Indian Epigraphy c9.t13: 2. Pen and Other Instruments

Indian Epigraphy c9.t13

Language: English

2. Pen and Other Instruments

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*Lekhanī* (literally ‘the instrument for writing’) is a general name for the stilus, pencil, brush, pen, etc.¹ Varṇikā, mentioned in early Indian literature, was a wooden pen, pointed at the end without a slit. It was used by young learners at the elementary schools. Iṣikā or iṣīkā was originally a pen made of reed or bamboo branch. It was used by the copyists of manuscripts. The varṇa-vartikā mentioned in the Daśakumāracarita (Ucchvāsa II) may have been a kind of brush. The word kalama may have been adopted in Sanskrit from Greek through Arabic. But it is recognised as a Sanskrit word in the Sanskrit-Chinese lexicons of the 8th century A. D.²

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¹ Cf. however the information from the Kāvyamīmāṃsā referred to below.

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² P.C. Bagchi, Deux Lexiques Sanskrit-Chinois, Tome I, p. 287.

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For scratching letters on palmyra leaves, iron pens with sharp points were in use especially in the southern parts of the country. Sometimes ornamental designs at the end of chapters in palmyra-leaf manuscripts written in ink were drawn with such iron pens. The prevalent Sanskrit name for the instrument is śalākā (Marāṭhī saḷaī). Rājaśekhara’s Kāvyamīmāṃsā³ refers to it as loha-kaṇṭaka or iron needle used to write on tāla-dala whereas lekhanī and masi-bhājana are mentioned in connection with writing on tāḍi-patra and birch bark. The work also mentions other writing materials as phalaka (a board) and khaṭikā (a piece of chalk), both preserved in a small box, and refers to the practice of writing on well-cleaned bhittis meaning floors or walls.

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³ G. O. S. ed., p. 50.

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A kind of ruler (called ṭāmbī or kambā in Rajasthan) was used for drawing straight lines in order to keep the lines of writing straight. Another instrument for drawing straight lines used by the copyists of manuscripts was called rekhā-pāṭī or samāsa-pāṭī which was a piece of wood or cardboard with strings fixed at equal distances.⁴

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⁴ See Ojha, op. cit., pp. 157-58. For its probable predecessors, see Annec dota Oxoniensia, I, iii, p. 66; Anzeiger d. W. Akademie, 1897, No. VIII.

Linked texts (2)

Kāvyamīmāṃsā — Rājaśekhara, Sanskrit
Daśakumāracarita — Daṇḍin, Sanskrit