The Purana Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age c7.18

c7.18

v. If these explanations of these variations be reasonable and not fanciful, it appears that the Mt, Vā, and Vṣ all betray the fact that their accounts were originally copied from MSS written in Kharoṣṭhī. This script was in use till A.D. 300, or perhaps even half a century later⁵. This conclusion would, as regards the Mt and Vā, agree with the period assigned to them⁶. There is no further indication regarding the date of the Vṣ, and as Kharoṣṭhī MSS would have lasted some centuries, the Vṣ account might well be later and yet have been extracted from such a MS. There has been no opportunity of testing the Bd account in this way, because I have not been able to collate any MS of it; and the printed edition betrays no misreadings of this kind; but it is so closely like the Vā that the same conclusion probably holds good for it.