ĀDITYAWARMAN: THREE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SUMATRAN ‘KING OF ALL SUPREME KINGS’

Abstract

Ādityawarman ranks among the most influential personalities in Indonesia's ancient history according to Dutch philologist, Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis (1996). However, most of Ādityawarman's translated inscriptions are only accessible through the writings of Dutch scholars and while most scholars today of almost any aspect of Indonesian history have a good reading knowledge of Dutch even they are stumped by the rather obscure Sanskrit-Malay amalgam of Ādityawarman's inscriptions rendered in 19th-century Dutch. This article comprises translations into English of three key texts relating to Ādityawarman's inscriptions: F.D.K. Bosch's ‘De inscriptie op het Manjuçri-beeld van 1265 Çaka’ [The inscription on the Mañjuśrī statue of 1265 Śāka]; and H. Kern's ‘De wij-inscriptie op het Amoghapāça-beeld van Padang Candi (Midden Sumatra) [The inscription commemorating the consecration of the Amoghapāśa statue of Padang Candi], and ‘Het Sanskrit-inschrift op den grafsteen van Vorst Ādityawarman te Kubur Raja (Me˘nangkabau; 1300 Çāka)’ [The Sanskrit inscription of King Ādityawarman at Kubu Rajo].

Notes

¹We do not know the extent of the Malayu kingdom in Ādityawarman's time, but the core region of Malayu was the Batang Hari river basin in the present provinces of Jambi and Sumatra Barat in Sumatra.

²Tuhan Janaka is often believed to be the same person as Ādityawarman although it is more likely that he was Ādityawarman's father.

³The exact location of Dharmasraya is unknown but it is most likely located near Pulau Punjung, the capital of the Dharmasraya regency in West Sumatra. The most probable location is the archaeological site of Padang Roco (Sungai Langsat).

⁴The archaeological site Padang Roco is located on the upper Batang Hari near the village Sungai Langsat (Kecamatan Sitiung, Kabupaten Dharmasraya, Sumatra Barat).

⁵Translators' note (TN): Minangkabau is divided into two moieties called laras, each with its own set of customary law.

⁶Bosch (1921). TN: all footnotes are translations of the original in Bosch unless otherwise stated.

⁷Rouffaer has commented recently on this statue in his monograph Tjandi Singosari, p99 ff. [TN: This seems to relate to Rouffaer 1909].

⁸TN: The statue disappeared from the Berlin Museum of Anthropology during World War II.

⁹Notulen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap (1880, p106 ff).

¹⁰cf. Tathāgatapura (Nāgaraktāgama 80, 2), Wiśeapura (69, 2), Wi ubhawanapura (Pararaton 30, 20 and Register, p.219), Prapañcasārapura (Oud Javaansche Oorkonden [Old Javanese Charters] LXXXIV).

¹¹TN: A chronogram where the numbers in dates are represented by words having a fixed numerical value.

¹²TN: the diacritic /i/.

¹³On the charter of Nglawang (Oud Javaansche Oorkonden LXXXIV), of Bendosari (O.J.O. LXXXV, cf. Nāgaraktāgama 72, 1) of Sidoteka (O.J.O. LXXXIII) and of Singosari of 1273 (cf. Krom 1919b: 19ff; Kern 1919, register p.320).

¹⁴On this charter see Krom (1911: 411, 1914: 484 ff).

¹⁵Notulen Bataviaasch Genootschap (1880, p106 ff); Kern (1917f: 244 ff, 265 ff, 1917g: 163 and 215 ff).

¹⁶Krom (1916: 306 ff, especially 383 ff).

¹⁷cf. Krom (1919a: 10).

¹⁸Kern (1917b).

¹⁹Strophe 3 and 4 in Kern (1917b: 170).

²⁰My essay on the inscription of Gondang Lor that is going to be published in Afleveringen 5 Deel LIX T.B.G. deals exhaustively with these officials.

²¹We are unable to recognise a clear title in the word following sang ārya (Krom 1911: 424 and Nāgaraktāgama edition Krom, p295). Sang ārya Patipati, sang ārya Wīrarāja, sang ārya Wangśādhirāja, sang ārya Rājaparākrama and others function in the Pararaton and Nāgaraktāgama as common personal names. On the other hand, these names are related to the position so that for example the nickname (for want of a better word) Wangśādhirāja is used by all successive pamgět i Tirwan. Also Ādityawarman's nickname Dewarāja on the Nglawang stone returns 30 years later (inscription of Sěkar) for someone else.

The form Wangśādhirāja is found on the right of the stone (O.J.O. p. 206), while elsewhere in the same charter Wangśarāja is used (cf. also Nāgaraktāgama 25, 2).

