On a Verse of the Pila Inscriptions

The article examines a verse found in five copper-plates of the Pala kings of Bengal, which was applied to multiple rulers including an assumedly weak ruler, Gopala II, Vigrahapala III, and Mahipala I. The author argues that because the verse describes a conventional digvijaya, or conquest of the four quarters, by a Pala king, it must be treated as verbal bombast. The verse begins the conquest in the water-abounding eastern quarter, then passes to the southern quarter where the Malaya valley is situated, then to the deserts of Western India, and ultimately reaches the Himalaya mountains. The author engages with the conclusion of Aparna Banerji, who suggests that Malaya refers to the Malayagiri of the south. However, the author disagrees with Banerji's reasoning, which is based on the association of the sandal tree with the Malayagiri of the south. The author contends that such a description has to be treated as verbal bombast, and the exaggeration should not prevent one from understanding the verse in the intended way. The article also notes that the idea of the digvijaya explains why four different Pala rulers were named in this verse and transferred it to themselves, leaving other conventional verses to their predecessors. The author, Dasharatha Sharma, presents this as evidence of the verse's conventional nature and its application to multiple rulers.

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