The Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana, is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

inscription in the

Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...

dated to about 532 CE, on a slate stone measuring about 2 feet broad, 1.5 feet high and 2.5 inches thick found in the

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

region of India, now a large part of the southwestern

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. On the back are engraved a sign of sun and moon, as well as two horsemen. The inscription opens with the sign for '' siddham'', is entirely in verse of various meters, and is signed at the end with the name of the engraver. The script says Fleet belongs to the "northern class of alphabet", and opens with invocations to Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Location

The inscription was discovered accidentally during repairs of an unknown water well, where the inscription was on concealed side of a block in its wall. It had already been removed from the well when first witnessed by Fleet, but Fleet was unable to determine which and he guessed that it may be the original well may be the ancient one located just inside of the eastern entrance of modern

Mandsaur Fort Mandsaur Fort (also known as Dashpur Fort), is situated in Mandsaur city in Mandsaur district in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.Usha Agarwal:Mandsaur Zile ke Puratatvik samarakon ki paryatan ki drishti se sansadhaniyata - Ek Adhyayan, Chrag Praka ...

Description

The inscription records the construction of a well by a person named Daksha in Dashapura (modern

Mandsaur Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers ...

, also often spelled

Mandasor Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandsaur District. The ancient Pashupatinath Temple is lo ...

and referred to as Dasor. It mentions the rule of

Yashodharman Yashodharman ( Gupta script: ''Ya-śo-dha-rmma'', ) (r. 515 – 545) was a ruler of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century. He probably belonged to the Second Aulikara dynasty. He conquered much of the Indian subco ...

. The builder of the well, named Daksha, is described as the younger brother of Dharmadosha, himself a minister of Yashodharman. Daksha built the well in honor of his deceased uncle Abhayadatta, also minister of Yashodharman, in charge of the tract of country between the

Vindhyas The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

and the Pariyatra mountain and the "Western Ocean". According to the inscription, Daksha was the grandson of a Brahmin Ravikirtti, whose wife was named Bhanugupta, a Kshatriya. This, states Fleet, means that during this period Brahmin and Kshatriya were intermarrying, something seen in other inscriptions such as the Ghatotkacha cave inscription.The Gupta Empire by Radhakumud Mookerj
p.121
/ref> The inscription mentions the victories of local ruler

Yasodharman Yashodharman (Gupta script: ''Ya-śo-dha-rmma'', ) (r. 515 – 545) was a ruler of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century. He probably belonged to the Second Aulikara dynasty. He conquered much of the Indian subcon ...

over Northern and Eastern kingdoms, with "peaceful overtures and by war". These kingdoms are not further specified..Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the Tantric Movement by Ronald M. Davidso
p.31
/ref>

Fleet's translation of the inscription

The inscription was translated by

John Faithfull Fleet John Faithfull Fleet C.I.E (1847 – 21 February 1917) was an English civil servant with the Indian Civil Service and became known as a historian, epigraphist and linguist. His research in Indian epigraphy and history, conducted in India over ...

in ''Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas'' in 1888 (line numbers and paragraph titles are part of the original text):Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 188
Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana
pages 150-155,

References

{{Hindu inscriptions and arts, state=autocollapse Gupta and post-Gupta inscriptions Sanskrit inscriptions in India