Indian Epigraphy c9.t13.1

c9.t13.1

*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