________________
DECEMBER, 1892.)
INSTALMENT OF THE BOWER MANUSCRIPT.
351
the charm was probably composed in Kasmîr, because most of the names, occurring on A. IIIa, are those of well-known Nagas or Sacred Springs of that country. It will be interesting to learn, now that I have published the whole of the mantra, whether any more, and how many, of the names in the list occur in the Nilamata Puråņa as those of springs in Kaśmir. The fact that the manuscript was undoubtedly written in Kaśmîr, or in an adjoining country, naturally raises a presumption that the charm contained in it may have been composed in the same locality. On the other hand, there is the circumstance that the names of the Naga kings, mentioned in the spell, are, as Mr. Morris has shown, the common property of the whole of Northern Buddhism, and probably also of the Southern.
Professor Bühler suggests that the mantra is "a charm which is intended to force the Någas or snake-deities to send rain." The portion of it contained on fol. IIIa certainly supports this interpretation; and Mr. Morris quotes a similar list of names of Nagas from a Chinese "rain-asking-sútra." I was disposed to hold the same opinion at first, but gave it up when I came to read the whole of the manuscript. The introduction shows unmistakably that the mantra is intended to be a charm against snake bite, for Ananda was to pronounce it over Svati in order to cure him of the bite of a cobra ; and this is also clearly implied in the final words " from all poisons," in the concluding sentences. Its real character of a snake-chau'nı is also clearly shown by its identity with the snake-charm in the Jâtaka book, of which I give an account in Appendix II. At the same time the charm would seem to be intended to be a protection against all sorts of ills and troubles. I take this to be the meaning of the long list of evils given in the introduction as well as in the conclusion. Still there is clearly a prayer for rain expressed in the two first lines of fol. IIIa. For the presence of this prayer in a snakecharm I can give no satisfactory explanation; though the prayer was, no doubt, suggested by the fact that the Nagas are also looked upon as water-deities, residing in springs or lakes,
As a curiosity I may note, that the word jangamd, occurring at the end of verse 15, on A. IVa, appears to be a gloss of the scribe, added to explain the meaning of the word trása. Trása properly means 'fear' or 'fearful,' but it is sometimes used erroneously in the place of trasa, whicb means 'movable,' as opposed to sthåvara 'immovable' or 'stationary.' The object of adding the gloss would seem to have been to prevent a misunderstanding of the meaning of trása, which, however, was obvious enough in the context. That the word is not a genuine part of the text, but a mere gloss, is shown by its being extraneous to the metre of both verses 15 and 16.
of two curious parallels which I have discovered, (one in the Jataka book, the other in old Indian medical books), I have given a full account in the Appendices II. and III. respectively. The credit of the discovery in the Jâtaka book, however, is really due to Professor Bühler, who first pointed out the occurrence, in the Khandhavatta Játaka, of the name Chabhyaputra, and who would, of course, have noticed the more extended agreement, if he had had the full text of our spell before him at the time when he wrote his
paper.
The state of the text and the character of the composition in this part of the manuscript are similar to those in the other parts which I have published. There is a considerable number of clerical blanders and omissions. To mention some of the most obvions of different kinds : we have namo ktayê for namo stu mukiaye, A. IVa®; daharaḥ starunah for daharah tarunah or daharasztarunah, f. Ia?, étad-avácha for étad-uvácha, f. 161; sulam for sulam, f. Ilab; vasukind for vásukind, f. IIIa'. Sometimes anusvåras are inserted where they should not be, e.g., in sangramarimanubhaswamti for sasngrámam=anubhavahti, A. IIIa); in other places they are omitted where they should stand, e. 9., in raksha karóhi for rakshari karóhi, f. 16%. In several
* See also the note on No. 33, Sakitaka, in Appendix 1.
• See my remarks, in the Journal, 18. Soc. Beng., Vol. LX., Part I., p. 80, in my paper "On the date of the Bower MS."
6 See Vienna Oriental Journal, Vol. V., p. 110.
