gives us a short account in his Si-yu-ki (translated by
Beal, ii. 266), quoting by name only one great sanghdrdma, not far from the city which was built by the Arhat Acara
('O-che-lo), identified by Prof. Buhler with the monastery of Atharya, mentioned in a grant of King Dharasena II.
(Ind. Ant. vi. 9), and to which certainly also belonged the other monasteries at Valabhi, whose names are found
here and there in similar inscriptions.
However, this very fact that King Dhruvasena, himself
a worshipper of Siva and descendant of a Sivaitic family, is again seen in this inscription making a grant to
Buddhist monks, is of no small interest, as it confirms one
of the few historical accounts concerning these feudatory
kings of Valabhi, exhibited to us by their epigraphicai documents, viz. the fact that though themselves devoted to
Siva-worship, they were great protectors of the Bauddhas
who lived in their country. And it may be said that the
inscription forms an important link in the chain of historical
records, and that together with kindred facts, viz. that
Duddii, the sister of several Sivaitic kings or princes, was
a follower of the Buddhist faith (paramopasikii: Ind. Ant.
iv. 105 f., plate ii. 1. 5), and a founder of a Buddhist
monastery; that, perhaps, Bhatiirkka, the founder of the
dynasty, had already built a similar one (Ind. Ant. vi. 9), and that later on the illustrious King Guhaseua, who
formerly calls himself devoted to Siva (paramamiihesvera: Ind. Ant. iv. 174) is suddenly called "the ardent devotee of Buddha" (pararaopiisaka: Ind. Ant. v. 206), from which it appears that this ruler was actually converted to Buddhism ; it confirms in the first place the wide extent of Buddhism in this country during the sixth and seventh centuries a.d., and in the second exhibits an example of
religious tolerance among medimval kings, not unworthy indeed of the two great emperors Asoka aud Akbar.
382 VALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION
First Plate.
(1) Om [||*] Svasti [||*] Vijaya-Skandha[varat. vasa-ka]t=Pra[8abha]-pra[na]t[-ami]tr[an?Hm]M[ai]
trakunara==atula-bala-8a[m]panna-ma[n]da[l-a]
(2) bhoga - samsakta -
samprahara -
sata-[labdha -
praliipa]h
pratiip -
opanata-dana- nmn-arjjav- oparjjit -
anurag -
anurakta-maulabhrta
(3) mitftjra^srenl-bal-uvapta-rjijya-srih parama-mahe
svaras=srI-seniipati-BHATAKKAH2 [||*] Tasya sutas =
tac-carana-rajo-run-avanata
(4) [pav]i[tri]-krto-siras=siro-vanata-sat[t]ru8-ciidamani
prabha-vicchurita-piida-nttkha-pankti-didhitili din
anatha-jan-opa
(5) [jlvya]miina-vibhavah parama-mahesvarah srf-senapati Dhahasenah [II*] Ta8y=anujas=tat-pad-abhiprana
ma-prasasta4
(6) [vi]raala - mauli - manir=Mmanv - adi -
pranlta - vidhi -
vidhana-dharmmii Dharmmaruja iva vihita-vinaya
vyavastlm-paddba
(7) tir=akhila-bhuvana-mandal-abhog-aika-8vaminii par am a
sviimina svayam-upahita-rajy-iibhiseka-raaha
(8) [vi]si anan-iivapiita-raja 5-srIh parama-mahesvaras=srl
raaharaja-DK0NAsiMHAS=8imhaiva[||*]Ta8y==anujas=s sva-bhu
(9) ja-bala-parakkramena para-gaja-ghat-anlkanam=eka
vijayi saran-aisinam saranam ?avaboddha
(10) [sastr-a]rttha-tatvanam8 kalpatarur=iva suhrt-prana
yinam yatha-bhilasita-kama-phal-opabhoga-dah
(Jl) [parama-bha]ttiiraka-pad-anuddhyato mahapralihara
mahadandanayaka-raahakarttakrtika-mahasamanta
1 Doubtful, whether spelt with one or two fa.
* Read JBhafdrkkah. 8 tt doubtful. 4 The usual reading is prasastatara; tava is wanting also, Ind. Ant. v. 205,
plate i. 1. 7. 8 Read rajya.
