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

Authors of digital edition: Arlo Griffiths (argr), Hedwi Prihatmoko (hepr).

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Kawi (kawi)].

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

Identifier: DHARMA_INSIDENKBorobudurHB124B.

File path: xml/DHARMA_INSIDENKBorobudurHB124B.xml.

Version: 2026-02-15 00:03 (ecb62df), last modified 2026-02-14 23:30 (63693ff).

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.

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