Khoh Copper-plate Inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (533-534 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 v , begotten on the Mah d v  Kum rad vi. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja Jayasv min, begotten on the Mah d vi Jayasv min . His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja Vy ghra, begotten on the Mah d vi R mad vi. His son, who meditated on his feet, (was) the Mah r ja 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 Murundasv min    being in good health, issues a command to the residents, beginning with. the Br hmans, at the villages of Vy ghrapallika and K charapallika in the Manin ga p tha:  

        (L. 8.)  "Be it known to you that these two villages were bestowed, as a mark of favour, upon Pulindabhata,  with the udranga and the uparikara; (with the privilege that they were not to be) entered by the irregular or the regular troops; with whatever had (by custom) accrued or might accrue in connection with the tribute of all the taxes which should not belong to the king; to endure for the same time with the moon and the sun; (but) with the exception of (the right to) fines imposed on thieves. And now they are granted by him to Kum rasv min, to be enjoyed by the succession of (his) sons and sons  sons, for the purpose of the worship of the divine goddess Pishtapurik d v  at the temple which he has caused to be built at (the town of) M napura, and for the purpose of repairing whatever may become broken or torn. And, by (this) copper-plate charter, they have been assented to by me, according to the rule of bh michchhidra.

        (L. l4.)  "You yourselves, understanding (this), (and) being. obedient to (their) commands, shall render the tribute of the customary royalties, taxes, gold,  v ta, revenue, &c.

        (L. 16.)  "And those kings who shall be born in Our lineage,  by them this grant should not be confiscated, (but) according to opportunity should be increased (and) assented to and preserved. And none of the tribute of the taxes which should not belong to the king, should be taken.

        (L. 18.)  "And whosoever may confiscate this grant, he shall become invested with (the guilt of) the five great sins and the minor sins.

        (L. 19.)  And it has been said in the Mah bh rata, in the Shatas hasr -Samhit , by Vy sa, the arranger of the V das, the supreme sage, the son of Par shara,  "O Yudhishthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has previously been given to the twice-born; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) (is) more meritorious 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 that has been given, whether by himself, or by another,  he becomes a worm in the ordure of a dog, and sinks (into hell) together with his ancestors! Those who confiscate a previous grant, are born (again) as black serpents, inhabiting the dried-up hollows of trees, in desert places destitute of water!"

        (L. 27.)  (This charter) has been written in two centuries of years, increased by fourteen, on the sixth day of the month Pausha, by the S mdhivigrahika N tha, the great-grandson of the An tya Phalgudatta; the grandson of Var hadinna; (and) the son of Man ratha. The D taka (is) Dhritisv mika.

From: Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 138-139.