________________
248
L. 21.
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
सूतु
excerfanercitiuänt unfery » [241]" वभूव स्वधारीत दुर्लभादित्यसंज्ञितः ।
X X X
लादित्येन धीमता ॥ [ ॥ २७ ॥]
TRANSLATION.
Om Adoration to Madhava!
(V. 1.) May that chief male (purusha) Vishnu protect you; he who, alone (remaining) sleeps, when the regent of the night (the moon) has disappeared, when the mountains have completely crumbled away, when the foe of darkness (the sun) has been destroyed, when mankind have been annihilated, when the host of stars has tumbled down, when the circle of earth has fallen, and thus the oceans have become one."
(2.) ay lovely Vishnu's beautiful eye, that is pleasing through the quivering of the brow and charming with its resplendent pupil, protect all the three worlds-(the eye) of him who plunges into the ocean of nascent deep love, (of him) whose lustre [is increased by] the great splendour of Lakshmi's moon-like face, (of him) whose cheek is dimpled with smiles,
(3.) May the field of Kuru grant a happiness, free from all pain,-(that field) which is able to remove the impurity of sins of many kinds, that is inhabited by crowds of sages, who have destroyed the dense darkness (of ignorance) by gaining the knowledge of the self (and hence) are filled with deep joy.35
(4.) And may that [beautiful] water of Sarasvati's (stream) entirely cut your [bonds of misery-(that water which is) a bost [for crossing the ocean of births], a chariot for travelling along the road of the gods, a cloud such as appears on the destruction of the world, shedding copious showers on the fire of. .. the virtuous (and) a sun to destroy the thick mud-like darkness of a concatenation of various diseases." (5.) Victorious is his glorious majesty Mahendrapala, who is able to bless] his race with prosperity and destroys the courage of the armies of his foes all around, whose enemies are subdued, who is beautiful like the moon and grants protection.
(6.) There was a king, Jaula by name, the front ornament of the exalted Tomara race, resplendent with [fiery] bravery, who gladdened the hearts of the virtuous, who was a thunderbolt for (those) mountains, the wicked, who was famous for his wonderful deeds, adorned with compassion, (and) soquainted with truth, who gained prosperity by looking after the affairs of (his) sovereign.
Metre, MAlint. The bracketed letters in the first PAda have been conjecturally restored; those in the third are very indistinct, with the exception of the Anusvåra and . Read W.
fat restorations.
22 Metre, Anushtubb.
The verse identifies Vishnu, in accordance with the Vaishnava doctrine, with the supreme Brahman, and describes
his condition during the period of the destruction of the world at the end of a kalpa.
This verse seems to refer to Vishnu, when he is awake. The words placed between square brackets are, of course, nothing but a conjectural attempt to connect the two ends of the mutilated compound
Regarding the sanctity of Kurukshetra, see, e.g., Manu, 11, 19, where, just as here, it is called the Brahmarshidea, the country of the Brahmanical sages. It is mentioned here, because it includes Pehoa, the place where the temple was built. I take in the fourth Pada to stand for and , just as faster in verse 13 line 12) stands for and . The words placed between square brackets are, here and in the sequel, translations of my conjectural
