The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c9.s3.3

c9.s3.3

The epithet Kṛitāntaparaśu is given to Samudragupta in the inscriptions of his successors, but not in his Allahabad record. The latter inscription describes the king as a deity residing on the earth (l. 28) and compares him to Kubera, Varuṇa and Antaka or Kṛitānta. It is possible that the idea underlying this type may be to claim a kind of quasi-divinity to the king. It, however, appears more probable that the type was intended merely to emphasise the prowess of the king which is described to be as irresistible as that of Kṛitānta or the God of Death, and which enabled him to conquer the kings, till then regarded as invincible.