The Sanskrit expression -pādānudhyāta, often met with in inscriptions, is commonly translated as 'meditating on the feet of.' Adducing copious evidence from inscriptions as well as from classical Sanskrit literature, this article argues that the traditional translation is wrong, at least in the case of inscriptions dated before the tenth century AD. From the available sources it appears that meditation on the feet-whether on a god's or on a king's-came to be common practice only from around the tenth century in India. Moreover, several parallels show that the original understanding of the phrase was 'favoured / blessed by the respected,' pāda being an honorific term here. In addition to this argument, the study also attempts to define the nature of the hierarchical relationship that the above expression probably implied and to show that the wrong understanding of the term was probably due to misconceptions about the divine nature of kingship in ancient India.
The Gupta Empire is often thought of as the symbol of the Golden Age in Ancient India. From the fourth to the beginning of the sixth centuries ce, Gupta emperors ruled over the greater part of North India. It is noteworthy that the true founder of the Gupta Empire, Samudragupta (c. 350–75), claimed sovereignty over Sri Lanka. Besides, North India played a major role in the Singhalese chronicles written by Buddhist monks from the island. This situation leads us to study the special relationship between North India and Sri Lanka during the Gupta period. The first part of the article deals with the expansion of the Gupta Empire to control, even if indirectly, the coastal regions. The second part focuses on Buddhism, which is the ferment of cultural unity among several regions within South Asia. The third part addresses the building of the imaginary representation of Sri Lanka through the study of some extracts mainly from the Rāmāyaṇa and, to a lesser extent, from the Raghuvaṃśa, both texts known or thought to be known during the Gupta period.
The Sanskrit expression -pādānudhyāta, often met with in inscriptions, is commonly translated as ‘meditating on the feet of.’ Adducing copious evidence from inscriptions as well as from classical Sanskrit literature, this article argues that the traditional translation is wrong, at least in the case of inscriptions dated before the tenth century AD. From the available sources it appears that meditation on the feet—whether on a god's or on a king's—came to be common practice only from around the tenth century in India. Moreover, several parallels show that the original understanding of the phrase was ‘favoured / blessed by the respected,’ pāda being an honorific term here. In addition to this argument, the study also attempts to define the nature of the hierarchical relationship that the above expression probably implied and to show that the wrong understanding of the term was probably due to misconceptions about the divine nature of kingship in ancient India.
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