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DECEMBER, 1908.]
THE DATE OF BUDDHA.
345
Thus the accession of Chandragupta to the throne of Magadha, which is the epoch of the Maurya Era, has to be placed in 3257 B. C., whether as the result of an examination of the Greek and other authorities of the West, or on a consideration of the data available with reference to Asoka. The dates, 325 B. O, for the commencement of the reign of Chandragupta, and 289 B. O, for the coronation of Asoka, are of immense importance for the fixing of the date of the Nirvana of Gautama Buddha; for, as according to the Ceylonese Chronicles, the accession of Chandragupta and the coronation of Asoka took place, respectively, after the expiry of 162 and 218 years after the Nirvana, this last event may be considered to have taken place in 487 B. C. These statements of the Chronicles are accepted as correct even by the late Professor Max Müller (Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 299 ), and, in fact, they have been remarkably corroborated by certain Inscriptions of Asoka, which have recently been discovered.
The Inscriptions of Asoka, which have been found from Gujarat on the west coast to Orissa on the east, and from Afghanistan in the north to Mysore in the south, are remarkable as giving us an insight into the wide range of the dominions of the Mauryan Dynasty, whose first King Chandragupta is reported to have brought the whole world " under one umbrella" They are also of unique importance in the history of paleography for having furnished the genius of Prinsep with the clue to the decipherment of the earliest known Indian Alphabet, - the same service which the bilingual icscription of Malta, the Rosetta stone and the Rock of Behistan have rendered to the study of cuneiform inscriptions and Egyptian bieroglyphs. Of these Inscriptions, the so-called Minor Rock Edicts of Sahasram in Bengal, of Rupnâth in the Central Provinces, of Bairat in Rajputâna, and of Siddapura, Jatanga Râmesara and Brahmagiri in Mysore, are of immense help in the fixing of the chronology of Asoka, and of Buddha's Nirvana. All of them contain variant recensions of practically the same text; but those at Brahmagiri and Rûpnáth are the best preserved.
The Brabmagiri text is thus translated by Mr. Vincent Smith (Asoka, p. 140.): - "By order of the Prince and Magistrates at Suvarnagiri, the Magistrates at Isila, after greetings, are to be addressed as follows:- His Majesty commands : - For more than two years and-a-half I was a lay disciple without exerting myself strenuously. A period of six years, or rather more than six years has elapsed since I joined the Order and have strendously exerted myself; and during this time the men who were, all over India, regarded as true, have been, with their gods, shown to be untrue. For this is the fruit of exertion, which is not to be obtained for himself by the great man only ; because even the small man can, if he choose, by exertion win for bimselt much heavenly bliss. For this purpose has been proclaimed this precept, namely, 'Let small and great exert themselves to this end.' My neighbours, too, should learn this lesson; and may such exertion long endure! And this purpose will grow -yea, it will grow vastly - at least half as great again will be its growth. And this precept was proclaimed by the Departed. 256 (years have elapsed since then ?)... Written by Pada, the Scribe."
The Rūpnâth text has also been translated thus by the same learned author (Asoka, p. 138): - "Tbus saith His Majesty : - For inore than two years and-a-half I continued to be a hearer of the Law without exerting myself strendously. A period, however, of more than six years has clapsed since I joined the Order and have strenuously exerted myself. The gods, who at that time, all over India, were regarded as true gods have now become untrue gods. For this is the fruit of exertion which is not to be obtained by the great man only ; because even the small man can by exertion win for
Mr. V. A. Smith writes to me under date 7th October 1908: "It is possible that you may be right in antedating Chandragupta to 325."
* Bavachharam. Some scholars would take this word to mean one year. But in the face of the corresponding words sadvachale (sad =6) and chhavachhare (chhe = 6) used, respeotively, in the Sahasran and Rappáth versions, such interpretation seems incorrect. Mr. Smith adopts Dr. Bühler's reudoring, and I agree with them.
