Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/176

174 Hence the king shall ever be active and discharge his duties; the root of wealth is activity, and of evil its reverse.

In the absence of activity acquisitions present and to come will perish; by activity he can achieve both his desired ends and abundance of wealth.'

Thus it is apparent that Asoka's sententions maxims were not original, but were copied from the approved text-books on state—craft. The Arthaśâstra had had many predecessors. Some special points require brief exposition. Jayaswal translates paṭivedakâ by 'ushers,' such as the Gentlemen Ushers of the English court, but the rendering is not quite satisfactory.

The different texts express 'eating' by three distinct verbs. 'Private room' accurately represents garbhâgâra, a term sometimes applied to the sanctuary of a temple. We learn from Arthaśâsta, Bk. i, chap. 6, that such a room might be underground, and might be made secure by secret stairs and passages.

The word 'mews' is the best representation I can ﬁnd for vachamhi (vrachaspi, Sh.). Jayaswal certainly is right in taking vṙacha as dialectic for Sanskrit vraja. The same phonetic change occurs again in this edict in vrachaṁ, Sh. (vrajeyaṁ), equivalent to gacheyaṁ, G. Vraja (Arth., Bk. ii, chap. 6) means 'a herd of cattle,' including 'cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, asses, camels, horses, and mules.' The king was bound to inspect his live-stock, and I use the word 'mews' to include stables, cowsheds, and the like.

The meaning of vinîta is uncertain. The rendering 'conveyance,' signifying especially 'litter' or 'palanquin,' is highly probable (Senart, ii. 280 note). Jayaswal's 'drill' is not tenable.

'Some persons happy.' The word 'some' (nâni) is clear in G. only.

'Scripture of the Law.' Sh. omits 'scripture of.'

'Sons,' &c. Sh. and M. omit 'great—grandsons.' K. has 'sons and wives.'

Except for the one doubtful word vinîta the whole edict is now clearly intelligible, and the new version may be accepted as correct.