160 V. A. Smith & W. Hoey —Ancient Buddhist Statuettes [No. 2, 
Height of figure, from surface of pedestal to surface 
of top-knot ... ... ... ... 10"‘50 
Diameter of aureole ... ... ... 5 //# 75 
The inscription consists of a single line of ancient Nagari characters 
incised on the convex moulding of the pedestal, and running round all 
four sides. The characters are in some respects peculiar in form, and a 
few of them are difficult to read, though well-preserved. They are of 
an early type, and, we should think, not later than A.D. 300. The 
facsimile, prepared from an inked estampage, (Plate IX) will enable 
the reader to form his own opinion as to their age. The convexity of 
the moulding, and the shallowness of the engraving cause some difficulty 
in obtaining a copy of the inscription, which reads as follows: — 
Deyadharmoyarh updsikd Bedi — 
kdyd yadatra punyam 
tad hhavatu mdtd pitro sarvva satvd — 
narri anuttara jndnavdptaye. 
“ This is the meritorious gift of the female worshipper Bedikaya; 
whatever religious merit there is in it, let it be for the attainment of 
supreme knowledge by her father and mother, and by all sentient 
beings.” 
This formula, with some slight modifications, is found in three of 
the later inscriptions in the caves at Kuda, forty-five miles south of 
Bombay. 
The earliest inscriptions at Kuda, which may perhaps date from 
the first century B.C., are in the Pali language and simply record that 
such and such an article is the gift (or “ meritorious gift ” ) of so and 
so. The prayer that the merit of the gift may be for the attainment 
of supreme knowledge by the donor’s parents and all sentient creatures 
is wanting. That prayer is found in the later inscriptions, which, like 
those on Dr. Hoey’s statuettes, are in the Sanskrit language. The 
Buddhists of the earlier Hinayana sect used Pali. The members of 
the later Mahayana sect used Sanskrit. 
In order to show how closely the inscriptions on the statuettes 
follow the Kuda pattern, we quote No. 7 of the Kuda inscriptions :— 
Deyadharmoyam Catch yopa — 
sikd Vydghratcdya yad atra 
punyam tadhhavatu mdtdpitrpu — 
rvvarjgamam tertvd sarwasatvanam anuttarajnd — 
navdptaye. 1 
1 The Kuda inscriptions are discussed by Dr. Burgess (assisted by Dr. Biihler) 
in Volume IV. of the Archeological Survey of Western India, ‘ Report on the Bud- 
