Old Bramhi Inscriptions In Udaygiri And Khandagiri

Author(s): Benimadhab Barua
Publisher: University of Calcutta

Page 14

www. kobatirth.org
-
xii
PREFACE done by Mr. Jayaswal, Namdarāja in the expression Namdarājativasasata-oghāțita-panādī be taken to signify the Nanda-era, one has got to show that the same Namdarāja in another expression, viz., Namdarāja-nīta-Kālimga-Jināsana, can be taken to convey the same meaning. If it can be shown, I say there is consistency; if not, I say there is no consistency.
As regards the disputed points admitting of two alternative readings or renderings, there are one or two instances (e. g., Goradhagirim ghātāpayitā), where I have indicated my predilection differently in the two books. I humbly request the reader, therefore, not to take anything to be my final opinion without considering the position taken up by me in the book of notes.
While I leave the whole of this work to be judged for what it is worth, I may confidently hope that if the readings proposed by me stand the test of time, they will serve to lay many old ghosts for ever, and to convince the reader once for all (1) that there is no statement in the Hāthi-Gumphā inscription as to the population of Kalinga ; (2) that there is no allusion to Rși Khibīra ; (3) that it contains no statement as to the Greek king Dimita-Demetrios retreating with his troops and transports to abandon Mathurā ; (4) that there is no mention of Āvarāja ; (5) that there is no statement as to Pithuda being ploughed with an ass-plough ; (6) that there is no statement as to the existence of a league of the Tamil powers ; (7) that there is no mention of the Maurya-era ; (8) that there is no allusion to the Nanda-era ; (9) that there is no reference as to the corpus of the Jain canon with its various divisions ; and lastly (10) that there is no such epithet of Khāravela as Bhikhurāja. On the other hand, I shall not be surprised if in the illegible portion of the twelfth year's record (I. 13), the name of Sātakaņi recurs as one of the kings subdued by Khāravela in a second campaign undertaken by him.