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No. 18] JAIN INSCRIPTION FROM SHERGARH, V. 8. 1191
83 Unfortunately a piece of the stone about the middle has broken off taking away with it portions of many of the lines. As the record oould not be completed on the bed prepared for it, the concluding lines, numbering two only, were engraved on the lower raised border ; but the letters of this part are almost completely lost.
An interesting feature of the inscription is that & squarish space, measuring 13 inches by 121 inches, in the centre of the excavated bed in the stone was created by disturbing the continuous writing of lines 6-28 for the accommodation of a Padma-bandha design. While lines 1-5 and 29-34 of the epigraph oontain about 46 letters each, lines 6-28 have each only about 20 letters, hall of them to the left of the central square and half to its right. The pericarp of the padma is made by a circle with a diameter of about 11 inches, which is surrounded by another concentric circle having a diameter of about 2 inches. The oblong petals, 12 in number and each about 11 inches in length, spread out from the outer one of the two central circles. The outer edge of all the so-called petals is covered by another concentric circle about 13 inches in diameter, which touches the four borders of the central square, in their middle. There are again four concentric circles within this outer circle, which cut the oblong petals and oreste four circular spaces each about inoh in breadth. In the outer one of the above ciroular spaces, beginning from the left end and moving upwards, are put at the end of the upper six petals the numbers 1 to 8 against the beginning of six feet of 11 stanzas in the Sardūlavikridita metre, their tenth syllable which is common to all the six being placed in the inner circle or the pericarp of the padma and the following nine syllables being continued on the opposite petals on the other side of the double circle at the oentre. Some letters of the last two feet of the second stanza in Sardülavikridita are placed in the second inner circular space between the petals, the corresponding spaces within the petals being occupied by the first and last syllables of the six feet of the two stanzas engraved before, so that all the letters incised in this oiroular space have to be consecutively read to make out the third and fourth feet of the second stanza. Tho third inner Giroular space contains only the second and penultimato syllables of the six feet of the two stangas referred to above; but they do not appear to yield any sense if read in the circular way. It is, however, interesting to note that the letters in the fourth inner oiroular space which contains only the third and seventeenth syllables of the six Sārdülavikridita feet were intended, when read in the circular way, to read ri-Varasena-muninā kritam=idam (i.e. 'this is composed by the illustrious monk Varasēna'), in which only the final m had to be added at the end as a part of the last syllable. There is no doubt that the above Padma-bandha points to the skill of the author of the stanzas in question as a versifier. Unfortunately & break in tbe stone, referred to above, stands in the way of deciphering the stanzas'oompletely.
The inscription begins with the Siddham symbol followed by a double danda and the passage O namo Vitarăgāva. Then follow 14 stanzas in the Vasantatilaka metre, all of them in ealogy of the Jina. The three lines at the bottom of the excavated bed in the stone, which contain the end of the last verse of the prasasti and were continued on the lower rim of the stone, read as follows: 32 tēna stutõ=si vachasi manasaḥ prasādāt || 14 || Sri-Varasēna-munēr=mmita-vācha yat
ţiritillitam=atra bhadantaiḥ [l*) tat=kshamitavyam=uto=sya cha sã33 dhor=ātmaja-dosha ivæēha janētuḥ || 13 || Dvi-shach-chhat-chha)sāmk-ajka-mitē=
tha Vaikramê sama-samtho sdta-saptami-dino | Madhau cha māsā nava-chai34 tya-sadmani mahotsavo Nēmi-jinasye käritaḥ || 16 | Putrēna Va(Ba)ladēvasys Raghavena
manishina(pā) dana-dharmma-niratēna bhavyễna gunasä(42)lină || [17]" 1 Metre : Vasantatilaka as already noted above. * Metro: Dishaku. Metre : Van Sastha. Metre : Anushubh.
