80 ft. D. BANERJI ON 



Bilhana in his Vikramanka-deva Carita, where Karna is mentioned as the god of 

 death to the Lord of the Kalafijara mountains, e.g. the Candellas. 1 In his last war 

 with the Palas, Karna was defeated and sued for peace. Vigrahapala III married the 



aged king's daughter YauvanasrI. Karna 's war with 



Marriage with Princess vi g rana Pala and his subsequent relationship was made 



YauvanasrI, the daugh- known to us by Mahamahopadhyaya Hara Prasada Sastrl's 



ter of Karna. unique discovery, " The Ramacarita of Sandhyakara- 



nandi ": — 

 Anyatra \ yo Vigrahapalo Yauvanas'riya Karnasya rajnah sutaya saha Ksaunlm- 

 ndudhavan \ Sahasa valen - avito-raksito ranajitah sangramajitah Karno Dahal 

 = adhipatir = yena i Ranajita eva parantu raksito na unmulitah — Commentary 

 on verse 9* 



It is evident from the commentary the Karna suffered a severe reverse at the 

 hands of his future son-in-law and that though defeated he was not " uprooted," i.e. 

 deprived of his kingdom. It may be that the proud Cedi gave his daughter to 

 Vigrahapala to avert a calamity. Vigrahapala III probably had a very short reign, 

 not exceeding thirteen years. Had he lived longer the Pala Empire may have lasted 

 for some time. His sons were continually quarrelling among themselves and reigned 

 for very short periods. The subordinate princes eagerly availed themselves of the 

 opportunity of throwing off the yoke and the Pala princes never gained the oppor- 

 tunity of subjugating the territories lost at this time. 



Three inscriptions of Vigrahapala III have been discovered as yet, of which one 

 is on a copper-plate and the other two on stone. The copper-plate is the well-known 

 one from Amgachi in the Din a j pur District. The inscription has been edited many 

 times but the first twenty lines edited by the late Prof. Kielhorn' and the remain- 

 ing portion by Dr. A. F. R. Hoernle + are the only reliable versions. A fresh edition 

 of this important inscription is very urgently wanted I hope to take up this work 

 ere long and compare it with the Bangarh grant of Mahipala I as suggested by Mr. 

 V. A. Smith. 5 The Amgachi plate records the grant of half of the village named 

 Brahman! in the Kotivarsa visaya of the Paundravarddhana bhukti to a Brahmana 

 named Khoddhata-devasarman on the ninth day of Caitra in the 13th year of the 

 king/ On the othei two inscriptions of this king, the Aksayavata inscription is the 

 most important. It was noticed by Cunningham in the third volume of his Reports. 

 The late Dr. Th. Bloch published a summary of its contents but at that time the 

 last lines of the inscription were covered with plaster and so he missed the name of 

 the king and the date. After frequent trials I succeeded in removing the plaster 

 and copying the entire inscription. The central part of the inscription has suffered 

 seriously and is only partly legible. Otherwise the inscription is quite clear. It 

 records the erection of a linga (Vatesa) at Aksayavata and another called Prapita- 



1 Vikramanka deva-carita, I, 102 3, XVIII, 93. 2 Mem. A.S.B., Vol. Ill, p. 22. 



3 Ind. Ant., Vol. XXI, p. 97. * Ibid , Vol. XIV, p. 166. 



6 Ibid., Vol. XXXVIII, p. 240. 6 Ibid., Vol. XIV, p. 168. 



