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96
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MARCH, 1885.
bottom, in front of his feet,-is K[&]ch64 gam=araj[ 1 ]tya karmabhirauttamair-jaya[ti®], "Kacha, having conquered the earth, is victorious by (his) excellent deeds." There is no room here for the syllables ghat before the k[do]; and here, as below the king's arm, thek is formed in such a way as to shew distinctly that it is the sole consonant of the syllable, and is not merely the lower part of tk. The coins, therefore, are coins of a king named Kacha, not Ghatotkacha; and, as pointed out above, the two names are utterly distinct. Nor does the legend on the reverse, sarva-rdj-ochchhétta, 'the exterminator of all kings,' suffice to shew that these are Gupta coins; much less that they are coins of Ghatotkacha.
This epithet does, it is true, occur in some of the Gupta inscriptions. But there is nothing distinctive about it, to restrict the use of it to the Gupta kings. And, in four of the five instances in which it does occur,-vis. the Mathura, Bihar, and Bhitari inscriptions, and the spurious copper plate spoken of above, it is to Samudragupta that it is applied. Only in the Bilsand inscription is there any possibility of applying it to Ghatotkacha; and there, also, the probability is that it applies to Samudragupta. Accordingly, on the analogy of the similar expressions, apra. tiratha, pardkrama, and keyitanta-parabu, which are applied in inscriptions to Samudragupta and occur on undoubted coins of Samudragupta,this legend, sarva-raj-Schchhetta, shews, if it proves anything at all, that the coins on which it appears are coins of Samudragupta. The name of Kacha, however, prevents this attribution. Who the Kicha of these coins was, cannot at present be said. The name is of rare oocurrence. But it is met with elsewhere; e.g. in the case of two kings or chieftains, Kacha I. and Kacha II., mentioned in an inscription of the fifth or sixth century A.D. in the Ajanta Caves. The K&cha of these coins, however, is probably to be looked for among the later Indo-Soythians, who were contemporaries of the Early Guptas in the Palt. jab and the north-west of India.
too little reading. Sanskrit forms an important part of the studies taught in High Schools and Colleges in India, and the majority of students, who present themselves at the University Exminations, select Sanskrit as their second language. But though Sanskrit has been 80 largely studied, it is not uncommon to find that students, who can readily repeat a string of grammatical forms, however recondite and diffi. cult, are hardly able to construe a single sentence, or to speak in the way in which people spoke Sanskrit when it was a living language. That is to say, they have no command of the language. The reason is not far to seek. The standard works, the Kavyas and the Natakas, are too high for be. ginners, and cannot be much utilized without the help of a teacher, which is beyond the reach of many students. This monthly Magazine has, therefore, been undertaken to meet the desideratum of a good reading-book, which students can read and understand by themselves. The Sans. kşit Reader contains, for the present, 16 pages. It is divided into four parta. Part I. contains sections 1-3, adapted for Anglo-Vernacular Standards IV-VI. respectively, and consists of easy exercises for translation. Care is taken that these exercises contain words and expressions with which students are familiar in Prof. Bhandarkar's books; but when any new words or forms occur, explanatory foot-notes are given. Part II. is meant for students of Standards VI. and VII. It includes a collection of choice words, expressions, and idioms, from various Sanskrit writers, with their English equivalenta. Part III. is intended for the candidate classes in High Schools. In it, it is proposed to give abstracts of the standard Sansksit Kavyas, Náta. kas, Kathda, &o., on the plan of Lamb's well known Tales from Shakespeare." Part IV. is expected to serve as reading for more advanced students. It contains elegant extracts from original Sanskrit works, with full explanatory notes in English. Thus it is intended that this serial shall be useful to those for whom it is meant, and shall be read as a companion to Prof. BhåndArkar's books. The parts and sections are so graduated as to meet the requirements of all classes of students, from beginners to undergraduates. It also aims at supplying interesting reading to those who do not read with a view to examination. The numbers are to be issued monthly, at a very small rate of subscription. We cannot too highly commend this undertaking, and hope that it may be widely known and used.
THE SANSKRIT READER. SAMSKRITAPATHAVALI, Vol. I.
No. I. January 1894, Published and printed by the
Proprietor of the Nirnayasigara Press, Bombay. The study of Sanskpit has been greatly facilitated by the introduction of Prof. R. G. Bhân. darkar's two books. But the chief aim in preparing these excellent books was, we think, to simplify the intricacies of grammar, and to present the subject in an easily intelligible form. They contain, therefore, rather too much grammar and
» The asterisks denote vowels and syllables that fall beyond the edges of the specimens examined. After
fitya there is a doubtful mark, somewhat like pra, or
du, which may perhaps be part of a word or words falling in every specimen examined beyond the edge of the coin. " Archaol. Suru. West. Ind. Vol. IV. p. 180.
