Indian Epigraphy c6.s1.21

c6.s1.21

⁵ The Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradāman I and the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta fall in this class. See *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 169ff.; 254 ff. In later epigraphs, the word *praśasti* often occurs about the end of the records to indicate the composition. In some cases, the word *pūrvā* is used instead of *praśasti* and it has been suggested that *pūrvā* and *praśasti* are synonyms (cf. *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXX, p. 123). But *pūrvā* really means ‘the above’, i.e. the above-quoted or above-mentioned thing in the feminine gender, and is often used with reference not only to *praśasti* but also to *tithi* or the lunar day. It has to be noticed that *pūrvā* is not recognised in the lexicons as a synonym of *praśasti* or *tithi*, even though it is very often found in epigraphic literature. The subject of the eulogies was generally called the *kīrti* of the person concerned. The word *kīrti* means ‘fame’, but is here used to indicate any performance (e.g., a temple, an image, a grant of land and the like) calculated to render the person responsible for it famous. The words *kīrtana* and *kīrtanā* are also sometimes used in the same sense. See *CII*, Vol. III, pp. 212-13, note; *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 184; Vol. XXXIII, p. 170 (text line 2).