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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(I) King Priyadarśin, Beloved of the Gods, honours men of all religious communities with
gifts and with honours of various kinds, (irrespective of whether they are) ascetics or householders.
(II) But the Beloved of the Gods does not value either the (offering of) gifts or the
honouring (of people) so (highly) as the following, viz that there should be a growth of the
essentials (of Dharma) among (men of) all sects.
(III) And the growth of the essentials (of Dharma is possible in) many ways.
(IV) But its root (lies) in restraint in regard to speech, (which means) that there should be no
extolment of one’s own sect to disparagement of other sects on inappropriate occasions and that it
should be moderate in every case even on appropriate occasions.
(V) On the contrary, other sects should be duly honoured in every way (on all occasions).
(VI) If (a person) acts in this way, (he) not only promotes his own sect but also benefits other
sects.
(VII) But, if (a person) acts otherwise, (he) not only injures his own sect but also harms
other sects.
(VIII) Truly, if (a person) extols his own sect and disparages other sects with a view to
glorifying his own sect owing merely to his attachment (to it, he) injures his own sect very severely
by acting in that way.
(IX) Therefore restrained speech[1] is commendable, because people should learn and respect
(the fundamentals of) one another’s Dharma.
(X) This indeed is the desire of the Beloved of the Gods that persons of all sects become well-informed (about the doctrines of different religions) and acquire pure knowledge.
(XI) And those who are attached to their respective (sects) should be informed as follows :
(XII) “ The Beloved of the Gods does not value either the (offering of) gifts or the honouring
(of people) so (highly) as the following, viz. that there should be a growth of the essentials (of
Dharma) among (men of) all seets.”
(XIII) Indeed many of my officers are engaged for the (realisation of) the (said) end, (such
as) the Mahāmātras in charge of (the affairs relating to) Dharma, the Mahāmātras who are superintendents (of matters relating to) the ladies (of the royal household), the officers in charge of (my
cattle and) pasture lands and other classes (of officials).
(XIV) And the result (of their activities, as expected by me,) is the promotion of one’s own sect
and the glorification of Dharma.
ROCK EDICT IX
[BOULDER E]
1 (I) Devānaṁpiy[e] Pi[yada]si lāj[ā] hevaṁ ā[hā] [|*] (II) [ja]ne u[ch-āvuchaṁ][2]
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[1] The expression in the original is generally taken to stand for Sanskrit samavāya meaning ‘ concord ’. It
may, however, also suggest Sanskrit sāma-vāda meaning ‘ restrained speech ’ which is apparently intended by the
word saṁyama used in the Shāhbāzgarhī text. Cf. dhaṁma-vāya for Sanskrit dharma-vāda in Rock Edict XIII
line 5. See PIHC, Hyderabad, 1941, p. 144 ; Select Inscriptions, p. 34, note 10.
[2] Chakravarti : “ The three letters are faintly visible on the rock.”
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