²²O.J.O. LXXXV. On this charter see Krom (1911: 418) and more recently Krom (1920: 422) where the promulgation is fixed between 1272 and 1280.

²³‘The most complex and most dreadful figure among the Yidam, yes perhaps in the entire mythology of Lamaism, also a manifestation of Mañjuśrī is Vajrabhairava, Vajrabhayakara or Yamāntaka, Yamāri. In this shape Mañjuśrī overcame Yama, a demonic king of the realm of death, who depopulated Tibet’ (Grünwedel 1900: 101, and an extensive iconographic description p.102), cf. Waddell (1895: 363, 62 and 131).

²⁴Krom (1916: 331).

²⁵TN: Kern (1917b) first published in 1907 in Vol. 49 of the Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde under the title ‘De wij-inscriptie op het Amoghapāça-beeld van Padang Candi (Batang Hari-districten); 1269 Çaka’ and reprinted in 1917 of the Verspreide Geschriften 7 (Collected Works) under the slightly different title ‘De wij-inscriptie op het Amoghapāça-beeld van Padang Candi (Midden Sumatra); 1269 Çaka’ and with a few additional footnotes. We have translated the 1917 edition. The inscription was also translated by B.R. Chatterji (1933: 80–9). We have included Chatterji's translation in footnotes where he either differs slightly from Kern's, or where there is information not provided by Kern.

²⁶The statue referred to is located in Rambahan near Lubuk Bulang in the Batang Hari district of the Padangsche Bovenlanden. See Krom (1912: 48 no. 46). [TN: The former province Padangsche Bovenlanden (Minangkabau highlands) is the present province of Sumatra Barat (West Sumatra). Rambahan is now part of the district (kecamatan) Sitiung in the Dharmasraya regency (kabupaten).] On the front Amoghapāśa is shown with his 13 male as well as female followers and on the back is the inscription read by Professor Kern (1907) and reprinted here. The statue itself has been described with a photograph by Pleyte (1907) immediately after Kern's essay. The possible origin of this statue is discussed further by Krom (1916: 329-32). The facsimile printed below is based on the photograph of the district head (controleur) of the Dutch Civil Administration (Binnenlandsch Bestuur) Ch. L. J. Palmer van den Broek c. 1904 which was also used by Kern to decipher the inscription (footnote added in 1917).

²⁷Cf. Kern 1917d (footnote added in 1917).

²⁸TN: The Mañjuśri statue was taken from Candi Jago to the Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin in 1861 and disappeared at the end of World War II.

²⁹Cf. Kern (1872, 1873, 1877 [= Kern 1917d]); Brandes (1897:123, 127).

³⁰The signs + and + o + are approximate representations of the punctuation marks used to separate lines and verses. See the illustration.

³¹This is followed by an erroneous line breaking mark + instead of the intended hyphenation mark.

³²The characters look like km, but should doubtless be mbh.

³³There is a caesura in the text but the separation mark is placed incorrectly.

³⁴Should read: sugātāna ; gā is used metri causa instead of ga; the poet needed a syllable with a long vowel.

³⁵The original reads kagaa which clearly is a mistake.

³⁶Read: Saugandhi.

³⁷A different separation mark should have been used here.

³⁸The metre requires hūhu.

³⁹Read: gaena.

⁴⁰After ha there is a hyphenation mark.

⁴¹The syllable ri is considered to be long.

⁴²This clearly reads bhti or gti, but the metre shows that this is a mistake.

⁴³The reading of this vowel is unclear.

⁴⁴This is followed by kma preceded by a vague sū.

⁴⁵ Sandoha, ‘plentiful harvest’, is here used instead of dāna, which also means ‘generosity’ as well as ‘fluid that elephants secrete in the mating season’.

⁴⁶Assuming that this is supposed to be māyāvairi.

⁴⁷This should read tamisra. The ti has probably been confused with timira.

⁴⁸TN: Chatterji's translation (Verse 1): ‘Let there be prosperity! Great is the rise of (king) Adityavarman which has set at naught the enemy which is darkness in shape of attachment (māyā) – Adityavarman, who is versed in true faith, who possesses the increasing glory of his own self, who is fortunate, virtuous and acquainted with the scriptures, who by a series of very pure yoga exercises exists in increased splendour, who in beauty… .’

⁴⁹ Atyatā is unknown, and may be an error for satyatā which could be translated: ‘he who is truly perfect in everything’.

