274 Bajendralala Mitra —The Yavanas of Sanskrit Writers. [No. 3, 
been shown that the term Yavana applies to the Arabs in common with 
others, and therefore no reliable conclusion can he drawn from the fact of 
its being used to indicate foreign terms or authors. 
Next come the names of four Greek authors, whose works, it is said, the 
Hindus translated. The first of these is known to Sanskrit writers by the 
name of Yavanacharya, literally * a Yavana professor,’ or Javanes'vara, the 
‘Yavana lord.’ Dr. Kern says, Utpala calls him Sphujidhvaja, which some 
one has “translated, in the manner of Bottom, into S'ucidhvaja.” The Dr. 
himself confesses he cannot see what Sphujidhvaja represents, hut he adds 
the query “ Is it Aphrodisius ?” # Whoever he was, his work as now extant, 
bears no internal evidence of its being a translation from the Greek, or of 
its being of any antiquity, and under the circumstance, it would he more 
appropriate to call him an Arab than a Greek. His work being modern, 
and this is acknowledged by Dr. Kern, he may have been a Parsi, or Muham¬ 
madan of Central Asia. 
The next name is that of Pulisha, whose work is often named “ Paulisha 
Siddhanta.” The work is no longer extant, hut it has been referred to 
by several astronomers and their commentators. Dr. Kern says “ in a MS. of 
the commentary onBrihatSanhita, it (the name Pulisha) has been corrected by 
some lepidum caput into Pulastya, and such quasi-corrections are very com¬ 
mon.”f Elsewhere he states : “ Amongst the 18 authorities whose names 
occur in the opening lines of the so-called Naradi Saiihita, we find a Yavana, 
a Paulastya, and a Boma^a. All three names are blunders ; there is not one 
Y r avana only, hut there are many, the word is never used in the singular in 
any other work of some value. Farther, Paulastya is in sundry MSS. a quasi- 
corrected form for Paulina (Siddhanta).” J Pulasti or Pulastya is the name 
of one of the earliest sages. He is reckoned among the seven great rishis 
who were transformed into the seven stars of the Pleiades, and the asso¬ 
ciation of his name with an astronomical or astrological work, whether his 
composition or not, is certainly not remarkable. The word Pulisha also is 
by no means such as to preclude the possibility of our accepting it as a 
Sanskrit term ; derived from the root pul 1 to he great’ with the affix kvip, 
and ish ‘ to pervade’ with the affix Jc , it would make a correct Sanskrit 
word meaning ‘ one who pervades greatness,’ or one worthy of honour, and 
as such may well pass as the name of a saint. Pulisha, again, is the 
Prakrit form of the word Puruslia, and as such may also pass for a good 
Indian name. Drs. Weber and Kern, however, are not satisfied with it in 
its Sanskrit form, and take it to be Greek. The latter, when first entering 
into the question, expresses himself with some indecision thus : “ The 
name of its author Pul^a points clearly to a foreigner, a Greek, or Bo- 
man ; Albiruni calls him Paules the Greek, and gives the name of the 
Greek’s birth-place in a form which seems corrupt. His testimony is, of 
* Briliat Sanhita, Preface, p. 48. f Briliat Sanliita, Preface, p. 48. J Ibid., p. 40. 
