features, are as worthy of credit as those of the travellers of any other time or nation whatever, at least those of Fa hian. With respect to the cui bono, if it be proved that Brahmanism is neither unfathomable in its antiquity, nor unchangeable in its character, we may safely infer that, by proper means, applied in a cautious, kindly, and forbearing spirit, such further changes may be effected, as will raise the intellectual standard of the Hindus, improve their moral and social condition, and assist to promote their eternal welfare.

Groupe of Boodh & attendants on the right of the principal Figure, in Indra Subbah.

W.H. Sykes. Ellora, Oct.12.1819.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

Buddhist Emblems.

BUDDHIST emblems or symbols, have been so frequently referred to in the preceding notes, that I have thought it desirable to arrange upon one plate, those symbols which it has been my fortune to meet with, and to offer also such explanations as my limited knowledge of the subject permits. Almost the whole of the symbols are taken from the fac simile coins published in the Nos. of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; some few from the drawings of the sculptures in the temple or chaitya of Bhilsa; and two or three from my own collection of Buddhist inscriptions in Western India. A knowledge of these emblems is of very considerable importance, as it enables the inquirer at once to fix, with some exceptions, the religious persuasion to which inscriptions or sculptures belong, with which even a solitary emblem may be associated.

The first line represents the various forms in which the chaitya or Buddhist temple for relics of Buddha's or Patriarchs is represented on the coins which have come under my eye. Triple hemispheres, or the first multiple of a triple hemisphere, (probably intended for circles,) are so arranged as to give a pyramidal character to a structure, and the apex is surmounted by various emblems, some of which it will be observed are also met with isolated in the last two lines of the plate. This triple character of forms is not confined to the coins, for I had occasion to notice in my account of the caves of Ellora, that three circles were traced in the chaitya form (two for basement, and one for apex,) on the floors of two of the Buddhist caves. This tri-unite form is probably (as I believe has been observed by Dr. Burn,) the mystic representation of the Buddhist trinity,-Buddha, Dharma, and Sanga, (God, the law, and the clergy or church.)

It is to be remarked, however, that when the chaitya or temple of relics is sculptured out of the rock, and then called a Deghope by Mr. Erskine, it is represented, not by the triple hemispheres, but by a very short truncated cylinder, surmounted by a hemisphere, and crowned with a parasol or an umbrella, or a complicated emblem, such as is shown in my drawing of the Visvakarma cave at Ellora; and such appears to have been the form of the chaitya at Bhilsa, and also of those Mausolea found in Affghanistan and the Punjab; indeed, the funeral edifices described by Mr. Moorcroft at Lè in Ladakh, do not differ much from the old form of the chaitya.

The second line represents various modifications of the form of a wheel, met with on coins in connexion with other Buddhist emblems, and on the sculptures at Ellora. It is also mentioned by Fa hian as being traced upon some religious structures. The Buddhists associated the idea of spiritual as well as temporal dominion with the wheel, and Buddha was called in Pali, Chakkawatti,'or supreme ruler1. But its principal association was connected with the salvation of man; prayers were written out and pasted upon a wheel, and it was then turned upon its axis, with a rapidity proportioned to the fervour and strength of the aspirant for futurity; and each revolution was deemed equivalent to an oral repetition of a prayer; the faster it was turned, therefore, the faster prayers were sent up to heaven, and the sooner the sinner effected the expiation of his offences. Hence, the wheel was called the praying wheel 2!

To understand the third line, it is necessary to premise that each Buddha, or patriarch, had a sacred tree, peculiarly his own, called his Bo-tree, under which, probably like Sakya Buddha, he was supposed to be born, did penance, preached, and died. Mr. Turnour, in naming each of the twentyfour Buddhas who preceded Sakya Buddha, mentions also the Pali name of each species of tree sacred to each Buddha. Amongst the number I recognize the Ficus Indica, Ficus glomerata, Ficus religiosa, Mimosa sirisha, Champaca naga, the Sâla, Shorea robusta, and Terminalia alata glabra: the want of a Pali dictionary disables me from extending the list. It will be seen by the plate that there is an evident although rude attempt to represent different foliage in the various figures of trees, and, consequently, different trees. We may suppose, therefore, that the prince, upon whose coin a particular tree appears, was the follower or disciple of the Buddha, or patriarch, whose tree emblem he adopts. In some cases, the appearance of different trees upon different coins may indicate their being of different

eras.

With respect to the fourth line, the figures 1 and 2, in consequence of the one holding a staff and the other holding a trident, and on some coins being associated with a humped bull, have been deemed to have a connexion with Siva; but on the coins they are associated with Buddhist emblems. On coin No. 4, pl. 25, vol. iii,, p. 436, J. A. S. B., the figure No. 2 stands erect, with his trident, as the only figure on one side of the coin, and, on the other, are the sacred bo-tree, and the chaitya, in the fourth form of the first line of the emblems, both indubitably Buddhist emblems, and the antelope, which is found in many Buddhist sculptures, appears between the two emblems: the figure cannot, therefore, be intended for Siva. But the same figure (naked except at the waist), leaning on a humped bull, is met with on one side of a coin of Kadphises, which represents a figure with a high cap and two ribands floating behind, habited in a kind of frock coat without collar, and putting something upon a small altar without flame-a trident, with a hatchet attached, standing by the side of the altar; the figure, altar,

1 From “Chakka," wheel, and "Watti," the ruler or sustainer; the wheel being typical of the universe.

2 Fa hian, p. 28, note.