•i{)6 Dr. E.G. Babington's Account of Sculptures, c^r. at Mahdmalaipur. 



kenzie, had such a knowledge of ancient characters somewhat similar to 

 this, that on visiting the spot with me, he succeeded in decyphering a great 

 part of this inscription, the language of which is Sanscrit. The following 

 is a translation of the ten sheds which were intelligible, while about two 

 verses at the end were left undecyphered. 



1. May the cause of creation, existence and destruction, which is itself 

 . without cause, t\\e destroy qv oi Manmadan (desire), be propitious to 



the desires of the world. 



2. May he who is united with Uma, of many kinds of illusion, without 

 quality, the destroyer of evil dispositions, of incorruptible wealth, the 

 Lord of CuBERAN, be counted excellent. 



3. May that deity (S'iva) protect us all, who is the seat of prosperity, 

 and by whose means Cailasa disappeared and descended to Fdtdla, 

 yielding by its weight, which he caused on account of its being with 

 (supported by) the teu-faced (Ravan'an.) 



4. May he who bears S'iva in his mind engrossed by devotion, and the 

 earth on his shoulders, with as much ease as if it were an ornament, 

 long prevail. 



5. By that king of satisfied wishes, with crowds of conquered enemies, 

 who is known by the name of Jayarana Sthambiia, this building was 

 made. 



6. May that fear-inspiring, good-giving, desire-destroying S'iva, to whom 

 the earth, space, the moon, fire, the sun, &c. are a body, be 

 victorious. 



7. The good-faced among nations (the beauty of the world) sprung from 

 a mother bringing forth heroes, remains without doubt in a place of 

 lotuses, full of sacred waters, and is adorned with all sorts of precious 

 stones. 



8 and 9. S'iva, the beautiful, sits in the broad lake S'iras, which teems 

 with (literally is a mine of) lotuses resembling variegated gems, and is 

 full of water for sprinkling the fortunate and much-loved Kamaraja, 



have escaped my observation. In modern Grantlia, an inflection in the middle of the character 



makes the difference between s andp, thus g^^- g ;. So also in the ancient character, the 



inflection may have been greater in the s than in the p, thus (^ and ^ ; but I have not upon 

 this supposition felt authorized to depart from the copy which I made on the spot. 



