Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/216

214 The use of the plural inflexion shows that he alludes to more than two.

Section III. It is better to translate sâavaâni by 'proclamations' than by 'sermons' or 'precepts.'

The words (?) 'my missioners' are in accordance with a brilliant conjecture of D. R. Bhandarkar, who fills up a small lacuna by the word vyûthâ(vyuthâ) instead of the unsuitable yathci supplied by Büler. The emendation is not in conﬂict with the facsimile (Ind. Ant. xiii (1884), p. 310, where there seems to me to be an indication of x, not y'); gives good sense, which yathâ does not; and is supported by the use of the word vyâthâ in Mino R.E. I. I think the emendation almost certain, and adopt it (ibid., vol. xli (1912), p. 172). There is no doubt that, as Senart pointed out, P. E. VII is intimately connected by this passage with Minor R. E. I.

The Agents (pulisâ) would seem to have been special superintending emissaries sent out by Asoka, as the missi dominici were by Charlemagne.

Section IV. The reference to 'a proclamation' in the singular may be to the maxim 'Let small and great exert themselves,' which is quoted in Minor R. E. 1.

Section V. 'Half-kôs,' aḍhakosikyâni. Fleet, in opposition to all other commentators, argued that aḍha here must be taken to represent ashṭa, 'eight,' and not âdha, 'half.' I consulted Dr. Michelson, who replied: 'It is not absolutely impossible that aḍha means "8," as we find libi for lipi; but in view of Kâlsî atha, it is highly improbable. I, for one, still consider aḍha means "half."' We may now also compare the form diyaḍhiya, '1½' in the new Maski edict, corresponding with the Hindi deṛh. Further, in the Runimindêî Pillar inscription (post) aṭha undoubtedly represents ashṭa, 'eight.' Whatever may have been the exact length of Asoka's kôs, he certainly dug his wells at intervals of half a kôs. In many cases they may have been merely earthen wells, without masonry, or they may have been cheaply lined with terra-cotta tiles.

Section VI. The special functions of the Censors, as differentiated from other High Officers, are emphasized.

Section VII. 'Heads of departments' seems to be the correct