1056 Inscriptions on the columns at Delhi, $c. [Dec, 



reminded me that there was a Pali work on my own shelves, which 

 also gave to Dhanmasoko, the appellation of Piyadaso. The work is 

 chiefly in prose, and held in great estimation for the elegance of its 

 style : hence called " Rasawdhini" — " sweetly flowing" or the " har- 

 monious stream." 



The Singhalese version, of which this Pdli work is a translation, 

 was of great antiquity, and is no longer extant. The present copies 

 in that language are merely translations of this Pdli edition. I am 

 not able to fix the date of this Pdli version, as the author does not 

 give the name of the sovereign in whose reign he flourished — but the 

 period is certainly subsequent to A. D. 477, as he quotes frequently 

 from the Mahdwanso. The author only states, that this work is 

 compiled by Koratthapalo, the pious and virtuous incumbent of the 

 Tanguttawankapariweno attached to the Mahawihdro (at Anurddhapura) . 

 and that he translates it from an ancient Singhalese work, avoiding 

 only the defects of tautology and its want of perspicuity. 



In one of the narratives of this book, containing the history of 

 Dhanmasoko, of AsANDHiMiTTA'his first consort after his accession to 

 the Indian empire, of his nephew Nigro'dho, by whom he was con- 

 verted to Buddhism, and of his contemporary and ally De'wa'nanpiya- 

 f isso, the sovereign of Ceylon, — Dhanmasoko is more than once called 

 Piyadaso, viz. : 



" Ma&huddyako pana wdnijo DewaMkato chawitwd, Pupphapure rAjakule up* 

 pajitw&ViY a'daso kumdro hutted chhattan ussdpelwd sakala-jambddipd eka-rfyjan 

 akdsi*." 



" The honey-dealer who was the donor thereof (to the PachS BuddhoJ 

 descending by his demise from the Dewaloko heavens ; being born in the royal 

 dynasty at Pupphapura (or Patilipura, Patna) ; becoming the prince Piyada'so 

 and raising the chhattaf, established his undivided sovereignty over the whole 

 oiJambudipo 1 '' — and again — 



" Andgate Piyaddso, ndma kumdro chhattan ussdpetwd As<5k6 ndma Dhanma 

 Ra'ja' bhawissati.*' 



11 Hereafter the prince Piyada'so having raised the chhatta, will assume the 

 title of As6k6 the Dhan'ma Ra'ja', or righteous monarch." 



It would, be unreasonable to multiply quotations which I could 

 readily do, for pronouncing that Piyadaso, PiyadasinoJ or Piyadasi, 

 according as metrical exigencies required the appellation to be writ- 

 ten, was the name of Dhanmasoko before he usurped the Indian 

 empire ; and it is of this monarch that the amplest details are 

 found in Pdli annals. The 5th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 

 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th chapters of the Mahdwanso contain exclu- 



* Vide page 24 of the Mahdwanso for an explanation of this passage. 



f Parasol of dominion. 



X Piyadassino is the genitive case of Piyadasi, fspsrzffriT: — Ed. 



