Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s4.2

c8.s4.2

Ink is occasionally mentioned in Sanskrit books, but only in the more modern, *e. g.* the Kathāsaritsāgara (i. 8, 3): “Tām (kathām) ātmaçoṇitaiḥ | aṭavyām mashyabhāvāc ca lilekha sa mahākaviḥ[^4).” This idea of writing with blood occurs elsewhere (with similar absurdities) in Indian books. Here (like the original compositions of the tales in the Paiçāca language) it is a transparent fiction of the author to account for the apparent incompleteness of his work. The Mahāvaṃso mentions hiṅgula or vermilion as used for ink.