254 Inscription in the old character on the [March, 



very metropolis of religion, every question shall be asked among the 

 charitable, and these being themselves absorbed in righteousness, shall 

 become ministers of the faith (?). For this express reason is this religi- 

 ous edict promulgated ;for evermore let my people pay attention thereto ! 

 Translation of the Sixth Tablet. 



Thus spake Piyadasi the heaven-beloved king! 



" Never was there in any former period a system of instruction, ap- 

 plicable to every season and to every action, such as that which is now 

 established by me ! 



" For every season, for behaviour during meals, during repose, in do- 

 mestic relations, in the nursery, in conversation, in general deportment, 

 and on the bed of death, every where instructors (or PativedaTcas) 

 have been appointed : — accordingly do ye (instructors) deliver instruc- 

 tion in what concerneth my people. 



" And every where in what concerneth my people do I myself perform 

 whatsoever with my mouth I enjoin (unto them); whether it be by me 

 (esteemed) disagreeable or whether agreeable. Moreover for their 

 better welfare among them an awarder of punishment is duly instal- 

 led. On this account, assembling together those who are dwelling 

 in the reputation of much wisdom, do ye meanwhile instruct them as 

 to the substance of what is hereby ordained by me for all circumstances 

 and for all seasons. This is not done by me in any desire for the col- 



Dhammanisa tativam. I am quite unable to give the sense of this passage ; nisi 

 ftrjTj night, is feminine as iyam, and adhithdne ^f^f^T^ * s ^ n tne locative— 

 hence the turn I have adopted. 



Pathaviyam, may be STg^g to be questioned. 



A'va pavata kapd, and &va kapam, I have rendered by ^jT3"?r "R^fT^R'^Q an d 

 ^jjefrr ^f^q as long as the age of the hills— or simply for a kalpa, or immense 

 period^ The long d in kapd inclined the pandit to understand ffq| a benevolence — 

 as enduring as the hills. (See last tablet.) 



Notes to the Sixth Tablet. 



Pativedana, srfH^«TT information either delivered or received by espionage?— 

 pativedaka, the giver of or agent to receive the same: instructor is the more probable. 



Td eva katam, or yd kate—tat and ye the participles should agree in both cases. 



Bhunjamdna—same, *f^?TT«r eatin g> ^f( quiet— quere sleep ? 



Orod/tanam7u— ^er^]%|5f in the secluded apartment or zenana? — implying as 

 I presume conjugal or domestic relations, or see another explanation offered in the 

 last tablet. 



Garbh&gdrdmhi, nearly of the same import— or jtojjtt^ tne womb. 



Uydnesu ^^T^-Q in going up — or in articulo mortis? 



Stitd, f^JrfT the verD ( or rather participle) is avoided in the Cuttack text by 

 carrying to the imperative vedayantu. The other has pativedetha in the second pers. 

 plural, imper. mood. 



Mukhaio 3J^rf^ orally— from the mouth. 



