The stele of Preah Khan at Angkor was discovered by Maurice Glaize in 1939. It lay on the ground under fallen masonry in the western salient of the main (east) gatehouse at the entry to the inner enclosure of the temple. Like the stele of Ta Prohm, whose inscription was written a few years earlier, it is square in cross-section, each side being 58 cm. wide, and measures 185 cm. in height. The base has narrow mouldings and a lotus is carved at the apex. It was removed to the Conservation d’Angkor in Siem Reap, where it can be seen today. Because of its positioning in the depot, side A cannot now be read. The inscription consists of 179 Sanskrit verses and contains the date 1113 (or 1114) of the Śaka era, corresponding to a year between 1191 and 1193 AD, which is when the central image of the temple is said to have been consecrated by Jayavarman VII. It contains much information concerning Preah Khan and other shrines and temples built at the command of this king. The present article contains: (1) the text of the inscription transcribed in accordance with modern convention, in which words that in Sanskrit are coalesced have been separated as far as possible (e.g. the separation of coalesced vowels by use of the circumflex) to enable non-Sanskritists to refer to dictionaries for definitions of the terms used in the text; (2) an English translation; and (3) a commentary with discussion of the subject matter and references. Detailed text analysis is only occasionally entered into where the meaning is in doubt or open to interpretation, and historical speculation has been avoided. The chief purpose of the article is to make this remarkable inscription accessible to a wider readership in response to an increasing interest in Khmer culture and civilisation including the epigraphy of ancient temples such as Preah Khan. It goes without saying that I have referred constantly to the French translation of George Coedès, and also to a new French translation, unpublished, by Claude Jacques, who very kindly placed his draft at my disposal. Those points on which my reading of the Sanskrit differs from theirs are indicated in the commentary.
目次
1. the deities 3 1.1 invocation of the triratna 3 Buddha 3 Dharma 3 Sangha 4 1.2 invocation of lokesvara 5 1.3 invocation of prajnaparamita 7 2. the king 7 2.1 genealogy of jayavarman VII (6-18)7 his maternal ancestry 7 2. his paternal ancestry 12 2.2 prasasti of jayavarman 16 3. the temple 30 3.1 the foundation of Preah Khan (jayasri) 30 3.2 consecration of lokesvara and other deities 32 lokesvara at the centre 32 deities in the eastern complex 34 deities in the southern complex 35 deities in the western complex, and deities in the northern complex 37 deities in other structures of preah khan 40 3.3 deities installed in temples outside Preah Khan 46 3.4 provisions for daily worship in the temple 51 3.5 provisions for holy days 57 3.6 provisions from attached villages 60 3.7 provisions from the royal storehouse 67 3.8 inventory of metal objects and gems in the temple 73 3.9 stone structures of the temple 76 3.10 residents of the temple 78 4. beyond Preah Khan 79 4.1 deities consecrated by the king elsewhere 79 4.2 fire shrines established across the empire 84 4.3 temples in the provinces 85 4.4 provisions for the provincial temples 86 4.5 villages attached to the provincial temples 89 4.6 metals and gems in the provincial temples 90 4.7 total construcions 93 5. holy water 94 5.1 the annual phalguna festival at preah khan 94 5.2 the lake jayatataka and its island 98 6. the king and the temple between past and future 102 6.1 the transfer of jayavarman's merit to his father 102 6.2 appeals to the future 103 6.3 the king's son, author of the inscription 106 references cited 107 abstract 112 resume 112
