The major inscriptions exist on a pair of light red sandstone pillars. The base of the first column is rectangular. Above it is a square section, then a sixteen faced column shaft that rises vertically. Each face is about wide. The inscription is somewhat difficult to locate because of the hue of the stone and the antiquity of the inscription. It is above the base block. Near the primary pillar with inscription, Fleet found a number of ruins of panels and statues which were not a part of the pillar or inscription, but of a larger monument that went with it. Fleet noted that at the time of his 1884 visit there are "row of chisel marks all round the column here" and it was "deliberately broken by the insertion of wedges".
Fleet's translation of Pillar 1 Inscription The inscription was translated by
John Faithfull Fleet in
Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas in 1888: up to (the mountain)
Mahendra, the lands at the foot of which are impenetrable through the groves of palmyra-trees, (and) from (Himâlaya) the mountain of snow, the tablelands of which are embraced by the (river)
Gangâ, up to the Western Ocean,— by which (all) the divisions of the earth are made of various hues through the intermingling of the rays of the jewels in the locks of hair on the tops of (their) heads " (
Gupta script: ,
Mmihirakula) in line 6 of the duplicate Mandasor Pillar Inscriptions of Yasodharman. The name also appears
in the main inscription. 6. He by whom (his) head has never been brought into the humility of obeisance to any other save (the god) Sthânu;— he, through the embraces of whose arms (Himâlaya) the mountain of snow carries no longer the pride of the title of being a place that is difficult of access;— he to whose two feet respect was paid, with complimentary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that (famous) king
Mihirakula, whose forehead was pained through being bent low down by the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance 7. By him, the king, the glorious
Yashodharman, the firm beams of whose arms are as charming as pillars, this column, which shall endure to the time of the destruction of the world, has been erected here,— as if to measure out the earth; as if to enumerate on high the multitude of the heavenly lights; (and) as if to point out the path of his own fame to the skies above, acquired by good actions; 8. (this column) which shines refulgent, as if it were a lofty arm of the earth, raised up in joy to write upon the surface of the moon the excellence of the virtues of Yashôdharman, to the effect that— "His birth (is) in a lineage that is worthy to be eulogised; there is seen in him a charming behaviour that is destructive of sin; he is the abode of religion; (and) the (good) customs of mankind continue current, unimpeded (in any way) by him. 9. From a desire thus to praise this king, of meritorious actions, (these) verses have been composed by Vâsula, the son of Kakka. (This eulogy) has been engraved by Gôvinda."
Corrections to Fleet's translation Scholars have published a series of papers that question Fleet's translation and some have proposed significant revisions. • Line 3: He, in whom, possessed of a wealth of virtue, (and so) failing but little short of Manu and Bharata and Alarka and Mandhatri, the title of 'universal sovereign' - which in this age that is the ravisher of good behavior, applied with a mere imaginary meaning to other kings, of reprehensible conduct, has not shone at all, (being in their case) like an offering of flowers (placed) in the dust, - shines even more (that it ordinarily does), like a resplendent jewel (set) in good gold. • Line 6: He (Yasodharman) to whose two feet respect was paid, with complementary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that (famous) king Mihirakula, whose head had never (previously) been brought into the humility of obeisance to any other save (the god) Sthanu, (and) embraced by whose arms the mountain of snow falsely prides itself on being styled an inaccessible fortress, (and) whose forehead was pained through being (now for the first time) bent low down by the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance.
Other inscriptions Several additional inscriptions were discovered at the same Mandasor site by Fleet and other scholars between 1884 and 1923. One of these is a duplicate, but with many lines lost because of damage at some point later. ==Significance==