________________
834
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[DECEMBER, 1897.
PADA, THE WRITER OF ASOKA'S SIDDAPUR EDICTS.
BY G. BÜHLER, PH.D., LL.D., C.I.E. In my article on Asoka's edicts from Siddapur (Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III. p. 134 ff.) I bave omitted to give an explanation of the name of the writer, which once occurred in all the three copies and in every case was accompanied by the official title lipikara in Kharðsht characters, the final sentence being, or having been, Padena likhitani narekapili.
Ag M. Sylvain Lévil of late has tried to do away with the mention of the writer and to put A very different construction on this passage, it is perhaps advisable to fill up the lacuna which I have left in my former paper, and to shew that at all events pada is a word, suited for a proper name. The explanation, of course, cannot be categorical, as according to the orthography of Aśôka's clerks pada may be meant to express three different words, which the more accurate spelling of the Pandits would carefully distinguish. It may be intended (1) for pada, or (2) as single consonants are used instead of double ones, for padda, or (3) on the analogy of magala for mangala and of similar forms, also for paridu.
Among these three forms the first will do only on the supposition, that, as sometimes happens in the Prakrit dialects, its da is a substitute for ra, and that pada stands for para. For Para occurs, either by itself or coupled with other words, as a royal name. In the Brahmanas there is the king Para Ainara and kings, simply called Para, appear in the Mahabharata and the Harivainsa.
Among the other two forms Panda is found in the slightly enlarged Pandaka, the name of a son of the third Manu, and Padda, though not traceable as a N. Pr., is a Desi term, equivalent to chanala, which word is very commonly used even in the present day for the formation of proper names. In Sanskrit we have Dhavala or Dhavalaka, Dhavalachandra and so forth, and in the modern Prakrits Dhold, Dhavalchand or Dhõlchand, and Dhavalsingh or Dhalsingh. And it may be noted that all these names are used by members of the writer castes of modern India.
It thus appears that with all the three interpretations, which may be put on the syllables pada, a word will come out which is suitable for a proper name, and the choice becomes rather difficult. The least probable among the three possible explanations, it seems to me, is that which involves the assumption that Pada is meant for Panda. More probable would be the explanation of Pada by the royal name Para, as the writer castes of historical India, the KAyasthas, Brahmakshatriyas and Prabhus claim kinship with the Kshatriya families and commonly adopt the names, borne by persons of princely or noble rank, notably those ending in singh (sirka). But then it is necessary to assume that da represents ra. As the third possibility presents absolutely no difficulties, and does not necessitate the assumption of any phonetic or graphic irregularity, I am inclined to fall back on that, and to take Pada, or with the full spelling, Padda, as an ancient popular, or Desi, equivaient of the Sanskrit Dhavala and the modern Dholá, with which the Vedic name Svêta and the Epic Pandu or Pandu may be fitly compared.
In connection with this explanation, I will add a few remarks on the point, which seems to have been the chief cause of M. Lévi's unwillingness to accept for the concluding sentence of the Siddapur inscriptions the translation, "Written by the scribe Pada," which undoubtedly at first sight appears to be the natural one, and state the reason, why I cannot agree to his translation. As regards the first point, M. Lévi remarks that writers' names do not occur in other early epigraphic documents, and hence he infers that it is not probable that an individual scribe should be mentioned in an Aśôka edict. His statement of the facts is correct, as far as the third and second centuries are concerned. For, the earliest indisputable occurrences of writers'
1 Jour. Asiatique, 1896.
See the larger Petersburg Dictionary, sub voce TC. Homachandra, Dosinamamala, vi. 1, paddan dhavalam.
