K. 400.1. Donation to the saṅgha by the king of Canāśa, 7th century

Authors of digital edition: Dominic Goodall (dogo), Diwakar Acharya (diac).

Summary: In one sragdharā stanza, this inscription records the gift of buffalos, cows, slaves and possibly elephants to the Buddhist saṅgha by the king of Canāśa.

Palaeographic description: The lettering is fairly typical of seventh-century Khmer epigraphs, but the long descending strokes and the upadhmānīya make it seem older still. The upadhmānīya is particularly large and pronounced, having the form of a large circle containing a cross, raised above the consonant that it precedes.

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Khmer (khmer)].

Repository: Khmer (tfc-khmer-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSCIK00400-1.

File path: texts/xml/DHARMA_INSCIK00400-1.xml.

Version: 2026-09-25 16:05 (37cf568), last modified 2026-09-22 04:20 (a7737d1).

Edition

⟨1⟩ [lamba-s]tany(o) mahiṣyaḫ pr̥thu-ghana-vapuṣo viṅśatir bbāla[-vatsāḥ]

⟨2⟩ [pa]ñcāśad dhenavaś ca stana-bhara-guravaḫ puṣṭa-vatsānuyā[tāḥ]

⟨3⟩ [dā](s)ī-dāsā daśaiva pramudita-manaso ⟨’⟩ṣṭārddha-saṁkhyā (d)[v]i[pānāṁ]

⟨4⟩ dattās saṅghāya bodhi-praṇihita-manasā śrī-canāśeśva[reṇa]

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ [lamba-s]tany(o) ⬦ [2+]t[.]nye GC.

⟨2⟩ -guravaḫ ⬦ -guravatḫ GC • The t in Cœdès’ reading seems to be a printer’s error.

⟨3⟩ -saṁkhyā (d)[v]i[pānāṁ] ⬦ -saṁkhya [⏑––] GC.

⟨4⟩ dattās ⬦ dattas GC.

Translation

Twenty female buffalos with pendant udders (lamba-stanyaḥ) and having baby calves, and fifty milch cows, heavy with the burden of their udders, followed by their well-nourished calves, ten female and male slaves, happy in their minds, and four elephants were given to the ⟨Buddhist⟩ community by the king of Canāśa, whose mind was fixed upon enlightenment.

Translation into French by Cœdès 1937–1966

Vingt bufflesses au corps large et replet, avec leurs bufflons, cinquante vaches alourdies par le poids de leurs mamelles avec leurs veaux bien gras, dix esclaves des deux sexes à l’esprit joyeux....... au nombre de quatre ont été donnés à la Communeauté par le souverain de Çri Canāça, ayant en vue l’Illumination.

Commentary

Our English translation follows an interpretation different to that of Cœdès, since it takes into account some improvements to the edition.

Instead of lamba-stanyo one could equally substitute some similar feminine plural bahuvrīhi, such as kuṇḍa-stanyaḥ or br̥hat-stanyaḥ. Instead of Cœdès’ conjecture bbāla-[vatsāḥ], one might also conjecture bbāla-[vatyaḥ]. The masculine plural -guravaḫ, where we require a feminine, is perhaps a case of metrical considerations trumping grammatical ones.

Bibliography

First edited by Cœdès (1937–1966), along with a later inscription inscribed on the same stone (K. 400.2), with translation into French and commentary. Re-edited here from EFEO estampage n. 1366 by Dominic Goodall and Diwakar Acharya.

Primary

[GC] Cœdès, George. 1937–1966. Inscriptions du Cambodge I-VIII. Collection de textes et documents sur l’Indochine 3. Hanoi; Paris: Imprimerie d’Extrême-Orient. Volume 6, pages 83–85.

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<title>K. 400.1. Donation to the <foreign>saṅgha</foreign> by the king of Canāśa, 7th century</title>

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<p>The lettering is fairly typical of seventh-century Khmer epigraphs, but the long descending strokes and the <foreign>upadhmānīya</foreign> make it seem older still. The <foreign>upadhmānīya</foreign> is particularly large and pronounced, having the form of a large circle containing a cross, raised above the consonant that it precedes.</p>

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<!-- K. 400/790 "saka (Bô Ika)

Estampage EFEO : n. 1366.

Edition par Cœdès dans IC VI, p. 83-85.

