186 Rajendralala Mitra —On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2, 
S'iva Purana explains the name to mean ‘ he who had been worshipped by two 
physicians’ (Vaidyas,* the two Asvins). It should be added, however, that 
the Padma Purana recites, in one place, that part of the Santal legend which 
accounts for the name of Vaidyanatha from that of Yaiju or Vaidya,f and 
provides for the contradiction by saying that the Bhilla of the second age 
was born as Vaiju in the present or Kali age, and from that time the name 
got currency. The Vaidyandtha-mdhdtmya of the Padma Purana, as I 
have it in print, is, however, of doubtful authority ; it names most of the 
temples, some of which are under 150 years of age, and, even if we rejected 
those parts as interpretations, the age of the work cannot be carried very 
far back, while the name of Vaidyanatha is unquestionably old. 
To turn now to the inscriptions. J The most important record in con¬ 
nexion with the history of the principal temple is the one which occurs in 
the lobby of that temple, on the left hand side of the doorway. It 
is engraved in the Nagari character on a sandstone slab 2'3'' X 1'3," and 
comprises five lines of matter. The letters measure each 2 inches in height. 
The language is Sanskrit, and the text runs thus: — 
No. 1. 
Y<?rfY yyyty% yy(s)^yyt% yyyt , 
vj <N 
xj 
fYYYYYYf^YY ^YfY I 
YYYfYYiYYSlfYY I 
# YYTT«Tf vf^TY %IfYYY YYTYY ! 
Y^jYTYfYfY wty YYYfiYYYTY^r i| 
S'iva Purana. 
t yy WTcmtTvt yyBty; I 
YT# YTYT VYTYTYf YYTYTiiiT VrfV^fw II ll 
YIYYST YTYTYPY YTYTT YTkfYY : YTY I 
vJ 'J 
YY: YrY YY YpY YYTYY II II 
<N 
YYfYT^fY YTY^YYPY YYrP I 
O 
Y|YJ wfYYYPjlT YY YTY YfYxqfY || < o || 
YYJYTYfY YTYY fYYTY Y 3Z^fvfI Y I 
YfYiYfYi YYTYYf YTYJi YYfY YY M \ II 
XS vj 
1 Impressions from all the inscriptions noticed here are preserved in the Library 
of the Asiatic Society. They are not of sufficient importance to justify the publica¬ 
tion of their facsimiles. 
