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No. 35] RATANPUR STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE [KALACHURI] YEAR 915 265
parting line of hair of the wives of hostile warriors struck by his sword what a cloud is to the
moon...
(V. 12) [The heavenly damsels] gathering together again and again on the path of gods (i.e., in the sky) and conversing with crowds of host ile warriors killed on the battle-field as they speedily became gods. . . . . rumbling out of seasons.
(V. 13)... like the man-lion, he is the best of men; like Achyuta (Vishnu) wielding his uplifted discus, he leads a victorious army; like Vishnu who is fond of the bird (Garuda) and reclines on the best of serpents, he is fond of the Brahmanas and lives in the company of the best of kings (or, Naga princes?)
(V. 14) (This is completely effaced.)
(V. 15) Who accepted a beloved clad in a black garment. . . . who had lovely, compact and large breasts, and who just then fell in love with him. . . . Taking off furiously the sheath (of his sword)....
(V. 16) In the fight in which the strokes of his creeper-like sword appeared like (flashes of) lightning and in which it was difficult to move about on account of multitudes of streams of blood gushing forth from the necks of crowds of wrathful foes, he, having attacked the hostile king Jatesvara....
(V. 17) He is to his enemies what the sun is to a mass of darkness; he is Pradyumna to women (and) the preceptor of gods (i.e., Brihaspati) in the right judgment of speech; being well known for imprisoning (his) mighty (foe), he resembles Krishna (who in his Dwarf incarnation imprisoned Bali, but, unlike Krishna) he is not dark-complexioned. . .
(V. 18) Though (like the ocean) he is. . . . dear to all creatures, appears charming with his great vitality (as the ocean does with its abundant store of water), has attained a supreme position by his command of all armies (as the ocean has by its lordship over all rivers), and is a receptacle of precious things (as the ocean is a treasure of gems), he does not (unlike the ocean which gives shelter to water) give refuge to dullards.
(V. 19) The regions at the extremity of the earth. ... which appear beautiful with the magnificent bridge of Rama (and) those, the water of the ocean in which is absorbed by the navels of the women in the city of Varuna, have been resorted to by his fame.
(V. 20) This [Brahmadēva, who is the sun to] the lotuses which are the faces of the excellent ladies who come out of eagerness to see his handsome form, [may come] to our world to give away wealth to supplicants in charity '-Being as it were urged by gods through such apprehension, the sun moves continuously round the regions on the slopes of the golden mountain (Mēru) for its protection.
1 As the moon hidden behind a cloud is no more visible, so the parting of hair on the part of those ladies is no longer to be seen, they being too full of grief to attend to their toilet.
There is a play on the words chakra meaning (i) a discus and (ii) an army, dvijati meaning (i) the bird Garada and (ii) a Brāhmaṇa, and bhōgin meaning (i) a serpent and (ii) a Naga prince or an officer in charge of a Bhoga or Bhukti (sub-division).
This may refer to the imprisonment of Jatēśvara.
There is contradiction here, since the prince Brahmadēva is said to be Krishna and still not to have the complexion of Krishna, but the contradiction is only apparent, the figure being Virodhābhāsa.
The regions in all the four directions were described in this verse. The first hemistich which described the northern and eastern regions is almost completely lost. The description in the second hemistich refers to the southern and western regions.
The idea in this verse occurs also in verse 17 of the Mallär stone inscription, above, Vol. I, p. 41. XVI-1-5
