commentator, a professor of the science of SIVA BHAIRAVA in conjunction with UMA his consort.-I will give the original Sanscrit and Pracrit (the latter spoken by the Buddhist, being his own Pálí,-the former by the other two speakers) with a different version from that of Dr. TAYLOR, distinguishing prose and verse exactly as in the original premising, that the ingenious author does not intend to give any exaggeration or caricature, but simply to exhibit a model of an existing mode of belief and practice in his time: such as may be traced also, under certain modifications even now; after centuries of Mahomedan and Christian rule have interfered with the free exercise of such homicidal worship. ततः प्रविशति सोमसिद्धान्तः कापालिकरूपधारी खङ्गहस्तः [परिक्रम्य] नरास्थिमालाकृतचारुभूषणः श्मशानवासी ढकपालभाजनः । पश्यामि योगाञ्जनशुद्धदर्शनो जगन्मिथोभिन्नमभिन्नमीश्वरात् ॥ क्षपणकः। एसेा काबालिब्धवदं पुलिसो धारेदि तायं पुच्छि कापालिकः। बरे क्षपणक धम्मं तावदस्माकमवधारय । वा ब्रह्मकपालकल्पितसुरापानेन नः पारणा । सद्यः कृत्तकठोरकण्ठविगलत्की लालधारोव ने रथे॑ नः पुरुषेोपहारबलिभिर्देवो महान् भैरवः ॥ भिक्षुः । [क] पिधाय ] बुद्ध बुद्ध अहो दाण्णा ब्रह्मचय्यां । क्षप । व्यलियन्त कालिच्यन्त व्यहो घोरपावकालिना केनावि विप्पलब्धा एसो बलायो । कापा । [सक्रोधं] व्याः पाप पाषण्डापसद मुण्डितमुण्ड चण्डालवेश केशो हुञ्चक बरे विप्रलम्भक स किल चतुर्दशभुवनोत्पत्तिस्थितिप्रलय प्रवर्त्तयिता वेदान्तसिद्धान्त प्रसिद्धविभवो भगवान् भवानीपतिः । दर्शयामस्तहिं धर्म्मस्यास्य महिमानं । हरिहरसुरन्येष्ठश्रेष्ठान् सुरामहमाइये वियति चरतां नक्षत्राणां वयनि गतीरपि । सनगनगरीमम्भःपूर्णां विधाय महीमिमां कलय सकलं भूयस्तोयं क्षणेन पिवामि तत् ॥ क्षप । छाल कावालिका कादोन्नव भणामि केणावि इन्दव्बालिना कालीकां इन्दव्यालं दिशिन विप्पलब्धो सित्ति 1 कापा । च्याः पाप पुनरपि महेश्वर ऐन्द्रजालिक इत्याक्षिपसि तन्न मर्षणीयं ते है।रात्म्यं । तदहमस्य एतत्करालकरबालनिकृत्तकण्ठ दत्त्वा बलिं डमण्डंकृतिहतभूत [इति खङ्गमुद्यच्छति । ] IN ACT III. To them, enter SOMA-SIDDHANTA in the guise of a Kápálika (or man of skulls), with a sword in his hand. Soma-Sid. (walking about.) With goodly necklace deck'd of bones of men, Composed, but still all one with the Supreme. Buddhist. This man professes the rule of a Kápálika. I will ask him what it is.-(Going up to him.) O, ho! you with the bone and skull necklace, what are your notions of happiness and salvation? Soma-Sid. Wretch of a Buddhist! Well; hear what is our religion. With flesh of men, with brain and fat well smear'd, With human offerings meet, our God, dread BHAIRAVA. Brahman Mendicant, (stopping his ears.) Buddhist, Buddhist, what think you of this? O horrible discipline! Buddhist. Sacred Arhata! some awful sinner has surely deceived that man. Soma-Siddhanta (in a rage). Aha!-sinner that thou art,-vilest of heretics, with thy shaven erown, drest like the lowest outcasts, uncombed one, away with thee! Is not the blessed husband of BHAVANI the sole cause of the creation, preservation, and destruction of the fourteen worlds, and his power established by the fullest demonstration of the Védant? Let us yet shew even you the magnificence of this religion. I call at will the best of gods, great HARI, With my sole voice the course of stars that wander Reduce once more to water—and behold I drink it up. Buddhist. Alas! poor Kápálika, this is just what I said. You have been de ceived by some juggler, spreading out false images before you. Soma-Siddhanta. What, again, thou sinner! Dost thou dare to call the great MAHESVARA a juggler? This thy malignity must not be forgiven. Lo, therefore, With foaming floods of gore that gush amain From throat well severed with this sabre's edge, I make my sacrifice to him that calls With beat of drum the hosts of creatures after him, (Draws his sword.) [How the hand of the Tantric zealot is arrested from smiting the unfortunate Buddhist,—how he then enters on a psychological defence of his opinions,— how he is then joined by SRADDHA' (or Faith !) in the character of a Kapaliní, who by her blandishments leads both the Brahman mendicant and the Buddhist, to deport themselves like Tantrists,-and how they all then join SOMA-SIDDHANTA in a meditative dance;—all this and other wonders may be found by the curious in the drama above cited.] NOTE B. In once more expressing the opinion, that the Gupta dynasty of our present monuments is posterior to the Christian era, I am by no means insensible to the new light that Mr. TURNOUR has thrown on the history of SANDRA COTTUs in the extracts he has given from a learned commentary on the Mahá-wanso, pp. lxxi-lxxxii. of his very interesting preface to that great historical work. That some of my objections to the identity of the two CHANDRA-GUPTAS are removed, or at least greatly weakened, I freely admit: there certainly appears ancient Buddhist authority (for such is apparently the Atta-katha or Astatakatha of the Uttara-vihára priests alleged by the commentator) for making the Mauryas a branch of the Solar race; utterly inadmissible as is the etymology assigned for that name in the Tíká (p. lxxvi.) as well as for the name of SISUNAGA, ancestor of the Nandas, (pp. lxxii. lxxiii.) It is also very remarkable, in relation to this subject, that the latter prince is there represented as the son of a LIççHAVI Rája, that being