THE GUPTA KINGS AND THE SPREAD OF VAISHNAVISM IN GREATER INDIA

Author(s): Shyam Chand Mukherjee

Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 1957, Vol. 20 (1957), pp. 89-93
Published by: Indian History Congress

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44304446

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THE GUPTA KINGS AND THE SPREAD OF VAISHNAVISM
IN GREATER INDIA

Shri Shyam Chand Mukherjee

Though most of the Gupta emperors professed the Bhāgavata

of Vaishņavism, nothing can be said very definitely about the r
professed by Samudragupta. They adopted Garuda as the disting
ing emblem of their standard. The Garuda emblem on the c
Samudragupta suggests that this king was also a Vaishņava.
Allahabad pillar inscription refers to the Garuda Seal (Garutma
of Samudragupta and represents him actually as the god Vis
human form. The epithet ' lokadhāmno davasya ' no doubt refe
the conception of a divine being. (Cf. Manu Samhitā, VII. 4
But important is another passage of the same record in which Sa
gupta is represented as identical with the "Achintya Purusa" (In
able or Incomprehensible Being i.e., Vishnu) who is the cause
prosperity of the pious and destruction of the wicked. Dr
Sircar thinks that this is an echo of Š loka No. 8 of Ch. IV of the Bh
gitā.1 It may be mentioned in this connection that the kin
man of soft hsart, full of compassion for those who deserved it b
humility, and regard for him, for the lowly, the poor, the destit
the afflicted, for the relief of whom he constantly worried hi
(Cf. 11. 25 and 26 - Allahabad Pillar ins. - Select Inss ., vol. I, p. 2

The expressions mentioned in the Allahabad inscription, e.g.,

tya Purusha etc., had their origin in the Nāsik inscription of Puļu
circa A.D. 149 (regnal year 19)2 line 8 (aparimitemakhayamachitam
etc.). We have tried to show in a separate article which is going
published in a well-known journal that Vāsishthiputra Puļumāv
Šātavāhana king was probably a Vaishņava by faith.

It has been suggested by Dr. Sircar that though Samudragupt

a Vaishņava, he was apparently not a Bhāgavata. This is indicate
the fact that his successors apply the epithet ' Parama Bhāg
only to themselves and not to that king. Although in some cas

1. Cultural Heritage , vol. IV, p. 131.

2ģ Select Inscriptions, p. 196.

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90 INDIAN HISTORY CONGRESS - 1957

word Bhāgavata implies Vishnu worshipper in general

hitā, LX. 19) it was sometimes also used in the sense of a p
sect of the Vaishņavas. (. Ibid ē, p. 131).

That Samudragupta was a devout Vaishņava is clear from

of some of the coins issued by him. Reference may be given
standard type of coin issued by this king where an alta
According to Dr. R. K. Mookerji, it may also be taken in t
c tulasīvrndāvana ' - a completely Indian feature (p. 1, Gup
It may be mentioned in this connection that in most of the
of the coins the goddess Lakshmī is shown. In the Lyrist ty
•issued by this king the goddess of music - Sar as vati is sho
side). This has also been suggested by the abovemention
(ibid., p. 34). All these things no doubt show that Samudra
a devout Vaishņava king. In the colophon of a poetical
the ' Krshņacharitam ' it is said that the work was com
Vikramānka Mahārājādhirāja Paramabhāgavata Śri Sam
(Cf. IC, vol. X). Though the ascription of the work to Sam
has been doubted by Jagan Nath (An. Dh. Or. Res. Soc., vo
ff) something may be said in support of this work. Recen
Samudragupta has been found in the Bāmnalā hoard, Ni
with the legend 4 Śri Vikramah ' on the reverse side. (J
pt. 2, p. 143). This may indicate the correctness of the tit
to the king by the author.

That Samudragupa was a Vaishņava or rather a 'Paramab

is clearly given in the spurious Nālandā and Gaya inscription
issued by this king in the 5th and 9th years respectively)
Inss., pp. 262 and 264).

As regards the successors of Samudragupta it may be m

that his son Chandragupta II was a devout worshipper of g
-Vishņu. He is called ' Parama Bhāgavata ' in his coins, a
inscriptions of his son Kumãragupta I and grandson Sk
On the reverse side of some of his coin -types the figure of
its outspread wings has been shown. Now, this king was a t
ava, for in one specimen of coin issued by him (i.e., the " Chak
type found in the Bāyānā hoard of the Gupta coins) show

So, we see that these two kings were the devotees of Lo

It may be expected that these two monarchs who had dipl
tions with some foreign powers and had some control over t
the neighbouring seas really worked for the propagation of
professed by them. And it was during their reign-periods th
ism travelled to the islands overseas.

