1837.] Facsimiles of Ancient Inscriptions. 677 



The only variation in the second inscription, as I have said, is in 



the first word ; which instead of i UJL^" "f"nl Vapiyakekubha, is here 



]\ [j-£ -j- if Gopikd kubhd. In these evidently the word kubhd is a 



noun accompanied by a different adjective in each case ; and allow- 

 ing it to be the vernacular rendering of the Sanskrit JT^T guhd, or Jl*h 

 garbhah, a cave, for which we have every sanction in the Delhi inscrip- 

 tion, we may understand the two terms as f^fsr^T TH: viprikd garbha, 

 the ' brahmani maiden's cave,' and Jfif^^fT 3W: gopikd garbha, the * milk- 

 maid's cave.' Even should the transition from g to k be objected to, 

 the same meaning may be elicited by rendering kubha as ■gj'H kumbha, 

 a hollow sounding vessel of pottery, which the cave in some measure 

 resembles. 



Dasalathend devdnampiyend, ^?T?;il«r ^"RT fai^F, ' by Dasaratha 

 the beloved of the gods,' — 



Anantaliyam abhisitend, ^Tiprisq ^jfrfinfiir, * immediately upon his 

 receiving regal anointment.' These words are so regularly formed 

 that there can be no hesitation in understanding them to refer to the 

 act of a prince of the name of Dasaratha, in the beginning of his 

 reign ; but it will be remarked with surprize that the title of raja is 

 omitted, and the epithet ' beloved of the gods' already familiar to us, 

 stands alone ; as is also frequently the case on the pillar monuments. 



The name of Dasaratha is well known to the reader of Indian le- 

 gends as a celebrated king of Ayodhya, the father of the great Ra'ma ; 

 but this person belongs rather to the mythological period than to the 

 limits of sober history ; and further, the conspicuous position he 

 occupies in a tale of brahmanical orthodoxy would at once exclude 

 him from any possible connection with our Gaya monument. Look- 

 ing, however, into the Magadha catalogue we find a raja also named 

 Dasaratha next but one below Dharma Asoka, the great champion 

 of the Buddhist faith ; he is not mentioned in Wilford's list, nor in 

 that given by Tod, but the authorities consulted by both Hamilton 

 and Wilson (the Bhdgavat Purdna ?) include his name. 



I have purposely referred to the passage in the Bhdgavat Purdna, 

 which I here extract, because it now becomes an interesting point to 

 sxplain the cause of the discrepancy. 



5TO*fa<TT TOrcTTn ^m.' ^r?: *ufe^ ^W^l ^HHOT *Tfastf*r It 



II Thus then the brahmin will anoint Chanduagupta to the kingdom : — his 

 >on Va'risa'ra also ; then Asoka Verddhaneh ; then will be Suyasa' : of 



4 s 



