English
Neither the horse nor the bull shall be branded on the full moon days of Tishya, Punarvasu, and the Chaturmasyas, and on the first days of the fortatiights succeeding the full moon days of the Chatur- mdsyas, In the 26 years from my anointment, I have liberated 26 prisoners. : EDICT VI. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, 12 years after my anointment, I eased Edicts to be engraved (for the first time) for the good and the happiness of the people. I flatter myself that they will profit .by it, and will make progress in religion in manifold ways; and thus the 22 BUDDHIST PERIOD. (Book Iv. Edicts will tend to the benefit and the happiness of the people. J adopted means calculated to promote the happiness of my subjects,—those who are far from me, as well as those who are near me,—and also of my own relations. Hence I watch over all my bodies of officers. All sects receive from me gifts in manifold ways, But it is their own conversion which I consider the most important. I have caused this Edict to be engraved 26 years after my anointment. EDICT VII. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. Kings who ruled in past times desired that men should make progress in religion. But men ‘did not make any progress in religion according to their desire. Then thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, I have reflected that kings who ruled in past times desired that men should make progress in religion, and men made no progress in religion according to their desire,—by what means can I lead them inthe right path? By what means can [ cause them to make progress in religion according to my desire? By what means can I cause them to advance in religion? Then thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. I have formed the resolution of publish- ing religious exhortations and of promulgating religious instructions, so that men on hearing these will enter on the right path and will elevate themselves. EDICT VIII. T have promulgated religions exhortations and given manifold instruc- tions on religion, in order that religion may make rapid progress. I have appointed numerous officers over the people, each employed in his duty towards the people, in order that they may spread instruction and pro- -mote goodness, Thus I have appointed Rajukas on many thousands of men, and they have received my order to instruct the faithful. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. It is with this single idea that I have raised pillars with religious inscriptions, that I have appointed ministers of religion (Dharma-mah4mitra), that I have spread afar religious exhortations. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. Along the highways I have planted Nyagrodha trees that they may give shac -to men and ‘to animals; I have planted out gardens with mangoes CHAP. I.] ASOKA AND HIS EDICTS. 23 have caused’ wells to be dug every half dvosa; and in numerous places I have erected resting houses for the répose of men and of animals. But the truest enjoyment for myself is this, Previous kings and J myself have contributed to the happiness of men by various beneficial acts; but to make them follow the path of religion, it is with this object that I regulate my actions. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. I have alsa appointed ministers of religion in order that they may exert in every way in works of charity, and that they may exert themselves among all sects, monks as well as worldly men. I have also had in view the interest of the clergy, of Brahmans, of religious mendicants, of religious Nirgranthas, and of various sects among whom my - officers work. The Mahdméatras exert themselves, each in his corporation, and the ministers of religion work generally among ali sects. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, These and other officers are my instruments, and they work to distribute my alms and those of the queens. Throughout my palace they work in manifold ways, each in the apartments entrusted to him. I learn also that both here and in the provinces they distribute the alms of my children, and specially of the royal princes, to favour acts of religion and the practice of religion. In this way acts of religion are promoted in the world, as well the practice of religion, wz., mercy and charity, truth and purity, kindness and goodness. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. The manifold acts of goodness which I accomplish serve as an example. Through them, men have advanced, and will advance, in obedience to relations and to teachers, in kindly con- sideration for the aged, and in regard towards Brahmans and Sramans, towards the poor and the miserable,—yea, towards servants and slaves, Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, The progress of religion among men is secured ia tivo ways,—by positive rules,—and by religious sentiments which one can inspire in them. Of these two methods, that of positive rules is of poor value, it is the inspiration in the heart which” best prevails. Positive rules consist in what I order,—when for instance, I prohibit the slaughter of certain animals or lay down other religious rules, as I have done to a large number. But it is solely by a change in the sentiments of the heart that religion makes a real advance 24 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. in inspiring a respect for life and in the anxiety not to kill living beings. It is with this view that I have promulgated this inscription, in order that it may endure for my sons and my grandsons, and as long as the sun and the moon endure, and in order that they may follow my instructions, For by following this path one secures happiness here below, and in the cuther world, I have caused this Edict to be engraved twenty-seven years after my anointment. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. Where- ever this Edict exists, on pillars of stone, let it endure unto remote ages. The Edict of religion Aas endured unto remote ages ; and within the two thousand years which have suc- ceeded, mankind has discovered no nobler religion than to promote in this earth “mercy and charity, truth and purity, kindness and goodness.” CHAPTER II. LANGUAGE AND ALPHABET. THE Inscriptions of Asoka are invaluable tous for a study of the language and alphabet of Northern India in the third century B.C. The Edicts are undoubtedly in the language which was spoken and understood by the people in Asoka’s time; and the fact that the same Edicts are recorded in dialects slightly differing from each other, in the different parts of India, prove conclu- sively that the great emperor desired to publish his laws in the dialect which was spoken by the people in each separate portion of his extensive empire. The inscriptions shew that: the spoken language of Northern India was essentially the same, from the Himalaya to the Vindhya mountains, and from the Indus to the Ganges, There are slight variations how- ever, from ‘which antiquarians have made out three varieties of the spoken tongue of the period. General Cunningham calls them.the Pun/4di, or North-western dialect, the Ujyeni or middle dialect, and the Mdgadhi or eastern dialect. _ pe The Punjabi dialect is closer to Sanscrit than the others, It. retains the y in such words as Priyadarsi, Sramana, &c.; it retains the three sibilants of the - 26 BUDDHIST PERIOD, [BOOK ly. Sanscrit ; and it shews a nearer approach to Sanscrit forms. The Ujjeni dialect has its as well as Z, while the Magadhi dialect is marked by the entire absence ‘of + for which 7 has been substituted, Lda for Radja, Dasalatha for Dasaratha, &c. Considering then the slightly varying dialects as one spoken language, antiquarians have held that that language is Pali, Prinsep called the language to be “intermediate between Sanscrit and Pali.” Professor ’ Wilson madea careful and searching examination of four. different versions of the Rock Edicts, and stated his opinion that “ the language itself is a kind of PAli, offering for the greater portion of the words forms -analogous to those which are modelled by the rules of the. Pali grammar still in use. There are however many differences, some of which arise from a closer ‘adherence to Sanscrit, others from possible local pecu- liarities, indicating a yet unSettled state of the language.” Professor Lassen agrees with Dr, Wilson in main- taining that the language of /Asoka’s inscriptions is Pali, and he further maintains that the Pali is the eldest \ daughter of the Sanscrit,—the oldest spoken tongue in ‘Northern India after Sanscrit had ceascd to be a spoken tongue. Dr, Muir supports this view by a comparison of the language of the inscriptions with the language of the Buddhist scriptures taken to Ceylon in the 3rd century B.C., and preves that they are pretty much the same language-—-Pali. In an “essaisur le Pali,” CHAP. I1.] LANGUAGE AND ALPHABET. 27 written by Burnouf and Lassen, those learned authors maintain that Pali stands “on the first step -of the ladder of departure from Sanskrit, and is the first of the series of dialects which break BR: that rich and fertile language.”* This then is a sufficiently clear and definite fact which is invaluable to the historian of India. We know the spoken tongue of the Vedic Age, which has been preserved in the simplest and most beautiful hymns of the Rig Veda. We know the spoken tongue of the Epic Age which has been preserved in the prose Brahmanas and Aranyakas, After 1000 B.C. there was a growing divergence between the spoken and the written tongue. Learned Satras were composed in thé old grammatical Sanscrit, while the people spoke, and Gautama preached in the sixth century B. C., in a some- what simpler and more fluent language. What that.