Indian Antiquary Vol 42

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 182

174
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(JUNE, 1913.
2. As regards the translation of the word vicharana by 'patb,' it is to be observed that the synonyms charana, gamana and yana are given in this sense in the Petersburg lexicon, and that this sense is justitied by the statements of the grammarians about the suffix ana. According to them the suffix and serves to denote the means; and the path is, according to the Indian conception, one of the means of going.
3. The adjectival phrases uparyupari-sanchayochchhrita and anekamarga must be translated in two ways, like uchchhrita, because they refer both to the glory and to the river Gangå. As applied to the glory, the first compound means that Samndragupta's generosity, bravery, selfcontrol and knowledge of the letters form the layers by which the glory towers itself up to the height of a mountain, and that every quality that follows, is higher and more excellent. As applied to the Gongû, the adjective alludes to the Indian belief that this river is first visible in the heavens as the milk-path, then dashing through the mid-region, it falls upon the Kailâss and "lastly it rushes downwards to the plains. Thus to the looker-on, standing on the plains and looking upwards, the water of the Ganga would appear to be towering in ever-rising layers. Anekamdrga lit.' which has more than one path,' as applied to glory, means, not only that the glory travelled in the three worlds, but that it followed different paths in the sense that it sprang from different causes such as generosity and so on. As applied to the Ganga, the word has only the first sense and it is well known that the Ganga is called tripathaga.
According to the translation given above, the last part of the panegyric tells us that Samudragupta's fame, which is personified as a female, as is frequently met with in Indian poets, occapied the whole earth, and thus found it impossible to spread forth any more on this earth. Thus embarrassed, the fame went up to the palace of the lord of gods and thus found a new path for itself, along which it moved happily. Verse 9 informs us of the result which was brought about by this ascent to heaven. Then, says the poet, the king's glory attained to a similarity with the Ganges. For, like the same, it flows through the three worlds: heaven, mid-air, and earth. Every one of these thoughts and images occurs frequently in the court poete. Almost in every Prusasti and in a large number of chatus or verses containing flattery, it is told that the glory of the king under description rushes forward into heaven. The most usual expression used to convey this thought is the statement that the glory of such and such a person fills up the three worlds. There are many places, however, where the ascent of fame, as here, is spoken of, and the figurative motive for the same is also given in different ways. Thus it is Ghid in verse of the poet Amritadatta who was a contemporary of the Kasmirian Sultan Shahabuddin (1352-1870 A.D.), Subhashitavali No. 2457 (Peterson's edition):35
कीर्तिस्ते जातजाड्येव चतुरम्बुधिमज्जनात् ।
आतपाय धरानाथ गता मातंण्डमण्डलम् ॥ • Thy fame, oh lord of the earth, which was, as it were, benumbed with cold, through its bathing in the four oceans, went up to the sphere of the sun, in order to warm itself.'
Another conception we find in Sambhu, the bard of the king Harsha of Kasmir (1089.1101 A. D.) in Rajendrakarna pára, verse 67, ( Subhashit dvali No. 2627):
कान्तारेषु च काननेषु च सरित्तीरेषु च माभृता मुत्सङ्गषु च पत्तनेषु च सरिडतुस्नटान्तेषु च । wear: 1976: Far T4 19
कान्ते नन्दनकन्दलीपरिसरे रोहन्ति ते कीर्तयः॥ • Thy glory, oh lord of the earth, which shines white like the inner sprouts of the ketalea, wandered about in forests and groves, on the banks of rivers, on the slopes of mountains, in cities and on the shores of the ocean; and then, as if exbausted (by this long journey), it sprouts up (as white flowers) on the lovely plots of plantain trees in the garden of gods.'
These modes of expression are quite complex and bombastic in comparison with Harishena's simple and natural conception of the motive for the ascent of fame. No doubt, this is accounted for by the change in the Indian taste, which was brought about in the long period that separated these three poets.
15 Seo Subhashitavali, introduction p. 4; and Prinsep, Indian Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 247.