________________
262
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
to the increase hereof, and not aim at the diminution of it! king Devânâmpriya Priyadarsin has caused this to be written twelve years after his inauguration."
In comparing this translation with that of Burnouf, it will be seen that they differ in a marked degree only in two places. Burnouf, as well as Lassen and Prinsep before him, had perceived that the clause beginning at vimánadasandcha and ending at janam exhibits an altogether irregular combination of words, and they translate as if there stood in the Sanskrit 'vimánadarbane &o.... daréiteshu. In this they are right, I think, but the meanings which they have assigned to most of the terms are unknown in the language. Vimana is a so-called "chariot of the gods;" what aerial phenomenon is to be understood by it matters little for our present purpose. Between a certain aerial phenomenon or chariot of the gods, and "char de parade," as Burnouf translates it, there is hardly any connection to be seen. The rendering of agniskandha (agnipinda) by "feux d'artifices" is sheer arbitrariness. The expression divyáni rúpáni might in itself be sufficient to convince us that celestial phenomena are meant, for the term is, in Latin phrase, "solemnis." Darbayati is not only "shows," but also "shows itself." The only other expression which remains to be explained is hastidarsanam. I have never met with hastin itself in the sense of an aerial phenomenon, but it is a synonym of Airavata, which is used especially to denote Indra's elephant, and airdvata is an aerial phenomenon which is frequently mentioned. There is therefore but little doubt that hastidaréanam is another expression for airdvatadarsanam. This is confirmed by hathini being neuter in Dhauli: for airdvata, in the sense of an aërial phenomenon, is sometimes masculine, sometimes neuter; therefore also hastin when it is used in the signification here assigned to it. What Asoka says is almost as follows: "The joyful circumstance which consisted in the fact that the sound of the war-drum would henceforth be a symbol of peace was announced, and as it were received with acclaim by the heavenly powers. Every man who is in any degree. acquainted with Sanskrit literature knows how frequently the above-named phenomena are mentioned, and no one who knows aught of human nature will be surprised that the king, on beholding celestial phenomena which, though indeed not of daily occurrence, yet were far from being very uncommon, connected them with an event which, in his eyes, was so important.t
Kern, u.s. pp. 43-54.
[SEPTEMBER, 1876.
The words wadhim yumjamtu and hdnim malochayieu are clear when it is considered that as vriddhi and aháni are synonyms the predicates also must be in the same position. Consequently, yunakti is to be taken in that sense in which it expresses almost the same thing as alochayati; that is, in the meaning of anuchintayati, for which see Petersb. Dict. For the sake of distinctness I have written vaḍhim yumjumtu, without, on that account, overlooking the fact that vadhiy yu-, with Anunâsika rejected or not expressed, agrees with say(y)ama, &c. The cases, however, are not altogether parallel, for the phonetic alterations in a word apply in Prakrits only exceptionally in the period.-A syllable has fallen out on the stone before lochetavyd, which can have been nothing but na or nd, because there does not appear to be room enough for no d-, which would signify the same thing.
In the inscription now discussed there is nothing which could give offence to any class of the people. It is true, indeed, that the term dharma might be understood by some as an allusion to the Dharma, the Religion of the Buddhists, but none of that generation could fail to see, even for a moment, both on account of the connexion and the combination dharamcharanam, that the word here signified "righteousness," "virtue." Apart from the style, there is so little exclusively Buddhistic in this document, that we might equally well conclude from it that the king, satiated with war, had become the president of a peace society, and of an association for the protection of the lower animals, as that he had embraced the doctrine of 8&kyamuni. More plainly, but at the same time most modestly, Aśoka mentions his conversion in No. VIII. of Girnår.
The VIIIth edict reads thus :
1 Atikâtam amtaram râjâno vihârayâtâm ñíayasu etamagavya añânicha etârisâni abhiramakâni ahumsu; so Devânampiyo Piyadasi råjå dasavasâbhisito samto ayâya sambodhim tena så dhamayâtâ eta yam hoti bâmharâsamananam dasanecha dânecha, thairânamcha dasâpecha hiranapatividhâmecha janapadasacha janasa dasanam dhammânusasṭicha dhamaparipuchbachatadopaya esa bhaya rati bhavati. Devânampiyasa Piyadasino râño bhage amñe.
This was rendered by Burnouft as follows:"Dans le temps passé, les rois connurent la promenade du plaisir; alors la chasse et d'autres divertissements de ce genre avaient lieu. [Mais] Piyadasi, le roi chéri des Dêvas, parvenu à la dixième année depuis son sacre, obtient la science parfaite que donne la Buddha. C'est pourquoi la prome
Lotus de la Bonne Loi, pp. 757ff.; and conf. Lassen, Ind. Alt. vol. II. p. 288, and note 2.
