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Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c6.s3: Chapter VI. Arts and Sciences

Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jātaka Stories c6.s3

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English

Chapter VI. Arts and Sciences

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FAR advanced from the primitive stage as the *Jātaka* society was, it naturally saw the development and prosperity of various arts and sciences. People in that age had come to possess refined tastes and aesthetic perceptions: they strove for the joy and beauty in life.

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Reading and writing (*vācanam, lekhanam*) were commonly known. As we saw just a while before, numerous are the references to the various and widespread uses of writing in the *Jātakas*, to the writing of epistles,¹ to the forging of letters,² to inscriptions on gold plates,³ to inscription over a hermitage,⁴ inscription in letters (*akkharāni*) of vermilion upon a wall,⁵ to letters of the alphabet engraved on gold necklets,⁶ to inscriptions upon garments and accoutrements,⁷ to the scratching of a message on an arrow,⁸ and to the scratching of a writing on a leaf (*panna*).⁹

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¹ J., I, p. 377 (mentions a correspondent); II, pp. 95, 174 (sealing a letter: also I, p. 451); IV, p. 145 (gives content of the message); IV, pp. 370, 385, 403.

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² J., I, p. 451; IV, p. 124.

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³ J., II, pp. 36, 372, 376; IV, pp. 7, 257, 335, 488; V, pp. 59, 67, 125; VI, p. 29.

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⁴ J., VI, p. 520—"ye ke ci pabbajitukāmā ganhantu" ti akkharāni likhitvā": quoted by Barua, *old Brāhmi Inscriptions*, Intro.

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⁵ J., IV, p. 489—*Jātihisgulakena bhittiyā akkharāni likhitvā*.

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⁶ J., VI, p. 390—*Suvannamālā akkharāni chinditvā*.

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⁷ J., VI, p. 408—*Nivatthavatthādīsu akkharāni olakethā*.

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⁸ J., II, p. 90—*Kande akkharāni chinditvā*.

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⁹ J., II, p. 174; IV, p. 55; VI, pp. 369, 385, 400.

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*Pāli*, in the form, more or less, in which these stories are written, was most probably the common language of the people, though *Samskrta* may have been spoken among the more literate and cultured class, and there may have been different dialects also, as we discern from the specific mention of the *Candāla-bhāsā*.¹⁰

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¹⁰ J., IV, p. 391; On language, see Rhys Davids, *Bud. Ind.*, p. 140 ff.

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Among literary works, in addition to the various works of antiquity like the *Vedas* and the *Vedāngas*,¹¹ the *Akkhānas* or ballads¹² and stray *gāthās* composed by *sāvakas*, *isis* or *kavis*,¹³ *Hatthisuttam* or the treatise on elephants was known.¹⁴ The *gāthās* of the *Jātakas* themselves, indeed, reveal a highly developed stage of Poetry, rich with imagination and beauty of style,¹⁵ and deep with thoughts and observation alike.¹⁶ The *Akkhānas* or the ballads in prose and verse, such as those sung by the rhapsodists, were current and had set up the stage out of which the future Epics were to be evolved.¹ We may also discern the beginnings, the first steps, towards a future drama in the varied productions of shows with scenery, music and dancing before a big concourse of people on certain festival days : these were the samajjas of which we shall presently speak. We have a distinct reference to nāṭakāni, which were, most probably, dramatic performances, as distinguished from pure dancing and acting or pantomimes.² It seems the age of the Jātakas saw the beginnings of literary activities—of prose, poetry and drama—in the ordinary language of the people.³

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¹¹ J., V, p. 476.

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¹² J., V, p. 450-G. 339 *Vedam akkhānapañcamam* Cf. *Dialogues of the Buddha*, I, 7-9.

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¹³ J., V, p. 484. The *Anguttara Nikāya*, 2.230, mentions four kinds of poets; the poet of imagination, the poet of tradition, the poet of real life, and the improvisatore.

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¹⁴ J., II, p. 46.

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¹⁵ The best representative of charming lyrical poetry may be found in *Canda-Kinnara Jātaka*, J., IV, p. 283-G. 18-42.

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¹⁶ On the literary value of the *Jātakas*, see Winternitz, *History of Indian Literature*, II, pp. 113 ff.

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¹ The Vessantara J., its gāthās, virtually constitute an epic : J., VI, pp. 479 ff.

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² J., V, p. 282—nāṭakāni upaṭṭhāpessāmā.

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³ Speaking on the literature of the Buddhist period in general, Rhys Davids remarks : "It shows a curious contrast between the value of the ideas to be expressed and the child-like incapacity to express them well. We have here, as to style, only the untrained adolescence of the Indian mind. But what vigour it has!.... there is much rough and rugged beauty both in the ballads and in the lyrics.... In aftertimes we have evidence of more successful study of the arts and methods of rhetoric and poetry. But never do we find the same virility, the same curious compound of humour and irony and love of Nature on the one hand, with a deadly earnestness and really on the whole a surprisingly able grasp of the deepest problems of life, on the other :" Buddhist India, p. 186.

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MATHEMATICS. ASTRONOMY. ASTROLOGY. Of mathematical sciences, we do not get much information from the stories. But there cannot be any doubt that they were far advanced from the Vedic times.⁴ The numerical system must have been well established, as we may guess from the stray references to numerical figures, and their fractions. Some arithmetical process for multiplication must have been in existence in order to get the following instance : 4 × 500 = 2000 : five hundred attendants for each of the four dogs would make the total two thousand (ekkekassa pañca sunakhasatāni parivāroti evam dvīhi sunakhasahassehi parivāritā).⁵

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⁴ On the whole subject of these Ancient Indian Sciences, see particularly Thibaut, Astronomie, Astrologic und Mathematik in Bühler-Keilhorn's Groundress der Indo-Arischen Philologie : and also recent marvellous treatment of the same by Mr. Gurugovinda Cakravarti in the Journal of the Department of Letters, Cal. Uni. XXIV (1934).

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⁵ J., III, p. 536.

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Both astronomy and astrology seem to have been well advanced, though no information as to their scientific character is available. Of course various nakkhattas were known, and the nakkhattajānanakas made forecasts on the moving of different constellations (nakkhattacāram).⁶ And the popular belief of Rāhu covering up the moon’s orb and the latter’s liberation from the jaws of the former,⁷ and the idea of hare in the moon,⁸ were also prevalent.

