Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 19
Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 140
________________ 126 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. ÇAPRIL, 1890. 3 amba-vadika17 và âlamels va dâna-ga[hê và ê vâpi]lo amnê 4 kichhi ganiyati tâyê dêviyê shê nâni [va] .... 20 5 dutîyayê deviyoti Tivala-matu21 Kaluvakiyê [11] III. THE KOSAMBI EDICT. .... ye (@papayati Kosambiya maham [A]-ta 2......... ma .. samghas[i] n[a]chi yê ...... [Samgha bhô]khati bhikhu=va bhi(khu]ni=vâ . (pi] châ 4 distâ]ni [d]usani . nam dhậpayitu ana[pê ]sa. :v..y y .... () FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA. BY PANDIT NATESA SASTRI, M.F.L.S. No. 32.-THE FOUR GOOD MAXIMS. Second Variant. In a certain country there lived a famous but poor soothsayer, who had an only son whom he loved very much. Suddenly he fell ill, and thinking that his end was approaching, called his son to his bedside, and, taking out an inscribed palm-leaf from underneath his pillow, thus addressed him :-“My son, do not be vexed with me that I bequeath to you no property. If you take this palm-leaf to some king or other, he will amply reward you." Thus saying the poor old soothsayer died, and his son, not troubling much about his father's words at the time, put the palm-leaf in the thatch and attend ad to the last rites of his departed parent. After some days had passed, wishing to test his father's statement, he proceeded with the manuscript to a King and, explaining its history, asked for a reward, and the King, who was a very prudent man, promised payment in due time. His objeot, of course, was to test the truth of the four maxims he found in the palm-leaf, before paying for it. They were : (1) Do not travel without money or jewels in hand to help you in necessity. (2) Do not send your wife for a long while to her parents. (3) Do not seek your sister when you are in misery. (4) Seek always your friend when you are in misery. The King, in order to test these four maxims, called his minister to his side and, explaining his intention, made over his kingdom to his charge for a time. He then assumed the garb of a poor peasant, but hid in his loin's cloth a diamond ring of very great value to serve him in need, remembering the first maxim of the soothsayer's son. Now, a long while before this affair he had sent his wife to her parent's house, and desired to follow her there and examine her conduct. To disguise himself, he placed a bundle of fire-wood on his head and appeared in this guise in the streets of the town in which his wife lived. He had not far to walk before he discovered his wife engaged in playing dice with a neighbour 17 It is unnecessary to write "vadiku, bocause the original Sanskrit form vartikd, surrounded by a hedge' (uriti) may become in Prakrit vaffika and vaţika, and further vaddikd or vadika 15 This is probably not a mistake, but a vicarious form for aláme, compare graha and gráha and similar double forms. 19 Among the bracketed letters he is tolerably plain and perfectly certain. Les distinct, but still probable are e vipi, while vi is conjectural. 20 One letter has been lost before the tolerably distinct va, or varn (in case the following dot is not accidental) and three or four after it. 11 The bracketed letters are more or less uncertain.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510