- CNPT 3, p. 23-29 -->

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<l n="b"><lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">pa</supplied>ñcāśad dhenavaś ca stana-bhara-guravaḫ puṣṭa-vatsānuyā<supplied reason="lost">tāḥ</supplied></l>

<l n="c"><lb n="3"/><supplied reason="lost">dā</supplied><unclear>s</unclear>ī-dāsā daśaiva pramudita-manaso <supplied reason="subaudible">'</supplied>ṣṭārddha-saṁkhyā <unclear>d</unclear><supplied reason="lost">v</supplied>i<supplied reason="lost">pānāṁ</supplied></l>

<l n="d"><lb n="4"/>dattās saṅghāya bodhi-praṇihita-manasā śrī-canāśeśva<supplied reason="lost">reṇa</supplied></l>

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<!--

(1) - -t . nye mahiṣyaḫ p r̥thughanavapuṣo viṅśatir bbāla[vatsāḥ]

% Diwakar suggests that we might have had: tisraḥ stanyo, or lambastanyo

%% Twenty female buffalos with pendant udders (lambastanyaḥ) and having baby calves

%% (baalavatsaa.h). In fact we cannot read the last 2 syllables, which could

%% equally fill out thus: baala[vatya.h]

(2) [pa]ñcāśad dhenavaś ca stanabharaguravaḫ pu.s.tavatsaanuyaa[taa.h]

%% GC mistakenly records °guravatḫ ()

(3) daasiidaasaa da"saiva pramuditamanaso .s.taarddhasa.mkhya ~ - -

% GC has daasiidaasaa For the end of the line, Diwakar suggests: @sa.mkhyaa (d)[v]i[paanaa.m]

(4) dattas sa"nghaaya bodhipra.nihitamanasaa "sriicanaa"se"sva[re.na]

%% GC reads dattas, but one could equally read dattaas-->

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<lem>-guravaḫ</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Coedes1937-1966_01">-guravatḫ</rdg>

<note>The <foreign>t</foreign> in Cœdès' reading seems to be a printer's error.</note>

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<lem>-saṁkhyā <unclear>d</unclear><supplied reason="lost">v</supplied>i<supplied reason="lost">pānāṁ</supplied></lem>

<rdg source="bib:Coedes1937-1966_01">-saṁkhya <seg met="-++"><gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/></seg></rdg>

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<lem>dattās</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Coedes1937-1966_01">dattas</rdg>

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<p rend="stanza" n="1">Twenty female buffalos with pendant udders <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>lamba-stanyaḥ</foreign></supplied> and having baby calves, and fifty milch cows, heavy with the burden of their udders, followed by their well-nourished calves,

ten female and male slaves, happy in their minds, and four elephants

were given to the <supplied reason="subaudible">Buddhist</supplied> community by the king of Canāśa, whose mind was fixed upon enlightenment.</p>

</div>

<p rend="stanza" n="1">Vingt bufflesses au corps large et replet, avec leurs bufflons, cinquante vaches alourdies par le poids de leurs mamelles avec leurs veaux bien gras, dix esclaves des deux sexes à l'esprit joyeux....... au nombre de quatre ont été donnés à la Communeauté par le souverain de Çri Canāça, ayant en vue l’Illumination.</p>

</div>

<p>Our English translation follows an interpretation different to that of Cœdès, since it takes into account some improvements to the edition.</p>

<p>Instead of <foreign>lamba-stanyo</foreign> one could equally substitute some similar feminine plural <foreign>bahuvrīhi</foreign>, such as <foreign>kuṇḍa-stanyaḥ</foreign> or <foreign>br̥hat-stanyaḥ</foreign>. Instead of Cœdès’ conjecture <foreign>bbāla-[vatsāḥ]</foreign>, one might also conjecture <foreign>bbāla-[vatyaḥ]</foreign>. The masculine plural <foreign>-guravaḫ</foreign>, where we require a feminine, is perhaps a case of metrical considerations trumping grammatical ones.<!--Cœdès appears to read <foreign>°guravatḫ</foreign>,

but this is presumably just a typesetting error.--></p>

</div>

<p>First edited by Cœdès (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Coedes1937-1966_01"/></bibl>), along with a later inscription inscribed on the same stone (<ref target="DHARMA_INSCIK00400-2.xml">K. 400.2</ref>), with translation into French and commentary. Re-edited here from EFEO estampage n. 1366 by Dominic Goodall and Diwakar Acharya.</p>

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