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28
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(FEBRUARY, 1882.
which, as I take it would be in full: Mahasama- be the genitive singular, governed by dhokkanto, yikaya Arahagutto devaputto dhokkanto Bhaga- which is construed with the genitive after the vato sásati pațisandhinir; or in Sanskrit Maha. analogy of the verbs vand and nam.18 The last samdyikyái (scl. sabhayan) Arhadgupto deva- letter of the word sdsati is very indistinct. At putro vandan Bhagavantań śásati pratisandhin; first sight it looks like ni, and in the photograph i.e., lit. " at the time of the Mahâsâmayika as- | this appearance is intensified; but on closer sembly Arahagatta, a son of the gods, humbly inspection it is seen that the edges on both sides bowing to the Blessed-one, praises his re-birth." of what looks like the perpendicular of n (1)
To dispose first ofthegrammatical peculiarities are broken away, so as to form an irregular and difficulties; mahásámáyikúya is a faulty triangular hollow W), as if the intermediate spelling for mahúsámayikāya; the word is raised space between the legs of t ( had peeled derived from mahásamaya with the suffix ika, off. It may be that in cutting the legs of t, the which causes the lengthening (nriddhi) of d in stone (which is more than usually soft or rotten) sámaya. Another anomaly in this word is the gave way in the intermediate space, or that the feminine termination in ikd, instead of the usual mason originally cut ni by mistake, and in iki. It is, however, just possible, that the final trying to alter it into ti made a mess of it. syllables kaya are a mistake for kiya (i.e., in full | In any case, that the letter is really meant kiyan); a slight upward curve of the horizontal for ti, is quite clear from the context of the topstroke of ka would make all the difference and inscription." turn it unto ki. It will be presently seen there In pațisarndhin, the last vowel i is not very are some other signs of careless tracing of the distinct, and it looks as if the final anusvára letters of this inscription. Mahásámayiküya (or had been run into it by the engraver. The -kayam) is a locative singular, feminine; to com- inscription, as thus interpretou by me, fully plete the sense, sabháyár, or some such word, agrees with the sculptured scene. In it we must be supplied. In the word Arahaguto, the have a large assembly gathered round the throne curious dot must be noticed between ha and gu. of Buddha; prominent in the assembly is the It resembles an anusvára, but of course it is a figure of a person (Ara hagutto) who humbly meaningless notch. A similar meaningless dot bowing before the throne touches with his left will be observed in the word devaputo, between hand the feet (or rather feet-marks) of Buddha, ra and pu; again another, attached to the and is evidently saying something. We are bottom of dho in dhokato; and once more, there told in the history of Buddha, that once while is one, though not quite so distinct between edhe resided in the Mahavana vihara, "he and må of Mahásúmáyikaya. Another instance delivered the discourse called the Mahasamaya has been already noticed in No. 21, in vijati. Sútra, when a kela-laksha of devas and brahPerhaps these dots are mere flaws in the stone; mas became rahats and an asankya (i. e. an innathough some certainly look as if they were merable multitude) entered the three paths."15 made by the mason's chisel. The word dhokato An amusing illustration of this innumerable is noteworthy; it is not mentioned in Childers' multitude of devas or gods who listened to Dictionary, nor do I recollect having met it in the discourse, in the usual hyperbolic fashion any other work, Páli or Prakrit. Yet the word is of the later Buddhists, is given by Hardy in his still in use in the more vulgar forms of Hindi, Manual of Budhism, p. 393. Here one of the where dhok (also spelt dhok) means "obeisance," devas who was present on that occasion relates "salutation." With this word I would iden- his experiences, how, for the crowd, he found tify the Pali dhokato or, in full, dhokkanto, no room in the whole of Jambudvîpa (or the connominative singular of the present participle, tinent of India), how he was even crowded out agreeing with arahagutto. Bhagavato I take to of Ceylon, and how finally he was obliged to
19 The fanlty form samdya is noticed in the Petersburg Dictionary, 08 a varia lectio of samaya, see cols. 932 and 936.
13 Or bhagavato might be the genitive singular dependent on pratishdhitis, "the re-birth of the Blessed-one." But the other construction is the more probable one.
1. The only way to preserve the n would be to read
80sdno "he is praising," which would be the participle present of sdsoti. But not to lay stress on this being & somewhat unnual form, it would be necessary to admit that the mason made an error in engraving ni instead of no.
15 See Hardy's Manual of Budhism, p. 320. See also Childers' Dictionary sub voce samayo, where it is said that "mahasamayasutta means the discourse preached to a great company."
