Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 14
Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

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Page 361
________________ NOVEMBER, 1885.] BOOK NOTICES. 323 (hord)-a Greek term-not of the ghafls, and arranges them "in downward order from Saturu," just as Dion Cassius says,- is strongly sug. gestive that the names which the planete gave to the days were derived from the Western division into horm, and not from the Indian one into ghatis. It seems, therefore, that there is no force what. ever in the arguments of General Cunningham for the probable Indian origin of the names of the days. August, 1885. JAS. BURGESS. Further, any number-which, added to 24 (or to any of those just given) makes a total divisible exactly by 7--if used to count round the circle in the opposite direction, will also fall on the planetnames in the same order. Thus, 60, the number of ghatis, added to 24 (the hours) gives an exact multiple of 7, and hence every 60th counted in the reverse order of the planets will give the same as every 24th in the direct order. The same result will be found by using 4, 11, 18, 25, 32 ... 60, &c. Few, if any, who have read Philostratus's Life of Apollonius, will allow that "the Assyrian Damis actually accompanied Apollonius" to India. The ablest scholars have seriously doubt. ed whether the hero of the romance with his Sancho Panza ever was in India at all; and no one credits the accuracy of the author's assertions," though in his time (A.D. 210-250) much might have been learnt for the purposes of his story about India from Alexandrian merchants, or even from Indians who visited Alexandria. It will not do, then, to push back the reference to the 7 rings presented by the Hindu Iarchas (not a Hindu name) who spoke Greek, to the earlier half of the first century, in order to support an argument. Then the very fact that the Súrya Siddhanta, in the only places where it refers to this point, speaks of the planets as regents of the "hours" CURIOSITIES OF INDIAN LITERATURE Trx RESULT OF GOOD AND EVIL COMPANY. सन्तप्तायसि संस्थितस्य पयसो नामापि न श्रूयते मुक्ताकारतया तदेव नलिनीपस्थितं जायते । स्वात्यां सागरशुक्तिमध्यपतितं तन्मोक्तिकं जायते प्रायेणाधममध्यमोत्तमगुणः संसर्गतो भूयते ।। If a drop of water fall on heated iron it is utterly destroyed, not even its name remains, and yet the same drop on a lotus leaf takes the resem. blance of a pearl, while if it fall during the asterism of Arcturus, into a pearl oyster, it becomes a pearl itself. Always a man's qualities, whether bad, medium, or excellent, arise from his associations.' Compare, Evil communications corrupt good manners' and the Irish proverb, Tell me whom you're with, and I'll tell you who you are.' G. A. GRIERSON. BOOK NOTICES. TAGORE LAW LECTURES, 1883. Outlines of a History | nanda and Nandana on Manu, and of the newly of the Hindu Law of Partition, Inheritance, and discovered Nrisimhaprasdda, as well as the Adoption ... by J. JOLLY, &o., Calcutta, Thacker, Spink & Co., 1885 (pp. XI. 847). remarks on the rise of the different law-schools First Notice. and on the general character of the medieval Indian law.books are original and most interesting. As Though the Tagore Lectures of former years lately I have had to go over a portion of the same have furnished very valuable contributions to our ground, I feel particularly called upon to bear knowledge of the Hindu law, it is undeniable that witness to the correctness of Professor Jolly's Professor Jolly's volume, which is equally instruc- views regarding Asahaya and the commentaries tive for the practical lawyer and for the general on Manu. Mëdhåtithi's Manubhdshya is un. student of Sanskrit, far surpasses the earlier ones doubtedly a mine of valuable information concern. in importance. It is, indeed, an attempt, and the ing the views of the early commentators and on first, to trace in a comprehensive manner the other matters, and it has exercised a strong historical development of some of the most influence on all the later expositions of Bhrigu's interesting topics of the Hindu law. Professor Sanhitd. Professor Jolly is also right in denying Jolly's researches are based on the careful study the supposed restoration of a portion of Médha. of a large body of published and unpublished tithi's work by Madanapala's Paņlit, Visvēśvaramaterials, of which the first three lectures give a bhatta. All that Madanapala did, was that he condensed account. got his defective MS. completed with the help of a In the first lecture the description of the little. new copy brought from another country.' Equally known commentaries of Asahaya on Nárada, of important and just are the vindication of Govin. Médhátithi, Govindaraja, Narayana, Raghava- daraja from the adverse criticism of Sir W. Jones, These numbers are expressed also by 7n + 3, when | lonins, fc. is negative for the retrograde order. Burgess insists on this in his translation of the See for example, Priauli's Indian Travels of Apol- Sarya-Siddhanta, i. 52; xii. 6, 79.

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