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⁶ For instance, J., II, p. 426; V, p. 476.

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⁷ J., I, p. 274; III, pp. 52, 364; IV, p. 330-G. 135: Cando yathā Rāhumukhā pamutto.

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⁸ J., III, p. 52; IV, pp. 85-6 G. 144.

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MEDICINE. Medical science seems to have well advanced in those days. There were Vejjas and tikicchakas who knew their profession well, the profession which they had obtained as a legacy from their ancestors like Bhoga, Vetaraṇi and Dhammantari (Dhanvantari ?)⁹ The typical figure of a doctor can be discerned in the following gāthā, already quoted before:—

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⁹ J., IV, p. 496-G. 340.

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"Some carry sacks upon their backs, root-filled and fastened tight;
They gather healing herbs, they bathe, and magic spells recite."¹

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¹ J., IV, p. 361-G. 226: *Paribbake gahetvāna puṇṇe mālasse samvute osadhikāyo gan-thenti nahāyanti japanti ca.*

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And there were royal-physicians also.² Of course they took their fees.³

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² J., II, p. 213 (*Rājavejja*)

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³ J., II, pp. 19 (*vetanam*), 213 (*paribbayam*)

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It seems that the snake was the most dangerous creature, specially the black-snake (kaṇhasappo).⁴ Particularly the breath coming from its nostrils (nāsāvāta) was believed to be very poisonous, causing blindness if it fell on the eyes.⁵ Whether this was the same as the ahivātaroga, by which the whole family of the Amba Jātaka, except the son who broke through the wall and escaped, was destroyed, we have no means to ascertain.⁶ Snake-bites were

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⁴ J., III, p. 346-G. 48-9; also II, p. 215-G. 155.

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⁵ J., II, p. 296; III, p. 418; IV, p. 457; VI, p. 74.

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⁶ J., IV, p. 200; *ahivātarogo* occurs also in the commentary on the *Therīgāthā*, p. 120: it is it possible that *ahi*, which may mean the navel, could here be the bowels, and some such disease as cholera be meant: Cowell, *Jātaka*, II, p. 55 n.

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Ordinary wounds, bumps and scars were healed by applying some oil (telam), and bandaging the injured parts (sāḷakakaṇṇa).⁸ Pounding the bark of a tree on a stone and rubbing the ointment on the wounded palms through which holes were made for binding strings healed the wounded parts.⁹

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⁸ J., I, p. 293; III, p. 42.

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⁹ J., V, p. 504 " *Rukkhatacam pāsāṇe ghamsitvā....hatthathalāni makkhesi.... ṇaso phārukam ahosi.*"

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Among diseases¹⁰ we have mention of jaundice (paṇḍuroga) but no remedy is suggested.¹¹ The treatment for dysentery (lohitapakkhandikā) was a broth made of millet and wild rice, mixed with leaves sprinkled with water, without salt and spices. Irregular food was known to be one of the causes of dysentery.¹² And it was also recognised that there is no proper digestion of food without proper sleep;¹³ indigestion (ajiṇṇa), among other things, is due to over-eating from getting cold in the water.¹⁴ Milk mixed with a pungent drug, if drunk, was thought to ensure protection from getting cold in the water.¹⁵ Sisābādha or headache was known to be very obstinate, sometimes lasting for years together; and some medicinal herb, when ground on a slab and mixed with some water and then applied to the forehead, could heal the pain.¹ Symptoms of rheumatism—*Vātābādha*—were, among others, contraction of bodily parts and humping of the back, as the description of the goat (*meṇḍa*) and the dog (*sūna*) in the *Mahāummagga Jātaka*² shows. Constipation was another disease for which proper treatment seems to have been thought out. The patient had to take a dose of ghee, perhaps mixed with some medicine (*tikkhiṇa sappi*), as even to-day in place of castor-oil, butter-milk mixed with some ghee is used as a strong purgative. After taking this, the patient was not expected to talk or work much, but simply to lie down in bed. And the psychological aspect of diseases was also not lost sight of: the sickroom was well arranged to please the attention of the patient.³ Leprosy (*Kuṭṭhaṃ*)—stricken man had to be carefully nursed. The spot was washed, a salve anointed to it, and a bandage was put on it.⁴ Too much indulgence in sexual intercourse was recognised to be an evil bringing in its train various diseases—cough (*kāsa*) asthma (*sāsa*), bodily pain (*daraṃ*) and childishness (*bālyaṃ*) among others.⁵ The physicians first of all studied and diagnosed the case properly and then prescribed proper remedy for it. "It is the way of physicians," says the young physician of Benares just returned from Takkasilā, "first to learn whence the disease arises, then to make a remedy to suit."⁶ It was also recognised that mental sickness is incurable by physical treatment: it can only be cured by a psychological remedy.⁷ Eye-diseases were also cured.⁸

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⁷ J., I, p. 310; II, p. 215-G. 155; IV, p. 490-G. 340; VI, pp. 181-2-GG. 793-8.

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¹⁰ The Jaina *Ācārāngasūtra*, I, 6, 1. 3. names sixteen diseases: Boils and Leprosy, consumption, falling sickness, blindness and stiffness, lameness and humpbackedness, dropsy and dumbness, apoplexy and eye-diseases, trembling and crippledness, elephantiasis, and diabetes; besides these many illnesses and wounds occur."

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¹¹ J., I, p. 431; II, p. 102.

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¹² J., II, p 213; III, p. 144.

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¹³ J., III, p. 143.

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¹⁴ J., II, p. 362.

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¹⁵ J., I, p. 458. "*tikhiṇabhesajjaparivāritam khīram pivanti....sītam na bādhati.*"

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¹ J., VI, p. 331. *Osadhaṃ gahetvā nisādāya ghamsitvā thokaṃ nalāṭante makkhesi sisā-bādho gato.*

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² J., VI, pp. 179; 350 "piffhiṃ nametvā ekaṃ pādaṃ ukkhipitvā" and GG. (?)

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³ J., VI, p. 413.

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⁴ J., VI, p. 383 "Uruyā kuṭṭhamatthi, taṃ dhovitvā bhesajjena makkhetvā upari pilotikaṃ datvā bandhati."

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⁵ J., VI, 295-G. 1288 "Na bāhaṃ itthiṃ gaccheyya sampassaṃ tejasamkhayaṃ Kasaṃ. sāsaṃ, daraṃ bālyaṃ khīnamedho nigacchati."

