Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t1.11

c7.s19.t1.11

(7) Among the signs for *Ṝ*, *Ḷ* and *Ḹ*, which are first traceable in the MSS. of this period (plate VI, 8—10, V, VII, X), the long *Ṝ* is clearly formed by the addition of a second *ṛ*-curve to the short *Ṛ*. In the Cambridge MSS. Nos. 1049 and 1691, *Ḷ* is represented by a cursive southern *lṛ* (see plate VII, 34, VI—IX), just as the oldest medial *ḷ* in *kḷ* (VII, 42, XIV) is identical with another form of *la*; and the long *Ḹ* is derived from the short vowel by the addition of a second *la*, turned in the opposite direction. In the *Ḷ* and *Ḹ* of the Horiuzi palm-leaves (plate VI, 9, 10, V), the *la* has been turned round towards the left, and respectively one and two *ṛ*-curves have been attached to the foot. And the combination *l(a)-ṛ* remains [54] also in the Nāgarī both of the palm-leaves from Western India (plate VI, 9, 10, XV) and of our days, the reason being no doubt the pronunciation *lṛ*, which is customary both there and in other parts of India. These paleographical facts agree with the tradition of the Chinese Buddhists, who, as S. Lévi has discovered,³ ascribe the invention of the signs for the liquid vowels to a South-Indian, either to Sarvavarman, the minister of the Andhra king Sātavāhana, or to the great Buddhist teacher Nāgārjuna.