44 - A

This inscription is engraved on a broken pillar excavated from a site of what is called a University by the excavators though the reason for the nomenclature is unknown. The extant portion represents the lower right hand section of the record. There are altogether five lines of writing in the inacription, the left half of all of them being almost totally lost. Each line originally contained 24 or more aksharas, about 12 in a line being now found in the well-preserved section of the epigraph. As we shall see below, there is reason to believe that the whole inscription was originally written in twenty lines, of which only the right hand part of the last quarter at the bottom now remains. The inscribed area on the slab is 9 inches in height while the breadth of the space covered by the well-preserved section of the writing is 7 1/2 inches.
The characters of the record are similar to the other inscriptions edited above. The language is Sanskrit and the epigraph seems to have been written entirely in verse.

TEXT

1 я — я — я — я — я — я — — я — — я — я — я — я mukkhya-pаchakа [Uka]hvay[e] [||*] [8]
2 я — я — — я я — я — я — [sa ma]ндapa stamba(mbha)-[щat]-аdhik-ojva(jjva)la[х] [|*]
3 я — я — — я я — я — я — [ji]t-аtman=аnena dhр[t]o dhрt-аtmanа [||*] 9
4 я — я — — я я — я [щo]bhane vihаra-mukkhye vigatajvar-аlaye [|*]
5 я — я — — я я — [niveщitа] vihаra-bаhа vipul-аrttha-kакkшiна [||*] 10

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From impressions.
L. 1. The intended reading seems to be uk-аhvaye, though it is uncertain whether uka is the name of an object or a locality. The metre of the stanza is probably Paгchachаmara. It may also be Tунaka, though in the latter case the number of syllables in this line would be 30 while the otlier lines would have 24 only. There are, however, other instances of this kind. Cf. verses 1-8 in lines 1-16 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (CII, Vol. III, p. 6). If it is believed that there were only nine syllables in a foot, the metre may be Kаminи as well, though such short stanzas (except Anuштubh) are rarely known from inscriptions.
L. 3. The metre of this stanza and the following one is Vaмщastha.