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JAINA EPIGRAPHS : PART II
278 Verse 14. How can I adequately describe the gallantry of the Vipras of Südirba, firm in determination like Rāma, who protect the uprooted souls coming from the four quarters by offering them asylum, like the god Vishņu protecting the three worlds along with the god Šamkara by accommodating them in his belly, when the surging ocean overflowing its bounds engulfs this earth at the time of deluge !
Verse 15. Who can stand on equal terms with the fifty-two champions of Sēdisba by challenging them in a rival combat— the fifty-two eternal champions, who split asunder the massive gates while storming the city of Kānchi ?
Verse 16. Just as it was the god Girića (i. e., Sankara) who gave protection when the gods and the demons had taken to flight, stricken with fear at the sight of the Kālakūta poison spit out by the fierce and infuriated serpent Šēsha, on the occasion of the churning of the ocean, so did the master guardians of the citadel of Sõdimba offer security to the people running amock in distress.
Verse 17. These Three Hundred deserve to be counted anong those gallant souls who volunteer to offer asylum and protect the three worlds saying, Here is the shelter'. Perfect cage as it were to those seeking refuge, they are the compeers of the god with the lotus in his naval (i. e., Vishņu).
Verse 18. Those who protect this religious institution will enjoy long life, renown and prosperity in all respects in this life and untold happiness afterwards in the heaven.
INSCRIPTION NO. 8
(Found in a Dilapidated Temple at Sēdam) . This inscription was found incised on a slab set up at the entrance of a deserted and dilapidated Jaina temple at Sõdam. The temple was noticed in a deplorable condition situated as it was in the Potters' Colony near the southern gate of the town. Its precincts had been encroached upon by the neighbouring houses, the occupants of which had taken full liberty in turning it into a busy workshop for conducting their multifarious activities, such as, soaking the lumps of clay, storing the powdered charcoal and airing their raw-products.
The slab measures roughly 48 by 16 inches. The epigraph comprises about 70 lines of writing; and inspite of the condition of neglect and filth in which it was placed, it was found in a fair state of preservation except for the last four lines which are damaged and worn-out. The characters are old Kannada of the 12th century A. D. and call for no remarks from the palaeographical point of view. The orthographical conventions of the age, such as
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