Dhanaidaha

Dhanaidaha is a village in Natore sub-division of the Rajshahi district in East Bengal, now Bangladesh, is known for copper plate inscription.

Dhanaidaha copper-plate inscription of Kumaragupta I G.E.113. (AD 432)

Tej Ram Sharma provides following information from this inscription:

• (De)vakirtti (देवकीर्त्ति) (No. 29, L. 4) :The first part is 'Deva' which means 'god' and the second part is 'kirtti' meaning 'fame'. The whole expression means 'having fame like that of the gods'.

• Devasarmman (देवशर्म्मन) (No. 29, L. 5) :The first part of the word 'Deva' means 'god' and the second part 'sarmman' is a name-ending added to the name of brahmanas as prescribed by the Dharma Sastras.

• Gopala (गोपाल) (No. 29, L. 5) :Literally meaning one who tends or protects cows, is a synonym

---

64 Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions

---

for Lord Krishna. In this case also the name is against the rules prescribed by the Dharmasastras.

• Gosthaka (गोष्ठक) (No. 29, L. 4) :It is an abbreviated name, with the addition of suffix 'ka'. Literally it means 'belonging to an assembly or society'.

• Kala (काल) (No. 29, L. 4) :Kala means time and as destroying all things, signifies death or time -of death (often personified and represented with the attributes of Yama). Kala personified is also a Devarsi in Indra's- court,- and is also the name of a son of Dhruva.

• Khasaka (खासक) (No.29, L. 5) :It is an abbreviated name with the addition of suffix 'ka' which according to Panini is used to denote :

(i) Depreciation.

(ii) Endearment.

It is a non-Sanskritic word most probably a local or dialectal feature. Here ka suffix may have been used in the sense of endearment meaning a "poor khasa (खस)": Khasa is the name of a people and of their country (in the north of India). Khasaka can be native of that country or a man belonging to that race (considered as a degraded kshatriya).

• Kshemadatta (क्षेमदत्त) (No. 29, L.-4) :The first part is kshema which means ease, security or prosperity.⁵⁸ The second part is 'datta' Thus the whole literally means 'given by prosperity'. It may signify that the family became prosperous just before his birth. We find many names based on the word 'kshema' in ancient Sanskrit literature.

• Pingala (पिङगल) (No. 29, L. 4) :It is a one-word name based on colour and means 'reddish-brown', 'yellow' or 'gold-coloured'.

• Rama (राम) (No. 29, L. 6) :If is another one-word name. Here the name of Lord Rama, the Epic hero, has been given directly to a person against the rules of the Smrtis. We may suggest that in such cases either the second part is dropped or is not given at all by the parents.

• Ramaka( रामक) (No. 29 L. 5) :It is also an abbreviated name possibly from Rama-datta (Cf. Panini V.3.82) with the addition Of the suffix 'ka'. In the Agni Purana it is the name of Rama Raghava. 61 It is formed from

---

Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions 65

---

√ram and means delighting, gratifying. According to lexicographers a Ramaka is a Magadha who lives as a messenger. But here it is a personal name based on the Epic hero Lord Rama.

• Somapala (सोमपाल) (No. 29, L. 6) :Soma is nectar (the beverage of the gods called Amrta) and pala means 'protector'. Thus the whole literally means 'protector or guardian of Amrta'. It is the name of several men in the Rajatarangini 64 and in plural it is the name of the Gandharvas (as keeping especial guard over Soma).

• Sribhadra (श्रीभद्र) (No. 29, L. 6) : Shri is the name of the goddess of wealth, the wife of Visnu and bhadra means 'blessed'. Thus the whole literally means 'blessed by the goddess of wealth'.

• Sunkaka (शुङकक) (No. 29, L. 4) :It is also an abbreviated name with the addition of suffix 'ka'. The word should have been Sankuka instead of Sunkaka. The present form may be due to the mistake of the engraver. The word Sunkaka is meaningless. Sanku is the name of Lord Siva. We have many names based on the word Sanku in literature. Sankuka was the name of a poet (author of the Bhuvanabhyudaya and son of Mayura), 66 and also of a writer on rhetoric.

• Varggapala (वर्ग्गपाल) (No. 29, L. 4) :The first part is Vargga which means 'a separate division, group, company, family, party', literally meaning 'one who excludes or removes or averts'.68 The second part is pala meaning protector, thus the whole means 'protector of the division, group or party'.

• Visnubhadra (विष्णुभद्र) (No. 29, L. 5) :The first part is Visnu and the second 'bhadra, the whole literally meaning 'blessed by (god) Visnu'.

• ....Visnu (...विष्णु) (No. 29, L. 5) :The first part is lost and the second part is visnu. Visnu was probably the family-god of this person.

• Shribhadra (श्रीभद्र) (No. 29, L. 17) :He engraved the Dhanaidaha Copper Plate Inscription of Kumaragupta I. Sribhadra is the name of a serpent-demon in the Buddhist literature. Sri is goddess Laksmi and bhadra means auspicious, happy, beautiful, lovely, good or gracious. Thus literally Sribhadra means 'one who is (made) happy by goddess Laksmi'.

• Stha(sta)mbhesvara-dasa (स्तम्भेश्वर-दास) (No. 29, L. 17) :He is the writer of the Dhanaidaha Copper Plate Inscription of Kumaragupta I. Stambheshvara is the name of Lord Shiva and dasa means 'a servant or devotee'. So the whole will literally mean 'one who is a devotee of Lord Siva'.

---

66 : Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions

References

---

Back to Bangladesh

---