Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 190

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ SEPTEMBER, 1933
it. It is true that Brâhmanism took a long long n. 100). Just as the eight confederate clans, of time to spread over Bengal. The Aryan culture whom the Vajjis were the most important, were seems for the first time to have been disseminated called collectively the Samvajjis, or the united in ancient Bengal by the Jainas. It is curious to Vajjis, it is not at all unreasonable to conjecture note that whilo Bihar and Kosala were taken by that there were confederate clans in East Bengal Buddha and his adherents Bengal was selected who were similarly conglomerated under the collecby Mahavira and his followers for their proselytising tive term of Samvamgiyas. This shows that the activities. It is true that no traces of this original most prominent of these at the beginning was tho Jainism are now left in Bengal. But oven as lato Vamgiyas, after whom the confederation was styled as the middle of the seventh century A.D. the the Samvargiyag, or the united Vamgiyas? The Chinese pilgrim Yuan Chwang testifies to the Nir. second point to be noted here is that the pooplo of grantha Jainas being numerous in Pundravardhana East Bengal are now called Vargas, and it may now (Ann. Bhand. Or. Res. Inst., XII, 104 f.). Only the be asked where was the necessity of coining from it other day a copper-plate charter was discovered & name which is an obvious derivative from it, during excavations at Paharpur in Bengal, dated namely, Vamgiya. If we now turn to the Vayu G.E. 159=477 A.D., which registers a grant for the and Matsya Puranas and study the chapters dealing worship of Arhats at a vihdra situated not far from with Bhuvana-vinydea, we find that they mention this place and presided over by the disciples of the the two allied clans, Pravangas and Vangeyas. But Nirgrantha preceptor Guhanandin (E.I., XX, 61 f.). be it noted that none of them has been called Vauga. No reasonable doubt can thus be entertained as to Socondly, the second of these names comos so close Jainism and especially Nirgranthism, having been to the Vargiya of our inscription that our inscrip. provalont in Bengal up till the seventh century A.D. tion being earlier than any one of these Purdnas and This at the most may explain the employment of being a genuine record of the time, Vangiya must the Brahmi alphabet in our inscription, but the use doubtless be considered to be the original name and of the court language of Pataliputra is a clear indi. the reading Vangeya of the Purdnas thus becomes a cation of Bengal, at any rate North Bengal, being corrupt form of it. Again, the fact that Pravangas included in the Mauryan dominions.
are coupled with Vangiyas (wrongly called Vang@yas) The last point of historical interest that we have in these early Purdnas shows that they were con. now to consider is: who were the Sarvamgiyas, federated clans and fell under the Sarvargiyas. supposing that was the namo really intended. And, further, the reference to the Sarvargiyas in Samvargiyas in the first place remind us of Sam. connection with Pundranagara goes to indicate that vajjis. We know that to the account of Fu-li-chih
the Pundras also belonged to the Samvargiya con(=Vriji) by Yuan Chwang a noto is added by the
federacy. And just as in the time of the Buddha commentator, saying that “Fu-li-chi was in North India,' and that the north people called it the
the capital of the Samvajji confederacy was Vesali, Sam-fa-chih (or Samvajji) (Watters, vol. II, p. 81).
which was the head-quarters, not of the Vajjis, but On this point Boal makes the following pertinent of
of tho Lichchhavis who were then prominent, it comment: "The country of the Vrijjis or Sam
seems that in the time of our inscription the capital vrijjis, i.o., united Vrijjis, was that of the confede. of the Samvarngiyas was Pundranagara, which was rated eight tribes of the people called the Vrijjis the head-quarters, not of the Vangiyas, but of the or Vajjis, one of which, viz., that of the Lichchhavis, Pundras, after whom it was undoubtedly called dwelt at Vaibali" (Beal, Records, vol. II, p. 77, Pundranagara.
BOOK NOTICES. BUDDHIST LOGIC: Volume II. By Tr. STCHER and others. The author, as is well known, believes
BATSKY. Bibliotheca Buddhica XXVI. 9X 6 firmly in the impossibility of translating Sanskrit inches : pp. vi + 469. Academy of Sciences of philosophical treatises with any degree of literalness the USSR: Leningrad, 1930.
and in previous books he has paraphrased with the Some thirty years have passed since Professor greatest freedom, but with results that were most Stcherbatsky first began to write on the subject of decidedly open to criticism. For when strong views Buddhist logio, and the two volumes of the present are held about contentious matters, it is difficult to work, of which the second is the first to appear, con be objective in paraphrasing and to avoid tenden. tain the matured fruit of his researcher during that ciousness; the views colour the translation and give long period. Here we have the materials on which it a misleading effect. When also a text is not the first volume, not yet in the reviewer's hands, is quite correctly apprehended, too free & rendering based, namely a translation into English of Dharma. may result in something which bears no resemblance kirti's Nydyabindu and Dharmottara's commentary, at all to the original. In the present work, however, accompanied by several appendices containing ex. he has successfully avoided these pitfalls and does tracta on points of importance from Vacaspati Miéra) so by keeping in fact much closer to the text than