1862-] On some JBactro-Buddliist Relics from Rawed Rindi. 177 



9 is a reduced sketch of its side view, and Fig. 10 of its under surface. 

 The places of the feet are indicated by two holes on each side, and at 

 the centre of the tail there is a small perforation : the cup has a flaw 

 under the neck. 



As a funeral or Buddhist emblem I have never noticed a duck ; 

 and among the figures published by Mr, B. H. Hodgson in the 

 Transactions and Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of London,* 

 the peacock and the hawk are given as Buddhist signs, but no 

 anserine animal of any kind. A story is current, however, that 

 when Sakya shed his top-knot at Benares, his hairs assumed 

 the form of a flock of geese, which flew away towards the north, 

 and it is possible that the figure under notice, was designed to 

 commemorate that event in the life of the founder of Buddhism. 

 But the inscription is entirely silent on the subject. It records 

 the death of a saint who, notwithstanding the distinctive epithet of 

 Bhagava, was evidently not S'akya himself, and it would not be con- 

 sistent to suppose that the record and the emblem allude to two 

 different individuals. I feel disposed to think, that they refer to 

 the same person. This idea gains strength from the circum- 

 stance of superior intelligence having been assigned to the duck 

 under the name of liansa in the Hindu Shastras. The Chhandogya 

 Upanishad gives an anecdote of two geese, one of which, while flying 

 over a palace, warned its companion to keep clear of the majesty of 

 the king below. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, have like- 

 wise several anecdotes in which Jiansas are alluded to. In a curious 

 work on omens by Vasantaraja (8th section) it is said that " the 

 sight of a hansa in any direction, when proceeding on an expedition, 

 is a sure augury of success. The hearing of its cackle is likewise 

 efficacious, while its name is destructive of all sin."f In another place 

 it is said, that "the cackle of a duck (if heard by a man only once 

 when proceeding on an expedition) is an augury of thieves in the 

 way ; if heard twice, of gain ; if thrice, of danger ; if four times, of 

 war ; and if five times, of royal favours," % 



* T. Vol II. p. 222, J. vol. XVIII. p. 393. 



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