Bronze base for a triad of statuettes (N. 138, ca. 10th c. CE)
Version: (2dc732e), last modified (5b47de5).
Apparatus
⟨1⟩ ya A(ṁ)pu⟦ṇya⟧⟨⟨ña⟩⟩ ⬦ yaA(ṁ) puṇya 2011 • In my previous publication, I was unable to offer a plausible justification of the spelling yaAṁ and did not yet recognize the character ña that I now read and interpret as a substitution for ṇya. As a consequence, if anusvāra here expresses the phoneme /m/ as it is known to do in some other Old Malay texts too (Clavé and Griffiths 2022, pp. 182, 193, n. 45), we are able to interpret Aṁpu as a spelling of əmpu.
Bibliography
First published by Griffiths (2011), from photographs. This digital edition by Arlo Griffiths (2025), based on the previous publication, with one significant modification.
Primary
[2011] Griffiths, Arlo. 2011. “Inscriptions of Sumatra: Further data on the epigraphy of the Musi and Batang Hari river basins.” Archipel 81, pp. 139–175. DOI: 10.3406/arch.2011.4273. [URL]. Pages 151–156.
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<forename>Arlo</forename>
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<licence target="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported
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<p>Copyright (c) 2019-2025 by Arlo Griffiths.</p>
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<p><lb n="1"/><g type="ddanda"/> padmasri ya A<unclear>ṁ</unclear>pu<subst><del>ṇya</del><add place="above">ña</add></subst> siliḥ vapuḥ A<unclear>y</unclear>āṇ<unclear>ḍ</unclear>a vapāṇḍa <g type="ddanda"/></p>
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<lem>ya A<unclear>ṁ</unclear>pu<subst><del>ṇya</del><add place="above">ña</add></subst> </lem>
<rdg source="bib:Griffiths2011_01">yaA<unclear>ṁ</unclear> puṇya</rdg>
<note>In my previous publication, I was unable to offer a plausible justification of the spelling <foreign>yaAṁ</foreign> and did not yet recognize the character <foreign>ña</foreign> that I now read and interpret as a substitution for <foreign>ṇya</foreign>. As a consequence, if <foreign>anusvāra</foreign> here expresses the phoneme /m/ as it is known to do in some other Old Malay texts too (<bibl><ptr target="bib:Clave+Griffiths2022_01"/><citedRange unit="page">182, 193</citedRange><citedRange unit="note">45</citedRange></bibl>), we are able to interpret <foreign>Aṁpu</foreign> as a spelling of <foreign>əmpu</foreign>.</note>
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<p>Despite progress in understanding since my 2011 publication, the meaning of this text is still rather unclear. Although it seems more likely that <foreign>ya</foreign> is a pronoun, it might also be interpreted as the final syllable of a name then to be read as Padmaśriya. The following translation options can be proposed:
<list rend="numbered">
<item>Padmasri, he is the owner replacing his/her mother <supplied reason="subaudible">and</supplied> his/her father.</item>
<item>Padmasri, he is the owner of <supplied reason="subaudible">this</supplied> likeness of his/her mother <supplied reason="subaudible">and</supplied> his/her father.</item>
<item>Padmasriya. The owner <supplied reason="explanation">of this statuette</supplied> has replaced his/her mother <supplied reason="subaudible">and</supplied> his/her father.</item>
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It is also imaginable that <foreign>əmpu</foreign> here means <q>master-craftsman</q> rather than <q>owner</q>.
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<p>First published by Griffiths (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Griffiths2011_01"/></bibl>), from photographs. This digital edition by Arlo Griffiths (2025), based on the previous publication, with one significant modification.</p>
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Commentary
Despite progress in understanding since my 2011 publication, the meaning of this text is still rather unclear. Although it seems more likely that ya is a pronoun, it might also be interpreted as the final syllable of a name then to be read as Padmaśriya. The following translation options can be proposed:
Padmasri, he is the owner replacing his/her mother [and] his/her father.
Padmasri, he is the owner of [this] likeness of his/her mother [and] his/her father.
Padmasriya. The owner (of this statuette) has replaced his/her mother [and] his/her father.
It is also imaginable that əmpu here means “master-craftsman” rather than “owner”.