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No. 26.]
SRAVANA-BELGOLA EPITAPH OF MALLISHENA.
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endowed with faultless excellence, a mass of great splendour, the ornament of the heads of kings, through the mere smell of the medicine of whose good words, men were made to attain the condition which is devoid of decay.
(V. 54.) I worship thee, O Ajitasêna! who art another sun on earth in dispelling the mass of darkness in the heart, who art eagerly worshipped day by day by those who know the science of Scepticism (Syadváda), (and) through whose contact the lotus of the mind of those who devontly bow (before thee), shakes off the burden of sleep (and) becomes the abode of wide expansion (or knowledge).
(V. 55.) Avoid the ornament of false speech! Give up haughtiness! Profess Scepticism (Syadváda)! Modestly bow before Vadibhakanthirava 19 If not, you will be perplexed by fear at the hearing of the loud roar of him, by whom the elephants, (viz.) the disputants, are quickly precipitated into the pit of the ruined well of refutation.
(V. 56.) Of which praise is he not worthy, the lord of ascetics, Ajitasena P (His) virtues successfully rival the glitter of the jasmine ; (his) voice wafte nectar; (his) fame appears to be as charming in gracefully floating, as the plava (duck); (and) the splendour of the moon-like dails of his feet is desired by a crowd of kings, as by chakóra (birds).
(v. 57.) Resplendent is Ajitashna, (alias) Vadibhasimha, the head of a school (ganabhrit), who split the temples of all the mast mighty elephants, (viz.) the disputants, (and) whose lotus-feet were kissed by the tops of the glittering diadems, worn on the bowing heads of all kings.
(Line 165.) NOTE.- The following words of his own indicate the intensity of his indifference to the world :
(V. 58.) "(I) have entered the holy religion of Jins (Jina-sâsana), which is difficult to be obtained by (all) living beings in the three worlds, which resembles & support for the hands of men who are immersed in the ocean of the world, (and) the adherents of which are adorned by the glory of complete knowledge that is regardless of other knowledge). Therefore, what is difficult (for me)? Of what (should I be) afraid? Or, what pleasure (have 1) in this body ?
(V. 59.) “Now (1) know that the sovereignty of the soul has the form of infinite know ledge, etc. In order to obtain that (sorereignty), this (my) mind is intent on this (kenou lodge) alone in accordance with the doctrine. (I have given up the desire for other happiness, (via.) that of a lord of gods, and that of an emperor. Therefore, enough, enough of the ways of the world, the purpose of which is idle, (and) which attract the ignorant!
(V. 60.) "Let one strive (in vain), whose mind is polluted by external love and hatred, (and) who does not know that the soul has for its body the knowledge of all objects, (and) that his own mind must be constantly tranquil, in order to become the instrument of that (knowledge)! How could) one who knows this (soul), even for a moment strive for anything but that (knowledge)?”
(Line 174.) Note. The following description of the eminence of the vast scholarship of his two disciples, the Panditas Santinátha and Padmanabha, whose other names were Kavitåkanta and Vadikálabals (respectively), is (still) incomplete :
(V. 61.) "O holy Kântasanti, whose fame rose without interval in all directions ! Even Sarasvati is not able to describe that lovely abundance of skill in speech, which (mon)
The word kahúga, fault, defect," is peculiar to the Jaina Sanskrit. Its etymology is obscure. The Prikrit form khina occurs in Professor Jacobi's Ausgewählte Erzählungen in Mahardshirt, p. 105 of the Glossary, E.L.)
ve the lion to the elephants, (viz.) the disputants. This was a biruda of Ajitaabna ; see verse 57. . See the preceding note.
