The Stela of Kedungwangi (Lawan)

Editor: Arlo Griffiths.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSIDENKKedungwangi.

Languages: Old Javanese, Sanskrit.

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

Version: (9d06222), last modified (f510d28).

Edition

⟨Face B: Back⟩ ⟨1⟩ [1×] kolah-olahan· raken· mahāmantri hino Alu sir(i)kān·, ku(naṁ) ⟨2⟩ salvirni(ṁ) maṅulah-ulaḥ panugraha śrī pāduka puṅku, Astu salvirniṅ upadrava katmva denya ⟨3⟩ [sə]mpaL̥n· de saṁ hyaṁ pañca-mahābhūta, sulambitakna ri hyaṁ kabe(ḥ), si(v)ak· ka(pā)⟨4⟩lanya⟨,⟩ cavuk· Utək·nya(,) laṅga rujiranya, Uvad-avid· Ususnya denta kamuṁ hyaṁ pa⟨5⟩(ñca)-mahābhūta, vigr¡a!⟨aha⟩n· de saṁ kiṅkāra yamabala, tətəL̥n· riṁ maha(ro)⟨6⟩rava, matmahana hiris· poḥ, sakinaririsaniṁ sarāt·, Astu vacana śrī pādu⟨7⟩(ka) mpuṅku Amandi saka riṁ viṣā, Apan· śrī pāduka mpuṅku săkṣăt· bhaṭāra (bra)⟨8⟩(hma viṣṇ)u maheśvara, sira ḍuməṇḍa salvirni(ṁ) maṅulah-ulaḥ panug(r)aha śrī pā⟨9⟩duka mpuṅku bhaṭāra t(r?)ipuruṣa ḍuməṇḍa Irikāṁ, Iniri(ṁ) de [saṁ hyaṁ] ⟨10⟩ pañca-mahābhūta kabeḥ, ṅuniveḥ para devata, mataṁnyan· ha⟨11⟩ji tiga-tiga yan· sira vənaṅa, Om̐ pañca-mahābhūt[āya namaḥ] ⟨12⟩ Om̐ brahmaṇe namaḥ, Om̐ viṣṇave namaḥ, Om̐ parameśvar[āya namaḥ] ⟨13⟩ [Om̐] lo¿ke?⟨ka-pāle⟩bhyaḥ Indrādibhyo namaḥ, Om̐ nama¿ś?⟨ś ś⟩iv(āya) [svāhā, Om̐] ⟨14⟩ jaya vijay¿ā?⟨a⟩ svăhā, Om̐ jaya jayāstu kadi katguḥhaniṁ gunuṁ (mvaṁ sva?)[rgga] ⟨15⟩ [ma]ṅkana tguha(n)iṁ sĭma, Astu Astu Ujar hyaṁ // 0 //

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ raken· ⬦ ra[…] B • The spelling raken is a rare variant for rakryān. See Damais 1970, p. 273, n. 2. — ⟨1⟩ Alu sir(i)kān·, ku(naṁ)Ala(siṁ) rikā[…] B.

⟨2⟩ salvirni(ṁ) maṅulah- ⬦ […] umulah- B.

⟨3⟩ kabe(ḥ)kubera B.

⟨4⟩ cavuk· ⬦ davut· B.

⟨5⟩ kiṅkāra ⬦ tiṅkara B • A note indicates that Brandes did take into account the alternative reading kiṅkara.

⟨6⟩ matmahana ⬦ ma(tra) hana B.

⟨7⟩ Amandi ⬦ Amukti B. — ⟨7⟩ săkṣăt· ⬦ sakr̥t· B • The reading is ambiguous and, in the absence of other cases of pasangan or vowel marker in this inscription, it is hard to exclude Brandes’ reading. My choice is based mainly on the fact that the word sākṣāt is typical of this kind of context whereas the Sanskrit word sakr̥t, which Brandes thought he recognized, never seems to have entered Old Javanese lexicon at all.

⟨9⟩ Irikāṁ ⬦ ṅuri[…] B.

⟨11⟩ -mahābhūt[āya]-mahābhūta[…] B • The Sanskrit dative forms ending in -āya reconstructed here and in the following lines are all uncertain, the tarung nowhere being evidently present/preserved.

⟨13⟩ Indrādibhyo ⬦ Indrādibyo B.

⟨14⟩ katguḥhaniṁ gunuṁ (mvaṁ sva?)[rgga] ⟨15⟩ [ma]ṅkana tguha(n)iṁ sĭma ⬦ katguḥ[…] ⟨15⟩ (Ina)tguhana sima B • My reconstruction is quite uncertain. A possible alternative would be gunuṁ (svargga) [ma] ⟨15⟩ ṅkana. Cf. Gilikan Xr7–8 kadi tguḥ saṁ hyaṁ guṇuṁ tahan· hana Umulaḥ-Ulaḥ sira maṅkana tguhanikeṁ lmaḥ savaḥ puṇya śrī maharāja sīmā bhaṭāra iṁ glam· and Agastyaparva 47.24–26 kadi hīrabajra pinakvakən riṅ vatu, kadi təguhnika, mvaṅ pisaniṅun ika molaha, maṅkana təguhnikaṅ manah mvaṅ pagəhnya.