Read tattv&n&m.
OF KING DHRUVASENA I. 383
(12) [maharaja] - sri - Dhkuvasenah [kusal]! sorvvan=eva
sviin?ayuktaka-viniyuktaka-drangika-mahattara-cata bha
(13) t-adin=anyaras=ca yatha-samfbajdhyamanakan ,ama
[jilapaya]ty =
[||*] Astu vas=samviditaiii yatha maya
(14) . man . sthaia^sannikrsta-VATAPRAJYAKA 2-gramah
8 - oparikaka(ra)s=sa -
[d]i[tya] - dana - vata -
bh[uta
pratya]
(15) [ya]h sah=anyais=ca kirttibha . . i . ribha . . aih8
bh[u]mic[ch]i[dra-ny]ayena.; .
Second Plate.
(16) [matu-pi]troh [pun]y-apyayanay=atmanas=c =
[ai]hik
amusmika-yatha-bhilasita-phal-avapti-nim[ittara =a] -
(17) [candr-iir]kk arnnava-ksiti-sarit-parvvata-sama-kalinah
ValabhI-tala-8va-bhagineyi-Dur)yA-karita-[viharaP]
(18).- [a]caryya- bhadanta-Buddhadasa -karita
vihara-kutyam pratistapita-bhagavatam4 Ssamya[k
sambu]
(19) [ddhanara Buddh]anam gandha-dhupa-puspa-dipa-tail
opayogi viharasya ca khanda-sphutita-pati[ta]
(20) [vi]s[i]rnna-prati8aTnsk{iran-arttham catur-ddis-abhya
gat-obhaya-vihara-prativasi-bhiksu-8aiighasya
(21) [ .
pijndapata-sayan-asana-glana-pratyaya-bhaisajya pariskar-opayog-arttham
ca pra
(22) [tip]aditah [||*] Yato bhiksu-sangh 5-adhikrtanam
bhunjatam krsatam pradisatam na kais=cit=svalpa
=
py=a
1 Tho first letter looks like ra or ka; the third may have been nda, but only a small na is visible; the th of stha seems also uncertain.
* va aud/ya uncertain. 9 I am uuable to make out the reading o! these fragmentary letters. The
last ai is uncertain. * dm and the double s are rather doubtful, but the reading of the whole
passage is obvious from a similar inscription of the same king, Ind. Ant. iv. 104 f., plate ii. 1. 6 ff.: Valabhydm sva-bhaffineiji-param-opasikd-Duddd-kdrita vihara-pratitfhapitdndm bhagava'tdm Samyak-sambuddhdnam Buddhdndm, etc.
* This reading is not quite certain.
j.r.a.s. 1895. 25
384 TALABHI COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION.
(23) [badhak]aryy?a8mad-vansa-jair=agarai-nrpatibhis=c?
anityany=aisvcryyany=a8thiram manusyam saman
yam ca
(24) [bhu]mi-dana-phalam=avagacchadbhir=ayam =asmad
diiy o * numan tavyah paripalay ita vy as=ca [ 11 *] Yas ?= c ?
acchi
(25) [ndyad] =acchidyamanam va=nuraodeta sa pamcabhir? mmaha -
piitakaih s - opapatakais=samyuktas=syad=
[II*] I[ty-m*]pi"? (26) [Vya]sa-gitau slokau bhavatah [||*] Sastim varsa-sa
hasrani svargge modati bhumi-dah [|*] acchetta
(27) [c=anumanta]ca tany=eva2narake vaset[||*]Bahubhir= vvasudha bhukta rajabhis=Sagar-adibhih [|*] yasya
(28) [yasya yada bhumi]h tasya tasya tada phaiam=iti || Sva-hasto mama
mahapratihara-mahadanda
(29) [n ^yaka-mahakartt]akrtika-mahasamanta-raaharaja-sri Dhruvasenasya I) Dutakorajastbaniya-BHATTiH [||*]
(30) [Likbi]tara KiKKAKEN=eti[ir] Sam 200-10-7 Asvayuja bal33||
1 Or, perhaps, J[AJss*]jpi. 8 Read tatty
= eva. 8
Though only a small portion of the letters tarn and ba is visible, and
something is wanting of the numeral signs of 10 and 7, the reading is quite certain.
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