130
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL 5, 1872.
posal of the Bengal Asiatic Society. This copy is one of those used for the edition of the Gopātha in
On the other side the seal shows a distinct impres sion of the human epidermis. It would seem from
the Bibliotheca Indica.
I have now obtained the
this that the maker held the soft mud in the hollow
consent of the owners of the books to have them
of his hand while stamping it. About three years
catalogued, and the promise of a copy of the Atharvaveda Pratisakhya. The copy at Lnnawādā is the third known to exist,-one being in the Royal Library at Berlin and one in the Government Collection at Bombay ; the latter I obtained last year at Bharoch. One of the Lunawādā Atharvavedís says that a commentary on four kandas of the Atharvaveda exists in this Presidency, and that he has seen it : he also asserts that a commentary on eight kandas is in the possession of one Punākar, a pensioner of Sindhia's at Lashkar. Is there any of the readers of the Indian Antiquary about Gwalior who can verify this latter statement 2 Feb. 26, 1872. G. BUHLER.
ago I was shown three similar seals by Mr. Richey, who obtained them also from Walleh, and all of
then bore the same inscription. The Walleh offi cials state that they occur among the ruins in great
numbers, and I have seen many in the possession of gentlemen in Kathiawad. We know that Valabhi was a seat of Buddhism,
and the frequent occurrence of these little seals or madrás is therefore easily explained, as they were
most probably amulets worn by most Buddhists. But the most interesting point is, as Mr. West (who describes similar seals, obtained at Kanheri) cor
rectly observes, that the letters imprinted on them belong to the 9th or 10th century. (Wide Jour. Bomb. Br. R. As. Soc. vol. VI. pl. LVII.).
Does
not this shew that the ruins at Walleh were inha
Note on Query 4, page 96. THE allusion apparently is to an incident in Buddha's life, mentioned by Hwen Thsang in con nection with one of the Mathurá stāpas. It is said that while Buddha was pacing the margin of a tank near that city, a monkey came and offered him some honey, which he was graciously pleased to accept. The creature was so delighted at this act of condescension, that in his delight he fell over into the water and was drowned.
In his next
birth, as a reward, he assumed human shape. The supposed scene of the event is within 100 yards of the spot where I am writing. Mathurá.
F. S. GROWSE.
Note on Valabhi. Lunawada Feb. 24.
bited down to a much later date than is usually supposed ?—I have, &c. G. BUHLER.
Query 5. CAN any reader oblige me with the correct bota nical names of the following trees, all common in the Mathurá district, viz., the pilu or dungar, chhonkar, pāsendu, papri, arni, hingot, aján-rukh,
gondi, barna and dho? The names given are the Hindi terms in common use. F. S. GROwsE.
Pilu or Dungar is Salvadora Persica. Chhonkar is Prosopis Spicigera. Pasendu is Diospyros Cordifolia. Păpri is Holoptelaea integrifolia. It is also the name of Pongamia glabra. Arni is Clerodendron phlomoides.
SIR-On a late visit to Walleh, the supposed site of the ancient Valabhipur, I obtained from one of
Hingot is Balanites AEgyptiaca. Anjan rukh is Hardwickia binata ? Gondi is Cordia myra and species. Barna is Crataeva Rorburghii. Dho is Conocarpus latifolia.
the officers of the Thakur the accompanying Mu hammadan coins, which had been dug up on the morning of the day preceding my visit (Dec. 19, 1871), by the Kolis searching for Choras in the ruins. I am not sufficiently acquainted with Mu hammadan coins to fix their age myself, and trust that you will find among your contributors some one able to tell us their exact date. As you are
phala and Sransi, and, according to Wilson, is the
aware, the destruction of Valabi is an event
name applied in some provinces to the Careya
around which there hangs more than one mystery,
arborea of Roxburgh, in others to the Salvadora persica. The Barna is also mentioned in the second half of sloka 5, of the same section—
and the question when it happened is one of the
most difficult to decide. The turning up of Mu
hammadan coins among the ruins of the city ought to help us to clear away some of the myths regard ing its fall. Besides these coins, I brought away some other relics, one of which, at least, is im. portant from its bearing on the chronological question. This is a small circular seal of clay,
that bears on one side the impression of the Bud
dhist Creed Ye dharma hetu prabhava hetún, &c,
16th March 1872.
NARAYAN DAJI.
The pilu is mentioned in the Amarakosha, Bk. II.
ch. iv. sec. 2 sºl. 9,-with the synonymes Guda
Varuno varanah setus tiktas'īkah kumârakah
and is translated as the Crataeva tapia or Cap paris trifoliata.
In sºloka 57, we have the karil,—
..., karire tu krakar-granthilāv ubhau | . and in sºl. 15, the Gondi,
Seluh sleshmātakah sita uddálo vahuvārakah Ed.
