Fragment of Prasat Preah Ko, Ta Keo (K. 1270), 5th-6th century CE
Editors: Kunthea Chhom, Arlo Griffiths, Dominic Goodall.
Identifier: DHARMA_INSCIK01270.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Khmer (tfc-khmer-epigraphy).
Version: (496f35a), last modified (25c6f3e).
Edition
I. uncertain
⟨1⟩ […][1×](tatra)ś(ī)tyāyam abhūn mahākra[t](u)[ḥ]
uncertainTranslation by Dominic Goodall
(1) ... this (ayam) great sacrifice (mahākratuḥ) took place (abhūt) using eighty (aśītyā) ...
Bibliography
Edited by Arlo Griffiths & Kunthea Chhom, in consultation with Dominic Goodall, from the photographs KPreah Kô - 004 - 029.
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<p>Copyright (c) 2019-2025 by Kunthea Chhom & Arlo Griffiths.</p>
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<change who="part:kuch" when="2024-05-15" status="draft">Modifications to paleographical remark and apparatus</change>
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<lg n="1" met="uncertain"><!-- dogo: It may be an anuṣṭubh. --><!-- argr: I think not, because the pāda break would then fall inside the word aśītyā -->
<l n="uncertain"><!-- kuch: @n is required here. But I don't know if the mention "uncertain" is correct. In EG § 5.4. does not seem to give suggestion. --><lb n="1"/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/><gap reason="illegible" unit="character" quantity="1"/><unclear>tatra</unclear>ś<unclear>ī</unclear>tyāyam abhūn mahākra<supplied reason="lost">t</supplied><unclear>u</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ḥ</supplied></l>
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<p n="1">... this <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>ayam</foreign></supplied> great sacrifice <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>mahākratuḥ</foreign></supplied> took place <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>abhūt</foreign></supplied> using eighty <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>aśītyā</foreign></supplied> ...</p>
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<p>The remaining text is compatible with three at least three verse types, namely <foreign>indravaṁśā</foreign>, <foreign>vaṁśamālā</foreign> and <foreign>vaṁśastha</foreign>, the latter being rather common in Cambodian Sanskrit inscriptions.</p>
<p>Epic Sanskrit texts are full of <foreign>rājasūya</foreign>s and <foreign>aśvamedha</foreign>s that are described as <foreign>mahākratu</foreign>. If we assume, despite the problem formulated in our apparatus, that the text contained the word <foreign>aśīti</foreign> meaning <q>eighty</q>, and that this word qualified officiants, or sacrificial victims, it would mean that indeed the text was dealing with a rather large-scale ritual.</p>
<p n="1">It seems impossible to interpret the sequence <foreign>ś<unclear>ī</unclear>tyāyam</foreign> otherwise than as containing the words <foreign>aśītyā</foreign> and <foreign>ayam</foreign>. However, our tentative reading of the preceding <foreign>akṣara</foreign> as <foreign>tra</foreign> is not compatible with the idea that the text had the word <foreign>aśīti</foreign>: we would need <foreign>trā</foreign>, <foreign>tro</foreign>, <foreign>tre</foreign>,
<foreign>tya</foreign> or <foreign>tva</foreign> before <foreign>śī</foreign>, but we are unable to match what we see on the photographs with any of those <foreign>akṣara</foreign>s.</p>
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<p>Edited by Arlo Griffiths & Kunthea Chhom, in consultation with Dominic Goodall, from the photographs KPreah Kô - 004 - 029.</p>
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Commentary
The remaining text is compatible with three at least three verse types, namely indravaṁśā, vaṁśamālā and vaṁśastha, the latter being rather common in Cambodian Sanskrit inscriptions.
Epic Sanskrit texts are full of rājasūyas and aśvamedhas that are described as mahākratu. If we assume, despite the problem formulated in our apparatus, that the text contained the word aśīti meaning “eighty”, and that this word qualified officiants, or sacrificial victims, it would mean that indeed the text was dealing with a rather large-scale ritual.
(1) It seems impossible to interpret the sequence ś(ī)tyāyam otherwise than as containing the words aśītyā and ayam. However, our tentative reading of the preceding akṣara as tra is not compatible with the idea that the text had the word aśīti: we would need trā, tro, tre, tya or tva before śī, but we are unable to match what we see on the photographs with any of those akṣaras.