An additional note on Aracapana.

• Author: Salomon, Richard

In a recent article(1) I attempted to prove that the inscriptions in Kharosthi script on the Gandharan sculptures in the Lahore and Peshawar Museums(2) illustrating the Lipisalasamdarsana episode as recounted in the Lalitavistara, in which the future Buddha visits a school and reveals his knowledge of the 64 scripts, represent the first 8 or 9 syllables of the Buddhist Arapacana syllabary (a ra pa ca na la da ba da). This interpretation, however, was not absolutely certain due to the poor condition of the inscriptions in question, which are on the writing tablets held in the hands of the figures in these sculptures. But a previously unpublished Gandharan relief on the same theme now provides definite confirmation of this interpretation.

The new sculpture in question (see fig. 1) was brought to my attention by Mr. Isao Kurita of the Eurasian Art Gallery in Tokyo, who has kindly granted permission to publish it. Mr. Kurita reports that the piece is of grey schist with heavy patina, 24 cm high and 5 cm thick. It is reported to have come from the environs of Landi Kotal, just east of the Khyber Pass in Pakistan. It depicts the Bodhisattva (i.e., the future Buddha) seated in the middle, writing on a board held on his lap. To his left is another seated figure with a writing board, who is presumably the teacher Visvamitra. There are also two standing figures to the Bodhisattva's right and behind (above) him, the latter of whom also holds a writing board diagonally across his chest. The composition of the scene resembles, but is not identical to the two previously known examples, mentioned above.

Of the three writing boards shown in the new relief, the one held by the Bodhisattva is uninscribed. Since his stylus is poised near the right side of the board, which would be the beginning point in the Kharosthi script...