40. Maharaja-Kanika-lekha. 



By Mahamahopadhyaya Satis Chandra Vidyabhusana, 



M.A., Ph.D. 



Maharaja-Kanika-lekha is the title of a letter the Sanskrit 

 original of which is now lost but a Tibetan version is embodied 

 in the Tangyur, Mdo, Gi. This version was prepared by the 

 Indian Pandita Vidyakara-prabha l and the Tibetan Lama Rin- 

 chen-mchog, and was edited by teacher Dpal brtsegs. The 

 original letter was written by a Buddhist monk named Mati- 

 citra to a king named Kanika. 



I have lately brought a copy of the letter from the monas- 

 tery of Pamiangchi in Sikkim. But our esteemed friend, the 

 well-known Tibetan-Sanskrit scholar Mr. F. W. Thomas, 

 already published the text of the letter with English transla- 

 tion and a learned introduction in the Indian Antiquary for 

 September 1903. So it is hardly necessary here to enter into 

 details of the letter, and I shall content myself with offering 

 only a few observations on Maticitra and Kanika — the two 

 important historical personages mentioned in it. 



Maticitra —There are two authors each bearing the name 



Maticitra mentioned in Tibetan books. The 

 later Maticitra 2 was the spiritual preceptor of 

 King Buddha-paksa, while the earlier one 

 was a contemporary of King Candra Gupta. s 

 The earlier Maticitra. was known under vari- 

 ous names 4 such as Acarya Krsna, Mahavira, 



J Orig. has R*\ ^"9"si!» w hich is transcribed as Viryara-prabha, an 



may stand for Virya-prabha or Vidyakara-prabha. 



2 Vide Pag-sam-jon-zang, edited by Rai Sarat Chandra Das, C.T.E 



P- 92, 14. King Buddha-paksa is called in Tibetan ^C^OT^Hpi^J 



Pag 



Candra 



$!"CM This Candra 





Gupta appears to me to be the king of that name who founded th 

 Gupta era in 319 A.D., though he is described in the Pag-sam-jon-zang 

 aod by Lama Taranatha to be a contemporary of Canakya. 



* SP^j-apr q= s*V* * ^'TO * *T V g* ' Sj*T §^ * §ar 



