1SG2.] On some Bactro-JBuddhist Belies from Rdwal Pindi. 177 
9 is a reduced sketch of its side view, and Fig. 10 of its under surface. 
The places of the feet are indicated by two holes on each side, and at 
the centre of the tail there is a small perforation : the cup has a flaw 
under the neck. 
As a funeral or Buddhist emblem I have never noticed a duck; 
and among the figures published by Mr, B. H. Hodgson in the 
Transactions and Journal of the Boyal Asiatic Society of London,* 
the peacock and the hawk are given as Buddhist signs, but no 
anserine animal of any kind. A story is current, however, that 
when Sakya shed his top-knot at Benares, his hairs assumed 
the form of a flock of geese, which flew away towards- the north, 
and it is possible that the figure under notice, was designed to 
commemorate that event in the life of the founder of Buddhism. 
But the inscription is entirely silent on the subject. It records 
the death of a saint who, notwithstanding the distinctive epithet of 
Bhagava, was evidently not S'akya himself, and it would not be con¬ 
sistent to suppose that the record and the emblem allude to two 
different individuals. I feel disposed to think, that they refer to 
the same person. This idea gains strength from the circum¬ 
stance of superior intelligence having been assigned to the duck 
under the name of hansa in the Hindu Shastras. The Chhandogya 
Upanishad gives an anecdote of two geese, one of which, while flying 
over a palace, warned its companion to keep clear of the majesty of 
the king below. The Bamayana and the Maliabharata, have like¬ 
wise several anecdotes in which hansa ? are alluded to. In a curious 
work on omens by Vasantaraja (8th section) it is said that “ the 
sight of a hansa in any direction, when proceeding on an expedition, 
is a sure augury of success. The hearing of its cackle is likewise 
efficacious, while its name is destructive of all sin.”t In another place 
it is said, that “the cackle of a duck (if heard by a man only once 
when proceeding on an expedition) is an augury of thieves in the 
way ; if heard twice, of gain; if thrice, of danger ; if four times, of 
war; and if five times, of royal favours. 
* T. Vol II. p. 222, J. vol. XVIII. p. 393. 
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