Indian Antiquary Vol 42

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 33

FEBRUABY, 1913.) THE INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS AND THE ANTIQUITY
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THE INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS AND THE ANTIQUITY OF INDIAN
ARTIFICIAL POETRY.
BY G, BUHLER. [Translated by Prof. V. S. Ghate, M.A.; Poona. ] [The Editors of this Journal are deeply indebted to Prof. H. Lüders for baving kindly taken the trouble of securing the permission of the Vienna University to publish a translation of Dr. Bühler's Die Indischen Inschriften, eto. This booklet is su important that a reliable translation was a longfelt desideratam to the Indian scholars. The Editors are therefore highly thankful also to Prof. V. S. Ghate for having prepared the translation which is being published in this Journal].
Indian Epigraphy which, since the last fifteen years has received a new impulse, and which thanks to the progress of Sanskrit philology as well as to the perfecting of the methods of multiplying the inscriptions, leads to more certain results than in early times, has already provided us with several important particulars elucidating the literary and religious history of that part of the world which is inhabited by the Brâhmaņas and which wants a history as such. On the one hand, we owe to it particular and very important data, which definitely fix the time of prominent authors, as for instance, recently the time of the dramatic poet Rajasekhara, whose pupils and patrons, the kings Mahendrapala and Mahipala ruled during the last decade of the ninth century and in the beginning of the tenth century of our eta, as shown by Mr. Fleet and Prof. Kielhorn. On the other hand, the comparison of the partly insignificant notices in the inscriptions with the accounts of literary tradition or with the (data) conditions of the present day, permits us to have an occasional peep, in the development of all the types of literature and of all the religious systems, a peep whose worth is considerably significant in the absence of really historical details. Such, for instance, is the observation that the tradition about the home of several Vedic Schools and also of the works belonging to them, is confirmed through the statements in the old land-grants, inasmuch as, these mention not only the names of the donees but their secular and spiritual families. Not less significant for the history of the very important though little regarded in early times, religion of Mahavira-Vardhamana is the demonstration gradually rendered feasible, that, his followers, the Nirgranthas or Jainas, are mentioned in. uumber of inscription, which runs on from the beginning of the historical period of India, with but rare interruptions, and that the assertions in their canonical works, about the divisions of the Monk-Schools are made reliable to the most part, through writings of the first century of our era. These hitherto published results are, however, only a small part of what the inscriptions may possibly yield to us. An accurate working out and a fuller estimate of the bitberto published materials little iu extent though they be, will show that one can procure rich instruction from them, in all the departments of Indian Research; and that their results furnish specially sound proof-stones for the theories about the development of Indian intellectual life, theories which the Indologists, build on very weak foundations, compelled as they are by sheer necessity. The following treatise is a small contribution towards the examination of inscriptions in this spirit. Its aim is to establish firmly those results which the inscriptions yield for the bistory of Indian Kavya or the artificial poetry of the court, as also to demonstrate, how far the same agree with the new opinions regarding the development of this species of literature. My reason for undertaking to treat of this question before other perhaps more interesting and less disputed questions, is the recent publication of the Gupta inscriptions by Mr. J. F. Fleet in the third volume of the Corpus inscriptionum Indicarum. This exceedingly important work offers a larger number oi wholly or partly metrical inscriptions with absolutely certain dates. The same, taken together with some documents already made known through reliable publications (editions) allow us to prove the existence of a Kavya literature in Sanskrit and Prakrit during the first five centuries of our era, and to show that a great period of literature, which brought into general prominence, the style of the poetio school of Vidarbha or Berar, lies before the middle of the fourth century. They also make it very probable that the year 472 after Christ is to be fixed as the terminus ad quam for the poet Kalidasa.