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No. 38)
FOUR BHAIKSHUKI INSCRIPTIONS
223
end of lines 3 and 4, we have a visarga-like sign placed before the double danda. This no doubt forms part of the stop and the whole sign apparently indicates a full-stop. The palaeography of the second and third inscriptions closely resembles that of the first epigraph. As suggested by the palaeography of other records of the locality, the inscriptions belong to the age of the Pālas of Bengal and Bihar. They may be roughly assigned to a date between the ninth and the twelfth century, preferably to the latter half of this period.
The language of the inscriptions is Pali which is, however, greatly influenced by Sanskrit. The use of the palatal sibilant and the subscript(cf. words like prabhava, tri, prati, samano, dedēti, etc.) is a peculiar feature of the orthography of these records and go in favour of the above observation. Interesting from this point of view is also the Sanskrit vibhakti in the word opālasya in line 4 of the first epigraph. The word dhammānāṁ (line 2 of the first epigraph) stands midway between Sanskrit dharmänām and Päli dhammānam, while tësä stands in similar relation to Sanskrit têshãm and Pali t&eam.
The text of all the three epigraphs is the same; but the second inscription begins with a symbol for siddham which is not traceable at the commencement of the two other records, while the first inscription ends with an additional reference to the person responsibla for the construction and installation of the image on which it is engraved. The first sentence of the three inscriptions reads : bhagavā āvuso pațichchasamuppādam dhammaṁ desēti,“ Brethren, the Lord expounds the doctrine of the chain of causation." The word āvuso was often used as an address by the priests to Buddhist lay worshippers. Whether the reference to the preaching of the Lord, s.e., the Buddha, may suggest that the images on which these records were incised represented the Buddha in the preaching attitude or vyākhyāna-mudrā cannot be determined. The doctrine of Patichchasamuppāda, as is well known, is the formula embodying the Buddha's solution of the great problem of the origin of evil. It is one of the most fundamental and characteristic doctrines of his teachings. It is said that "from error springs karman, from karman springs consciousness, from consciousness springs the organised being, from the organised being spring the six organs of sense, from the six organs of sense springs contact, from contact springs sensation, from sensation springs desire, from desire springs attachment, from attachment springs continued existence, from existence springs birth, from birth spring decay and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair." The origin of evil is here traced back to error or ignorance which is no doubt the ignorance of the truth, i.e., the four great truths of the Buddhists, viz., "suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, the path leading to the cessation of suffering."
The second sentence of our inscriptions is : patichchasamuppannānam cha dhammānam yo nirodho," also the destruction of the conditions arising from preceding causes [is taught by the Lord)." This refers to the destruction of the five "elements or attributes of being such 88 form, sensation, perception, discrimination and consciousness. These two sentences appear to be represented in the first inscription as a verse. The metre may be regarded as an irregular form of Aryā.
The above is followed in the inscriptions by the well known Buddhist formula in the Arya metre : yê dhammā hētu-ppabhavā hētu; tēsam tathāgato avacha (or avadat) | tēsaṁ cha yo nirodno evam-vādi mahā-samano | "The Lord spoke of the conditions which arise from a preceding cause as well as of their cause. The great teacher has also said about their destruction." But this formula practically repeats what is already said in the previous two sentences. The subject
Cf. the Madras Museum plates of Narendradhavala odited above, p. 45 and plate * See Childers, Pali Dictionary, s. . . Ibid., 8. v. ariya-saccan. Ibid., 8. v. nirodao, khandho, etc.
