Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/220

218 or otherwise, nobody knows exactly. Aṁtikaṁ is fairly rendered as 'in an accessible position,' or simply 'accessible.'

The fast-days were four in each month.

'Acquainted with;' the word visraṁsayitare is from the root śvas.

The meaning of âhâle (âhâra) as 'jurisdiction' is now settled. Early attempts at interpreting it as 'food' made nonsense of the whole document.

The causal vivâsayâtha and the double causal vivâsâpayâthâ are interpreted by some scholars as referring to the 'sending out,' 'circulation,' or 'publication' of the text, and in my last edition that view was adopted. Now I prefer to agree with Mr. F. W. Thomas (J. R. A. S., 1915, p. 112) and to regard the words as meaning 'expel.' The double causal is needed with reference to the 'fortified towns' and 'Districts,' because each such jurisdiction was in charge of a locally autonomous chief, whether a Râjâ or an official, but probably the former. For 'forts' see Arthaśâstra, Bk. ii, chap. 3, 4.

The general purport of the second section of the edict is clearly ascertained, although the details above noted are still unsettled.

2. THE KAUSÂMBÎ EDICT THE SAME SUBJECT; THE PENALTY OF SCHISM (Facsimile and transcript in Ind. Ant., xix (1890), pp. 125, 126.) The first line clearly reads that 'His Sacred Majesty, [Devânaṁpi]ye, commands the High Officers of Kosambi.'

The second line contains the word saṁgha.

The third and fourth lines enact that 'Whosoever, be it monk or be it nun, shall mislead the Church, shall be vested in white garments and compelled to dwell in an external residence.' Comment

This short, imperfect, and much mutilated record exists on the Allahabad Asoka pillar, where it is mixed up with and