Khuê Trung stela (C. 211), 820 Śaka

(A3) I. śriyam avati: cf. śriyam avatām in face A, l. 11.

(A8) IV b. We do not know the epithet Varin from any other source, but it must denote Śiva/Rudra, and may perhaps be considered a synonym of varada ‘Boon-Giver’.

(A8) IV c. The word sumata occurs again on face B, in st. VI. We accept here Yuko Yokochi’s suggestion that mādhavika can be a synonym of mādhavī, which denotes a kind of flowering creeper. This gives us a first case of a relatively hollow use of the suffix -ka. On this basis, we accept also her hesitant suggestion to restore °nicayakam in pāda c, with -ka again adding no substantial meaning. Such expletive use of the suffix shows that the poet’s style is not very refined.

(A9–A10) V ab. One expects in the first lacuna one of the insignia such as those listed in C. 38, face B, ll. 6–8: tasya sakalakoṣṭhāgārarajataratnahemakadavakalaśabhr̥ṅgārarukmadaṇḍasitātapatracāmarahaimaghaṭādiparibhogā varddhamānā bhavanti sma, and in C. 24, face B, ll. 12–13: hemakaṭisūtravalayanūpurakirīṭamanimuktipravālahārādibhūṣaṇaṃ rajatakumbhānnabhājanavyajanātapatrakadavakalaśacāmaraśarāvādiparibhogaṃ.

(B5–B6) IX. The construction of this stanza seems clumsy. Several other translations are imaginable.

(B7–B8) X. The conjunction ca, meaning ‘and’, is operative inside the compound that it follows, which seems clumsy style. The poet uses the precative form bhūyāsur in the function of a preterite, a usage which is seen a few times in other Sanskrit inscriptions of Cambodia and Campā, and is no doubt related to the more common phenomenon of the use of the optative form in the same function (see ISCC, p. 184 and Renou 1961: 412 and 451).

(B11) XII c. The meaning and grammatical construction of abhivettum seems rather uncertain. Another possibility, not more persuasive, is to translate ‘well respected ... for knowing the virtues ...’.

(B12–B13) XIII. We adopt here the translation proposed by Yuko Yokochi, who admits that she is not sure of the meaning of dhurdhur, and that interpreting jayatām as ‘the state of being victorious’ while taking kailāsadhurddhurañ as an object of jaya in its verbal meaning is unsmooth. Our own previous attempt was certainly not better: ‘Śrī Rudrapurī shines as though it holds the irrestrainable (dhurdhura = durdhura?) one of Kailāsa. Let Rudra’s abode be victorious! In it, may he rejoice well in what we have supplied and so on’ (we had read °vihitādi sādhu). Note word play (of the type called yamaka): dhurdhurañ jayatām / sādhu rañjayatām.

(B15) XIV c. The word aira, meaning ‘Son of the Earth’ (i.e. Mars), is derived from and hence implies the word irā in the meaning ‘earth’. The meaning ‘earth’ was thus far registered for this word in modern Sanskrit dictionaries only on the basis of its listing in Sanskrit lexicographical sources, and would hence have to be considered doubtful. But two cases of irā in this meaning are found in contemporary inscriptions of Campā: C. 142, st. XIX irādhīśaprasādataḥ (wrongly emended by Huber) and C. 149, st. XII yasyerām avataḥ (misread yasyerājavataḥ by Huber). The oldest and most authoritative lexicographical text citing the word in this meaning is the Amarakośa. It is likely that this text inspired the poet(s) of Campā to use the word in this meaning. For a possibly similar case, cf. ECIC I, p. 369 (on C. 217, st. IV).

(B16) If we have properly read ścasmad°, this presumably needs to be corrected to ścāsmad°.

(B15) XIV c. The word aira, meaning ‘Son of the Earth’ (i.e. Mars), is derived from and hence implies the word irā in the meaning ‘earth’. The meaning ‘earth’ was thus far registered for this word in modern Sanskrit dictionaries only on the basis of its listing in Sanskrit lexicographical sources, and would hence have to be considered doubtful. But two cases of irā in this meaning are found in contemporary inscriptions of Campā: C. 142, st. XIX irādhīśaprasādataḥ (wrongly emended by Huber) and C. 149, st. XII yasyerām avataḥ (misread yasyerājavataḥ by Huber). The oldest and most authoritative lexicographical text citing the word in this meaning is the Amarakośa. It is likely that this text inspired the poet(s) of Campā to use the word in this meaning. For a possibly similar case, cf. ECIC I, p. 369 (on C. 217, st. IV).

(D1–D14) The mixture of Sanskrit and Cam that we seem to observe on this face is interesting, but not totally unique. One finds something similar at C. 142, face D, ll. 13–14 (where bhavadbhiḥ may correspond to our yuṣmābhiḥ in l. 12)