Epigraphia Indica Vol 34

Author(s): D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 27

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXXIV him in his own states, in the countries ruled by the Greek kings, in the South, and 'similarly here, in the royal estates, among the Yona-Kambojas', etc. (evam-eva hida raja-vishava spi Yona-Kamboyeshu, etc.). The land of the Yona-Kambojas is clearly the region where the Graeco-Aramaic inscription expressing the same ideal has been actually discovered.
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The Aramaic part of the inscription does not help us in ascertaining the exact meaning of a'krasia, since the corresponding word prbsty appears to have been borrowed from an Iranian *frabasti, hitherto unattested. But the statement in the same part that 'a few' animals were killed for the sake of the king, and the reference in both the texts to the cessation of the killing of living beings, are quite in accordance with the data of Rock Edict I, in which Asoka says that only three animals instead of many were killed in his kitchen for the preparation of curry and that these too would not be killed afterwards.
There is difference of opinion among the translators as regards the Greek passage PARA TA PROTERON KAI TOU LOIPOU, parà tà próteron kai tou loipou which Carratelli translates : 'as compared with the past, also in the future', while Schlumberger and Robert have: 'contrary to what happened before, they will henceforward...' Tucci thinks of a parallel to hida-lokiko paralokiko and translates: 'during the past and for the remaining', that is to say, during this life considered as antecedent (the proper meaning of próteros being 'the first [of two]' and, with reference to time, 'antecedent', and hencé 'past') and the further state after death. Lamotte agrees with this last interpretation and refers to the Separate Kalinga Edict in which Asoka emphasizes his aim to ensure happiness for everybody in this world and in the other.
The difficulty arises from the ambiguous value of the Greek word para. Amongst its multifarious meanings, we have 'contrariwise' and 'during'. Loipos means 'which is remaining' either with reference to a thing or to a duration. But, as we have pointed out, the bilingual inscription under study is close to Rock Edict IV, which does not allude to a contrast between this world and the other, but insists on the same between the situation in the past, when violence and inobedience prevailed, and the new era of non-violence and obedience which resulted from the activities of the king. This contrast is the main idea of the edict from its very beginning, and the passage, which we have quoted above as a close parallel to the Greek text, runs immediatly before this statement: yadisam bahuhi vashaśatehi na bhuta-pruve tadise aja vadhite Devanampriyasa Priyadrasisa raño dhramm-ánusastiya anarambho prananam, etc., 'what during many centuries formerly was not existing, has grown up today thanks to the.dhrama instruction of King Devanampriya Priyadrasi : not killing animals,' etc.
With the interpretation of parà tà próteron as 'contrariwise', referring to the past time when obedience was not observed, the parallel with the main idea of Rock Edict IV is quite complete. The only difference is in the order of the two terms of contrast. Rock Edict IV puts first the past and the Greek inscription first the new era ; but the ideas are identical. The words kai tou loipou begin the last passage which announces a better way of life just as Rock Edict IV adds: eta añam cha bahu-vidham dhrama-charanam vadhitam vadhiśaticha, in this and in many other ways this conduct according to the Dhrama has grown up and will grow up'.
The general concordance of the Greek inscription with Rock Edict IV has to be examined from the point of view of date. This edict was promulgated when Asoka was anointed twelve years.
1 Cf. E. Benveniste in Journ. As., op. cit., pp. 41-42..
Un editto, etc., p. vi.
Rock Ediet IV gives in addition an enumeration of what was shown to the people on the occasion of the proclamation of the new era. Cf. 'Les festivités du Dhamma chez Asoka' in Journ. As., 1957, pp. 1-9.
Prof. Robert (op. cit., p. 12) has pointed out that all the sentences of the Greek text are connected by means of kai, 'and'. That is a good example of the so-called 'kai-style' in Greek.