Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/129

 116 THE INDIAN ANTIQTTAEY. [April, 1875. line 11 it refers itself to the time of the Cliiilu- kya king Trailokyamalladeva, — either Somes va- radeva L (Saka 962 ? to 991 ?) or Tailapadeva HI. (Saka 1072 to 1104), both of whom bore that title; as I have shewn in my paper on the Rattas that the chieftains of the Sanndatti branch of that family were independent from about Saka 1050, 1 conclude that the Trailokya- malladeva here mentioned is SoniCsvaradeva 1. However, I could not trace in this inscrip- tion the name of the particular chieftain whose grants are recorded; but the titles applied to him are very similar to those of the Kalholi inscription. No. 2 is another inscription in the Old Can a. rese characters and languages, consisting of 51 lines of about 39 letters each, and contained on a stone tablet which was lying in the hedge surrounding the town, but which I have had Bet upright on the left front of the temple. The emblems at the top of the stone are : — In the centre, a seated figure of Jinendra ; on its right, a standing 6gure, full front, with the moon above it ; and on its left, a cow and calf with the sun above them. The stone is blacker and harder than the preceding, but the inscription on it is still more hopelessly effaced, and no transcription can be made of it. It is evidently a Ratta inscription, as it mentions a king Kar- tavirya who was ruling " with the diversion of joyfnl conversations." Its date is given in line 36, and is the Saka year 1086 (a.d. 11G4-65), being the Tarana samvatsara. Accordingly the Kartavirya here mentioned is the third of that name in my Hst of the Rattas, — the Kattama for whom I had not previously succeeded in obtaining a date. Further on the inscrip- tion mentions a Jain Basadi, and probably re- cords the building of the temple to which it is now attached and the allotment of grants to it KAMANDAKI ON THE POISONING OF KINGS. Whilst the eyes of all India are turned to- wards Baroda, and the inquiry which is now being conducted there, it may not be uninterest- ing to reproduce, in an English garb, the rules laid down two thonsand years ago by Kamandaki for the guidance of kings in the matter of poisoning. His ideas are exceedingly quaint, and have probably been disregarded for some centuries even by the most orthodox and conservative. The extract is taken from the seventh chapter of the Nitisdra. It is a pity that this work is not brought more prominently forward, and adopted in some measure as a sabstituto for the Vanchalantra. The Niti of the latter was no doubt taken from Kamandaki, ami reset byVishnnSarnianin baser metal, more calculated, however, to please the weaker and more sensual minds of a later generation. The only printed text of the Nitisdra obtain- able in India is that edited in 18(31 byBabu Rnjendralala Mitra. That scholar states in his preface that his text was prepared " from a modern but very correct manuscript obtained at Benares," collated with " an utterly un- reliable" manuscript in the Library of the Asiatic Society, and with a commentary which was " of great use in settling the reading and meaning of a great number of technical terms " With all respect for the learned Babu, it would appear, however, that the MS. first named was not so very correct as he considered it to be ; for over and over again the reading of mentary is vastly superior to that adopted in the text, which is sometimes almost meaning- less. It is time, however, to return to the more immediate subject of this paper, and allow the Pandit to speak : — "A king should everywhere be careful re- garding his conveyance, couch, water, food, clothes and ornaments, discarding that which has been poisoned. After bathing in water that is an antidote to poison, adorned with the poison-destroying gem, let him eat that which has been thoroughly examined, surrounded by physicians acquainted with poisons and their antidotes. At the sight of a poisonous snake, the 3-Ia- labar Shrike, the Parrot, and the Mainfi are terribly alarmed and scream out. When beholding poison, the eyes of the jnr tridge lose their natural colour, the curlew be- comes clearly inebriated, the cuckoo dies; and in every case languor supervenes. The king therefore should eat that which has been inspected by one of the above. Snakes do not appear when peacocks and the