It has 29 verses, which feature the following metres:[4] Archaeological Survey of India epigraphists K. V. Ramesh and M. N. Katti have translated the inscription based on its widely circulated photographs.
According to Ramesh, Kulagiri here refers to the seven great mountain ranges described in the ancient Indian literature: Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Riksha, Vindhya, and Páripátra.
[12] According to Kishore Kunal's translation the verse states that Vamana, in his palm, holds the universe "which gets distributed by cloud Samvarta and Pramad, as they strike against the rocks of Kulagiri and create echo".
[11] K. V. Ramesh translated the surviving portion as "The illustrious Bhargava (Parashurama)... an ornament of the earth... like insects... with firm hands upraised... having increased, events brought into existence, barren faces...".
[11] Kishore Kunal reconstructed the verse as describing a dynasty praised as "ornament of the world", and counting Bhargava among its long line of powerful kings.
According to K. V. Ramesh's interpretation, during this dance, "from the rocking head jewel... [incomplete] genuine reputations which emanated from the opening in the skull-shaped spherical half of the universe".
[12] Kishore Kunal's reconstruction states that the fame of the dynasty's members emanated through the upper cavity in the skull-shaped world egg (brahmanda), which was "placed like the gem on the matted hair of the dancing Shiva".
According to his translation, the first line of the verse states that the noble family (the aforementioned dynasty) was "the birthplace of valour" which had erased the sufferings of the others (i.e. the other Kshatriya clans).
[14] According to Kishore Kunal's translation, the first line describes the place of the inscription as "the abode of the dynasty which had succeeded in ending all anxiety" (about Parashurama's war).
[17] Based on this reading, Kishore Kunal translates the line as: "Here resides the person who is illuminous with glory on account of thousands of valorous deeds.
[19] Verse 10 states that Sallakshana's hand was a sword, his arm was his great army, and his fame was always palatable, just like lavish delicacies.
[12] Verse 11 states that Sallakshana could fight battles for long durations, holding his ruthless sword which quickly ended the lives (of his enemies).
[21][20] Verse 12 states that Sallakshana's eulogies were sung in the tranquil surroundings of the Malaya Mountains, on the banks of the heavenly Ganga river, at the Himalayan cave-entrances and the cave residences of the hunter-tribes.
[12] According to Kishore Kunal's translation, the eulogies were first composed by the Siddhas (accomplished spiritual masters), and sung by "the band of the wives of the air travellers" (the apsaras).
[20] Verse 13 boasts that on the advice of the elders, the divine damsels sculpted his images and worshipped his arms to get (matching) husbands.
Such worship took place in several regions, including the Himalayan terrains, the pristine Malaya Mountains, and the banks of the heavenly Ganga river.
[12] Kishore Kunal reconstructs this part to mean that Sallakshana "deserved oblations from handsome persons who concealed themselves from the world to oobtain desired things".
[25] The verse states that the ruler provided a large army (to his people), and mentions the Kalpavriksha (a mythological wish-fulfilling tree).
[25] Verse 21 states that the aforementioned ruler (Anayachandra or Meghasuta) erected the temple of Vishnu-Hari to find the easiest way to cross over "the ocean of worldly attachments" (i.e. attain moksha or salvation).
[26] Archaeologist Sita Ram Roy (1996) argues that the term mandira mentioned in the inscription does not refer to a temple at all, but to the mansion of a king named "Vishnu Hari".
K. V. Ramesh's translation states that these damsels were "as attractive as the female musk-deer and does", and sang about Ayushchandra's fame as they rested on the "cool surfaces of the Himalayan rocks".
Ajay Mitra Shastri,[31] K. V. Ramesh and some others identify these "westerners" as Ghaznavid Muslim invaders, but others such as A. G. Noorani believe that no such conclusion can be drawn from this verse.
[36] The verse is incomplete; Kishore Kunal reconstructs its second line as "The brilliance of the mighty great ruler (spreads) in the east and west like a festive occasion.
[10] Several historians consider the Vishnu-Hari inscription (along with other evidence) as the proof that the Babri Masjid was erected over the remains of a Hindu temple; these include M. G. S. Narayanan,[38] Ajay Mitra Shastri,[39] and Meenakshi Jain.
[40] Indologist Hans T. Bakker has stated that there was a Vishnu Hari temple at the Chakratirtha ghat in Ayodhya in the twelfth century.
[41][42] Some scholars such as Irfan Habib have alleged that the Vishnu-Hari inscription was brought to Ayodhya from the Lucknow State Museum and planted at the Babri mosque site.
According to Führer, the sandstone slab containing the inscription originally belonged to the Vishnu temple, and was later used for building the Treta Ka Thakur mosque commissioned by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
In 1994, Varanasi-based scholar Jahnavi Shekhar Roy visited the Lucknow State Museum, and made a copy of the purported Inscription No.
Citing palaeographic grounds, she claimed that its two fragments originate from two different epigraphs: the top one records a Gahadavala land grant, and the bottom one mentions a Chandela invocation to a deity.
Based on this, Kishore theorizes that the portion containing these two fragments formed the left part of a four-times larger inscription.