Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s1.t1.2

c7.s1.t1.2

² Quoted by Ojhā, BPLM 14 n. 6 (attributed to the *Cāṇakya-nīti*). The esteem accorded to the spoken as opposed to the written word should not, however, be overstated. In this connection, Kālidāsa’s *Raghuvaṃśa* 3.28cd, *liper yathāvadgrahaṇena vāṅmayaṃ nadīmukheneva samudram āviśat*, “As one enters the ocean through the mouth of a river, so did [Raghu] enter into literature by learning to write correctly,” has been cited (e.g., in PIP 4 and Falk, SAI 252 n. 2) as an indication of the respect accorded to the written word, at least in the classical (as opposed to the Vedic) tradition. This status is also reflected in the attribution of the invention of writing to Brahmā himself (see later discussion).