No. 35.— 1887.] 



NOTES ON JATAKAS. 



185 



ornament, which is placed at intervals in the long necklaces of 

 ladies. 



At each of the four entrances the corner pillars bore statues, each 4£ 

 feet in height, of Yakshas and Yakshinis and of Ndga Rajas, to whom 

 the guardianship of the gates was entrusted. Thus at the northern 

 gate there are two male figures and one female, which are respectively 

 labelled Ajahdlaka Yaklio, Kupiro Yakho, and Chadd Yakhi, that is, 

 the Yakshas named Ajakdlaha and Kupira and the Yakshini Chandd. 

 Other Yakshas are named Suviloma, Virudaka, and Gangito, and a 

 second Yakshini is labelled Yakhini Sudasana. On two other pillars 

 there are male figures, each with a hood canopy of five snakes' heads, 

 and each labelled Ndga Raja, These have their arms crossed upon 

 their breasts in an attitude of devotion, appropriate to their appearance 

 on a Buddhist building. On two middle pillars there are two female 

 statues respectively labelled Chukdloka Devoid and Sirimd Devatd, 

 whom I take to be goddesses. 



Amongst the scenes represented there are upwards of a dozen of the 

 Buddhist legends called Jdtakas, all of which relate to the former 

 births of Buddha. Luckily these also have their appropriate inscrip- 

 tions, or descriptive labels, without which I am afraid that their 

 identification would hardly have been possible. Amongst these Jdtakas 

 are the following : — 



(1.) — Hansa Jdtaka, or " Goose-birth," of which the only portion 

 now remaining below the inscription is the expanded tail of a peacock, 

 which must therefore have played some part in the story. 



(2.) — Kinara Jdtaka. The Kinaras were a kind of demi-god. 

 Here two of them, male and female, are represented with human 

 heads and clad in leaves, standing before some human personage who 

 is seated. The assignment of horses' heads to the Kinaras must there- 

 fore belong to a later date. 



(3.) — Miga Jdtaka, or the well known legend of the "Deer," in 

 Sanskrit Mriga. I call it a deer and not an antelope, as is generally 

 understood, because all the animals in this bas-relief are represented 

 with antlers. The king of Kasi is seen aiming an arrow at the King 

 of the Deer (Buddha). 



(4.) — Maghd Deviya Jdtakan, or "Magna Devi birth." I know 

 nothing of this story. 



(5.) — Yava Majhakiyan Jdtakan. This title means literally the 

 " mean or average amount of food," which was attained by daily 

 increasing the quantity with the waxing moon and decreasing it with 

 the waning moon. I know nothing of the story, but the bas-relief 

 shows a king seated with baskets of grain (?) before him, each bearing 

 a stamp or medallion of a human head. To the left some men are 

 bringing other baskets. Barley (yava) would appear to have been the 

 principal food in those days. 



(6 ) — Bhisaharaniya Jdtaka. A rishi (or sage) is seated in front of 



