Khoh Copper-plate Inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (512-513 CE)

         m! Hail! From Uchchakalpa;  (There was) the Mah r ja  ghad va. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja Kum rad va, begotten on the Mah d vi Kum rad vi. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja Jayasv min, begotten on the Mah d v  Jayasv min . His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja Vy ghra, begotten on the Mah d v  R mad v . His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r j  Jayan tha, begotten on the Mah d vi Ajjhitad v .

        (Line 6.)  His son, who meditates on his feet, the Mah r ja Sharvan tha,  begotten on the Mah d vi Murundad v  being in good health, issues a command to the cultivators, beginning with the Br hmans, and to all the artisans, at (the village of) Ashramaka on the north bank of the river Tamas : 

        (L. 8.)  "Be it known to you that this village is allotted by me, in four shares, to endure for the same time with the moon and the sun; with the udranga and the uparikara; (and with the privilege that it is) not to be entered by the irregular or the regular troops. Out of them, two shares belong to Vishnunandin; and another share belongs to the merchant Saktin ga, the son of Sv min ga; and another share belongs to Kum ran ga and Skandan ga. It is given by (this) copper-plate charter, [to be enjoyed] by the succession of them and (their) sons, [sons' sons], sons of sons' sons, sons of the latter, &c. Moreover, it is agreed by them (and) by me that it is given for the repairs, by the above-mentioned succession (of them and their descendants), in order to increase their own religious merit, of whatever may become broken or torn (in the shrines) of the feet of the Divine One, established by them, and of the feet of the sacred Sun, and for the maintenance of the bali, charu, sattra, perfumes, incense, garlands, and lamps.

        (L. 17.)  "You yourselves shall render to them the offering of the tribute of the customary royalties, taxes, gold, &c., and shall be obedient to (their) commands.

        (L. 18.)  "And those kings who shall be born in Our lineage,  by them this grant should not be confiscated, (but) should be assented to, and should be preserved according to opportunity. (And) the tribute of the taxes which by custom should not belong to the king, should not be taken.

        (L. 20.)  "Whosoever may confiscate this grant,  he shall become invested with (the guilt of) the five great sins and the minor sins."

        (L. 22.)  And it has been said in the Mah bh rata by the venerable Vy sa, the arranger of the V das,  "O Yudhishthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has been given, whether by thyself, or by another; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) (is) better than making a grant! As a rule, indeed, no inauspicious condition is experienced by kings; but they are purified for ever, when they bestow land! The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it )! The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant), and he who assents (to an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number of years in hell! He who confiscates land, rich in all (kinds of ) grains, (that has been granted),  he becomes a worm in the ordure of a dog, and sinks (into hell) together with (his) ancestors!"

        (L. 29.)  (This charter) has been written, in a century of years, increased by ninety-three, on the tenth day of the month Chaitra, by the Mah s mdhivigrahika Man ratha, the grandson of the Bh gika, the Am tya Phalgudatta, (and) the son of the Bh gika Var hadinna. The D taka (is) the Mah bal dhikrita, the Kshatriya Shivagupta.

From: Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 128-129.