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104
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL, 1904.
No. 37) statues of this sort are termed pratima sarvatôbhadriká in the inscriptions.41 Bühler's reading is therefore a priori improbable. But quite apart from this consideration, I own that I do not see how these letters can possibly be read lathambho, even assuming, as Bühler did, that the last two consonants are only half formed. The last sign can hardly be anything but ya, which would seem to indicate that the word is the name of the donatrix, but unfortunately neither the vowel-sign above the ya nor the preceding letters are distinct enough in the photo-lithograph to allow any positive reading on this authority alone.
Nos. 16 and 17.Mathura Jaina image inscriptions of Sam. 52 and 54; edited by Bühler, Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 203, No. 18, and Vol. I. p. 391, No. 21, and Plates.
hêmamta
Bühler's transcripts of these two inscriptions, placed side by side, read as follows:Siddha samvatsara dvâpanâ 50 2 hêmanta- ... dham sava 5042 4 [m]sa pratha.. divasa pamchavisa 20 5 mâsê chaturtthê 4 divasê 10 asma kshunê K[o]ttiyâtô ganat[8] Vêratô asya purvvâyâm Kottiyâtô [ga]pâtô Sthânisakható Sthânikiyatô kulât[o] Srigrihatô [y]âtô kulâtô Vairâtô sâkhâtô Srigrib[â]tô sambhôgitô vachakasy-aryya-Ghastubastisya sambhôgâtô vâchakasy-aryya-[Ha]stahastisya sishyô ganisy-aryya-Mamguhastisya shadha- sishyo ganisya aryya-Maghahastisya śraddhacharô vâchako aryya-Divitasya nirvvartana charô vachakasya aryya-Divasya nirvvarttanê Sûrasya Sramaṇakaputrasya Gottikasya lôhikâ- Gôvasya Siba-putrasya lôhikakarakasya danam sarvvasatvânam bita-sukhây karakasya dânam survvasatvânâm hita-sukhâ âstu I êka-Sarasvati pratishthâvità avatalê rangâua[rttan]ô mê [u]
The two records so closely agree with each other as to leave no doubt about the identity of the persons mentioned in the first portion. Ghastuhasti and Hastahasti, Mahguhasti and Maghahasti, are nothing but various spellings of the same names. A very similar case occurs in two other Mathura inscriptions, Vienna. Or. Journ. Vol. I. p. 172, and Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 204, No. 19. They contain the name of a preacher which in the former is spelt Kakasaghasta, while in the latter it reads Karkuhastha. However, I am not quite sure that Bühler was right in reading Maguhastisya. The anusvára is very indistinct in the photo-lithograph, and the true reading may be Máguhastisya, which would come nearer to the form used in the other inscription.
Bühler's reading "Divitasya in the first inscription cannot be upheld. Neither the first nor the second vowel-sign can be i, as the i-sign is much more rounded in this alphabet, and Bühler appears to have been aware of it himself, as in a note he quotes Dévétusya as a possible reading. The correct reading undoubtedly is aryya-Dévô tasya, and I think I can discern the traces of the second 6-stroke in the photo-lithograph. The spelling of the name therefore is the same in both inscriptions. As for the construction compare the inscriptions, Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 382, No. 3 (aryya-Mátridinaḥ tasya nirvvarttaná), p. 383, No. 4 (váchako aryya-Síhá tasya nivvarttana), Vol. II., p. 204, No. 19 (Grakabalô útapikó tasa nivartana), p. 209, No. 37 (aryya-Kshérakó váchakó tasya nirvatana), &c.
In the second portion of the first inscription Bühler translated the words Sûrasya Sramanakaputrasya Gotikasya lohikakarakasya dánam by the gift of the worker in metal Gotțika, the Sâra, the son of Sramanaka,' taking the word Sûra as the name of Gottika's family or clan. But from the parallel description of the donor in the second inscription as Govasya Sthaputrasya lohikakárukasya it is evident that, on the contrary, Sara is the real name and Gottika a qualifying epithet. The meaning of this word is difficult to ascertain. It may be a proper name characterising Sûra as the
41 Compare the analogous term sarvat&bhadra, applied to a aka the single aksharas of which, if written twice on the squares of a chessboard, yield the same text from whatever side they may be read. For examples, soo Kiritarjuniya XV. 25; Sisupalavadha XIX. 27, &c.
42 The figure is quite distinct.
45 The bracketed signs of the last two words are distinct in the photo-lithograph.
