1847.] Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 413 



being more like \j h. but the mark is placed lower down, and may be 

 equivalent to the short ikar of the Sanscrit, though it has been sup- 

 posed not to exist in the Pali ; this would at once make it ^sft"^ instead 

 of ^sffa. ?^t^ appears to have no meaning. 



No. 3 over the doorway of the cave which appears to have escaped 

 notice, has the word i ^ J "^^"^t the meaning of which I know not ; 

 in other respects the inscription is a repetition of those before named. 



We now come to the three remaining Pali writings that have hither- 

 to been overlooked. The first (figure 4) is the most perfect, though 

 the five last letters which I feel warranted in restoring have been 

 hammered out as before described. Upon refering to Prinsep' s papers on 

 the pillar inscriptions P. 471, Vol. VII. I find that the sentence " Duva 

 dus vasa bhisitena" ^ £ r 1 rb i rG r/ Aj A X * s common to them. I am 

 enabled therefore to read that "by the beloved Rajah in the 12th 

 year of his reign, this cave was caused to be excavated, &c." the 

 remainder I cannot render for reasons above given. Thus much would 

 seem to point to the same person as author both of the pillars and of 

 these caves, and if the similarity of design and execution be considered a 

 criterion, we may infer that it was Dusarat himself whose name is repeat- 

 ed with the title "beloved of the gods" in the three first named inscrip- 

 tions. This reasoning it will be seen throws doubt on the assumption 

 that Asoka was the author, a doubt Prinsep himself always entertained. 

 Indeed, if the conjectures I have made on reading the passage before 

 quoted of the Pali annals, are correct, there are none, that he was not. 



If we may judge by the unfinished state of caves, (Nos. 4 and 7, 

 plate VIII.) we shall naturally conclude that they are of later date than 

 those bearing Dusarut's name ; one difficulty would thereby be removed 

 were it not that this prince (if Prinsep be right), was the third in 

 descent from Asoka ; but it suggests a further conjecture, i. e. whether 

 this Dusarut may not have been the very deified personage of the 

 purans, king of Ajudhia and father of the hero Ram, whose history I 

 believe to be a mythological tale of a real event. The conquest of 

 Lunka or Ceylon by him may be in reality that made by a prince, 

 whose title was Devanam Prya, or Devanam Prya Dasa, for either 

 title conveys the same meaning. I throw out these as hints for the 

 consideration of those who have read more and have better opportuni- 

 ties for study than myself. 