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⁶ J., IV, p. 171. "Vejje nāma ayaṃ vyādhi imaṃ nisādya samutthito ti ñātvā tadānuc-chavikāṃ bhesajjaṃ karonti;" See also J., II, p. 214.

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⁷ J., III, pp. 143-4; IV, pp. 171-2 G. 25ff.

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⁸ J., VI, p. 74.

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Besides medicinal treatment, delicate surgical operations also seem to have been carried out. A surgeon once fitted a man with a false tip to his nose, which was accidentally cut by the sharp edge of a sword, and painted it so that it looked like a real nose.⁹ Sivaka was really a master-surgeon.¹⁰ The surgical operation that he successfully carried out, on the person of king Sivi, was simply marvellous. The king wanted to give away his eyes to a Brāhmaṇa who begged for them. With great pain and hesitation, Sivaka, the surgeon, sat to his work: he pounded a number of simples, rubbed a blue lotus with the powder, and brushed it over the right eye: round rolled the eye, and there was great pain..... Again he rubbed in the powder, and brushed it over the eye: the eye started from the socket, the pain was worse than before.... A third time he smeared a sharper powder and applied it: by the drug's power, round went the eye, out it came from the socket, and hung dangling at the end of the tendon.... The pain was extreme, blood was trickling, the king's garments were stained with the blood. Then Jīvaka, with his left hand grasping the eyeball, took a knife in his right, and severing the tendon, laid the eye in the king's hand. In the same way the left eye was also taken out, and both the eyes were then placed in the eye-sockets of the Brāhmaṇa who then began to see.¹ Nobody would contend, we hope, that this minute description is only an outcome of rich imagination, and has no bearing with reality.²

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⁹ J., I, p. 455: Vejje datvā nāsikakoṭiṃ phāsukaṃ kārāpetvā lākhāya paṭināsikaṃ kāretvā.

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¹⁰ Probably he was no other than Jivaka, the court-physician and surgeon of Bimbisāra and his son Ajātasattu : *Mahāvagga*, VIII, 1 ff.

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¹ J., IV, pp. 407 ff. Nānābhesajjāni ghamsitvā bhesajjacuṇṇena nīluppale paribhāvetvā dak-khiṇa-akkhim upasinghāpesi, akkhī parivatti, dukkhā vedanā uppajji.... paribhāvetvā puna akkhī osadhabalena paribhamitvā akkhikūpato nikkhamitvā nahārusuttena olambamānaṃ aṭṭhāsi. So vāmahatthena akkhim dhāretvā dakkhiṇahatthena satthakaṃ ādāya akkhisuttakaṃ chinditvā akkhim gahetvā...."

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² Cf., Jīvaka's masterful surgery: once he made the man, who was suffering from some head-disease, lie down on his bed, tied him fast to the bed, cut through the skin of the head, drew apart the flesh on each side of the incision, pulled two worms out, and then closed up the he cut through the skin of the belly, drew the twisted intestines out, disentangled them, put them back aright, stitched the skin and anointed it with salve: Mahāvagga VIII, 1, 18; 22.

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It is not strange at all that, with such an advanced stage of medical science, knowledge of Anatomy was not lacking. For instance, it was possible to distinguish between two heads (sisāni): whether of male or of female. For it was known that the sutures (sibbāni) in a man's head are straight (ujukāni) and ......in a woman's head they are crooked (vaṅkāni).³ We are not in a position to ascertain the truth of this statement, but the fact that anatomy of different parts of the human body was known and studied cannot be gainsaid.⁴

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³ J., VI, p. 330.

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⁴ For minute details of anatomy in Vedic literature see Ved. Index, II, pp. 358-62.

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It is not that this knowledge of physical sciences was confined to human beings: it was also applied to animals. Elephant lore, for instance, must have been a deep study of this animal, its characteristics, its diseases and cures, its training and so on. And there were elephant-doctors (hatthivejjā) who were well-versed in this science.⁵ They knew how to find out any ailing in elephants and to cure it.⁶ Once a certain elephant trod upon a splinter of accacia (accā-tapādaṃ). With a sharp tool an incision was made about the splinter, a string was tied to it, and it was pulled right out. The gathering was then lanced, washed with warm water and doctored properly, and in a very short time the wound was healed.⁷ Similarly characteristics of different animals and birds were known.⁸ Minute knowledge of anatomy of snakes was natural: a male snake is distinguishable from a female one by the following features: the tail (naguttham) of the male snake is thick (thūlam), that of the female is thin (tanukam); the male snake’s head is thick (thūlam), the female’s is long (dīgham); the eyes of the male are big: of the female small; the head (sovatthiko) of the male is rounded, that of the female cut short.¹

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⁵ J., I, p. 485.

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⁶ J., I, p. 187.

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⁷ J., II, p. 18; tihiṇavāsiyā khāṇukassa samantato odhiṃ katvā rajjuya bandhitvā ākaddhantā khāṇukaṃ niharitvā pubbaṃ mocetvā uṇhodakena dhovitvā tadanurūpehi bhesajjehi nacirassa eva vanam phāsukaṃ karimsu."

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⁸ A horse's wound is healed: J., I, pp. 180, 184; it was a common knowledge that dogs vomit by eating away the mixture of kusa grass mashed into buttermilk: I, p. 177; crow's hunger is appeased for the moment by eating a lamp-wick (dīpavaṭṭi); J., p. 243; some drugs about the persons prevent animals from approaching near: I, p. 200.

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¹ J., VI, pp. 339-40.

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Not only this, the knowledge of various trees and fruits, particularly the poisonous trees like the Kimphala, and how to remove poison, was also not lacking.²

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² J., I, pp. 170, 271, 272-G. 53, 368, 380.

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It seems, on the whole, that the science of medicine and surgery was far advanced in the Jātaka days, from the primitive stage when folk-medicine was closely connected with charms and sorcery, such as we see it in the Atharvaveda.³

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³ See Bloomfield, in the second volume of the Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, pp. 58 ff. “But the science of indigenous Medicine and Surgery, continuing through all the intervening centuries to the present day, indicates even now a degree of intrinsic worth and vitality, which would well repay a closer study and research than it is now fashionable to accord this science.” K. T. Shah, op. cit., p. 110.

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The Science of Archery—Issāpasippa⁴—once a highly advanced science, has almost lost its place to-day.⁵ In the Jātakas, we have several instances which show how this science had attained to a high state of efficiency.

