History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c14.s5.13

c14.s5.13

40. The Bhārasiva rule was marked with Śiva’s asceticism. They have no grandeur, except the grandeur of their severe and austere undertaking. They ignore the imperial coinage of Kushans and revert to the old Hindu coinage. They assume no grandeur, unlike the Guptas. Like Śiva, they have a self-imposed non-richness. Like Śiva, they bestow and not partake. They give freedom to the Hindu Republics; they give them freedom to mint their own money and to live their own full life. Like Śiva’s domestic polity, they have a gaṇa, of Hindu States, around them. They are the true Śiva-made Nandi, the lord of the Gaṇas. They merely preside over a confederacy of states and foster freedom everywhere. They perform aśvamedhas, but do not become eka-rāṭ Emperors. They remain political Śaivas and international ascetics amongst their countrymen.