In the calculation of dates, I use the favourite starting point for the era of the Indo-Skythian kings, which unfortunately, is not certainly determined, and assume that it is identical with the Saka era of 78-¼ A.D. The rule of these princes could not have fallen later: in my opinion it was somewhat earlier [44] I give here transcripts and restorations of such inscriptions as mention Jaina schools or titles.

1. The inscription which is the most important for my purpose and at the same time one of the best preserved, is Sir A. Cunningham's No. 6, plate xiii, which was found on the base of a Jaina image (Arch. Sur. Rep. vol. III, p. 31). The copy compared with a rubbing gives the following reading, (the letters within parentheses are damaged):

The lacuna in line 2, after Dattilasya, probably contained the word duhituye or dhûtuye and part of a male name of which only the letter vi is visible. In l. 3, possibly kot habiniye is to be read instead of kot hubikiye. As there is room for one more letter at the end of the line, I propose to read mâtuye. In l. 5, Dinâye would stand for Dattâyâh[postvocalic] and be the genitive of a female name Dinnâ or Dattâ, which has been shortened bhâmâvat. There can be no doubt that the word śrî, or śiri, which is required, has stood before Vardhamâna. With these restorations the translation is as follows:

The inscription given Arch. Sur. Rep. vol. XX, plate v, No. 6 reads, according to an excellent rubbing:

2. With the inscription No. 6 of the year 20, No. 4 (plate xiii) agrees; it was also found on a Jaina pedestal. With better readings from a rubbing of the first side only, I propose for the other portions, of which I have no rubbings, the following emendations,--l. 1, Vâniyato kulato, sâkhâto; l. 2, kut umbimye; I also note that the lacuna in line 2, 3th and 4th sides, would be filled exactly by ye śrî-Vardhamânasya pratimâ kâritâ sarvasattvâ. The former existence of the first and last seven letters may be considered certain. My restoration of the whole is,--

and the translation:--

If we now turn to the Kalpasûtra, we find that Sutthiya or Susthita, the eighth successor of Vardhamâna, founded the Kautika or Kodiya gana, which split up into four śâkhâs and four kulas. The third of the former was the Vajrî or Vairî, and the third of the latter was the Vânîya or Vânijja. It is evident that the names of the gan a, kula, and śâkhâ agree with those mentioned in the two inscriptions, Kotiya being a somewhat older form of Kodiya. But it is interesting to note that the further subdivision of the Vairî śâkhâ--the Śirikâ bhatti (Srikâ bhakti) which inscription No. 6 mentions, is not known to the Kalpasûtra. This is a gap such as may by be expected to occur in a list handed down by oral tradition.

3. The Kotika gana is again mentioned in the badly mutilated inscription No. 19, plate xv. A complete restoration is impossible.

It may, however, be inferred from the fragments of the first line that the dedication was made by a woman who was described as the wife (kut umbinî) of one person and as the daughter-in-law (vadhu) of another. The first part of line 2, restored as above gives--"in the congregation of ... out of the Kotiya school, the Praśnavâhanaka line and the Majhamâ branch...." The restoration of the two names Kotiya and Praśnavâhanaka seems to me absolutely certain, because they exactly fill the blanks in the inscription, and because the information in the Kalpasûtra (S. B. E. vol. XXII, p. 293) regarding the Madhyamâśâkhâ points in that direction. The latter work tells us that Priyagantha, the second pupil of Susthita and Supratibuddha, founded a śâkhâ, called Madhyamâ or Majhimâ.

As our inscriptions show that Professor Jacobi's explanation of the terms gan a, kula and śâkhâ [48] is correct and that the first denotes the school, the second the line of teachers, and the third a branch which separated from such a line, it follows that the śâkhâs named in the Kalpasûtra without the mention of a gan a and kula, must belong to the last preceding gan a and derive their origin from one of its kulas. Hence the Madhyamâ śâkhâ doubtless was included in the Kautika gana, and an offshoot of one of its kulas, the fourth of which is called Praśnavâhanaka or Panhavâhanaya. The correctness of these inferences is proved by Râjaśckhara's statement regarding his spiritual descent at the end of the Prabandha kosha, which he composed in Vik. sam[postvocalic] 1405. He informs us that he belonged to the Kotika gana, the Praśnavâhana kula, the Madhyamâ śâkhâ, the Harshapurîya gachha and the Maladhâri samtâna, founded by the illustrious Abhayasûri.

For the last words of l. 2 I do not dare to propose an emendation; I merely note that the gift seems to have consisted of pillars, thabâni, i. e. stambhâh[postvocalic].

4. The Kotiya gana seems finally to be mentioned in pl. xiii, No. 2, where the copy of line 1, 2nd side may be corrected as,--

which I translate--

Varane must be a mistake for the very similar word Chârane. The second kula of this gan a which, according to the Kalpasûtra (S.B.E. vol. XXII, p. 291) was founded by Śrîgupta, the fifth pupil of Ârya Suhastin, is the Prîtidharmika (p. 292). It is easy to see that a similar name is hidden in the compound Petivamikakutavâchakasya 'of the preacher of the Petivâmika line'; and an inscription excavated by Dr. Fuhrer at Mathurâ mentions the Petivâmika (kula) of the Vârana gan a. With the second line little can be done: if the letters prapâ are correct and form a word, one of the objects dedicated must have been a drinking fountain.

6. The inscription No. 20, plate xv offers likewise slightly corrupt and mutilated names of a gan a, a kula and a sâkhâ, mentioned in the Kalpasûtra. In the lithographed copy lines 3-7 are hopeless and there is no rubbing to help. The word thitu 'of a daughter' in line 6, and the following ma.uya which is probably a misreading of mâtuye 'of the mother' show that this dedication also was made by a female. The last four syllables vato maho are probably the remnant of another namaskâra--namo bhagavato Mahâvîrasya. As regards the proper names, Aryya Rehiniya is an impossible form; but on comparison with the next inscription to be mentioned, it is evident that the stone must have read Aryvodchikiyâto or Aryyadehikiyâto g>n â[to] . [49] According to the Kalpasûtra (S.B.E. vol. XXII, p. 291) Ârya-Rohana was the first pupil of Ârya Suhastin and founded the Uddeha gana. The latter split up into four śâkhâs and into six kulas. The name of its fourth śâkhâ, Pûrnapatrikâ, closely resembles--especially in its consonantal elements--that of the inscription, Petaputrikâ, and I do not hesitate in correcting the latter to Ponapatrikâ which would be the equivalent of Sansk. Paurnapatrikâ. Among the six kulas is the Parihâsaka, and considering the other agreements, I believe it probable that the mutilated name read as Puridha.ka is a misreading of Parihâka, We may emend the first two times and read as follows,--

and the translation (so far) will be,--

These and many other statements in the inscriptions, about the teachers and their schools are of no small importance in themselves for the early history of the Jainas. The agreement of the above with the Kalpasûtra can best be shown by placing the statements in question against one another. The inscriptions prove the actual existence of twenty of the subdivisions mentioned in the Sthavirâvali of the Kalpasûtra. Among its eight ganas we can certainly trace three, possibly four--the Uddchika, Vârana, Veśavâdiya(?) and Kodiya.

Inscriptions:

The resemblance of most of these names is so complete that no explanation is necessary.