by his own glimpse of the truth,
returns to the charge with new vigour. We are startled by the fresh
discovery that Asuramaya:* the earliest astronomer, mentioned
repeatedly in the Indian epics, "is identical with 'Ptolemaios' of the
Greeks." The reason for it given is, that "this latter name, as we see
from the inscriptions of Piyadasi, became in Indian 'Turamaya,' out of
which the name 'Asuramaya' might very easily grow; and since, by the
later tradition, this 'Maya' is distinctly assigned to Romaka-pura in
the West." Had the "Piyadasi inscription" been found on the site of
ancient Babylonia, one might suspect the word "Turamaya" as derived from
"Turanomaya," or rather mania. Since, however, the Piyadasi
inscriptions belong distinctly to India, and the title was borne but by
two kings--Chandragupta and Dharmasoka--what has "'Ptolemaios' of the
Greeks" to do with "Turamaya" or the latter with "Asuramaya," except,
indeed, to use it as a fresh pretext to drag the Indian astronomer under
the stupefying "Greek influence" of the Upas Tree of Western Philology?
Then we learn that, because "Panini once mentions the Yavanas, i.e.,
.... Greeks, and explains the formation of the word 'Yavanani,' to
which, according to the Varttika, the word lipi, 'writing,' must be
supplied," therefore the word signifies "the writing of the Yavanas" of
the Greeks and none other. Would the German philologists (who have so
long and so fruitlessly attempted to explain this word) be very much
surprised if told that they are yet as far as possible from the truth?
That--Yavanani does not mean "Greek writing" at all, but any foreign
writing whatsoever? That the absence of the word "writing" in the old
texts, except in connection with the names of foreigners, does not in
the least imply that none but Greek writing was known to them, or that
they had none of their own, being ignorant of the art of reading and
writing until the days of Panini? (theory of Prof. Max Muller). For
Devanagari is as old as the Vedas, and held so sacred that the Brahmans,
first under penalty of death, and later on of eternal ostracism, were
not even allowed to mention it to profane ears, much less to make known
the existence of their secret temple libraries. So that by the word
Yavanani, "to which, according to the Varttika, the word lipi,
'writing,' must he supplied," the writing of foreigners in general,
whether Phoenician, Roman, or Greek, is always meant. As to the