# Relief label from Borobudur’s hidden base, no. 124B (8th c. CE)

Arlo Griffiths and Hedwi Prihatmoko

Authors of digital edition: Arlo Griffiths, Hedwi Prihatmoko

Identifier: DHARMA_INSIDENKBorobudurHB124B

Repository: Nusantara Epigraphy (tfc-nusantara-epigraphy)

File path: xml/DHARMA_INSIDENKBorobudurHB124B.xml

Language: Sanskrit [Kawi]

Commit: 2026-11-09 08:51 (6580fa0), last modified 2026-09-09 14:27
(72454d8)

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ suvarṇavarṇa

## Translation

of golden complexion

## Commentary

Kern (1917, pp. 152–153) identified this as the proper name of the hero
of an avadāna. However, Lévi (1932, p. 84) pointed out that one Tibetan
translation shows a parallel with the Karmavibhaṅga in Borobudur and
mentions the golden complexion.

## Bibliography

First published by Kern (1896); republished by the same author (1917)
and subsequently by Krom (1927); this digital edition based on the 1927
publication.

### Primary

[HK1] Kern, Johan Hendrik Caspar. 1896. “Over de bijschriften op het
beeldhouwwerk van Boro-Boedoer.” VMKAW-L 3e reeks, 12, pp. 119–128.
Pages 124–125.

[HK2] Kern, Johan Hendrik Caspar. 1917. “Over de bijschriften op het
beeldhouwwerk van Boro-Budur (± 850 A. D.)” In: Verspreide geschriften,
zevende deel: inscripties van den Indischen archipel, slot; de
Nāgarakṛtāgama, eerste gedeelte. ’s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, pp. 145–156.
Pages 152–153.

[NJK] Krom, Nicolaas Johannes. 1927. Barabudur: Archaeological
description, vol. I. The Hague: Nijhoff. Page 51.

[SL] Lévi, Sylvain. 1932. Mahā-karmavibhaṅga (La Grande classification
des actes) et Karmavibhaṅgopadeśa (Discussion sur le MahāKarmavibhaṅga):
textes sanscrits rapportés du Népal, édités et traduits avec les textes
parallèles en sanscrit, en pali, en tibétain, en chinois et en
koutchéen. Paris: E. Leroux. [URL]. Page 84, Tableau Comparatif, column
Bb. (Panneaux de Boro-Budur), item 124-126.

### Secondary

Krom, Nicolaas Johannes. 1933. “Het Karmawibhangga op Barabuḍur.” MKAW
76, serie B, no. 8, pp. 215–283. Page 259.

de Casparis, Johannes Gijsbertus. 1975. Indonesian palaeography: A
history of writing in Indonesia from the beginnings to c. A.D. 1500.
Handbuch der Orientalistik 3.4.1. Leiden: Brill. Page 32.

Fontein, Jan. 1989. The law of cause and effect in ancient Java.
Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeling
Letterkunde nieuwe reeks, deel 140. Amsterdam: North-Holland. Page 56.

Reichle, Natasha. 2009. “Unfinished Business: Clues about artistic
praxis from the Hidden Foot of Borobudur.” Artibus Asiae 69 (2), pp.
335–356. [URL]. Pages 352–354, Table I, item O-124.