64	ASOKA AND HIS HOUSE
polishing, sculpture, and transportation of these amazing
monoliths.
The story of the deciphering of their inscriptions by
Western scholars which was begun more than a hundred
years ago is no less noteworthy; and to Prinsep in par-
ticular is due the great credit of finding the key to the
script, of identifying the Piyadasi of the Edicts with the
Emperor Asoka, and of revealing this great personality to
the world. By a curious freak of destiny it is the last pillar
to be discovered which is actually the earliest, and the only
one in which the Emperor calls himself by his own name,
This is a crowning proof of the accuracy of the work done,
and Asoka is now as well known and life-like a figure as
Marcus Aurelius or Constantine, with whom he is so often
compared—or as St. Paul, who like him made an imperial
religion of a small and struggling sect* His devotion to
the Dhamma is the most significant thing in Asoka—for
its sake he does all his beneficent works.
In the art of this age it is evident that enormous strides
had been made since Alexander's invasion. Their progress
can be best appreciated by comparing the massive pre-
Mauryan portrait statue of Kunika Ajatasatru (who dice
618 b.c.) in the Mathura Museum, with the bull-capita
of the Asoka column in the Indian Museum at Calcutta,
Of the former and its peers Dr. A. K. Coomaraswanr
says, 'These human figures, over life-size, resting thei
immense weight firmly on the earth, are immediate ani
affirmative expressions of physical energy, , . , Neithe
philosophic introspection nor passionate devotion hav
yet affected art: there is no trace of romanticism or refine
ment'^2 Yet these statues show the beginnings of realisn
and if they are uncouth they are amazingly strong* Withi
four centuries the court-artists of the Asokan age begin 1
combine strength with grace, and realism with charn
Their animal-forms are technically perfect, and as decor
tion they are unrivalled. It is reasonable to see in the be]
^1 See illustration facing p. 49*
* Indian Art. See illustrations in this fine work.