Mystery of विष्णुध्वज - the Iron Pillar at Delhi
Arvind_Kolhatkar
A visit to the Kutub Minar Complex in Delhi, containing the famous tower of Kutub Minar in it, the now-dilapidated mosque called Kuvvat-ul-Islam and the Iron Pillar in its open quadrangle is on agenda of every visitor to Delhi. Out of these three, the histories of the Minar and the Mosque are well-known but the Iron Pillar leaves many questions unanswered. Who created this Pillar and when and why, has the Pillar been standing there since it was first made or has it been transported here from somewhere else, are some of these obvious questions. When it is realized the Pillar is almost 1600 years old, one starts wondering how it has remained free of any action of the weather and rusting for all these years and what was the technology that created it. It has a famous inscription on it. Who caused it to be carved and what does it say to its reader are some of the obvious questions. Since epigraphists learnt to read the Brahmi script in the 1830, several attempts have been made and surmises advanced to answer these questions. One such surmise as to where the Pillar originated is looked at in some detail in this article.
First, a physical description of the Pillar. The Archaeological Survey of India, in its centenary year of 1961, took the whole Pillar out of the ground, treated it chemically for its preservation and put it back as it originally stood. Before doing so, physical measurements of the Pillar were taken. The total height of the Pillar is 23'6", out of which 3'1" are below the ground, the cylindrical body of the Pillar above ground is 17' high and head of the Pillar is 3'5" high. The diameter of the cylindrical column is 1'4.7" where the Pillar emerges out of the ground. The diameter of the top of the Pillar is 11.85". The Pillar is made mainly of iron and its weight is 6 tons.
Among the inscriptions on the Pillar, the biggest and the most important one is a six-line inscription in the Brahmi script. James Prinsep published its first reading in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol VII, 1838 at p. 629. Since then, many scholars have given their own versions. The one of J.F.Fleet at Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.III p.139 is as under:
यस्योद्वर्तयत: प्रतीपमुरसा शत्रून्समेत्यागतान्।
वङ्गेष्वाहववर्तिनोऽभिलिखिता खड्गेन कीर्तिर्भुजे।
तीर्त्वा सप्तमुखानि येन समरे सिन्धोर्जिता वाह्लिका:।
यस्याद्याप्यधिवास्यते जलनिधिर्वीर्यानिलैर्दक्षिण:॥
खिन्नस्येव विसृज्य गां नरपतेर्गामाश्रितस्येतराम्।
मूर्त्या कर्मजितावनिं गतवत: कीर्त्या स्थितस्य क्षितौ॥
शान्तस्येव महावने हुतभुजो यस्य प्रतापो महान्।
नाद्याप्युत्सृजति प्रणाशितरिपोर्यत्नस्य शेष: क्षितिम्॥
प्राप्तेन स्वभुजार्जितञ्च सुचिरन्नैकाधिराज्यं क्षितौ।
चन्द्राह्वेनसमग्रचन्द्रसदृशीं वक्त्रश्रियं बिभ्रता।
तेनायं प्रणिधाय भूमिपतिना भावेन विष्णौ मतिम्।
प्रांशुर्विष्णुपदे गिरौ भगवतो विष्णोर्ध्वज: स्थापित:॥
My translation:
(The King) On whose arms is inscribed by sword his glory earned by turning back his foes in the Vanga regions,
The one who conquered the Bahlikas after crossing the seven mouths of the river Sindhu (Indus), and the breeze of whose bravery still perfumes the ocean of the South,
The King, who, upon leaving this world, resides in the other world earned by his good deeds but whose presence is still felt in this world because of his fame,
Who was a destroyer of foes, the remainder of whose glorious deeds still does not leave this world, like that of the forest fire in the great forest,
(The King) who earned ever-lasting sovereignty of the earth by the strength of his arms,
(The King) who carries the name of 'Chandra' and whose face has the luster of the full moon,
That King, with Vishnu in his heart, erected this Flag-standard of Vishnu on the eminence called 'Vishnupadagiri'.
The following is clearly mentioned in this inscription: The glorious and sovereign King, carrying the name of Chandra, caused the Pillar to be made. His conquests were in the Vanga, regions beyond the Sindhu River and in the South. He was a devotee of Vishnu. The Pillar is the flag-standard of Vishnu. It initially stood on a high hill called 'Vishnupadagiri'. The language employed in the composition is high Sanskrit and the composer had a master over the language and the art of composition.
Three names stand out as answering to this description: a) Chandragupta, the father of Samudragupta who caused the carving of the important inscription on the Pillar, currently standing in the fort at Allahabad, b) Samudragupta himself and 3) His son, Chandragupta II, who carried the epithet of Vikramaditya. Each of these names have scholars supporting them, though the consensus appears to be that it is Chandagupta II Vikramaditya (378-413 AD) whose glory is described in the verses quoted above. (for a full discussion of this point, please see 'Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas' by Ashvini Agrawal p. 183.) Chandragupta Vikramaditya was appointed Governor of Ujjayini during the reign of his father Samudragupta, who ruled from Pataliputra. Chandragupta shifted the capital to Ujjayini when he succeeded his father to the throne.
Chandragupta II was a devotee of Vishnu. His daughter, PrabhavatIgupta, was married to the Vakataka king, Rudrasena. A set of copper plates, known as 'Poona Plates' because they were recovered from a family of goldsmiths of Pune, record the grant of a village by Prabhavatigupta to a Brahmin. (A photo of these plates, and a translation of its text, is available here. Also see Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol V, p. 5) In it, Prabhavatigupta specifically mentions the devotion of her father, Chandragupta II, to Vishnu as he is referred to as 'Paramabhagavata.' In fact, that the entire Gupta dynasty was devoted to Vishnu can be gathered from the inscription of the Silk Weavers Guild at Mandsor, carved in the reign of Kumaragupta, son of Chandragupta II (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol III, p. 79) and from the inscription at Eran, Dist. Sagar carved in the time of Budhagupta, grandson of Chandragupta II, by two brothers, Matrivishnu and Dhanyavishnu to commemorate the erection of a pillar dedicated to Janardana. (Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol III, p. 88)
A clearer evidence of the devotion of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya to Vishnu is seen on a small hill called 'Udayagiri' (23 31 79.9 N, 77 48 35.3 E, degrees-minutes-seconds) that lies to the west of the town of Vidisha. Before looking at that evidence, let us get acquainted with 'Udayagiri'.
(to be continued in Part 2. A list of sources relied upon in the writing of this piece will appear at the end.)