________________ 166 REVIEWS evidence for a case against the transfer of merit. M. Hara shows that King Sadhina's refusal to accept gifts is in accordance with the ksa tra-dharma which forbids him to do so (A Note on the Sadhina Jataka, pp. 308-314). The purpose of M. Nihom's article is to show that Buston's opinion regarding the classification of the Samputatantra was influenced by the politics of central Tibet (Buston, Politics and Religion, pp. 315-324). B. N. Mukherjee tries to prove that the iconography of Mahisasuramardini was influenced by the concept of Mother goddesses in West Asia including Iran (Foreign Elements in Iconography of Mahishasuramardini - The War Goddess of India, pp. 404-413). In another article he makes an attempt to decipher the Shell Script (A Clue to the Decipherment of the so-called Shell Script, pp. 415-421). Horst Brinkhaus carefully traces the development of Harihariharivahana Lokesvara in Nepal in the light of the opposition between Buddhism and Hinduism (Harihariharivahana Lokesvara in Nepal, pp. 422-429). Wibke Lobo explains the figure of the man with the bow on Gandhara reliefs of the flight of the Buddha as Indra, rejecting Foucher's interpretation of him as Mara (Der Bogentrager in den Weltfluchtdarstellungen der Gandhara-Reliefs, pp. 430-437). J. Bautze describes a mural painting of 22 rulers and princes of Kota and identifies the rulers with those represented on Hendley's portraits of Kota rulers (Zuordnungsfragen bei Kota-Malereien, pp. 438-444). Almost any Indologist will find in this volume one or more articles of interest to him in his own field of research, but I am afraid that very few will be willing or able to acquire a copy of it. The previous volume, of almost similar size, was priced at DM 98,-. If the price of subsequent volumes continues to rise at the same rate, even many libraries will be hesitant to buy them. One wonders whether it is not possible to use a cheaper process of printing and to publish several volumes, each one comprising one or a few of the related 'Fachgruppen' only. Australian National University J. W. DE JONG