⁵⁰TN: Chatterji's translation (Verse 2): ‘Endowed with an abundance of virtues, versed in the use of weapons and sciences, an ocean of the laws proclaimed by Jina (i.e. Buddha), knowing how to begin a work, with body free from sensual pleasures, reaching perfection [Chatterji's footnote: I have taken atyatā in the sense of atyanta] in universal success and acquiring an abundance of gold and wealth – is the minister (patih) Deva-Tuhan.’

⁵¹TN: In contemporary Malay-Indonesian tuhan means ‘God’, but it originally had the same meaning as tuan, ‘Sir’.

⁵² Sugatanam (correctly spelled) is, I assume, an honorific plural.

⁵³TN: Chatterji's translation (Verses 3 and 4): ‘This consecration of the (statue of) Buddha under the name of Gaganaganja is performed by the Ācārya Dharmaśekhara, who is, as it were, a Mañjuśrī in friendliness.

This statue of Amoghapāśa which is conducive to the welfare of all beings has been consecrated by the deva for the well being of Adityavarman.’

⁵⁴Cf. Waddell (1895).

⁵⁵TN: Mula ‘the root’ is the 19th nakshatra or lunar mansion.

⁵⁶It later turned out that both inscriptions of the so-called monument of Batu Běragung are really written on two totally separate stones, and have nothing to do with each other. Cf. Kern 1917d: 251 (Note of 1917).

⁵⁷ Bhāsmat is incorrect for bhāsmāt, without the case ending.

⁵⁸ Dinair instead of dine betrays a thorough ignorance of Sanskrit grammar; tayā is totally misplaced. It is hard to say what the poet could have meant by this.

⁵⁹Seems to be the name of one of the 60 half-hour of the 24 hours of the days.

⁶⁰What was written was mūrtta which makes no sense at all to me unless it is a corrupt pronunciation of muhūrta. Svarāj is, among other things, another name for Brahma and one of the 30 muhūrta is under Brahma (in the astrological chart).

⁶¹TN: Schnitger (1936: 5) reports on the main temple in Sungai Langsat: ‘Highly remarkable is that there is another profile 85 cm behind the outer profile. Apparently an older building was enlarged by adding another layer of bricks.’ In Footnote 7 Schnitger (ibid.) speculates that the wording ‘restoring the previous situation’ (jīram uddhtam) may well be related to the new profile given to the temple in Sungai Langsat (Dharmasraya).

⁶²TN: Chatterji's translation (of the first part of Verse 5): ‘In the auspicious Saka year 1269 [Chatterji's footnote: This verse is bewildering. I have taken Nanda = 9, patan˙ga (bee) caraa = 6, dvau = 2, and mūla (source ?) =1], when the sun was in the Karkata (rāśi), on a full moon day when the position of the stars was towards the north, in Siddhi yoga, Kāruya ghatikā and Svarā muhūrta (?) – repairs were made by people who wanted the path of enlightenment (?).’

⁶³TN: Chatterji's translation (of the second part of Verse 5): ‘Hail! He who is the gold (filling up) the space of the entire earth, who is expert in social and ascetic life, who takes delight in thoroughly understanding the yoga of the boundless Mahayana (philosophy) – Again, who is the source of a dramatic rendering of two jewels (?) gained by the collection of a million jewels from the large mass of diadems of the enemy kings – the illustrious Udayadityavarman, the gem in the crowns of the best of kings, a maharajadhiraja. He gives this order to be known.’

⁶⁴TN: Widyādhara, ‘celestial nymphs’.

⁶⁵ Anubhavadhi makes no sense. I assume it should be anubhavati.

⁶⁶ Narttya bhogāsitīnām is untranslatable.

⁶⁷TN: Chatterji's translation (Verses 6 and 7): ‘In the golden residence adorned (lakhita) by the heavenly damsels, in the midst of devadaru trees having the scent of lotus (kantara), rendered beautiful with the pastimes of birds and elephants, while Matanginisa was (sporting) in the divine lake.

Matanginisa, who is the lord of all the sons of Diti (i. e. Daitya) gods and Vidyadhara and also that of the heavenly damsels [Chatterji's footnote: Asitā is the name of an aspara] enjoying dancing to the accompaniment of the humming of bees, is in the enjoyment of particular exurberance of spirits (?) and moves gracefully.’

⁶⁸Tantric Buddhism has several demonic Buddha. See Waddell (1895: 353).

⁶⁹Read: raken.

⁷⁰TN: A Gandharva is one of the lowest-ranking devas in Buddist theology. They can fly through the air, and are known for their skill as musicians. They are connected with trees and flowers, and are described as dwelling in the scents of bark, sap, and blossom.

⁷¹The spelling uddhaya and uddaya instead of udaya is required by the metre.

