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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
distinction between friend and foe; he was both afraid and ashamed to fall into the ocean of worldly existence, and having crushed the attachment to the pleasures of this life, he took delight in the supreme abode.
(V. 15.) At the sacrifices of him, the image of Bțihaspati, the illustrious prince Särapåla, having destroyed the forces of his enemies, often attended of his own accord, like Indra himself, the destroyer of the demon Vala; and ever desirous of the welfare of the earth, girt by the several oceans, he there with bent head received the pure water, his soul being bathed in the water of faith.
(16.) His wife was Vavva, born at Devagrâma, unlike the fickle Lakshmi and the childless Sati.
(17.) As Devaki gave birth to Purushottama", the adopted son of Yasoda, Lakshmi's husband, who delighted the cow-herds, so she bore to him a son, famous and compassionate, who was a lord of fortune, and who caused pleasure to the king, being the most excellent of men.
(18.) He, Rama, called Guravamisra, the illustrious, born in Jamadagni's race, and conversant with the constellations which bode good fortune, was like another Råma Jámadagnya, to whom the thriving Kshatriya order caused anxious thought.
(19.) Since the illustrious prince Narayanapala, desirous of victory, skilful in discerning excellent qualities, held him in high esteem, what need is there of further eulogy?
(20.) The spread of holiness told that he, of no mean intelligence and of immeasurable fame, possessed great power of speech, knowledge of traditional lore, and profound skill in politics; that he belonged to a family which had acquired boundless lustre by searching after the meaning of the Vedas; that he was eager to celebrate the virtues of great men, and was well versed in astronomy.
(21.) In him, who was possessed of fortune, as well as a master of speech, Lakshmi and Sarasvati resided both together, having forsaken, as it were, their natural enmity and joining in friendship.
(22.) In the assemblies of the learned he at once confounded the pride of selfconceit of opponents by his speeches to which the constant study of the Sastras imparted deep meaning, just as, possessed of boundless wealth of valour, he did in battle the conceit of bravery of enemies.
(23.) He never uttered words gratifying to the ear of which the fruit became not at once apparent, nor did he ever bestow a gift which the suppliant having received went to another more bountiful donor.
(24.) This pious-minded man expounded the Vedas in books of moral tales, which excited a thrill of joy and showed that he was born a Valmiki of the Kali age.
(25.) Being a river of heaven which does not proceed to the ocean, ..., his pellucid and profound language both delights and purifies.
(26.) To his ancestors and to him people were wont to resort, considering that in them) Brahman himself had first become a father, and that the same Brahman (in him) had again become their offspring.
ge.
Wi.e. the prince, at those sacrifices, was as it were conse. erated a sovereiga of the earth.
$ 1.e. the god Vishņa-Krishna. "Or perhapa,' this pleasing person, called Garavamiára.'
In other words, he never made a promise which he did not at once fulfil, nor did he moek suppliants with valueles gifta.
