248 On an Inscription from Keddah. [March, 



tenth century of the Christian era ; while that of Col. Low's inscription 

 corresponds very closely with the alphabet assigned to the fifth century 

 in Prinsep's palaeographic table (J. A. S. Vol. VII. pi. XIII). 



Another point of interest in Col. Low's inscription is the subsitution 

 of a different couplet for that which usually follows the lines above 

 alluded to. Mr. Hodgson long ago remarked* that there is no necessary 

 connection between the two couplets ; and Prinsep stated, f on the 

 authority of Ratna Pala, that another series of verses follows the Ye 

 dkarmma, &c, in the daily service of the temples in Ceylon. In the 

 expectation that the lines in Col. Low's inscription would prove to be 

 those of the Ceylon ritual, I sent for Ratna Pala and showed him my 

 transcription : but he seemed to have forgotten all about the matter, 

 and was unable to supply me from memory with the verses referred to, 

 or to recognise their identity with those of the inscription. 



The subjoined is a transcript of the verses in the Deva nagari cha- 

 racter : — 



"Whatever moral actions arise from cause, the cause ot them has 

 been explained by Tathagata. What is the check to these actions, is 

 thus set forth by the great Sramana. Vice promotes action, and 

 action is the cause of transmigration. He who, through knowledge, 

 performs no action, is not subject to its effects." 



It will be observed that the first line of the latter couplet is identical 

 with one in an inscription from the same neighborhood published in the 

 July number of the last volume of the Journal. 



On the subject of the doctrine here propounded, Rajendralal hands 

 me the following note : 



"This is but another version of the maxim inculcated by Krishna 

 and other vedantic preachers on the uselessness of Karma (religi- 

 ous action originating in the hope of recompence) as a means of 



* J. A. S. Vol. TV., p. 211. 

 f Ibid, p. 138. 



