Aparajitaprucchha

SR No.: 008438
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: B Bhattacharya
Publisher: Oriental Research Institute Vadodra
Total Pages: 810
Language: Sanskrit, Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Culture, & Art
File Size: 12 MB

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mation which was accomplished before the 3rd century before our era is limited to the substitution in religious and royal foundations, of the reign of stone for that of wood. Unfortunately, there are no worse conditions climatic and historical for the preservation of monuments than those in India. All that was of wood was condemned beforehand to fall into dust, all or nearly all that was of stone and that the climate might have spared has been destroyed by the vandalism of man. Thus is explained why the most ancient remains of Buddhist Art are at once so late and so rare. (The Beginnings of Buddhist Art by A. Foucher, translated by L. A. Thomas and F. W. Thomas). "Thanks to the hard grained texture and consequent unalterability of sculptural engravings, stone has been accepted as a suitable material for monumental works of art. It admits of no refacement or interpolation, and thus is more reliable than the running sands of texts. This remark coming as it does from an eminent archæologist as M. Foucher (vide his 'Beginnings of Buddhist Art') is as true as his other statement that "Stones are not loquacious and as such they are liable to baffle the ingenuity of able workers at decipherment of such monuments.' Had it not been for the as and afeafata depicting the various incidents of the life of Buddha, a mile long array of sculptural engravings on the panels of Boro Budour in Java would have remained practically a sealed book to scholars. It is thus that the sands of texts though shifting help us in correctly appre ciating the stone monuments where they are ordinarily undecipherable.
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Abdur Razzak, an ambassador from Persia who visited Vijayanagar, during the reign of Deva Raya II in about 1440 A. D. describes the buildings about the King's Palace which has proved of great assistance in identifying the various portions of it which are still traceable. (Ruins of Hampi by A. H. Longhurst., Superintendent Archæological Department, Southern Circle).
India is an extensive country with its rich treasures buried underneath the surface; this is due to the fact that this land was subject to natural cataclysms during various periods of its past; as a result, many a Mohenjo Daro and Harappa monuments lie buried deep into the ground, and the true history of the past culture of India is likely to remain unrevealed, until suitable materials are unearthed and the treasures definitely deciphered by able scholars; but no one can afford to wait endlessly for this purpose, especially when another source equally (if not more) useful is at hand; this is the documentary evidence to which I now come as under.
It has been observed above that many archæological finds between the period from Mohenjo Daro and the Maurya agc as yet remain unearthed. Too much reliance has been placed by certain scholars on archæological objective evidence for the reconstruction of ancient history. It should be remembered that history based on inscriptions and ancient objects is always an inferential matter. The