268 Notes on Gupta Inscriptions from Aplisar and Behar. [No. 4, 



of noble lineage, great learning, and uncommon firmness of purpose. 

 He was succeeded in his dominion successively by his son Hashka 

 G-upta and grandson Jivita Gupta, both of whom, in the hyperbo- 

 lical language of the poet, were mighty heroes. The son of Jivita 

 was Kumara Gupta, who waged war against one Canta Varma, and of 

 whom the only thing notable is, that he " entered into a fire of dried 

 dung as in a sea." The panegyrist does not explain whether this was 

 done as an act of religious suicide, or merely as a penance, a part of 

 the rite called Panchatapa. His son Damodara fought with the Western 

 Hunas at a place called Maushari, but evidently only to be killed, for the 

 poet euphuistically notices his fainting on the occasion, and subsequently 

 reviving under the touch of heavenly nymphs. Where this Maushari 

 was situated, I cannot make out ; nor can I ascertain the locale of a 

 river or sea named Lauhitya, on the bank or shore of which hermits sang 

 in praise of the king's son Mahasena Gupta. The last, after reigning for 

 some years, left his kingdom to his son Madhava Gupta. A gap in the 

 inscription here leaves it doubtful whether Hashka Gupta, the name 

 which follows, is that of the son of Madhava or of a mere successor ; and 

 some others in a lower part of the record have rendered a great portion 

 of the praises bestowed on A'ditya Sena, the son of Hashka, quite un- 

 intelligible. What remains is of the usual unmeaning type, " unrival- 

 ed heroism," "universal dominion" and the like, which probably 

 existed nowhere but in the fertile imagination of the poet. Aditya 

 was a follower of Vishnu, and the document records the dedication, 

 by him, of a temple to the idol of his adorations. It notices also 

 that his mother Mahadevi built a monastery for the accommodation 

 of pious hermits, and his wife Kona Devi, with a keener eye to general 

 utility than was owned by her lord and mother-in-law, had a large 

 tank excavated for the use of the public. The engraver of the docu- 

 ment was Sukshma Siva. 



The names of the several princes of the dynasty may be tabulat- 

 ed thus : — 



I. Krishna Gupta. 

 II. Hashka Gupta, son of I. 



III. Jivita Gupta, son of II. 



IV. Kumara Gupta, son of III. 

 V. Damodara Gupta, son of IV. 



