Nui Ba-the or Phnom Ba-the is the name of a small hillock in the province of Long-Xuyen in Cochin-China .
The inscription is written in Sanskrit and contains 11 verses, the metre being Arya (1-6) and AnuShtubh (7-11). It begins with an invocation to Vardhamanadeva which is the name of Vishnu. The discovery of an image of Vishnu in the locality seems to confirm the Vaishnava character of the inscription. According to Verse 1, the divinity was a linga in stone and Verse 4 definitely calls it Shiva. It would appear, therefore, that the god in question was Shiva in the form of Vardhamana-Linga whose special characteristics are defined in the sacred literature (cf. Gopinath Rao – Elements of Hindu Iconography).
The inscription records the construction of a brick temple for this god by a person called Kumarambha for the sake of religious merit of (King) Sri Nrupadityadeva (6,7), Kumarambha’s mother, who is decribed as an ascetic, gave twenty servants to god Vardhamana for the religious merit of the queen, and constructed two houses for the garland bearers for her own salvation (8,9). The ideal life of this lady is described in Verse 10, and the concluding verse contains the usual imprecation.
श्रीवर्धमानदेवो वर्धितभावो नृणां कुशलभाजाम्।
जयति स सकलभुवनरुदितपृथुलातशिलािङ्गः॥१॥
भैरवनर्तनविभ्रमचातभुजसहस्रवर्धमानो यः।
श्रीवर्धमानदेवो महितचरणस्सुरैर्नोऽव्यात्॥२॥
हिमवन्मलयसुमेरुप्रभृतिगिरीन्द्रेषु सस्स्तुतस्सततम्।
सिद्धसुरासुरमुनिभिः श्रीमान्वर्धमानो यः॥३॥
ओङ्कारो यः पुरुषो ह्यात्मेश्वरशून्यकातिनिर्गुणकः।
श्रीवर्धमानकशिवः शिवमस्माकं स तद्दिशतु॥४॥
भुवनत्त्रयपरमार्थं विश्वं लोकेषु कारणमचिन्त्यम्।
विविधात्मकमेकमतः श्री..मे वर्धमानार्यम्॥५॥
तस्येष्टका सुमहती धवातगिरिशिखरकूट्यसौभाग्या।
षण्मासकृतापि सती नान्यैर्भवति कुमारम्भात्॥६॥
श्रीनृपादित्यदेवस्य पुण्यार्था सेष्टका कृता।
कुमारम्भेण भवता स्थिरचित्तेन साधुना॥७॥
राज्ञे श्रीवर्धमानाय भृत्यानां विंशतिं मुदा।
माता तपस्विनी प्रादात् सद्धर्मपथचारिणी॥८॥
मालाधरार्थमत्रैव वासद्वयमिदं शुभम्।
प्रायच्छत् परलोकाय दानाभुदयकाङ्क्षिणी॥९॥
तपःस्वाध्यायनिरता ब्राह्मणानां हिताय च।
प्रसन्ना श्रीसमायुक्ता कुरुते कर्म संयता॥१०॥
नाशयन्तस्तु ये पापाः भृत्यान् तत्र सुकपितान्।
आहर्तुकामनिभृतास्ते यान्ति निरयन्नराः॥११॥