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⁴ J., I, p. 356: II, p. 87; III, pp. 219; V, p. 127.

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⁵ It is perhaps only when we happen to witness the wonderful feats of a brahmacārī of some gurukula that we are reminded of its former glory.

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In the Asadisa Jātaka,⁶ we see Prince Asadisa exhibiting a marvellous feat of archery. The king, in whose service he was employed had asked him to bring down a cluster of mango-fruits. The archer chose a suitable position. He spread a screen around him and there (antosānim) doffed the white cloth which he wore over all, and put on a red cloth next his skin; then he fastened his girdle, and donned a red waistcloth. From a bag he took out a sword in pieces, which he put together and girt on his left side. Then he put on a mailcoat of gold, fastened his bow-case (cāpanālim) over his back, and took out his great ramshorn bow (meṇḍakamahādhanu), made in several pieces, which he fitted together, fixed the bow-string, red as coral (pavālavaṇṇaṃ jīyaṃ); put a turban upon his head; twirling the arrow with his nails, he threw open the screen and came out, prepared for the amazing feat.... He sped the arrow forth swiftly (vegaṃ janetvā kaṇḍaṃ khipi). As the arrow went up, it pierced the exact centre of the mango stalk (ambapiṇḍivantāni yāva-majjhaṃ kanta-mānaṃ).... Then he let fly another arrow with greater speed than the first. This struck the feather (puṃkhe) of the first arrow, and turned it back.... Down it came, not a hairbreadth out either way, but neatly cut through the stalk of the mango cluster.⁷

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⁶ J., II, pp. 88-9.

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⁷ J., II, pp. 88-91-G, 59—dūrepāti akkhaṇavedhi.

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More amazing and marvellous are the feats of the master-archer Jotipāla of the *Sarabhaṅga Jātaka*.¹ The same preliminary preparations are made. He has summoned for expert archers-men, who pierce like lightning (*akkhaṇavedhi*), able to split a hair (*vālavedhi*), and to shoot at a sound without seeing (*saddavedhi*), and to cleave a falling arrow (*saravedhi*), just as Asadisa did; he sets up a pavilion in a square enclosure in the palace yard, and at the four corners he stations the four archers equipped with plentiful of arrows. He himself stands in the middle with an arrow tipped with adamant (*vajiraggain nārācam*), and asks the four men to shoot him all at once. They begin to shoot their arrows simultaneously. But he strikes them severally with his own iron arrow, and makes them drop on the ground, and remains unhurt to the last. This is called the arrow-defence (*sarapaṭibāhanam*). Then to show that he can shoot the four men posted at the four corners, with a single arrow, he fixes four plantains (*kadaliyo*) at the four corners, and fastening a scarlet thread (*rattasuttakam*) on the feathered part of the arrow, he shoots it aiming at one of the plantains. The arrow strikes it, and then the second, the third and the fourth, one after another, and then strikes the first, which it has already pierced, and so returns to the archer's hand: the plantains stand encircled with the thread. This is called the ‘pierced circle’—*Cakkaviddham*. Other feats performed are: arrow-stick (*saralaṭṭhi*), arrow-rope (*sararajju*), arrow-plait (*saraveni*), arrow-terrace (*sarapāsāda*), arrow-pavilion (*saramandapam*), arrow-wall (*sarapākāram*), arrow-stairs (*sarasopānam*), arrow-tank (*sarapokkharanī*), blossoming the arrow-lotus (*sarapadumam nāma pupphāpesi*), and raining a shower of arrows (*saravassam*). Then again he cleaves seven incomparably huge substances, pierces a plank of fig wood, eight inches (*aṅgula*) thick, a plank of asana wood, four inches thick, a copper plate (*tambapaṭṭam*) two inches thick, an iron plate (*ayapaṭṭam*) one inch thick, and pierces a hundred boards (*phalakasatam*) joined together, one after another, shoots an arrow at the front part of wagons full of straw and sand and planks, and makes it come out at the back part, does the same thing from back to front; drives an arrow through a space of over a furlong (*usabhā*) in water, and more than two furlongs of earth, and last not the least, pierces a hair at the distance of half a furlong, at the first sign of its being moved by the wind.² All these were of course extraordinary performances (*asādhāraṇāni*) of skill, but not at all impossible. Art of hitting (*sakkharakhipanasippa*) was also a wonderful thing. A marksman cuts the foliage of a tree into various shapes asked for— an elephant or a horse for instance—by throwing stones after stones and he also through slit in the curtain right into the chaplains' gullet (*tālutalam*), one by one, like flies, (*sukkhā ajalaṇḍikā*).³

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¹ J., V, pp. 129-131.

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² Ibid.

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³ J., I, pp. 418-20.

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Among the Fine Arts, the *Kalās* or *sippas*, appertaining to music both vocal (*gīta*) and instrumental (*vādita*)—and dancing (*nacca*) were widely cultivated. Not only the kings and nobles who were, as we saw, always surrounded with musicians (*gandhabbā*) and dancers (naṭanaccakā),¹ but ordinary people too loved to sing and dance or hear and witness others doing so. Women of course were naturally gifted in this respect. Even a poor girl gathering firewood in a garden does her work with the accompaniment of singing.² Another young girl gathers flowers of all kinds, makes them into a flower-wreath (pupphacumbatakam), climbs a mango tree with beautiful flowers, standing on the bank of a river, and plays there, dropping flowers into the water and singing in a sweet voice.³ A great merchant's son does not go after any serious learning but only enjoys in singing and dancing (gītanacca).⁴ Undoubtedly people had a great love for music.⁵ The kinnaras, as usual, are noted for sweet music and dancing.⁶ Naturally there were master-musicians (gandhabbā), like Guttila and Musila⁷ and Sagga,⁸ who taught music to others and sometimes also held competition among themselves.

