Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21.s3.13

c21.s3.13

The hostile powers (*ari*), who made the *Vaṁsa-lakshmī*, goddess of family fortune, of Skanda Gupta "*vipluta*," 'convulsed,' after the death of his father, were apparently enemies of the Gupta family, *i.e.*, outsiders not belonging to the Gupta line. As a matter of fact the antagonists expressly mentioned in the Bhitarī Pillar by the panegyrist of Skanda Gupta who is compared to Śakra (*Sakropama*, Kahaum Inscription) and Vishṇu (*Śrīparikshiptavakshā*, Junāgaḍh epigraph)? A possible explanation is that the name of his mother coupled with her miserable plight suggested to the court-poet comparison with Kr̥ishṇa and Devakī. *Cf.* Ep. Ind. I, 364; xiii. 126, 131 (Hampe and Conjeeveram ins. of Kr̥ishṇadeva Rāya) where we have a similar play on the name Devakī:—