________________
206
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. IX.
tookl possession of particular musical instruments, called katumukhavaditra and samadraghôsha, the khatvárga-dhvaja, many excellent and well-known intoxicated elephants and a heap of rabies, which dispelled darkness by the brilliancy of the multitude of their rays, who entered, without destroying it, the city of Kanchi, which was, as it were, a girdle adorning yonder lady, the region of the south, who had rejoiced Brahmapas, and poor and helpless people by his uninterrupted liberality, who acquired high merit by restoring heaps of gold to the stone temples of Rajasirhesvara and other gods, which had been caused to be built by Narasimha, 'tavarman, who distressed Pandya, Chola, Kerala, Kalabhra and other kings by the extent of his valour which could not be withstood, and who erected & pillar of victory in the form of his great fame, as bright as the cloudless autumnal moon in the southern ocean, full of rolling waves, the shores of which were shining with the multitude of rays of numerous pearls dropped from she. S struck and broken by tbe trunks of excited elephants resembling whales, was Vikramaditya, the asylum of trath, the prosperons lord of the earth, the great king of kinge, and the venerable lord.
(LI. 46 to 54.) His dear son, who was trained in science and the use of arms in his childhood, was appointed heir-apparent by his father whose heart was delighted with a multitude of his virtues ; who having asked for and obtained an order to put down the lord of Kanchi, the enemy of his family, led an expedition, defeated the Pallava king in every quarter, who, unable to meet him in an open field had taken refuge in a fort, made him powerless, took possession of many ruttish elephants, gold and crores of rabies, and delivered them to his father; who thus gradaally attained to the position of an emperor, and whose lotus-like feet were rendered yellowish by the mass of pollen on the numerous crests of all feudatory kings, who bowed to him through love of his heroism, Kirtivarman, the asylum of truth, the prosperous lord of the earth, the great king of kings, and the venerable lord, thus commands all;
(Ll. 55 to 61.) Be it known to you, when six hundred and seventy-two years of the Saka era had passed away, and the sixth year of [our] increasing prosperous reign was current, when our victorious camp was located at Raktapura, on the full moon of Vaisakhe during & lunar eclipse, the village named Beppatti surrounded by the villages named Peņbasearu, Kisumangalam, Sullam and Perbballi, in the district of Vevola, was granted by us at the request of the prosperous great queen to Ramasarman, well versed in the Vodas and Védângas, who was the son of Makaya, a performer of the Vajapéya sacrifice, and the grandson of Vajappa barman of the Kafyapa gôtra.
(Ll. 62 to 64.) This should be preserved, as though it were their own gift, by future kings of our own family or others, knowing the flash of life and other things to be as changeful as lightning, and desirous of achieving a fame lasting as long as the moon, the sun, earth, and ocean will endure.
(LI. 65 to 70.) And it is waid by the venerable Vyåsa, the arranger of the Vedas. The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, including Sagara. Whoever is the owner of the earth, reaps its fruit. It is very easy to give what is one's own; it is difficult to preserve what is given by others. Of the two things a gift and preservation-preservation is the better. He who takes away land, whether given by himself or others, is born as a worm in ordure for sixty thousand years. This is written by Dhananjaya Punyavallabha.
1 The expression haste-kritya is not wrong: compare Dhansijaya, Dinandhanakavya XIII. 36, and Bhattoji Dikshita's remark on Påşini I. 4, 771 elkaramdtram=ity=anyd; hastd-kritya maldstraniti. See Padamañjart, p. 294 (Benares edition).
Vikramaditya II. did not set up a pillar of victory; only his fame, which spread to the shores of the southern Ocean, is compared to such a pillar.
• This must be the same person who composed the Vakkalêri grant five years later. A relative of his, perhaps his father, was Anivåritapunyavaliabha, who wrote the Kanchi inscription of Vikramaditya II. (above, Vol. III. p. 359 L.).