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Unfortunately we do not get much information as to the technical character of vocal music except that it was sweet (madhura). But there must have been certain rāgas or modes of singing corresponding to the tunes of musical instruments, no doubt. The keeping of perfect harmony between the notes of song and the tunes of the cords only could produce the best music.⁹

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Among the musical instruments (turiyāni),¹⁰ the vīṇā¹¹ even then was the most popular. Now, what kind of vīṇā was this? It appears that this old vīṇā was a harp without a post; it had a hollow belly (doṇi), covered with a board or stretched leather (camma-pokkhara):¹² this belly was broader towards the back, where its end was rounded, and tapered towards the front, where it was continued into an upstanding curved arm (daṇḍa)¹³ which often terminated in a little scroll like the head of a violin. It had seven strings (sattatanti),¹⁴

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1. e. g., J., I, p. 470; V. pp. 249, 261, 506-7-G. 478.
2. J., I, p. 134: gāyitvā gāyitvā; a boy of 7 years at J., V, p. 249.
3. J., IV, p. 231. madhurena surena gāyanti; see also II, p. 329.
4. J., IV, p. 255: cf. also IV, p. 160-G. 13.
5. J., V, p. 290: Even the ascetics indulge in it: J., I, p. 362-G. 80.
6. J., IV, p. 252: ete madhurena surena gāyanti, manuññaṃ naccanti.
7. J., II, pp. 248 ff.
8. J., III, pp. 188 ff.
9. J., II, p. 329: III, p. 188 "tantissarena gītassarena tantissaram anattikkamite madhurena surena gāyi or gandhabbam ādāyi.
10. The primary idea of turiya, tura or tūrya, is instrumental music, that is vādita, or orchestra, as we might term it. Cf. Pārisaram Kumbhathūnaṃ nisithe, atho pi ve nippurisaṃ hi tūriyam: J., V, p. 506-G, 478; generally the term is used for any musical instrument, as vīṇādini turiyāni. III. p. 40: nānā turiyāni gahetvā: VI, p. 289: the word appears to have been used in the Buddhist literature in the triple sense of musical measure (tāla) musical instrument, and playing on musical instruments with or without the accompaniment of dancing, singing and the rest. See Barua, Barhut Inscriptions, p. 51: the label on the Barhut railing reads: Sādika sammadam-turam devānam: Ibid., p. 47.
11. Cf. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, J. A. O. S., 50, pp. 244-53: 51, pp. 47, 284: 57, pp. 101-3; N. B. Divatia, Annals B. O. R. I., XII, pp. 362-71.
12. Cf. J., VI, p. 580-G. 2389: Vādantu ekapokkharaṃ.
13. J., II, pp. 225: Vīṇādaṇḍako viya saṃkuṭito, 226-G. 163. So' yaṃ saṃkuṭito seti chinnalantiyathā vīṇā 252 (suddhadaṇḍa).
14. J., II, pp. 252-3-G. 184; VI, p. 51-G. 234 "Kadā visaṃ virujako sattatantimanoramam."

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which were one above the other, and stretched from the arm to the belly, forming as it were arcs to the crescent of the whole frame: The top-most string was called the *bhamaratanti*-bee-string;¹ all these strings passed through holes (*chiddāni*)² in the flat surface (parchment sounding board) of the belly, and probably also passed through, and were fastened to, its rounded under-side (*pokkhara*). The weight of the instrument lay well back. Thus, from this description of the different parts of the *vīṇā*,³ it becomes clear that it was much simpler than the *bin* of the modern type,⁴ but similar to that depicted in the sculptural representations at Barhut and elsewhere,⁵ and was something like the accompanying illustration.⁶

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¹ J., II. p. 253 here the seven strings are broken in succession, the player performing on those remaining, and finally on the arm alone. The first string to be broken is *bhamaratanti* and it should be the top-most one, for this being the longest would have the lowest note.

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² J., III, p. 507.

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³ See *Milindapañho*, p. 53 (Trencher).

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⁴ See illustration, *Annals B. O. R. I.*, XII, p. 364.

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⁵ See illustrations, *J. A. O. S.*, 50. 240.

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⁶ Reproduced from A. K. Coomaraswamy, *op. cit.*, 50 p. 246.

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This old *vīṇā* was used equally by men and women, either as a solo instrument,⁷ or as an accompaniment to song,⁸ but even more often to accompany dancing,⁹ whether dramatic or professional.¹⁰ It was held under the left arm or in the lap, with its thin arm projecting forwards and upwards. It was played upon by the finger-nails (*agganakhehi*)¹¹ (of the right hand). From the *Guttila Jātaka*,¹² which presents before us the two master-musicians, playing the *vīṇā*, we also know something of the tuning of the harp. Musila plays the *vīṇā*, first having tuned it to a high pitch (*uttamamucchanāya mucchetvā vādesi*); then he tunes it lower to a medium pitch (*majjhimamucchanāya*) and finally plays with the strings slack (*sithila*).¹³ Evidently all the seven strings resounding make a music powerful and divine.¹ In the case of a harp for charming elephants—*Hatthikantā-vīṇā*,² three of the strings have magical affects when struck.

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⁷ *Cf.* J., II, pp. 248 *ff.*
8. *e.g.*, J., II, p. 329, III, p. 188 : IV, p. 470.

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⁹ J., I, p 292 : *Cf. Hindu Tales*, p. 105-6, king Udayana playing on the *vīṇā* and the queen dancing.

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¹⁰ J., III, p. 507.

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¹¹ J., IV, p. 470.

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¹² J., II, pp. 248 *ff.*
13. *Mucchanā* is evidently used in the older sense equivalent to *sthāna*, pitch or register; but now *mūrchanā* has come to mean mode, and there are seven *mūrchanās* in each register of which seven are called *jātis*, a term practically equal to *rāga*; *jātivīnā* occurring in J., II, p. 249 should mean, according to Coomaraswamy, not 'a beautiful *vīṇā*,' but one adapted to the playing of *Jātis*: *op cit.*, pp. 249-50.

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¹ J., II, p. 253.,

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² J., VI, pp. 255, 262.

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Of other string-instruments, we have no knowledge.³ But of other kinds of musical instruments coming under the *pañcaṅgika-tūriyaṃ*,⁴ many are mentioned: *Pāṇissara*, *sammatāla* or the cymbals, *kumbhathūna* (*udakavādya*?) playing on cups filled with water in varying proportions, various kinds of drums—*Bherī*, *mutiṅgā*, *muraja*, *ālambara*, *ānakā*—, conches, etc.—*saṅkhā*, *paṇavadeṇḍimā*, *kharamukhaṃ*, *godhāparivādentikā*, *kuṭumbatiṇḍimāni*.⁵ Of the wind instruments, *veṇu*, or the flute was popular.⁶

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³ *Ācārāṅga Sūtra*, II, 11, 2 mentions *Vīṇā*, *vepamei*, *Vadeisaka*, *Tuṇaka*, *Pānaka*, *Tum-baviṇika* or *Dhamkina*.

