Inscriptions

Higher criticism and the study of later Buddhist texts provide possibilities for the investigation of early Buddhism—possibilities of how and why certain practices were followed, and possibilities of historical development that require independent confirmation. For some Buddhist scholars, early inscriptions have cast doubt on many of the interpretations of higher criticism. The value of inscriptions is well summarized by Schopen (1997:30):

The inscriptional material has at least two advantages. First, much of it predates what we can definitely know from literary sources. Second, and perhaps

Greater importance, this material tells us not what some literate, educated Indian Buddhist wrote, but what a fairly large number of practicing Buddhists actually did.

The earliest readable inscriptions in India were carved at the direction of Ashoka in the third century bce. While they attest to the existence of early Buddhism, they do not provide significant detail on the forms that early Buddhism took at that time. Buddhist inscription become far more common in the first and second centuries bce. These inscriptions record the donations of money and architectural pieces to Buddhist monasteries and pilgrimage complexes by devout laity, guilds, monks, nuns, and royal families. Over the succeeding centuries, Buddhist donation inscriptions were carved at monasteries and pilgrimage sites throughout India. While often short, inscriptions provide a great deal of information on Buddhism that dates well before the surviving textual sources. In subsequent discussions of Buddhism, I will employ information gathered from these inscriptions whenever possible. Typically, inscriptions will be discussed where they diverge from the textual sources. However, for the most part, textual and inscriptional sources agree on many of the basics of Buddhist thought. Often, inscriptions show that practices once thought to be later corruptions of Buddhism had greater antiquity than previously thought.