________________
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
The following are said to have been Tal'si Dâs's dying words :
bhayau chahata aba mauna
Rúma-nama-jasa barani kai Tulasi ké mukha dijiyé
aba-hi tulasi sauna ||
274
[OCTOBER, 1893.
'I have sung the glory of the name of Rama, and now would I be silent. Now place ye the gold, and the leaf of tul'si, into Tul'si's mouth."47
I may add that K. Rám. Ut., 180 (kunkuma ranga su-anga jitô, &c.), is said to have been composed by the poet, when his eye fell upon a kshémakari falcon, a bird of good omen, as he sat on the banks of the Ganges awaiting death.
In conclusion, I must again thank the various scholars who have helped me to compile these notes, more especially Mahâmahopadhyaya Pandit Sudhakar Dvivêdî, and Bâbù Râm Din Singh. Without their kind assistance, I should never have been able to place on record the information here made public.
A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE KALYANI INSCRIPTIONS. (Concluded from page 243.)
Postscript.
[BY MAJOR R. C. TEMPLE.]
In May 1892 the Local Government in Burma authorized me to arrange for the restoration of the three Pâli stones of these inscriptions, if possible.
Through the kindness of Messrs. E. W. Oates, Algie and Griffin, of the Public Works Department, preliminary works were undertaken, with a view to finding out what remained of the stones and how far they could be put back into their original condition.
Mr. Griffin took a great deal of trouble over the matter, and the immediate result of his labours was the following report:
"The stones, of which there are ten, i. e., including both the Pâli and the Talaing inscriptions, are all more or less broken. Their original form was approximately that shewn in the sketch (see the six Plates entitled "Restored Portions of the Pâli Stones of the Kalyani Inscriptions"). They stood 6 ft. high above the ground surface and had their tops curved, as shewn in the Plate, "Stones 1 to 10 of the Kalyânî Inscriptions." Only one retains any part of the top curvature, the rest being broken off much nearer the ground. Their thickness averages about 13 inches, but they differ in this respect from each other, and each stone varies in itself. The broken pieces shewn in the Plate, "Broken Portions of the Kalyani Stones," are numbered as belonging to the various stones; but this selection depends partly on the position in which they are lying, and partly on their thickness. Consequently, since the thickness is variable, the selection is only approximate and cannot be absolutely determined mechanically till the pieces are fitted together. The material from which the stones were cut is a moderately hard sandstone.
"The stones are inscribed on both sides, and, consequently, many of the broken pieces have been lying with one surface in contact with the soil. In some cases this has decayed the stone, and a few portions of the inscriptions have been thereby entirely destroyed. Other portions have also been destroyed by the stone having flaked off, not by the action of the weather, but when the stones were broken. These flakes it will, of course, be impossible to recover. It will, therefore, be impossible to entirely restore the inscriptions.
"The sketches in the Plates above mentioned shew those portions of the stones, which are still left standing above ground, and also those pieces lying on the ground, which are above one
* Amongst members of the Vaishnava sect, it is customary to place Ganges water, gold, and a leaf of the tul'st plaat into a dying person's month.