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⁴ See *Kāmasūtra*, Benares Ed. p. 33.

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⁵ J., II, p. 344; V, pp. 390-G. 206; VI, pp. 217-G. 931: 276-G. 1198; 277-G. 1199-1200 580-G. 2389-90.

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⁶ J., IV, p. 284: See *Ācārāṅga Sūtra*, II, 111-4.

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Music and dancing go together. The *Naṭa-naṭakas* are frequently mentioned in the stories.⁷ Much of this dancing seems to have been of an acrobatic character, like the javeline dance, or the pole dance.⁸ But serene dance, with waving hands, regulating foot-falls and graceful movements, performed with the accompaniment of the *vīṇā* or the *veṇu*, is also known.⁹ That inborn instinct of graceful movements led people to see this phenomena not only among human beings, but also in Nature (Cf., the Vedic *uṣas*) in beasts and birds. And people liked to train pea-cocks and pea-hens to utter sweet notes and dance at the snapping of fingers and clapping of hands.¹⁰

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⁷ J., III, p. 61; IV, pp. 284, 323-4; V, pp. 249, 276; VI, pp. 7, 580-G. 2388.

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⁸ *Vamsa-dhopana* at J., IV, p. 390, is taken to mean an acrobatic performance corresponding to *Vamsa-nṛtyam* of the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, XIII, 6, 2, 20, and not flute-playing as we said before: Cf. J. A. O. S., 48, p. 281, 2.

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⁹ Cf. J., IV, p. 284-muduke hatthe nāmetvā VI, p. 265: *manoramanākāreṇa naccitvā*. See also IV, p. 324.

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¹⁰ J., II, p. 37: III, p. 127: IV, p. 336: Cf. *Sītā* in the *Uttararāmacaritam*, III, 19. *Karakisalayatālairmugdhayā nartyamānam*. Cf. on '*Nṛtu*' I. H. Q., IX, p. 154.

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The Pictorial art, *cittakamma*, also seems to have been highly developed and to have added its own quota to the endless artistic glories of India. Paintings were drawn on the walls (*bhitti*) as well as on panels or boards (*phalaka*).¹¹ We read of Prince Kusa preparing a palm-leaf fan for his beloved Pabhāvatī, and depicting on it a white umbrella, and taking as his subject-matter a banquet hall, amongst a variety of other forms, he represents a standing figure of Pabhāvatī.¹² Balls, with various designs painted on them in a variety of colours, are also mentioned (*cittabhenduka*).¹³ In the great religious assembly constructed under the supervision of the wise Mahosadha, painters (*cittakāre*) painted beautiful pictures (*ramaṇīyam cittakamma*), so that the hall became like Sakka’s heavenly palace Sudhammā.¹ And on the walls on either side in the great tunnel—*Mahā-ummagga*—clever painters made various kinds of paintings: the splendour of Sakka, the zones of Mount Sineru, the sea and the ocean, the four continents, Himavat, Lake Anotatta, the Vermillion Mountain, Sun and Moon, the heaven of the four great kings with the six heavens of sense and their divisions—all were to be seen in the paintings,² reminding us of the marvellous paintings in the grand cathedral caves of Ajaṇṭā.³

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¹¹ J., I, p. 304.

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¹² J., V, pp. 291-2: *tālavantam katvā tattheva vetacchattam āpānabhūmiṃ ca vatthuṃ ga-helvā thitam Pabhāvatim ca ti nānārūpāni dasseti*.

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¹³ J., V, pp. 196, 203-G. 37; Pavilions (*vimānas*) made with canvas dyed in many a tint (*nānārattehi vatthehi*): J., IV, p. 304-G. 75; decorated peaks on gate-houses (*nānācittam*): VI, p. 125-6-G. 558, 562.

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¹ J., VI, p. 333.

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² J., VI, p. 432; also VI, pp. 412, 481.

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³ *Jayamaṅgalā* commentary on Vātsyāyana’s *Kāmasūtra* quotes a beautiful verse, apparently from a *Śilpa śāstra* about the six great requisites of painting, viz., “knowledge of appearances, correct perception, measure and structure of forms, action of feelings on forms, infusion of grace or artistic representation, similitude and artistic manner of using brush and colours.” See *Modern Review*, 1914, pp. 581-2.

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For this *Cittakamma* or painting, the surface of the wall appears to have been most ordinarily used, as even the ordinary houses had the walls decorated with vermillion letters, and perhaps some other representations also. The walls, on which the paintings were to be made, must be carefully plastered, probably coated with lime and nicely polished (*sudhālepanam*).⁴ Lattice-work (*kilañja*) was also known.⁵

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⁴ J., VI, p. 432; *Cf.* J. A. O. S., 48, p. 263; *I. H. Q.*, III, p. 53: An old booklet named *Sudhālepavidhānam* describes the method of plastering the walls before painting, shows the way how to prepare the several colours for painting and explains the process of painting the walls: See *I. H. Q.*, III, pp. 53-9.

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⁵ J., VI, p. 412. See description of Indasālaguhā in the *Dīgha-Nikāya*, II, *Sakkapañha Suttanta* and its commentaries; also Barua, *Barhut Jātaka Scenes*.

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The plastic arts, particularly sculpture, appear to be more difficult of execution and perfection than the pictorial, at first sight. Obviously the manual labour is greater and the knowledge of anatomy must be higher owing to the need to show the third dimension. However, the creative excellence and uniqueness are distinctly superior in painting which soars to limit less heights, in imagination and finery. Sculpture flourished side by side with, if not to the same extent as, painting in the days of the *Jātaka* stories. Unfortunately no specimen of sculptural achievements has survived which can be satisfactorily identified as belonging to this period, though the sculptor’s art is as old as the Indus valley, as the antiquities discovered at Mohenjodāro and Harappā clearly testify.⁶

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⁶ One has only to go over the marvellous facts and figures and illustrations embodied in the 3 bulky volumes of *Mohenjodāro and the Indus Civilization* by John Marshall. “While the remains found in the Sind valley,” says Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, certainly go back to the third or fourth millennium B.C., it must not be supposed that a complete hiatus divides this early period from later times. A part of the remains at Mohenjodāro probably dates between 1000 and 400 B.C. and on the other hand the minor antiquities from various Indian sites, as at Basrāh, Taxila (Bhir mound), Pāṭaliputra and South Indian prehistoric sites go back at least to the 5th century B.C. *History of Indian and Indonesian Art*, pp. 4-5.

