1862.] Remarks on the above by "E. C. Bayley, Esq. 189 



of the word " sri," the latter a compound word containing as its first 

 members the words " Bhagava Bodha" and inflected in concordance 

 with " sirae." It is I believe composed of three or more words, the 

 latter being the word " atiya" which I take to the Bactro Pali form 

 of the Sanscrit atyaya (^IFEP? = Death — ) which word as I read it, 

 occurs again towards the close of the 2nd line of the inscription. 



The whole I take to be an invocation to Budha as a protector 

 from calamity ; the centre words may perhaps be some derivative of 

 xr to protect. I cannot, however, pretend to set forth more than the 

 general sense as above given, say " To Bhagava Budha, the protector 

 from calamity." 



The remainder of the inscription then goes on to enumerate, as I 

 understand it, the members of the writer's family as " matuha sisa 

 pituhasase," " luota sasi," "from my mother," "from my father," 

 " from my children ?" and to conclude with a prayer, " atiyo hrateha- 

 jati" may calamity " be conveyed away" or " be averted." 



The addition of a vowel like " u" to the words " pita" and " mata" 

 is I should suppose a dialectic peculiarity. Similar changes occur 

 everywhere in local dialects all over India, the syllable " ha" may pos- 

 sibly be a mere inflection (Conf. Lassen Prakrit Grammar, p. 399, on 

 the Saurasenic dialect). 



Or it is possible that " matuha," " pituha" may be generalizations 

 and mean maternal and paternal relatives ; as to " luota" I have 

 already explained that its exact meaning is quite uncertain, and 

 " atiya"* as the supposed equivalent of the Sanscrit " atyaya." The 

 verb I read as " hratehajati" and would render as in the imperative or 

 optative tenses of the passive voice of the root ^ " let it (atyaya) be 

 conveyed away," or, " may it be conveyed away." 



That this rendering is in a great measure conjectural, has been 

 already said, and it is professedly put forward as such, and to invite 

 criticism and correction. I would only add that in its general 

 character, that of an invocation for the bestowing of blessings 

 on, or the removal of evils from, friends and relatives, it accords 

 with what appears to be the undoubted general purport of the 



* It occurs also in that part of the third line of the Wardak inscription 

 which Kajendra Lai has left untranslated. 



