Re: Asoka pillar

Thanks, Nina. I have added a similar translation below it.

>Rummindei Inscription: < By His Sacred and Gracious Majesty the King
>when he had been consecrated twenty years, having come in person and
>reverence being done- inasmuch as <<Here was born Buddha, the sage
>of the Sakyas>>- a stone bearing a horse was caused to be made and a
>stone pillar was erected. Inasmuch as <<Here the Holy One was born >>,
>the village of Lummini was released from religious cesses and required to
>pay (only) one-eighth as land revenue.>

(a) When King Devaanampiya Piyadasi had been anointed twenty years, he
       came himself and worshipped (this spot) because the Buddha Saakyamuni
       was born here.
(b) (He) both caused to be made a stone bearing a horse (?) and caused a
       stone pillar to be set up (in order to show) that the Blessed One
       (Bhagava.m) was born here.
(c) (He) made the village of Lumminii free of taxes, and (paying) only an
       eighth share (of the produce).

--translated by Hultzsch and quoted in S. Dutt's The Buddha and Five
After-Centuries, p.22.

A footnote says: "In (b), 'a stone bearing a horse' is Hultzsch's
mistranslation for Silaaviga.dabhiicaa which means literally a 'great
stone-wall', referring most probably to a stone-railing round the monolith
which had disappeared. The 'horse' was suggested by Hsuan Tsang's
description."

I thought 'laajina' was 'lajjinaa' in Pali but according to Dutt it's
'raajina' (king -instr.) which would be 'ra~n~naa' in Pali or 'raaj~naa in
Skt. I think the inflections 'e' of 'budhe jaate' may be for the nominative.
sing. (see Geiger's discussion on Magadhisms, sect. 80).

Jim


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