Indian Antiquary Vol 42

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

Page 60

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
Professor Geiger hesitates (p. 28) to accept the "bold and seducive combination" by which I explain the mention of 256 nights in the record of Asoka at Sahasrâm, Rûpnáth, Brahmagiri, and other places. In what way, then is it to be explained? As regards the other two explanations" which have been advanced, there is nothing in the calendar to account for the selection of that particular number of nights or days; and a tour of such a length by Aéôka, while reigning,whether made by him actually as king or in the character of a wandering mendicant monk,- is out of the question. On the other hand, my explanation, that the 256 nights mark 256 years elapsed since the death of Buddha, is suggested historical events, and clears away the confusion in the Indian tradition between two [1114] distinct persons, KAlâśôka and Dharmasoka, son
The last. section of the introduction (pp. 5163) deals with the first, second, and third Buddhist Councils, all of which are shown to be
edicts.1
exactly by the [1113] number of years established by the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa from that event to the end of Asoka's reign, and by of Bindusâra, -the Aéôka who issued the the well-established practice of ancient Indian kings, of abdicating in order to pass into religious retirement: see this Journal, 1911. 1091 ff. My explanation may be set aside; but it has not been shown to be open to adverse criticism as the others are.
56
In respect of the later Buddhist reckoning, the erroneous one, now current, which would place the death of Buddha in B.O. 544, Professor Geiger, putting Mr. Wickremasinghe's remarks in a clearer light, has shown (p. 29) that it existed in Ceylon in the middle of the eleventh century A.D. This carries it back there to more than a century before the time at which I arrived in this Journal, 1909. 333.
In § 8 of the introduction, Professor Geiger has given (p. 36) a tabulated list of the ancient kings of Ceylon, down to Mahâsêna, on the lines of the list given by me in this Journal, 1909. 350, but with some improvements. His table has the advantage of giving the references by chapter and verse to his text of the Mahavamsa; a detail which, for reasons stated at the time, I was not able to fill in. It increases the total period accord ing to the Mahavamsa by 1 year, 4 months, 15 days, by alterations under Nos. 10 and 11 (plus 2 years) and No. 17 (minus 7 months, 15 days):
[FEBRUARY, 1913.
these are due to improved readings. And it includes two additional columns, which give the chronology in terms of the Buddhist era of B.C. 483 and of the Christian reckonings B.C.
and A.D.
As regards a remark on p. 39-40, there is no need to accept the assumption that Samudragupta began to reign in A.D. 326: a more reasonable date is A.D. 335 or 340: see this Journal,
1909, 342.
Appendix D gives a list of Pâli terms used in the translation without being turned into English. Under No. 34 there is quoted a statement that, according to the details given in a table of the end of the twelfth century, the yojana works out, for Ceylon, to between 12 and 12 miles, but that in actual practice it must have been reckoned at from 7 to 8 miles. This latter value, however, is quite an imaginary one: see this Journal, 1907. 655. And as regards early times there is no reason for discriminating between India and Ceylon in this matter; and for India we have (1) the vague day's-march yojana, averaging 12 miles, but liable to vary according to the circumstances of the particular march, and, in the way of yojanas of fixed unvarying lengths, (2) the long yojana of 32,000 hasta 9 miles, and (3) the short yojana of 16,000 hasta 4 miles; the last being specially favoured by the Buddhists: see p. 236 above, and this Journal, 1906. 1011.
1
Limitation of space prevents any further remarks. I conclude by expressing the hope that some Páli sobolar will give us shortly the technical review of Professor Geiger's translation which
it merits.
J. F. FLEET.
1 There is an accidental slip on p. 60, last line but one, where Dharmasoka is spoken of as the son of Chandragupta: read 'grandson.'