1894.] U. C. Batavyal— Copper-plate Grant of Dharmapdla. 47 
Dayitavisnu, adorned with, all kinds of learning, was the progenitor 
of the excellent race of Avanipdlas , just as the ocean is the progenitor 
of the beautiful Goddess fri, and as the moon is the progenitor of that 
light which delights the whole earth. 
From him sprung Qrl Vapyata , the highly honoured, the success¬ 
ful, who overthrew his enemies, and adorned the earth as far as the 
sea with great deeds. 
His son was Qrl Gopala , the crown jewel on the head of all rulers 
of the earth. The subjects made him take the hand of Laksmi, 1 
to put an end to the practice of fishes. Even the whiteness of the full- 
moon night but faintly imitates, in the several quarters of the globe, the 
splendour of his great and lasting reputation. 
Even as Rohini is of the moon, and Svaha is of the resplendent God 
of Fire, as farvani is of piva, and Bhadra is of Kuvera, as faci is of 
Indra, and as Laksmi is of Visnu—so was Qrl Dedda Devi , the daughter 
of the king of the Bhadras, the Queen of that Lord of Earth, in whose 
company he sought for the relaxation of his mind. 
From these two sprung Qrl Dharmapdla , honoured by hosts of good 
men. The Lord of all Rulers of Earth, alone he ruled over the circle of 
the whole earth. The four oceans—the ditches of the earth, whose 
shores bear the foot-prints of his war elephants plunging into their 
waters, even they cannot stop his march, when he goes forth to con¬ 
quer the four quarters. 
When with exuberant glee his armies move to conquer the four quar¬ 
ters of the globe, and the earth in consequence loses her balance, as if 
with her mountains moving to and fro, the Snake-god fesa, under¬ 
neath the Earth with his circle of heads, smarting under the great pres¬ 
sure, which makes the jewels sink in their sockets, has to follow his 
march with uplifted hands. 
When his armies depart, and with their movements fill all the re¬ 
gions of the sky with heaps of dust, the Earth grows extremely light, 
and the hoods of the Snake-god, with their jewels emerging again, feel 
a great relief. 
When he invades a hostile territory, his anger burns like the ocean 
fire, unquenchable, knowing no other limit than the four seas. 
There were great rulers of the earth in ancient times, such as Prthu, 
Rama, the descendant of Raghu, Nala, and so forth. The Creator wish- 
1 To ‘ take the hand of Laksmi’ is to assume the sovereign power. * Practice of 
fishes ’ means civil war, where men kill each other as one fish devours another. It 
would appear that Gbpala’s father, Vapyata, was a chief of some sort, but Gopala 
himself became a great king, and put an end .to the anarchy and civil war which 
then distracted Northern India. 
