Delhi Iron Pillar with Gupta inscription

Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 14,830

Date uploaded in London –  4 August 2025

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

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Varaha Avatara in Udayagiri Caves, Gupta Period.

Kings of Gupta dynasty were great Hindus. Their rule is considered the Golden period of India. According to Chinese pilgrim and others, people slept leaving their house doors open. No theft, no robbery was reported; it was Rama Rajya. The kings called themselves Parama Bhagavatas, i.e. great followers of Lord Vishnu. But they donated liberally to all faiths. Their gold coins are in all museums of the world. British museum has displayed it at the entrance of the coin section.

Gupta inscriptions frequently depict and refer to various Hindu deities, particularly Vishnu and Lakshmi, alongside other gods and goddesses. The Gupta period saw a flourishing of Hindu art and iconography, solidifying the forms of many deities that are still recognized today. Vishnu is prominently featured, with inscriptions often associating Gupta rulers with him and emphasizing their role as his representatives on Earth.

Here’s a more detailed look:

•          Vishnu:

Gupta rulers often identified themselves with Vishnu. For example, an inscription from Govindnagar, Mathura, refers to a pillar dedicated to Vishnu. Vishnu’s boar avatar, Varaha, is also depicted in the Udayagiri caves, showcasing his importance.

•          Lakshmi:

The goddess Lakshmi, often associated with wealth and prosperity, is also frequently depicted in Gupta art and inscriptions. She is sometimes shown as Rajya-Lakshmi, associated with kingship and the coronation ritual, highlighting her role in legitimizing the ruler’s authority.

•          Other Deities:

Besides Vishnu and Lakshmi, other deities found in Gupta inscriptions and art include:

•          Karttikeya (Skanda Kumara, Mahasena): The god of war, often depicted with a peacock.

•          Shiva: Depicted with his mount, Nandi, and associated with the Udayagiri caves.

•          Brahma: The creator god, also found in the Udayagiri caves.

•          Adityas, Agni, Vayu, Vasus, Rudras, Rishis: Various deities and sages from the Vedic tradition are also represented.

In the Gupta epigraphs, the exploits of a king equalled to those of Indra . it is seen in inscriptions of Samudra Gupta and Mathura stone inscription of Chandra Gupta. Tamils also called the king, Indra. Tolkappiam named Indra as King, Venthan in Tamil.

In the Kusana and Gupta sculptures, Varuna is represented  as riding a crocodile and bearing a noose, pasa, of chastisement. He is also mentioned in the Mathura stone inscription. The Mathura pillar inscription of Chandragupta II is an important historical document from the Gupta period in ancient India. It records the installation of two Shiva Lingas by Udita Acharya in the “year 61 following the era of the Guptas”. This corresponds to approximately 380 CE, though some scholars like Harry Falk suggest a date of 388 CE. The inscription is found on a pillar in Mathura and is also known as the Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription.

Neither Kalidasa nor Sangam Tamil poets mentioned the world Linga. But both have praised Linga shaped Kaliash. This shows Kalidasa lived before Sangam or Gupta age.

Kalidasa refers to the deity Surya having seven horses, all green in colour harnessed to his chariot—haridasva-Raghu 3-22.

Oldest Post- Vedic reference to Vishnu is in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi 4-3-98

An ambassador of the Indo Greek king Antialklidas named Heliodorus called himself bhagavata and erected a Garuda pillar in Besnagar in second century BCE.

Imperial Guptas called themselves Parama Bhagavatas according to Gadhwa stone inscription of Chandra Gupta II. Gupta coins also had the title paramabhagavatas.

This also shows Kalidasa lived long before the Guptas. A court poet always follows the state religion. But Kalidasa was associated with Vikramaditya of first century BCE and he praised Shiva sky high as Jagadguru in Kumarasambhavam and Parents of the Earth in Raghuvamsa.

A four armed Vishnu figure carved on a panel at Udayagiri is dated in the Gupta era 82, i.e. 400 CE.

Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudra Gupta mentioned Vishnugopa of Kanchi

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Vishnu in Delhi Iron Pillar Inscription

The king in Delhi Iron Pillar is now generally identified with the Gupta King Chandragupta II. This identification is based on several points:

The script and the poetic style of the inscription, which point to a date in the late fourth or early fifth century CE: the Gupta period.

The inscription describes the king as a devotee of the God Vishnu, and records the erection of a dhvaja (“standard”, or pillar) of Vishnu, on a hill called Viṣṇupada (“hill of the footprint of Viṣṇu”).  Other Gupta inscriptions also describe Chandragupta II as a Bhagavata (devotee of Vishnu). The names of the places mentioned in the inscription are also characteristic of the Gupta Era. For example, Dakṣiṇa Jalanidhi (the Indian Ocean) and Vaṅga (the Bengal region).

The short name ‘Candra’ is inscribed on the archer-type gold coins of Chandragupta II, while his full name and titles appear in a separate, circular legend on the coin.

A royal seal of Chandragupta’s wife Dhruvadevi contains the phrase Śrī Viṣṇupada-svāmī Nārāyaṇa (“Nārāyaṇa, the lord of the illustrious Viṣṇupada”).

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Surya -Sun god

Kumara Gupta’s Mandasor stone inscription and Bandhuvarma mentioned the repairs to a sun temple.

Kalidasa mentioned Surya with the word Savita in Rtu Samhara. God Surya is in the Rig Veda where ten hymns are addressed to him .  Adi Sankara made it as one of the six faiths (shan matha) of Hindus. It is called Sauram. Surya became Solar in European languages is a well-known fact.

The tradition preserved in the Bhavishya Purana that the first sun temple was built in Sindhu on the Chandrabhaga by Samba, , son of Krishna by Jambavati . she brought Maga priests from Sakadvipa. Varahamihira also mentioned that Maga- Sakadvipa Brahmanas should be appointed as priests in sun temples- Brhat Samhita 60-19.

Even today Sun cult is followed by millions of Brahmins in their daily ritual of Sandhyavandana and Surya Namaskar . And surya is associated with lord Vishnu in the Vedas.

Kalidasa refers to a temple containing an image of the  Sun deity and mentions people returning from that shrine, at the feet of which, obviously the feet of the image, –paadamuulam—their attendance was required-Vik 5-4

A sun temple standing in Multan on the bank of the Chandrahaga river—chenab—was seen by Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang. The same temple which was seen by Alberuni four hundred years later was destroyed by Aurangzeb in the 17^th century. The temple built by Samba, Krishna’s son must have existed for thousands of years in Multan.

Gupta Kings and their Dates:

Gupta

(c. 240 – c. 280)

Ghatotkacha

(c. 280–319)

Chandragupta I

(c. 319–335)

Kacha

(c. 335)

Samudragupta

(c. 335–375)

(Ramagupta)

(c. 375)

Chandragupta II

(380–415)

Kumaragupta I

(415–455)

Skandagupta

(455–467)

Purugupta

(467–473)

Kumaragupta II

(473–476)

Budhagupta

(476–495)

Narasimhagupta

(495–530)

(Bhanugupta)

(c. 510)

Vainyagupta

(c. 507)

Kumaragupta III

(c. 530 – c. 540)

Vishnugupta

(540–550)

The Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II is an epigraphic record documenting a donation to the Buddhist establishment at Sanchi in the reign of king Chandragupta II (circa CE 375–415). It is dated year 93 in the Gupta era.

Art historian C Sivaramamurty in his book  EPIGRAPHICAL ECHOS OF KALIDASA gives a long list of inscriptions where influence of Kalidasa is very evident. He placed Kalidasa before the Gupta era, saying literature comes first and then paintings and sculptures follow it.  Sangam Age poets also proved it correct by using 200++ imageries of Kalidasa in their poems.

–subham—

Tags- Gupta inscriptions, Hindu Gods, Delhi Iron Pillar, Allahabad, Mandasor, Mathura