apparently the name of a distinguished family in Magadha : LIÇÇHAVI being also the name, in the inscriptions of Allahabad and Bhitárí, of the father-in-law of our CHANDRA-GUPTA I. and maternal grand-father of SAMUDRA-GUPTA. Nevertheless, there still appear to me insurmountable objections to identifying SAMUDRA-GUPTA with VINDU-SARA, the son and successor of CHANDRA-GUPTA MAURYA on the Magadha throne. while a still more evident impossibility is now added of identifying his son, the Vaishnava CHANDRA-GUFTA II. of our present monument, with AsoCA, son of VINDUSÁRA, the zealous ad herent and propagator of Buddhism, not only in his own dominions of Magadha, but the north, east, and south, as far as Ceylon. It is needless to pursue the discrepancy of the genealogies further: the Vaishnava CUMÁRA-GUPTA and the Saivya and Saktya worshipper, SCANDA-GUPTA, have nothing in common with the Buddhist descendants and successors of DHARMÁSOCA. Is it not also very possible that with a view to exalt the immediate ancestry of that most revered prince, the priests of the favored religion may have introduced this account of the Moriya family, as an offspring of the Solar race, so discrepant from that which other Indian accounts, as well as Greek and Roman, give of its origin? That the Buddhist priests, notwithstanding their hostility to caste, are not insensible to considerations of this kind, is evident from the care with which, in the Mahá-wanso and elsewhere, they inculcate the undoubted royal descent of GAUTAMA BUDDHA. NOTE C. The passage above quoted from the Vishnu-Purána seems to have been somewhat differently read by the more modern author of the Srimad Bhagavata,-who here as elsewhere, is apparently only transferring into his own more polished and elaborate verse, the records found in the older Puránic legends. By him the term Gupta, instead of being a proper name, is made an epithet of the earth as ruled or protected (for so the scholiast SRIDHARA has explained it) by the VISVA-SPHATIKA above mentioned, who is here called VISVA-SPHURJI. The close agreement, as well as occasional discrepancy, of the two authorities, will be easily seen from the following extract (Bhagavata, Book xii. chap. 1.) मागधानां च भविता विश्वस्फूर्जिः पुरंजयः करिष्यत्यपरान् वर्ण।न् पुलिन्दयदुमद्रकान् ॥ २० ॥ च्यनुगंगामा प्रयागं गुप्तां भोच्यति मेदिनीं ॥ २१ ॥ "VISVA-SPHURJI, another PURANJAYA, (i. e. says the scholiast, the best of the descendants of PURANJAYA or RIPUNJAYA, who was king of Magadha, B. C. 900,) shall create new barbarian castes, the Pulindas, Yadus and Madras. This ill-minded warrior shall make the greatest part of his subjects to be un-bráhmanical, (or lower than sudras)—and hav ing exterminated the Xattriyas, he shall, in the city of Padmávatí, and on the Ganges, as far as Prayága, derive tribute from the protected earth." The words are explained here by the scholiast to describe the situation of the king's metropolis Padmavati, as being situated in the Ganges above Prayága, or, as he words it, between Allahabad and Haridvár. But this explanation is quite inapplicable to the same words as they stand in the Vishnu-Purána, where they immediately follow the mention of Mathurá, and where the mention of Magadha following induces me to interpret the words "on the Ganges below Prayága" or between Allahabad and the sea. II.-Alphabets of the Tai language. By the Rev. N. BROWN, Missionary in Assam. [We are indebted to Capt. F. JENKINS, Political Agent in Assam, for kindly engaging Mr. BROWN to throw light upon the Ahom and Khamtí alphabets, of which it may be remembered Capt. JENKINS two years ago presented to the Society some manuscript volumes then undecipherable for the want of this indispensable key. The Ahom letters are stated to be copied from an old book in the author's possession. The brief notice of the language itself, (Mr. BROWN writes to Capt. J.) was gathered from a pandit of the Jorháth Rája, whom he employed as teacher for a few months. He did not seem to possess a very perfect knowledge of the Ahom language, and he stated that the same was true of the Ahoms in general, who for the most part have lost all knowledge of their original tongue. Captain JENKINS thinks there can be little doubt that the Ahom rájas came into Assam from the eastward about the beginning of the thirteenth century; and that the immediate cause of their emigration is to be sought for in the breaking up of the Chinese empire by the Moguls, for at the epoch when CHUKAPHA had fixed himself in Assam, KUBLAI KHAN had just established himself in China. We may confidently hope that after a little longer residence at Sadiyá, Mr. BROWN, who is rapidly extending his acquaintance with the different branches of the Shyán language will be induced to favor us with a sketch of the contents of the old Ahom chronicles, which, we are given to understand, certainly exist in Assam, and of which the volume transmitted by Capt. JENKINS may be a portion. Capt. JENKINS alludes to a curious fact, communicated by Mr. BROWN, which should be a further inducement to examine their books; namely, that no trace of Buddhism is to be found in the religion of the Ahoms. This is a remarkable deviation from the circumstances D |