⁷²I don't know what is meant by pātraya; perhaps it is patra ‘minister, servant’.

⁷³The root word sak is apparently used here with the meaning of the root word sah.

⁷⁴The translation is based on the assumption that the craftsman who incised the inscription erroneously wrote palāśannati instead of palaśonnati. I don't know what to do with the ‘monstrosity’ of pratyadalānane.

⁷⁵TN: Chatterji's translation (Verses 8 and 9): ‘He, who removes the loneliness of Matangini, who keeps the company of (gandharva like) Haha, Huhu, who in beauty, prosperity and goodness of heart is like full-moon, has, after putting off the form of Jina, come down on this earth for (the benefit of) the world under the name of Udayavarmagupta, the leader of all the rulers on this earth.

May the protector (? pātra) [Chatterji's footnote: pātra may also mean ‘Minister’] of Matangini preserve us and the earth from ruin, may he enjoy the treasures which he collected for those who followed the conduct of an enemy kshatriya (?), may he, who is born of a noble lineage and is radiant [in force of forbearance, show his superiority in restraining those who have displayed wickedness and in protecting the good (?) –he is the Pati (Prime minister).'

⁷⁶Cf. Kern (1909: 395-98) [TN: The year was erroneously given as 1908] and Kern (1917a).

⁷⁷Assuming that what is meant is prākāra. Cf. vajrāsana ‘diamond throne’ of the Buddha.

⁷⁸TN: Chatterji's translation (Verse 10): ‘The charming statue established inside the diamond wall of the abode of Jina(?) is (that of) the lord Amoghapasa Udayasundara.’

⁷⁹I actually read here l , which is just as obscure as la.

⁸⁰The combination of suruta ‘beautiful screaming’ and rudita ‘weeping, and pāi ‘hand;’ is obviously a nonsense.

⁸¹Supposedly we have to read this Malayupura because Malayu is the name of this Sumatran kingdom.

⁸²TN: Chatterji's translation (Verse 11): ‘He, who puts his hand on the heavenly tree, whose speech is verily like music, who has acquired fame (by conquering) the enemy kings, whose form is like that of the god of love, who is able to perform all deeds, who is bent on the welfare of Malayupura and who excels in a great number of virtues (?) – is the minister Deva Tuhan.’

⁸³ Tarūpati does not make sense, neither does rupati. One should expect a word meaning ‘sun’.

⁸⁴TN: Chatterji's translation (Verse 12): ‘Whose beauty adorns the Udaya mountain, who is the leader (minister?) of the prosperous ruler (?), who disdains the prosperity of the rising enemy (?) – fine is the glory of Udaya on this earth.’

⁸⁵TN: First published in 1913 as ‘Grafsteenopschrift van Koeboer Radja’ in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlands-Indië 67: 401–4) and reprinted in 1917 as ‘Het Sanskrit-inschrift op den grafsteen van Vorst Ādityawarman te Kubur Raja (Měnangkabau; 1300 Çāka) and with a few additional footnotes’ in Verspreide Geschriften (‘collection of essays’), vol. 7. We have based our translation on Kern (1917c).

⁸⁶TN: Lima Kaum is a district (kecamatan) in the Tanah Datar regency of the West Sumatra province.

⁸⁷TN: Kern erroneously read the toponym Kubu Rajo (King's fortress) as Kubur Raja (King's grave) and hence came to the conclusion that the inscription is Ādityawarman's tombstone. Kern's missassumption was subsequently corrected by Bosch (1930: 150) and Krom (1931: 413).

⁸⁸Cf. Krom 1912: 41 no. 20; Kern 1917b and Kern 1917e.

⁹⁰The ra is not entirely clear.

⁹¹The diacritic for the vowel e that belongs to the following character is placed here.

⁹² Vila is rather blurred.

⁹³The diacritic for the vowel e that belongs to the following character is placed here.

⁹⁴Could perhaps be ā

⁹⁵A preliminary transliteration of this inscription was provided by Professor Kern in early 1880, published in the Notulen Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen XVIII (1880), p. 125–6 (footnote added in 1917).

⁸⁹A facsimile of the same inscription was made by the professional photographer C. Nieuwenhuis at Padang in May 1912 which has also been used by Professor Kern. (footnote added in 1917).

⁹⁶TN: Kuśala and puya have the same meaning ‘virtue, merit’.

⁹⁷ Bhāvāna has the Pāli synonyms in appamaññā and brahmavihāra.

⁹⁸Here I do not refer to rmma.

⁹⁹Possibly the m is the result of the wrong use of sandhi for n so the reading should be Ādityavarman, a vocative.