On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c10.3

c10.3

P. 11, l. 14. According to Jātaka No 388 (Fausböll, vol. III, p. 292) the future Buddha caused the judicial rules to be written in a book (*potthaka*) and recommended that, in future, cases should be decided, after reference to it. A book (*potthaka*) is mentioned also in the Uddālaka Jātaka No 487, Fausböll, vol. IV, p. 487, l. 17 f, where Uddālaka’s preparations, intended to captivate the king, are described as follows: "But he himself took with him eight or ten disputant Paṇḍits, placed a lovely book (*potthaka*) on a charming reading desk (*ādhāraka*) and sat down, surrounded by his pupils, on a prepared seat which was furnished with a support for the back". Here the book can only be a MS. of a literary work, and the reading desk is probably one of those little tripods, consisting of three laquered pieces of wood, which are commonly used by the Jaina Yatis at their *vācanās*. The whole description is merely an accessory without any importance for the story and may be an interpolation, as its rather modern look suggests.