494 On the Coins of the Gupta Dynasty. [No. 6. 



now, for the first time, with the Peacock Standard* (fashioned like 



* Professor Wilson supposes this to be " a banner with a bird, probably Garu- 

 da, the winged vehicle of Vishnu, but as Skanda Gupta continues to use the 

 emblem, its recognition as an exclusively Vaishnava symbol would create a diffi- 

 culty in the way of any concurrence with the Rev. H. Mill's theory of the attach- 

 ment of that prince to the ' opposite system' of worship — Saivism — (J. A. S. B. 

 VI. 7,) but on the other hand, we are struck with the fact of Skanda Guptas re- 

 taining the name of Bhdgavata (Vishnu) on his silver coins. I think, however, 

 that Prof. Wilson has, in another place, afforded a clue to the reconcilement of 

 these apparent discrepancies, and that in speculating upon such sectarian divisions, 

 we should more distinctly bear in mind that in the early development of Hinduism, 

 there was but little of antagonism between the tenets of the two creeds ; as it has 

 been remarked in reference to the Agni Purana " being of the Vaishnava class: 

 at the same time [that] it leans very favourably to the worship of Siva, as the 

 Linga, and is full of Tdntrika ceremonies in honour of that form of the deity. It 

 was compiled therefore probably anterior to any wide separation between the Saiva 

 and Vaishnava sects." (J. A. S. B. I. 82.) 



As regards the Bird symbol, I think the most obvious and natural interpreta- 

 tion is to look upon it as designed to represent the Peacock, which appears with 

 such frequency on the gold coins and occupies the entire reverse field of one type 

 of the silver coinage. 



Major Cunningham — as I have before remarked — claims for Chandra Gupta the 

 second and Kumara Gupta a Buddhist belief, on the ground of their being desig- 

 nated in the Bhitari Inscription as " worshippers of the Supreme Bhagavat," 

 which, title he proceeds to argue, must apply either to Vishnu or Buddha, and he 

 concludes, " but as Bhagavat is one of the commonest of the many titles of Bud- 

 dha, the balance of evidence still remains very much in favour of Chandra Gupta's 

 attachment to Buddhism" (Bhilsa Topes, p. 157). The author however seems to 

 have forgotten that he had previously observed in reference to the deities of each 

 creed, that " the common Brahmanical term, however, is Bhagavat and I believe 

 that the use of Bhagavan is almost peculiar to the Buddhists," (p. 105, see also 

 J. A. S. B. VI. 872 and VII. 283). It is further to be remarked, apart from many 

 other vital objections — that, if his deduction is to stand, it will be equally neces- 

 sary to convert Skanda Gupta from Saivism to Buddhism, in virtue of this same 

 term as found on his coins, classes c. d. e. infra/ Neither am I disposed to attach 

 any more value to his other argument to the same effect, founded on the Sanchi 

 Inscription of Chandra Gupta Ilnd, J. A. S. B. VI. 456, inasmuch as even admit- 

 ting Major Cunningham's improved reading of the opening passage of the Bhilsa 

 Topes, 151, the rest of Jas. Prinsep's translation, which is not objected to, does not 

 very clearly show how much the grant for Buddhist purposes was the direct act of 

 the master or servant ! and the assumed amount of ,£ J 25,0OO, upon which much stress 



