Gunung Tua Lokanātha Statue

Author of digital edition: Arlo Griffiths (argr).

Languages: Old Malay (omy) [Kawi (kawi)], Sanskrit (san) [Kawi (kawi)].

Repository: Nusantara Epigraphy (tfc-nusantara-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSIDENK00059.

File path: xml/DHARMA_INSIDENK00059.xml.

Version: 2026-02-15 00:03 (ecb62df), last modified 2025-06-24 05:12 (93ff352).

Edition

⟨1⟩ ◯ svasti śaka-varṣātīta 961 caitra-māsa, tithi tritiya sukla, śukra-vāra, tatkāla juru pā⌈-

⟨2⟩ ṇḍai suryya barbvat· bhaṭāra lokanātha ◯ Imāni kuśala-¿mulāṇi? sarbvasatva-sā□dh¿a?r¿ā?ṇaṁ kr̥-

⟨3⟩ tvā Anuttarāyāṁ samyaksambodhau pari¿n?āma□y¿a?mi (◯)

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ ◯ • There is a liminal sign at the opening of the text, apparently in the form of a small circle. Previous scholars have ignored it. It occurs again, less clearly, in the middle of line 2 and at the end of the text in line 3. — ⟨1⟩ 961 D • Read 946 by Brandes and Kern. See Damais 1955, pp. 207–208, n. 2: “Brandes et Kern lisaient 946 et le fac-similé des КVG justifie quelque peu cette interprétation. Mais les chiffres de l'inscription elle-même que nous avons pu examiner en 1946-1947 en diffèrent totalement (cf. notre Tableau comparatif). Par ailleurs l'étiquette du Musée de Djakarta porte 761 śaka. C'est ici le chiffre des centaines qui est mal interprété.”

⟨2⟩ -sā□dh¿a?⟨ā⟩r¿ā?⟨a⟩ṇaṁ kr̥⟨3⟩tvā • Kern needlessly ‘corrected’ this to -sādhāraṇīkr̥tvā. See the Buddhist scriptural evidence cited in Griffiths 2014, p. 218.

⟨3⟩ pari¿n?⟨ṇ⟩āma□¿a?⟨ā⟩mi • Kern edited pariṇāmaṁyāmi, apparently intending pariṇāmaṁ yāmi.

Translation

Prosperity! Elapsed Śaka year 961, third tithi of the waxing ⟨fortnight⟩ of the month of Caitra, a Friday. At that time the master smith Sūrya manufactured Lord (bhaṭāra) Lokanātha. (He expressed his intention by citing scripture:) “These roots of what is good do I share with all beings and turn over to the unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment!”.

Commentary

The presence of the spaces in lines 2 and 3 seems to have a technical reason, for they correspond to vertical bands on the bronze perhaps representing traces of welding.

In normalized form, the Sanskrit would run: imāni kuśalamūlāni sarvasattvasādhāraṇaṁ kr̥tvā anuttarāyāṁ samyaksambodhau pariṇāmayāmi.

Bibliography

First read, translated and discussed by Brandes (1887); reading of the Sanskrit portion completed by Brandes (1888); Sanskrit part corrected and elucidated by Kern (1889, 1890); Kern’s contributions reprinted with added notes and a tracing (1917); Old Malay part read anew and dating formula analyzed by Damais (1955: 207–208); re-edited and translated by Griffiths (2014). This digital edition by Arlo Griffiths (2025), using new photographs.

Primary

[B] NBG 1887. Notulen van de Algemeene en Bestuurs-vergaderingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen: Deel XXV — 1887. Batavia: Albrecht & Co., 1888. Pages 176–178.

[B] NBG 1888. Notulen van de Algemeene en Bestuurs-vergaderingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen: Deel XXVI — 1888. Batavia: Albrecht & Rusche, 1888. Pages 130–131.

[K] NBG 1889. Notulen van de Algemeene en Bestuurs-vergaderingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen: Deel XXVII — 1889. Batavia: Albrecht & Rusche, 1890. Pages 15–16.

[K] NBG 1890. Notulen van de Algemeene en Bestuurs-vergaderingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen: Deel XXVIII — 1890. Batavia: Albrecht & Rusche, 1891. Page 16.

[K] Kern, Johan Hendrik Caspar. 1917. “Inscriptie op een Lokanātha-beeldje uit Gunung Tua (Oost-Tapanuli).” In: Verspreide geschriften, zevende deel: inscripties van den Indischen archipel, slot; de Nāgarakṛtāgama, eerste gedeelte. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, pp. 142–144.

[D] Damais, Louis-Charles. 1955. “Études d’épigraphie indonésienne, IV: Discussion de la date des inscriptions.” BEFEO 47, pp. 7–290. DOI: 10.3406/befeo.1955.5406. [URL]. Pages 207–208.

[G] Griffiths, Arlo. 2014. “Inscriptions of Sumatra, III: The Padang Lawas corpus studied along with inscriptions from Sorik Merapi (North Sumatra) and from Muara Takus (Riau).” In: History of Padang Lawas, North Sumatra, II: Societies of Padang Lawas (Mid-Ninth – Thirteenth Century CE). Edited by Daniel Perret. Cahier d'Archipel 43. Paris: Association Archipel, pp. 211–253. [URL]. Pages 217–219.

Secondary

Brandes, Jan Laurens Andries and Nicolaas Johannes Krom. 1913. Oud-Javaansche Oorkonden: Nagelaten transcripties. Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen 60 (parts 1 and 2). Batavia; 's-Hage: Albrecht; Nijhoff. [URL]. Page 265, item CLII.

Krom, Nicolaas Johannes. 1914. “Voorloopige lijst van oudheden in de buitenbezittingen.” OV (Bijlage T), pp. 101–177. Pages 112–113, item 84.

Damais, Louis-Charles. 1952. “Études d’épigraphie indonésienne, III: Liste des principales inscriptions datées de l’Indonesie.” BEFEO 46 (1), pp. 1–105. DOI: 10.3406/befeo.1952.5158. [URL]. Pages 100–101, item E.6.

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<p>In normalized form, the Sanskrit would run: <foreign>imāni kuśalamūlāni sarvasattvasādhāraṇaṁ kr̥tvā anuttarāyāṁ samyaksambodhau pariṇāmayāmi</foreign>.</p>

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provenance clarified (NBG 26 [1888], 60);

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reprinted with added notes and a tracing in VG 7 (1917), 142–144; Old Malay portion read anew and dating formula analyzed by Damais (1955: 207–208); previous publications summarized by Perret et al. 2007: 53; inventoried PPS-SBU 04, p. 92.-->

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