DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0108
Chap. IV.
RAILS.
85
On the whole, however. I am inclined to believe that the Buddh
Gaya rail was really erected by Asoka, or during his reign. At all
events, we know from the fifteenth chapter of the ' Mahawanso' that
even if he did not worship this tree, he certainly reverenced it to
such an extent that when he sent his daughter Sangamitta to aid in
the conversion of Ceylon to the true faith, he cut off and entrusted her
with a branch of this tree planted in a golden vessel. That tree was
replanted with infinite ceremony at Anuradhapura, and it, or its lineal
descendant, remains the principal numen of the island to this day.
Hiouen Thsang tells us that Asoka built a small vihara to the east of
the tree on the spot where the present temple stands;1 and nothing
is consequently more probable than he should have added this rail,
which is concentric with his vihara, but not with the tree.
There certainly is no inherent improbability that he should have
done so, for it seems hardly doubtful that this was the tree under
whose shade Sakya Muni attained " complete enlightenment," or, in
other words, reached Buddhahood ; and no spot consequently could be
considered more sacred in the eyes of a Buddhist, or was more likely
to be reverenced from the time forward.
The Bharhut rail, according to the inscription on it, was erected
by a Prince Vadha Pala, son of Baja Dhanabhuti,—a name we cannot
recognise in any list, but hardly could have been contemporary with
the all-powerful and all-pervading rule of Asoka, and must conse-
quently have been subsequent, as no such works were, so far as we
now know, erected in India before his day. The ultimate deter-
mination of the relative dates of these two monuments will depend
on a careful comparison of their sculptures, and for that the materials
do not exist in this country. I have, thanks to the kindness of
General Cunningham, a nearly complete set of photographs of the
Bharhut sculptures, but not one of the Buddh Gaya rail. It is true
the drawings by Major Kittoe, in the India House Library, are very
much better than those published by General Cunningham in his
report; - but they do not suffice for this purpose. In so far, however,
as the evidence at present available enables us to judge, it seems
nearly certain that the Bharhut sculptures are half a century nearer
those of the gateways at Sanchi than those at Buddh Gaya are: and
consequently we may, for the present at least, assume the Buddh
Gaya rail to be 250 b.c., that at Bharhut 200 b.c., and the gateways at
Sanchi to range from 1(1 to say 70 or 80 a.d.3
The Buddh Gaya rail is a rectangle, measuring 131 ft. by 98 ft.,
and is very much ruined. Its dimensions wen1, indeed, Only obtained
' ' Voyages dans les Contrees Occ iden- ! '■' For this last determination, sec
tales,' vol. i. p. 46.1. 'Tree and Serpent Worship,' p. 90,
- ' Arelneological Boports,' vol. i. j <■/ sfijq.
plates 8 to 11,
RAILS.
85
On the whole, however. I am inclined to believe that the Buddh
Gaya rail was really erected by Asoka, or during his reign. At all
events, we know from the fifteenth chapter of the ' Mahawanso' that
even if he did not worship this tree, he certainly reverenced it to
such an extent that when he sent his daughter Sangamitta to aid in
the conversion of Ceylon to the true faith, he cut off and entrusted her
with a branch of this tree planted in a golden vessel. That tree was
replanted with infinite ceremony at Anuradhapura, and it, or its lineal
descendant, remains the principal numen of the island to this day.
Hiouen Thsang tells us that Asoka built a small vihara to the east of
the tree on the spot where the present temple stands;1 and nothing
is consequently more probable than he should have added this rail,
which is concentric with his vihara, but not with the tree.
There certainly is no inherent improbability that he should have
done so, for it seems hardly doubtful that this was the tree under
whose shade Sakya Muni attained " complete enlightenment," or, in
other words, reached Buddhahood ; and no spot consequently could be
considered more sacred in the eyes of a Buddhist, or was more likely
to be reverenced from the time forward.
The Bharhut rail, according to the inscription on it, was erected
by a Prince Vadha Pala, son of Baja Dhanabhuti,—a name we cannot
recognise in any list, but hardly could have been contemporary with
the all-powerful and all-pervading rule of Asoka, and must conse-
quently have been subsequent, as no such works were, so far as we
now know, erected in India before his day. The ultimate deter-
mination of the relative dates of these two monuments will depend
on a careful comparison of their sculptures, and for that the materials
do not exist in this country. I have, thanks to the kindness of
General Cunningham, a nearly complete set of photographs of the
Bharhut sculptures, but not one of the Buddh Gaya rail. It is true
the drawings by Major Kittoe, in the India House Library, are very
much better than those published by General Cunningham in his
report; - but they do not suffice for this purpose. In so far, however,
as the evidence at present available enables us to judge, it seems
nearly certain that the Bharhut sculptures are half a century nearer
those of the gateways at Sanchi than those at Buddh Gaya are: and
consequently we may, for the present at least, assume the Buddh
Gaya rail to be 250 b.c., that at Bharhut 200 b.c., and the gateways at
Sanchi to range from 1(1 to say 70 or 80 a.d.3
The Buddh Gaya rail is a rectangle, measuring 131 ft. by 98 ft.,
and is very much ruined. Its dimensions wen1, indeed, Only obtained
' ' Voyages dans les Contrees Occ iden- ! '■' For this last determination, sec
tales,' vol. i. p. 46.1. 'Tree and Serpent Worship,' p. 90,
- ' Arelneological Boports,' vol. i. j <■/ sfijq.
plates 8 to 11,