Khoh Copper-plate Inscription of the Maharaja Sharvanatha (516-517 CE)

        "And, according to opportunity, it should be preserved. And the tribute of the taxes which by custom should not belong to the king, should not be taken.

        (Line 2.)— "Whosoever may confiscate this grant,— he shall become invested with (the guilt of) the five great sins and the minor sins."

        (L. 3.)— And it has been said in the Mahâbhârata, by the venerable Vyâsa, the arranger of the Vêdas,— "O Yudhishthira, best of kings, carefully preserve land that has been given, whether by thyself, or by another; (verily) the preservation (of a grant) is more meritorious than making a grant! As a rule, indeed, no inauspicious condition is experienced by kings; but they are purified for ever, when they bestow land! The earth has been enjoyed by many kings, commencing with Sagara; whosoever at any time possesses the earth, to him belongs, at that time, the reward (of this grant that is now made, if he continue it)! The giver of land enjoys happiness in heaven for sixty thousand years; (but) the confiscator (of a grant), and he who assents (to an act of confiscation), shall dwell for the same number of years in hell! He who confiscates land, rich in all (kinds of) grains, (that has been granted),— he becomes a worm in the ordure of a dog, and sinks (into hell) together with (his) ancestors!"

        (L. 10.)— (This charter) has been written, in a century of years, increased by ninety-seven, on the twentieth day of the month Ashvayuja, by the Mahâsâmdhivigrahika Manôratha, the grandson of the Bhôgika, the Amâtya Phalgudatta, (and) the son of the Bhôgika Varâhadinna. The Dûtaka (is) the Mahâbalâdhikrita Shivagupta. Moreover, the Dûtaka to an additional writer for the remission of the fines on .............. and water-pots, (is) the Uparika Mâtrishiva.

From: Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 134.