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DEWAL PRASASTI OF LALLA THE CHHINDA.
75
and supreme king of great kings, His Majesty the illustrious Prabhakaravardhana, of (my) mother, the supreme lady and great queen, Her Majesty the illustrious queen Yabomati, and of the feet of (my) elder brother, the supreme lord and supreme king of great kings, His Majesty the illustrious Rajyavardhana,-to Bhatta Vätasvåmin, a member of the Savarņi gotra, and a fellow-student of the Chhandogas (a Samudedi) and to Bhatta Sivadevasvamin, a member of the Vishņuvșiddha gotra and a fellow-student of the Bahorichas (a Rigvedí), as a duly accepted " agrahára. Knowing this you should agree to it), and the provincials of the neighbourhood being obedient to (my) command should bring to these two (donees) alone the due income, which is to be given according to weight and acoording to measure, (viz.) the share of the crope), the (objects of) enjoyment," the taxes, the gold and so forth, and they should do them service."
Moreover, "By those who profess (to belong to the noble line of our race and by others this gift ought to be agreed to. Gifts and the protection of the fame of others (are) the result of fortune that is unstable like lightning or a water-bubble." " With deeds, thoughts and words living beings should do their duty. Harsha has declared that an unsurpassable (mode of) acquiring spiritual merit." *
The messenger (charged with the order) concerning this (grant is) the great feudal baron, the great king Skandagupta; and (the edict) has been incised by Gur. jara at the command of the great chief of the office of records, the feudal baron, the great king Isvaragupta, [Sriharsha-]Samvat 25 Margasirsha, dark half, the sixth (lunar day).
XII.-THE DEWAL PRAŠASTI OF LALLA THE CHHINDA.
By G. BULLER, Ph.D., LL.D., C.I.E. The Dewal Prasasti was originally discovered by Mr. H. S. Boulderson in 1829, at the village of Gadh Gajana, on the west bank of the Kávå or Katni stream, between Dewal and Deoriya, about twenty miles south-east of Pilibhit, in the North-Western Provinces.
The inscription is incised with great neatness and care on a stone slab, measuring 3' 9by % 1", and is in a state of almost perfect preservation. The characters are ancient Nagari, differing from the ordinary type of the tenth century only in that the loops on the left hand of na and ma are not closed, but represented by a curve. Similarly
Pratigraladharmand, i. e, pratigralo dharmo yasya tena.
# I understand by bhoga' (object of enjoyment' the so-called haks, fruit, firewood, flowers, pan, eto., which the villagers have to furnisb to their lord either daily or on certain ocasions, -see also Mage, VII, 118, and the note to my translation of the passage.
Both versus Aro composed on the model of ancient Slokas, the brat according to some commonly quoted in other grants, the second coording to one from the Mahabhdrata, see Bötblingk, Indische Sprüche, No. 1860.
The doou ment was first published with translation in the Jour. As. Soc. Bang., vol. VI. p. 777, by Mr. J. Prinsep. socording to copy taken by Colonel Btaoy. A facsimile of 1. 1 and of the greater part of I. 3 Accompanies Princeps paper. See sloo Prinsep Baraye, vol. I, pp. 321-324. Later complete frosimile was published by Sir A. Cunningham, Arekaological Reporte, vol. I, p. 8648. The subjoined edition bas been prepared socording to an excellent paper impression taken by Dr. A. Führer, of the Areheological Survey, North-Western Provinces, and sent to me by the Editor.