Translation by Arlo Griffiths

(1) disturbed by the lords high ministers Hino, Halu [and] Sirikan.

(1–6) Now all those who disturb the grant of His Late Majesty (śrī pāduka puṅku), may they meet with all forms of disaster! May they be decapitated by the Five Great Elements, torn asunder to all deities, their heads be split, their brains be pulled out, their blood be sucked, their entrails be torn out by all you deities, Five Great Elements! May they be fought by the servants who are Yama’s army! May they be flung down to the Mahāraurava (hell)! May they turn into worms, into everything that everyone dreads!

(6–11) May the edict of His Late Majesty be more powerful than poison. For His Late Majesty is a manifestation of the Lords (bhaṭāra) Brahmā, Viṣṇu [and] Maheśvara. [When] they punish all those who disturb the grant of His Late Majesty, it is [none other than] the Lords Tripuruṣa who punish them, accompanied by all the holy Five Great Elements, and certainly the deities. That is why the (following) formulas in sets of three (words) will be effective.1

(11–14) Om! Homage to the Five Great Elements! Om! Homage to Brahmā! Om! Homage to Viṣṇu! Om! Homage to Parameśvara! Om! Homage to the world guardians beginning with Indra! Om! Homage to Śiva svāhā! Om! Conquer! Vanquish! svāhā! Om! Conquer! Conquer!

(14–15) As solid as are mountains and heaven, so solid may be the sīma! May the divine speech be true!

Commentary

Of this inscription engraved on a large stela, text remains on only one principal face, more particularly the end of the inscription which must have begun on the opposite principal face, it being unknown whether the lateral faces were ever engraved. The reconstructions at the beginnings and ends of several lines proposed here are in several cases somewhat tentative.

The inscription was considered by Boechari (1990, p. 130) to mention Airlangga with his “priestly title” but it seems unlikely that the inscription has any connection with Airlangga at all. Rather, it seems plausible that the śrī pāduka mpuṅku mentioned in the text as a manifestation of the divine Triad can, with reference to the Sukhamerta charter (10r2–3, … śrī mahārāja, Āpan sira prabhu devamūrtti, viriñjinărāyanaśaṅkarātmā, sākṣāt paśarīran· bhaṭāra tripuruṣa sira), be interpreted as a posthumous reference to Kertarajasa (alias Raden Wijaya), the first ruler of Majapahit.2 Particularities of spelling, as well as palaeographic considerations, support the hypothesis that the inscription was engraved during the Majapahit period. This idea is further strengthened by the fact that the phrase laṅga rudhiranya (the second word here spelt rujiranya) occurs only in one other inscription, namely the Trailokyapuri II inscription of 1408 Śaka.

Bibliography

First edited by Brandes (1913); re-edited here by Arlo Griffiths based on an orthophoto extracted from a 3D-model. Brandes’ edition, based on an estampage, left open gaps at the beginnings and ends of most lines. Variant readings which only concern gaps in Brandes’ text being filled are not recorded in my apparatus.

Primary

[B] Brandes, Jan Laurens Andries and Nicolaas Johannes Krom. 1913. Oud-Javaansche Oorkonden: Nagelaten transcripties. Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen 60 (parts 1 and 2). Batavia; 's-Hage: Albrecht; Nijhoff. [URL]. Page 247, item CXIII.

Secondary

Verbeek, Rogier Diederik Marius. 1891. Oudheden van Java: Lijst der voornaamste overblijfselen uit den Hindoetijd op Java, met eene oudheidkundige kaart. Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen 46. Batavia; 's-Hage: Landsdrukkerij; Nijhoff. [URL]. Page 221, item 434.

Knebel, J. 1909. “Beschrijving der Hindoe-oudheden in de afdeeling Grĕsik (waaronder de voormalige afdeeling Sidajoe) en Lamongan (Residentie Soerabaja) 1907.” ROC (Bijlage 38), pp. 245–271. Page 270.

ROD1915

Boechari. 1990. “The inscription of Garamān, dated 975 Çaka: A new evidence on Airlangga's partition of his kingdom.” In: Monumen: karya persembahan untuk Prof. Dr. R. Soekmono. Edited by Edi Sedyawati, Ingrid Harriet Eileen Pojoh and Supratikno Rahardjo. Seri Penerbitan Ilmiah 11 (Edisi Khusus). Depok: Lembaran Sastra, Fakultas Sastra Universitas Indonesia, pp. 125–142. Page 130.

Notes

  1. 1. The fact that (h)aji can mean either “king” or “formula, mantra” makes the last sentence ambiguous. While the interpretation adopted here clearly works well for the first four of the following Sanskrit mantras, it does so less evidently for the following ones. However, translating haji tiga-tiga as “threefold kings” does not seem to be a plausible alternative.
  2. 2. Cf. the way that pāduka mpuṅku is used for a deceased king referred to as Bhaṭāra Guru in the Sumengka charter, line 3.