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 ANCIENT INDIA 91

From a study of the Allahab

that the foreign powers whic
with Samudragupta were th
the 44 Śaka-Murundas " as w
dwellers in islands (11, 23 an
addition to Simhala is very in
colonies in the Malaya Penins
Indian Archipelago. The occu
endrãntakasama " in the sa
Raychaudhuri to observe th
neighbouring seas is possibly
n. 1). An emphasis may be
to the Hindus as the Sea-go
to his suzerainty over the sea

From a study of the travel-

principal port of the empire
Tamluk in West Bengal) from
(where Brāhmaņism was flou
in a very unsatisfactory cond

It may be pointed out here

in the Trans-Gangetic penin
to the maritime activities an
in the Gupta age. Special refer
ary stone inscription of the
gupta, an inhabitant of Ra
West Bengal. It was disco
Inss ., p. 465).

Influences of the Gupta kings to the overseas islands no doubt laid

the foundation of Greater India consisting of the islands of the Indian
Archipelago like Java, to which the name Indonesia is applied.

There is evidence to show that with the spread of Indian culture

outside the limits of India, Vaishņasvism along with other forms of
Brāhmaņical religion also spread abroad from the early centuries of the
Christian era.

The Chinese dynastic chronicles notice the existence of an Indian-

ized kingdom in Cambodia or ancient Kambujadeśa or Chinese Fu-nan
from the 1st century A.D. They mention the two Kaundinyas (Houen-
tien) as the pioneers of Indian cultural and political influence.
3. N.B. - The attention of the scholars may be invited to 1. 1 of the Nānāghā$
ins. viz., Yama - Varuna - Kuber - Vāsavānam of queen Nāganikā (2nd half of 1st
century B.C.) Select inscriptions, p. 187.

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92 INDIAN HISTORY CONGRESS - 1957

Kaundinya as a ' gotra ' name of the Brāhmaņas was well

India. The 4 gotra ' of Vishņugupta was Kaundinya. Ther
inscriptional references to it (Cf. Fleet, Gupta Inss ., nos. 41
The next important king mentioned by the Chroniclers is Ch
Chandra (according to Dr. Bagchi). It is the Sanskrit transcr
the Chinese form Chan 'tan. It may be observed in this c
that the royal titles of the Kushāņas with which Fu-nan is
have established contact in the middle of the 3rd century
king may have been a scion of that house i.e., the Kushāņa dy
fled to Fu-nan as a result of the conquest of North India by
gupta (c. A.D. 335-375) towards the end of the 4th centu
beginning of the 5th century A.D. (According to Dr. Bagchi
in the middle of the 5th century A.D.). A new batch of
under the leadership of another Kaundinya (who was a Brāh
caste) were sent from India to Fu-nan. The new dynasty
by him ruled the country up to the end of the 6th century
kings of this dynasty were responsible for the spread of the Brā
religions in this country. The Sanskrit Inscriptions which a
than the 5th century A.D. show that Kambujadeśa or Fu
become an Indianised state under a Hindu ruler. The Brahmins seemed
to have become well-organised from at least the 5th century A.D. They
were apparently re-inforced by immigrants coming from the 5th century
onwards.

As regards the Brāhmaņical religions we see that Śaivism has

become the state religion in the 5th century A.D. The cult of Vishņu,
however, does not seem to have begun before the 5th century A.D.
It is said that Vishņu never attained in Java a position of importance
equal to that of his rival 4 Śiva ', though under some dynasties he
enjoyed a position of very high honour and rank.

Not only in the domain of religion but in the case of art and sculp-
ture also the influence of the Indians over the people of South-East
Asia or the Indian Archipelago is quite visible. An intensive study of
the Cambodian art and sculpture will reveal the fact that the primitive
art of Kambujadeśa (i.e., Cambodia) is derived from Gupta art.
(R. C. Majumdar, Kambujadeśa, p. 43). The influence of Paliava
art over the latter is also noticeable.

Mention may be made here of three inscriptions discovered from

Fu-nan which throw welcome light on the spread of' Vaishņavism in the
Indian Archipelago. The first i.e., the Ci-aruton rock inscription of king
Pūrņavarman of the 5th century A.D. (Kern, V. G. VII. p. 5) represents
the king as a deified being and places him on an equal footing with
Vishnu. It reminds us of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudra-
gupta where the king is likened to Vishnu (supra). The second i.e., the

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 ANCIENT INDIA 93

Proasat Pram Loven Inscripti

bhoja , p. 2) of Guņavarman o
of a temple of god Chakratir
consecrated by the Brāhma
Vedāngas. The third one is
two inscriptions definitely p
Indian Archipelago (in Fu) in
ņavism did not flourish in the
be observed that Vaishņavism t
ragupta ( c . A.D. 335-375)
great protagonists of Vaishņ
assertively in favour of our

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