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No. 25]
RAJULA-MANDAGIRI INSCRIPTION OF ASOKA
218
this matter). He (in his turn) will order the people of the countryside as well as the (officer entitled) Rashtrika." Both these sentences are found in the Erragudi copy. The Mahāmātras, indirectly referred to in the second sentence of this edict, seem to have been in charge of the provinces or groups of districts in Asoka's empire while the Rajjukas and Rashṭrikas mentioned in these sentences were probably rulers of the districts and their sub-divisions respectively. The designation Prädesika seems to have been applied to the said class of the Mahāmātras in Rock Edict III, the Yuktas mentioned there being probably officers of a class similar to that of the Rashtrika or of a still lower grade. The word yukta may also mean there merely 'an official'.
The next five sentences, which are mostly damaged, read: mātā. ... [*] rpänesu dayitaviye [*] sacha vataviya [*] ...
[[*] gurusu taviya. The complete text of this part, as found in the Erragudi version, runs: mätäpitüsü sususitaviye [[*] hemeva garusu sususitaviye [*] rpänesu dayitariye [*] sache vataviye [*] ima dhammagunā pavatitaviye (ya) (Sanskrit: mätä-pitrisha busrüshitavyam | evam eva gurushu suśrushitavyam | praneshu dayitavyam | satyam vaktavyam | ime dharma-gunah pravartitavyaḥ), "One should be obedient to one's parents. One should likewise be obedient to one's elders. One should be kind to the living beings. One should speak the truth. One should propound these attributes of Dharma." There appears to be no space for hemeva in the second of these sentences in the Rajula-Mandagiri copy.
The tenth sentence reads as in the Erragudi copy: hevam tuphe anapayatha Devanampiyavachanena (Sanskrit: evam yüyam äjñāpayata Devanāmpriya-vachanena), "Thus you should pass orders in the words of the Beloved of the Gods."
The eleventh sentence, which is damaged, reads: ...
tha ha..... karanakāni yügyachariyani bambhanaki(ni) cha tuphe. The complete text of the sentence as found in the Erraguḍi version runs: hevam anapa yatha hathiyarohani kāru(ra)nakāni yügyāchariyani bambhanäni cha tuphe (Sanskrit: evam ajñāpayata hastyärohän karanakan yugyacharyan brāhmaṇān cha yuyam)," In this way you should pass orders on the elephant-riders, the scribes, the charioteers and (the teachers of) the Brahmana (community)." The elephant-riders, scribes and charioteers are mentioned side by side with the Brahmana teachers apparently because they had also their pupils to whom they used to teach their profession. The iden was that all teachers should guide their pupils in the path of Dharma as understood by Asoka. The following sentences are meant to be the address of the officers to the teachers.
The twelfth sentence, which is partially preserved, reads:
....... amte....
pakiti. The complete text of the sentence, found in the Erragudi version, runs: hevark nivesayatha amteväsini yärisä poränä pakiti (Sanskrit: evam nivesayata anterasinah yādrisi paurāņi. prakritiḥ), "You must thus instruct your pupils in accordance with what is the ancient usage."
The damaged thirteenth sentence reads: ..........viye. The complete text of the sentence in the Erraguḍi copy runs: iyam sususitaviye (Sanskrit: idam suśrushitavyam), "This (order) should be obeyed".
The fourteenth sentence, which is damaged, reads: apachāya.......se achariya... The complete sentence reads in the Erraguḍi copy as follows: apachāyana ya va achariyasa se hemeva (Sanskrit: apachayana ya eva acharyasya sa evam eva), "Whatever honour is enjoyed by the teacher lies really in this." But there is no space for so many aksharas in the damaged part of the Rajula-Mandagiricopy, the intended reading in which may have been apachāyana hemeva se achariyasa (Sanskrit: apachāyanā evam eva sā āchāryasya).
1 The aksharas susu to go before sitaviye hemeva at the beginning of the line in the Erragudi version have been engraved at the beginning of the following line before ma dhamma-guna.
The aksharas hevam anapa° in the Erragudi copy are engraved below the right end of the line and have to be read from right to left.
In the Erragudi copy, the aksharas yasa of achariyasa have been engraved at the beginning of the following line, and hemeva, incised below the concluding part of the line, have to be read from right to left.
