May 1861.] 



Remarks on the Bhilsa Topes. 



96 



of Megasthenes is placed beyond all doubt by his mention that 

 " women were allowed to join them on taking vows of chastity,"* 

 for the Buddhists alone had nuns. 



It will not, I trust, be out of place, in a Preface, to observe that 

 the several orders of Pramnae, mentioned by Kleitarchos, are, — 



1. Ogeivoi or " mountaineers," a Greek corruption of Arhan 

 (or Aran, as it is sometimes spelt), which was a common title of 

 the Bodhisatwas, or second class of the Bauddha community, who 

 usually dwelt on hills. 



2. Tvfivrjlai, " the naked," or rather the " half- clad," — a 

 descriptive title of the Bodhisatwas ; who, during their devotions, 

 wore only the sunghdh, or kilt. Tvfivrjs or Fv/xurjlns was applied 

 to a light-armed soldier,— not to an unarmed one ; and, therefore, 

 also, to a lightly clad person. 



3. TloXtliicoi, the " townsmen," I only take to be a corrupted 

 transcript of the Sanscrit Pratyeka, the third class of the Baud- 

 dha community; whose duty it was to mingle with the people, and 

 frequent the towns. 



4. ngoax^g 101 * the " rural," which I take to be an alteration 

 by some copyist, for the sake of the antithesis of " town and coun- 

 try," with the last. The original term used by Kleitarchos was, I 

 see reason to believe, U^oaex^Z 101 the " listeners," a literal transla- 

 tion of the Sanscrit srdivaka, the fourth class of the Bauddha 

 community. 



" It is my belief that I have identified both the Ogeivoi and the 

 Tv/ivrjlai with the Bodhisatwa of the Buddhists. For, though 

 there were four classes of Buddhists ; yet, the superior grade being 

 those who had attained the rank of Buddha, they had, of course, 

 no representatives on earth. Kleitarchos, therefore, who had 

 heard that there were four orders, has created one out of the 

 Te^navai. Megasthenes, who resided for some years in India, 

 states more correctly that there were only three class of Te^fiavai, 

 viz., 



* Megasthenes in Strabo v. ^vfKpCKoao^eiv deviois kqi <yvvaiicas 

 acx<>f.iepas Kal avlas atyohiaiicv, 



