Mehrauli Iron Pillar Inscription of Candra

Author of digital edition: Dániel Balogh (daba).

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Southern Brāhmī (unspecified) (brāhmī_southern_unspecified)].

Repository: SIDDHAM (siddham).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSiddham00015.

File path: XML-Provisional/DHARMA_INSSiddham00015.xml.

Version: 2026-09-16 10:40 (3083d2d), last modified 2026-09-16 09:24 (c200993).

Edition

⟨1⟩ yasyodvarttayataḥ pratīpam urasā śattrūn sametyāgatānvaṅgeṣv āhava-varttino bhilikhitā khaḍgena kīrttir bhuje⟨2⟩ tīrtvā sapta mukhāni yena samare sindhor jjitā vāhlikāyasyādyāpy adhivāsyate jalanidhir vvīryy-ānilair ddakṣiṇaḥ⟨3⟩ khinnasyeva visr̥jya gāṁ narapater ggām āśritasyetarāṁmūrtyā karmma-jitāvaniṁ gatavataḥ kīrtyā sthitasya kṣitau⟨4⟩ śāntasyeva mahā-vane hutabhujo yasya pratāpo mahānnādyāpy utsr̥jati praṇāśita-ripor yyatnasya śeṣaḥ kṣiti(M)⟨5⟩ prāptena sva-bhujārjjitañ ca sucirañ caikādhirājyaṁ kṣitaucandrāhvena samagra-candra-sadr̥śīṁ vaktra-śriyaṁ bibhratā⟨6⟩ tenāyaṁ praṇidhāya bhūmipatinā dhāvena viṣṇ¿o? matiṁprā¿n?śur vviṣṇupade girau bhagavato viṣṇor dhvajaḥ sthāpitaḥ

Bibliography

First noticed (with eye copy) in Prinsep 1834. Revised in Prinsep 1838, pp. 629–631. Further revised in Bhau Daji 1875. Critically edited in Fleet 1888. Discussed in Shastri 1913, Rana 1970, Vajpeyi 1972. Identity of Candra discussed in Goyal 1993, pp. 84–91.

Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (2019, № IN00015). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.

Secondary

Fleet, John Faithfull. 1888. Inscriptions of the early Gupta kings and their successors. First edition. Vol. 3. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Item 32.

Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna, Bahadur Chand Chhabra & Govind Swamirao Gai. 1981. Inscriptions of the early Gupta kings. Corpus inscriptionum indicarum 3, revised edition. New Delhi: Archaeological survey of India. Item 12.

Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna. 1927–1936. A list of the inscriptions of northern India in Brahmi and its derivative scripts, from about 200 A. C.: Appendix to Epigraphia Indica and record of the Archaeological Survey of India, volumes XIX to XXIII. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India. [URL]. Item 1543.

Sircar, Dines Chandra. 1965. Select inscriptions bearing on Indian history and civilization. Volume I: from the sixth century B.C. to the sixth century A.D. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. Calcutta: University of Calcutta. Book III, item 14.

Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar. 1983. Imperial Gupta Epigraphs (गुप्ताधिराजलेखमण्डल). Ancient Indian Epigraphical Sources (प्रत्नाभिलेखसंहिता) 10, pt. 1 / 2. Varanasi: Books Asia, Distributed by Prithvi Prakashan. Item 15.

Goyal, Śrīrām. 1993. गुप्तकालीन अभिलेख/Guptakālīna Abhilekha (Inscriptions of the Gupta Age). Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan. Items 77-91.

Display Options Word Wrap Line Numbers Comments Processing Instructions

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<l n="a"><lb n="1"/>yasyodvarttayataḥ pratīpam urasā śattrūn sametyāgatān</l>

<l n="b">vaṅgeṣv āhava-varttino bhilikhitā khaḍgena kīrttir bhuje</l>

<l n="c"><lb n="2"/>tīrtvā sapta mukhāni yena samare sindhor jjitā vāhlikā<!--

Fleet's comment on vāhlikā (copied from Lielukhine, not verified in Fleet): Prinsep also read vāhlikā; but Bhau Daji, varying in also the first syllable, read bālhikā.- In the first akshara, the v is imperfect on the right side, through the closing up of the metal. In the second akshara, the h is turned in the opposite direction to that in which it is turned in āhava, line 1 and mahāvane and mahān, line 4. But, that the akshara is hli, not lhi, is certain; because l can only be formed to the left; whereas, at this period, h was formed sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right; and, in the present inscription, it is turned to the right, as here, again in hutabhujo, line 4, and āhvena, line 5.

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<l n="d">yasyādyāpy adhivāsyate jalanidhir vvīryy-ānilair ddakṣiṇaḥ</l>

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<l n="a"><lb n="3"/>khinnasyeva visr̥jya gāṁ narapater ggām āśritasyetarāṁ</l>

<l n="b">mūrtyā karmma-jitāvaniṁ gatavataḥ kīrtyā sthitasya kṣitau<!--

mūrtyā and kīrtyā with single t (I guess they decided that punching a triple ligature would be too complicated; compare also viṣṇor dhvajaḥ in l6). Bhandarkar supplies asterisked doubling - but perhaps there's no need to standardise the text to this extent.

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<l n="c"><lb n="4"/>śāntasyeva mahā-vane hutabhujo yasya pratāpo mahān</l>

<l n="d">nādyāpy utsr̥jati praṇāśita-ripor yyatnasya śeṣaḥ kṣiti<unclear>M</unclear></l>

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<l n="a"><lb n="5"/>prāptena sva-bhujārjjitañ ca sucirañ caikādhirājyaṁ kṣitau</l>

<l n="b">candrāhvena samagra-candra-sadr̥śīṁ vaktra-śriyaṁ bibhratā</l>

<l n="c"><lb n="6"/>tenāyaṁ praṇidhāya bhūmipatinā dhāvena viṣṇ<choice><sic>o</sic><corr>au</corr></choice> matiṁ<!--

Bhandarkar says dhāvena is "obviously" a mistake for bhāvena. Fleet, more carefully, says it's "probably" an engraving mistake for bhāvena, unless dhāva is CGII's familiar name. Another possibility would be to emend to (ā)dhānena: fixing his attention on Viṣṇu by the deposition [of this pillar]?

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Nobody seems to mention that there is en extra character (or half of one?) after dhā of praṇidhāya. Looks a bit like a malformed rā. Obviously a mistake, but should be mentioned.

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<l n="d">prā<choice><sic>n</sic><corr>ṁ</corr></choice>śur vviṣṇupade girau bhagavato viṣṇor dhvajaḥ sthāpitaḥ<!--

°r dhvajaḥ, not rddhva (though the character is large and quite damaged, so it could perhaps be ddhva).

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<p>First noticed (with eye copy) in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Prinsep1834_02"/></bibl>. Revised in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Prinsep1838_03"/><citedRange>629-631</citedRange></bibl>. Further revised in <bibl><ptr target="bib:BhauDaji1875_02"/></bibl>. Critically edited in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Fleet1888_01"/></bibl>. Discussed in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Shastri1913_01"/></bibl>, <bibl><ptr target="bib:Rana1970_01"/></bibl>, <bibl><ptr target="bib:Vajpeyi1972_01"/></bibl>. Identity of Candra discussed in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Goyal1993_01"/><citedRange>84-91</citedRange></bibl>.</p>

<p>Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Balogh2019_03"/><citedRange unit="item">IN00015</citedRange></bibl>). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.</p>

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