264 Restoration of the Inscription, No. 2, [June, 



who moreover imposed on the rank foliage of forests, on the lakes, and 

 on the land, the chains [of clear roads and of bridges respectively] — 

 who on the earth has no equal as a car-borne warrior ; — 



21. Of him who bears a gentle and kind disposition, to be hailed by the 



inhabitants of all the islands of the ocean with pure constant worship 

 of oblation and sacrifice — the materials of which spring from the rich 

 revenues obtained by his wise assessment from the produce of cultiva- 

 tors firmly and devotedly subjected to him as was the bird Garuda to 

 Vishnu, [a devotion testified] by the harmonious confluence of their 

 loyal words and songs addressed to himself — who also without being 

 addicted to works [alone, but spiritual science also, yet] bestows hun- 

 dreds and thousands upon the affairs of heaven and of earth ; — • 



22. Of him whose glory in war obliterates that of all other kings beside 

 himself, by reason of the multitude of virtues, diverse in kind, embel- 

 lished in hundreds of poems — from fear of whose [vigorous rule] dis- 

 sensions never arise — who is alike pure from the stains of grief and of 

 foolish laughter — who is in devotion unrivalled — and who having by 

 his own arm subdued so many kings, has succeeded further in taming 

 the so great fury and wrath [that such reverse naturally produces] by 

 the continual intercourse and profit of the western commerce begun 

 with the riches derived from that conquest ; — ■ 



23. Of him who is pleased with long poems of victory closely following the 



battle-array formed by the king himself, whose disposition is that of the 

 [Supreme Lord, the] Lord of the Poor ; who is at the same time the 

 slayer of elephants that smite in war — and is consecrated as the most 

 excellent of learned kings by [Cuveba] giver of wealth, by Varuna, 

 by Indra, and him who dwells in the mansions of death [Yama] ; who 

 is renowned for noble exploits to be heard to distant times, and sounded 

 even to heaven ; — 



24. Of him by whom are well understood, the Gandharvas or celestial song- 

 sters, learned and of excellent wisdom ; also the regent of the planet 

 Mars ; also [BALARA'MA*]foe of the earth ; also the preceptor of Indra 

 himself, the lord of the thrice-blessed immortals [viz. Vrihaspati, regent 

 of Jupiter] ; also Tumbaru [the wise Gandharva], and Na'rada, and 

 all the rest [of the ultra-deified sages] — who moreover is consecrated as 

 the most excellent of kings by acts worthy of the poems of the great 

 Rishi Vyannaca [or the foodlessf], who is renowned for noble exploits 

 to be heard to distant times, and sounded even to heaven ; — ■ 



* So I conjecture from the legend found in the Sri Bhagavat and elsewhere con- 

 cerning Balara'ma, the 8th incarnation of Vishnu, having depressed all the eastern 

 part of the earth. But perhaps the epithet may refer to the deities of the destroying 

 elements Water or Fire. 



f Perhaps a title of the great Valmiki, author of the Ramayana, who is said to have 

 fasted ten thousand years ! unless the terms of the inscription should be thought to 

 require the name of some poet who has sung the exploits of Samudra-Gupta himself. 



