History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.453

v6.c82.453

In 'Gayā and Buddha Gayā' (Calcutta, 1934) Dr. B. M Barua draws attention (pp 90-92 and 121 of vol. II) to the fact that one can detect on the railing pillars at Buddha Gayā some of the motifs representing the rāśis or signs of the Zodiac (vide figures 43 a to j, which resemble the signs from Vṛṣa to Tula, Dhanus and Makara). These figures were drawn in the 1st century B. C and would go at least some way towards negativing the view of Weber and others that the rāśi system was borrowed by Indians from such Greek writers as Firmicus and Paulus in the 4th century A. D. These Buddha Gayā figures closely resemble the figures drawn on monuments and boundary stones in Babylonia (vide figures opposite) All the railing pillars are not preserved.