Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s38.45

c11.s38.45

The exact contents of the inscriptions still remain obscure, but a few facts emerge from tentative studies of them. A husbandman (*kuṭumbika*) of Ceylon (*Ila*) figures as a donor; and a woman, members of the Karaṇi caste, and merchants (*vaṇikan*) figure in other inscriptions in a like capacity. These brief inscriptions are thus seen already to bear testimony to the support commanded from all classes of the laity by the ascetics who were engaged in the pursuit of the life divine in the solitudes of mountains and forests.