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The earliest material for carving selected by the Indian artist seems to have been wood. Gradually stone and metal revealed before the artist an inexhaustible field for the display of his skill and craftsmanship. The *Jātakas* inform us that carving out figures from wood was known. The Brāhmaṇa of the Asātamanta-Jātaka, cuts a fig tree and prepares a life-size wooden figure from it.¹ We also hear of a stone-image (silāpatimā) of an elephant erected at the Karaṇḍaka monastery (assamapadam),² which at once brings before our eyes that famous stone-elephant of Dhauli (Orissa) where the Edicts of Aśoka are written.³ In the great tunnel constructed by Mahosadha, there were, in the royal chambers, statues of women (mātugāmapotthakarūpakāni), very beautiful; without touching them no one could tell they were not human.⁴ And we have numerous references to statues of gold (suvaṇṇa paṭimā),⁵ though of their artistic qualities we have nothing to say. We also read of a gate house which had a decorated peak and was surrounded by statues of Indra as though guarded by tigers⁶.

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¹ J., I, p. 287. Udumbararukkhaṃ chinditvā attano pamāṇena kaṭṭharūpakaṃ katvā.

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² J., IV, p. 95.

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³ See Ludwig Bachhofer, Early Indian Sculpture, I, pl. 1.

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⁴ J., VI, p. 432.

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⁵ J., I, p. 343 : III, p. 93 : IV, p. 105 : V, p. 282.

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⁶ J., VI, pp. 125-6-G. 558, 562 : Cittakūṭadvārakoṭṭhakaṃ parivāretvā thitā Indapatimā : ... akhinnaṃ Indasadisehi vyaggheh’ eva surakkhitaṃ : Cf. A. K. Coomaraswamy, J.A.O. S., 48 p. 257.

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The Jātakas nowhere expressly mention an image of god, but from what we are told of the Cetiyas, thūpas and the devakulas or the temples outside the cities, where presumably the gods or devatās were worshipped, we might assume that such images were not unfamiliar in those days. Within a few centuries these shrines developed into those wonderful structures, at Barhut and at Sāñchī among others, where series of scenes from these very stories first begin to challenge the artist's imagination and embody his skill.⁷

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⁷ K. T. Shah, op. cit., p. 140. The splendour that was India, Bombay, 1930

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As usual, the demand for beautiful dolls and playthings (Kīlabhaṇḍakaṃ) of which the children were very fond, also offered a vast field for the exercise of the plastic art.⁸

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⁸ J., VI, p. 6—dārakānaṃ nāma kīlabhaṇḍakaṃ piyaṃ hoti ti suvaṇṇādimayāni hatthi rūpakādīni avidure thapesum.

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ARCHITEC- TURE.

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Of secular architecture, we have nothing much to say, over and above what has been already said as regards ‘housing’ and village-construction, as also the fortifications of a city. The mention of the Vatthuvijjācariyas or men qualified for testing sites for house-building⁹ and of Vissakammā, the Divine Architect,¹⁰ sufficiently shows the importance of secular architectural science. The existence of great halls and palaces cannot be doubted. The cyclopean walls of Old Rājagaha, frequently occurring in the stories, are undoubtedly very ancient.¹¹ The rativaddhanapāsāda and the pupphakapāsāda as also the iron-palace—ayoghara—are mentioned.¹² We hear of palaces resting on a single pillar (*ekathūnaka-pāsāda*).¹ Some palaces had huge octagonal stone-columns (*silāthambhe*) numbering one thousand.² Several architectural terms seem to be not devoid of interest:³ *Koṭṭhaka* is usually ‘gatehouse’;⁴ *Koṭṭhāgāra* is a store house,⁵ but *Kūṭāgāra* generally means a house with a finial or roof ridge:⁶ *Pañjara* has the double significance of ‘attic’ and ‘dormer-window,’⁷ and *Kaṇṇikā* is connected with the rafters (*gopāṇasiyo*) and is to be seen from within the house by looking up: it is probably always ornamented, very likely representing an inverted lotus. It is distinct from the rest of the roof. It is patera.⁸

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⁹ J., I, p. 297; IV, p. 323.

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¹⁰ J., I, pp. 314-5; VI, p. 332.

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¹¹ For other remains of Post-Vedic pre-Mauryan date see Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, pp. 10 ff.

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¹² J., IV, pp. 122, 492; V, p. 187; also VI, pp. 117-9.

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¹ J., IV, pp. 79, 153.

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² J., IV, p. 215 : VI, pp. 127-G. 568 : 173-G. 769 : *atthamsā sukatā thambhā sabbe veluriyamayā sahassathambhā pāsādā*.

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³ *Cf.* A. K. Coomaraswamy, J. A. O. S., 48, pp. 250 ff.

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⁴ J., I, pp. 227, 351 ; II, p. 431 : VI, p. 413.

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⁵ For instance, J., V, p. 184-G. 212-3:

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⁶ J., V, p. 188-G. 225-6; *Cf.* J. A. O. S., 50, p. 243.

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⁷ e.g., J., II, p. 172 (*rathapañjara*); III, p. 379 (*Vivata sīhapañjara*); IV, pp. 60-G. 100; 356.

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⁸ J., I, p. 201 : III, pp. 317-9-G. 1; 431, 472; See A. K. Coomaraswamy, J. A. O. S., 50, pp. 238 ff.

