Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c17.51

v4.c17.51

(V. 9-13) The monk Buddhabhadra has caused (*this*) temple of Sugata to be made in honour of his parents as well as in honour of (*that*) Bhavvirāja who served the mighty king of Aśmaka as the latter’s minister, who was attached to him (*the monk*) in friendship through many successive births, who was steadfast, grateful, wise, learned, expert in the polity both of Bṛhaspati and of Śukra,² proficient in social laws and customs, worshipping only the Buddha, supplying the needs of all the needy; who was very eloquent, was exalted through his virtues, was all humility, was renowned the world over for his pious character, was blessed with a son, an equally foremost personality, Devarāja (*by name*), who accomplishes, with tact and sweetness, even such tasks as would normally call for rigours and active struggle, who is (*now*) the excellent minister of the king (*of Aśmaka*),³ and who, on the demise of his father, raised the (*dignity of his*) office by his excellences.