Stela at Ta Keo Museum (K. 1235), 549 Śaka EpiDoc Encoding Kunthea Chhom intellectual authorship of edition Dominic Goodall DHARMA Siem Reap DHARMA_INSCIK01235

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The lettering is characteristic of the seventh century CE. According to Dominic Goodall (32), the stela "bears 10 lines in Sanskrit written in sober but elegant letters, neatly engraved, that are typical of the seventh century. I draw the attention of readers to two characteristics to note. The engraver writes the retroflex ṇ in both the older and the “newer” seventh-century fashion (lines 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10), in other words both with and without the central vertical bar, and what is elsewhere sometimes a loop in the lower left part of the dental n is here closed."

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 Slight modifications to edition Modifications to edition Updating toward the encoding template v03 Modifications of the edition, apparatus and bibliography Update template 2 Update template Creation of the file
mataiśvaryya pradāna-prabhur īśvaraḥ dhāryyate jagad aṣṭābhir aśeṣaṁ yasya mūrttibhiḥ Āsīd aśeṣa-bhūpāla -mastakārppitaśāsanaḥ rājā śrīśānavarmmeti yaśasām eka-bhājanam· tapta-rugmam ivātyarttham aśobhata yaśodhanaḥ Anvaye yo jagadvyāpi yaśasām avanībhujām· Udadhi-traya-paryyantam ekacchatra-vataṁsitam· yasya pratapatas samyag abhūd avanimaṇdalam· Ākrṣ̥ṭo yena mahataẖ kārmukasya na kevalam· dilīpasyāpi rājarṣer asamaf prathito guṇaḥ mayy eva rūpasaṁpattir iti rūḍhām ahaṅkr̥tim· Atyajan madano manye vapuṣmantam avekṣya yam· tena rājādhirājena prathamaẖ kr̥tavedinām· sarvvāsv adhikr̥to bhr̥tya Itikarttavyatāsu yaḥ likhito jitaśāstrāṇāṁ dhuri yaẖ kavivādinām· vidyāviśeṣanāmābhūd ācāryyo guru-vatsalaḥ gaṇite bde śakendrasya dvārāmbhonidhi-sāyakaiḥ tena setur ayaṃ vaddhas saṅkramadvayakuṇdalaḥ kr̥te puṇyādhikāre 'smin sa yajvā tena bhūbhujā tamandarapurasvāmi -bhojakatve niyojitaḥ
aśeṣaṁ It is probably an abrasion of the stone that leads one at first blush to read ageṣaṁ. taptarugmam ivātyarttha Before rugmam, we can see the lower part of what could be a ligature t: it would therefore be possible to restore taptarugmam. ẖ kr̥tavedinām· For this restitution, see notes to the translation. The syllables in square brackets here are totally obliterated by damage to the stone. kr̥te puṇyādhikāre smi The restored portions are restituted with the help of stanza XV of K. 604, which is almost identical to the present stanza. The present stanza confirms in turn that it is indeed puṇyādhikāre that one must read in K. 604, XVa!

May He whose eight forms support the entire universe, the Lord, who possesses the power to accord the desired gift of sovereignty, protect you.

There was once a king whose edicts were borne upon the heads of all other kings, the glorious Īśānavarman, the sole receptacle of glories,

who, rich in glory, shone intensely in the lineage of kings whose glories filled the universe, just as molten gold shines.

whose kingdom avanimaṇḍalam, over which he reigned fully pratapatas samyag, and which extended up to the boundaries that are the three oceans, was adorned with a single parasol.

That king drew towards himself not only the string guṇaḥ of his great bow, but also the famous unequalled virtue guṇaḥ of the king-sage Dilīpa.

Having seen this beautiful king, it seems to me, Madana had to abandon the pride that had taken root in him for thinking “Perfection of beauty resides only in me”.

By this king of kings, a servant, the first among those who are conscious of what is done for them, has been employed to attend to all his duties.

This same servant was the master named Vidyāviśeṣa, the favorite of his own master, inscribed likhitaḥ at the head of the list of poets and philosophers who have conquered the śāstras.

In the śaka year counted by the 9 orifices of the body, the 4 oceans and the 5 arrows of the god of love, this causeway, characterised by round holes that give two passage-ways for water to escape, was built by him.

Having accomplished this deed which gives right to merit, the same king appointed this founder as governor of Tamandarapura.

According to Dominic Goodall (32), each line contains a stanza in the most common Sanskrit metre, anuṣṭubh, each verse-quarter pāda of which is separated from the next by a small space on the stone, giving the effect of a “page-layout” in four columns of text, a feature common enough in Cambodian inscriptions but unusual in the Indian subcontinent .

Edited by Dominic Goodall (32-40) with an English translation.

32-40