________________
256
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
Spelt fully and correctly, the inscription would run Bhagavato Sakkamunino bodho, or in Sanskrit Bhagavataḥ Sakyamuner bodhaḥ, i. e., "the bodha-tree of the blessed Sakyamuni." The tree seems to be represented as standing within a circular colonnade. The curious action of the two persons who stand by the side of the tree and whom bad perspective has apparently placed in the air, I take to mean, that they are eating of the fruit of the tree. The latter is the pippala or the ficus religiosa, which bears small edible berries. The tree is represented as loaded with these berries. What General Cunningham has taken as the "tip of the tongue," is simply a berry which the man is holding with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, in the act of putting it to his mouth. The action of "holding the tip of the tongue with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand" could hardly have any intelligible meaning, while the eating of the fruit of the bodhi tree may have been looked upon as a meritorious act; or it may have been part of the ceremonies of its worship, as seems to be indicated in the scene on Plate xvii, top. With their right hands the two persons do not seem to me to "raise garlands," as General Cunningham explains, but one end of their long scarf (or dupatta), with the object, apparently, of knocking off berries from the higher branches of the tree. The same action may be seen in the upper scene on Plate xvii. That the object is the usual scarf which was generally worn "thrown over the shoulders with the ends hanging down outside the thighs" may be seen from the fact that it can be traced from the right hand of the figure down behind his back, then over the left arm or left shoulder, whence the other end hangs down. And this is confirmed by the fact that the texture of the scarf is quite different from that of the real garlands, which are shown in the hands of the two flying creatures and between the branches of the tree.
(12.) Two inscriptions, in the intermediate space, below the last-mentioned scene (No. 11),
[SEPTEMBER, 1881.
unfortunately are imperfectly preserved and only partially legible, in consequence of the stone having been broken right across them. Accordingly they are partly on Plate xiii, partly on Plate xiv. They are transcribed on Plate liv, Nos. 29 and 30, and transliterated on p. 134 as-Purathimapusa sudha vasa deva, and -Utaram disatuni savatanisisa; but no explanation is given. The actual letters of the two legends, however, are, of the firstPurathima [di]sa sudhavású de[vá],
(a)
and of the second,
(b) Utaram disa [tini sa]vatani sisa[i]
3 In the bottom-scene of the same Plate xvii, the two persons are apparently represented in the act of distributing the sacred berries among the worshippers. In the left hand they hold cups made of the long pointed leaves of the tree (the well-known leaf-cups or donâs of the present day), and filled with berries; with the right they throw handfuls of them among the worshippers. In that scene, as well as in the middle-scenes of Plates xiii and xvii, the two persons are represented as flying, whence it appears probable that they are intended to represent Supannas
The letter di of the first legend is broken in two; but it is quite distinctly di, not pu; moreover, a comparison with the second legend and with a third, which I shall presently notice, makes the reading di absolutely certain. The last letter vá is not quite distinct, but it looks more like vá than anything else. In the second legend, the three letters ti ni sa, which are broken across, are rather indistinct, except the tops which are quite clear, and from which it is certain that the first letter is ti, not tu. After sisú one letter is lost, owing to a splinter having been chipped off the stone; but there are indications of the former existence of a letter here which, as will be seen presently, must be ni, as required by the context. Supplying the defective double consonants and anusvåras, the two inscriptions will be as follows:
(a) Puratthiman disam suddhávásá devá, or in Sanskrit Purastimán disam buddhávásá deváḥ, i. e., "to the eastern (or right-hand) side (are) the gods of the pure abode." And
(b) Uttaram disam tini samvattáni sisani, or in Sanskrit uttarám disam triņi samvartúni sirshani, i.e., "to the northern (or upper) side (are) three heads turned towards each other." It will be observed that the long vowel of tini and sisani, as well as the long á of samvattáni are not distinguished. Also that tini ought to be tini (with cerebral ?), and that the final anusvára
(see note 4) in human form. This would account, in the present scene, for their eating of the fruit and for their apparently standing in the air.
These winged creatures, I suppose, are the Supannas or Garudas, a kind of semi-divine birds, who, like the Nagas or semi-divine serpents, could assume the human form. The wings in one case, and the serpent's hood in the other, indicate them in their human guise.
This phonetic Sanskrit equivalent is not in actual
use.
