Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c6.s2.t2.3

c6.s2.t2.3

and *lekhaka*, "a writer," are mentioned in the Bhik[k]u-Pācittya 2, 2, and in the Bhikkhunī-Pācittiya 49, 2; and the former work praises writing as [a] branch of knowledge that is honoured in all countries. The Jātakas repeatedly speak of private¹ and official² letters. They also know of royal proclamations,³ of which Mahāvagga 1, 43 likewise mentions an instance; and they narrate that important family affairs or moral and political maxims were engraved on gold plates.⁴ Twice we hear of debtor's bonds (*iṇapaṇṇa*),⁵ and twice even of MSS. (*potthaka*).⁶ A game called *akkhārikā* is mentioned repeatedly in the Vinayapiṭaka and the Nikāyas;⁷ according to Buddhaghoṣa, its main feature was that letters were read in the sky. The Pārājika section of the Vinayapiṭaka (3, 4, 4) declares that Buddhist monks shall not "incise" (*chind*) the rules which show how men may gain heaven, or riches and fame in the next life, through particular modes of suicide. From this passage it follows (1) that the ascetics of pre-Buddhistic times used to give their lay-disciples rules, incised on bamboo or wooden tablets, concerning religious suicide, which the ancient Brahmans and the Jainas strongly recommended, and (2) that the knowledge of the alphabet was widely spread among the people.