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The *Mahā-ummagga Jātaka*⁹ presents before us indeed a marvellous underground construction—a great engineering feat. The description of the construction of the great tunnel is indeed too realistic to be passed off unnoticed: the mouth of the tunnel was upon the Ganges’ bank; its entrance was in the city. It was provided with a door, eighteen hands high, fitted with machinery (*Yantayuttadvāra*) so that all were closed by pressing a peg (*āṇi*). On either side, the tunnel was built up with bricks (*iṭṭhikāhi*) and worked with stucco (*sudhākammam*); it was roofed over with planks (*padaracchanam*) and plastered with cement (*ullokamattikā*) and then whitewashed (*setakammam*). In all there were eighty great doors and sixty-four small ones, all of which closed by pressing one peg and opened by pressing another. On either side were some hundreds of cells for placing lamps (*dīpālayā*), and they also were provided with machinery, so that when one was opened, all were opened, and when one was shut, all were shut. On either side, there were one hundred and one bed-rooms (*sayanagabbhā*) for one hundred and one Khattiyas. In each of these was laid a variegated bed, as also a great couch shaded by a white umbrella, a throne placed near the couch and a statue of a woman of surpassing beauty. Also on either side of the tunnel, skilful painters made all sorts of paintings as described before. The floor was like a silver-plate being strewn with sand (*vālukā*). On the roof were full-blown lotus flowers (*ullo-kapadumāni*). On both sides were booths (*āpaṇe*) of all kinds; here and there were hung festoons of flowers and scented blooms. Thus they adorned the tunnel until it was like the divine hall of Sudhammā,¹⁰ A grand construction, this. The Ajaṇṭā and Ellorā caves, out of so many existing rock-cut structures, show that the above description is not simply an imaginative picture.¹¹

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⁹ J., VI, pp. 332-3; 428-36; 459-60.

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¹⁰ J., VI, p. 432.

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¹¹ Underground houses are also mentioned in the Jaina *Sūtras*: *Cf.* Ācārāṅga Sūtra, II, 3, 3, 1. The *Mahāvagga*, I, 30, 4 mentions five kinds of dwellings *Vihāras*, *Addhayogas*, *Pāsādas*, *Hammiyas*, and the *silāguhās*; for constructing of wells, tanks and lakes see J., III, p. 416; V, p. 233; VI, p. 333; 344-5.

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Of religious architecture, we only discern the first beginnings in the stories. We do find mention of the *devakulas* (lit. residence of the gods) or temples,¹ but we do not know anything about the nature and architectural character of these buildings, except that they were the resort-places of the travellers, thus corresponding to the later-day *dharmaśālās*.

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¹ J., III, p. 238; IV, p. 39; criticising Lassen who adduced, as a second argument in favour of the priority of Buddhism to Jainism, the fact that both sects erected temples, Jacobi says :.... “Instead of seeing in the Buddhists the originals, and in the Jainas the imitators, with regard to the erection of temples and worship of statues, we assume that both sects were, independently from each other, brought to adopt this practice by the perpetual and irresistible influence of the religious development of the people in India: *Jaina Sūtra*, (*S.B.E.* XXII) Intro. p. xxi.

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Then again, we have several references to *thūpas* (*Stūpas*),² built upon the remains of the deceased persons. The *Sujāta Jātaka*³ relates, that a land-owner from the day of his father’s death was filled with sorrow, and taking his bones from the place of cremation he erected an earth-mound (*mattikāthūpam*) in his pleasure-garden, and depositing the remains (*atthīni*) there, he visited the place from time to time, adorned the tope with flowers and studiously lamented, neglecting his daily duties and personal comforts.⁴ Another *Jātaka*⁵ gives an account, much more minute, of the obsequies of a king. The ladies of the royal harem came to the cemetery (*ālāhanam*), as retinue for the deceased king, with red garments, disheveled hair and torches in their hands. The ministers made a funeral pyre (*dārūnam citakam*) with a hundred wagon-loads of wood. On the spot, where the body was burnt, a shrine (*Cetiya*) was erected and honoured for seven days with offerings of incense and flowers. The burnt skull (*sīsakapālam*) inlaid with gold, was put at the king’s gate, raised on the spear-like staff (*kuntaggee*) serving as royal insignia, and was honoured. Then taking it as a relic (*dhātu*) another shrine (*Cetiya*) was built and honoured with incense and garlands.

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² The origin of the form *Thūpa* is traced back to an Indo-European word like *Tumba*, from which the English Tomb or the French *Tombe* has been arrived. According to this connection the *stūpa* is nothing but a Tomb or tumulus: Barua, *I. H. Q.*, II, p. 16.

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³ J., III, pp. 155 ff.

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⁴ Dr. Barua remarks: “Though here the custom is one of cremation and the man is a member of the Āryan or cultured community, he is said to have lamented, being subject to natural weakness and subconsciously under the superstitious belief that his weeping might bring back the departed soul.” *I. H. Q.*, II, p. 19: also *Barhut stone as a story-teller*. Scene in Cunningham’s *Stūpa of Barhut*, pl. xlvii, 3.

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⁵ J., III, pp. 374-5.

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From these two typical cases, we come to know something about the original and simpler character of the *thūpa*⁶ and the *Cetiya*,⁷ ‘The topes (*thūpas*),’ says Rhys Davids,⁸ ‘were not especially Buddhist monuments, but in fact, pre-Buddhistic, and indeed only a slight modification of a worldwide custom.’ Originally made, in the Āryan days, of wood or bamboo, these soon began to give place to more enduring structures. Instead of heaps of earth or of stones covered with earth, as had been the custom in more ancient times, there now were beginning to be built solid brick structures. “The first step was probably merely to build the cairn more carefully than usual with stones, and to cover the outside with fine *cunam* plaster to give it a marble-like surface. The next step was to build the cairn of concentric layers of the huge bricks in use at the time and to surround the whole with a wooden railing.”¹ None of the most ancient structures of this kind have survived or been explored sufficiently to enable a restoration to be drawn. But some idea can, no doubt, be had from examples of a little later period.² The most glorious examples of the *stūpa* now in existence, *viz.*, those of Barhut and Sāñchī, with their wealth of inside and outside decoration, presuppose a few centuries of artistic as well as religious development.³

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⁶ Cf. also J., III, p. 434: built on the square; *mahāthūpa* J., III, p. 461.

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⁷ See also J., II, p. 256: III, p. 375; VI, pp. 68, 173-G. 768 (*vanacetiyāni*); Caitya-Vṛkṣas in the *Atharvaveda*, *pariśiṣṭa*.

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⁸ *Buddhist India*, p. 80. See also *I. H. Q.*, II, p. 229.

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¹ *Buddhist India*, p. 82.

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² The tope built by the Sākiyan Kinsmen of the Buddha over their portion of the remains of his funeral pyre is an earlier example, but this is still in ruins: *Ibid.* p. 132, fig. 33.

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³ Some architectural terms in regard to the *thūpa* and the *Cetiya* are known to the *Jātakas*: *Vedikā* or the railing, *torana*, the arch, and *dvāra* the gateway: J., V, p. 511; the *cetiyas* were sometimes marked with finger-prints, *gandhapañcāngulikam*; J., II, p. 256.

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