Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s6.t3.2

c7.s6.t3.2

(2) For *ra*, which must be pronounced sometimes before and sometimes after its *mātṛkā* (exception in *rṭa* in Mansehra edict V, l. 24), appears, besides slightly mutilated forms (in *rṭi*, 38, IV, and *rva*, 39, I), (a) a slanting line, with or without a bend, which goes through the middle of the vertical of the combined consonant (as in *gra*, 38, I; *rṭa*, 38, II; *rṭi*, 38, III); (b) also a curved or straight stroke at the foot of the combined sign (*rti*, 38, V; *kra*, 6, V; *gra*, 8, V; *tra*, 20, V; *dhra*, 23, V; 38, VIII; *pru*, 25, V; *bra*, 27, V; *vram*, 33, V; *śru*, 34, V; *stri*, 39, VIII, IX). In combination with *ma*, the *ra*-stroke stands invariably at the right top, as in *mru* (29, V), and in *kra* and *bhra* (28, V), occasionally at the right end of the hooks of those letters. Sometimes, especially in Mansehra, a curve open above, as in *thra* (21, IV), is substituted for the straight stroke. The stroke and the curves, of course, are cursive substitutes for a full *ra*, attached to the foot of the combined consonants.