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No. 13.]
THE GWALIOR PRASASTI OF BHOJA.
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demurely waited upon by the other Means (i.e. although he neglected them as not necessary, they were within his beck and call).
(Verse 14.) The production of the wealth of that successful one was merely a source of delight; it was at the disposal of the supplicants, but never a means to satisfy his own desires.
(Verse 15.) A pare soul, averse from the world, he obtained a son, by name Mihira, by (the favour of the Sun, propitiated by mysterious rites, in order to dispose of the lordship over his subjects.
(Verse 16.) The lord, who ruled over many kings (bhūbhrit) after having overcome them, and being therefore) known as Bhoja, shone more gloriously than Agastya who (merely) checked the rise of a single bhabhrit, i.e. mountain) Vindhys through favour (and not by his own prowess).
(Verse 17.) Famons, unperturbed, adept in removing the evils of the world, embraced by Lakshmi (sovereign power), but not soiled by the stain of arrogance, he was affectionate towards the meritorions and an asylum of good and pleasant words. Does he or Rams stand foremost when Brahms counts his own creation ?
(Verse 18.) The other Lakshmi, the source of the fame of Dharmma'. (Dharmapala's) son, who was cast out of the ocean of hostile forces, churned by the Kula mountains in the form of kings of his (Bhoja's) own race, who was married by offering (as an oblation) fried grains, which were the destroyed enemies, in the fire of his valour, and who was protected by (his). superior accomplishments, mild, uncommon and pure like nectar, became & fit remarried bride of that king.
The ancient writers on Hinda polity laid down sama, dana, bheda and danda m the four wpayas or expedients which a king should adopt towards other kings. (Some add three more, making the total number to be seven cf. the Kamandakiya Nitisara, Ch. 18.) Now the poet implies that of these the king followed only one, viz. danda and did not take resort to the rest. His position was, therefore, similar to one who possesses many wives bat cares for only one. But, as in this case the neglected wives, as in daty bound, would still continue to pay their humble devotion to him, so the other political expedients, although not adopted by the king, were always within his beck and call. The poet thus indicates that though in practice the king used only one expedient, it should not be concluded therefrom that he was ignorant or incapable of handling the rest.
The general meaning conveyed by the verse seems to be that although he was averse to the worldly pleasures he wanted a son, not for his own delight, but merely for the reason that he might leave a ruler for his subjects.
The allosion is to the mythical story that the Vindhys mountain once got angry with the sun and began to rise higher and higher in order to check his daily coarse. At the request of the gods the sage Agastya approached the mountain and asked it to bow down in order to make room for him on his way to the south, and not to rise up till his return. The Vindhys agreed, and as Agastya never returned, had to remain in the same position. Cf. Mahabharata, Vanaparva, Chap. 104.
The poet contrasts the deeds of Agastya and Bhoja. The contrast is between (1) Vindhya and bhs britate (2) samruddha-osiddha and bhokta and (8) wparõdha and akramya. One had to do with only one bhibrit (mountain), the other dealt with a number of bhübhrit (kings as well as mountains situated within their kingdoms); then in one case the question was merely of checking the growth, in the other, of complete conquest; lastly, one gained his object by request while the other had achieved his purpose by means of prowout.
• The principal clause in the sentence Yasy-abhadrapara Lakshmi punarbhürennayā clearly means that Lakshmi who belonged to another became properly his punarbhi or remarried wife. According to the poet Lakshmi acted properly (naya). A similar sentiment occurs in an almost contemporary record. (Cf. e.g. verse 8 of the Radhanpur plates of Govinda III, above, Vol. VI, p. 243.)
The expression dharmm-apatya-yafah prabhiti, applied to Lakshmi has been translated by Pandit Hirananda as "source of fame, progeny and virtue." But Lakshmi who is merely a conventional representation of sovereign power can hardly be said to be the source of progeny or virtae. I have, therefore, taken daarom-apatya in the sense of " son of Dharma or Dharmapala, (i.e. Dēvapala)." This fits in well with the context, implying that Lakshmi who was the consort of Dövapala now belonged to Bhöja or in other words, the supreme position passed from the one to the other, and this has been shown to be historical fact.
