hiraNyaruchi
A Khmer inscription of a shaiva scholar hiraNyaruchi’s deeds:
hiraṇyarucinā tena pure rudramahā[laye] |
sthāpitaṃ vidhinā liṅgaṃ śrī-bhadreśvara-saṃjñakam ||
sa pinākipade śreṣṭhapure rudramahālaye |
rudrāśrama-tribhuvanasthāna+iśānapurādiṣu ||
liṅgāny arccāś śivādīnāṃ nyadhāl liṅgapurādiṣu |
śrāṇāśraya ca śraminām āśramaṃ pustakāśramam ||
“By that Hiraṇyaruci, in the city Rudramahālaya, a liṅga was established according to ritual, known as Śrī-Bhadreśvara. He [established liṅgas] in Piṇākipada, at Śreṣṭhapura, at Rudramahālaya, at Rudrāśrama, Tribhuvanasthāna, Īśānapura and other places liṅgas and images of Śiva and others. He established iat Liṅgapura and other places, a center to distribute cooked food, a rest house for the weary and a library (pustakāśrama)”
pustakāśrama: is an interesting word for library.
At Prasat Khna we have another fragmentary inscription of hirNayaruchi:
hiraṇyarucinā te[na] (…) kṛto .ayaṃ pustakāśramaḥ || adhyāpakādhyetṛ-hitaiḥ
It clarifies the library was established for the benefit of teachers and students alike.
Such H libraries from Khmer have been entirely lost.
…This believed by some to be a shrANAshraya (place for distributing cooked food and/or a śraminām āśramaṃ (rest house) similar to that mentioned by hiraNyaruchi in his inscription. This one is however from the Preah Khan temple complex of the Khmers.
Ban That
Ban That inscription from Laos giving a vivid account of a mantra-shAstra school with its students studying and debating Agamika texts:
vidyāpavarga-vihitāpaciti-prabandhe
yasyāśrame .anavaratāhuti-dhūma-gandhe |
durgāgameṣu mati-bheda-kṛtārthanītyā
vidyārthināṃ vivadatāṃ dhvanir utsasarpa ||
Above his āśrama, where acts of honor were constantly performed at the conclusion of studies, which was fragrant from the smoke of uninterrupted oblations, the sound of students debating over difficult āgama-s as per the interpretations from differences in opinion of the various schools rose up.
shaiva initiation
The image of a procession of shaiva (=pAshupata?) ascetics carrying their guru from Angkor Wat. It is believed by some to be a portrait of none other than the rAjaguru divAkara-paNDita, also called the hotR^i of kingdom. He performed the rAjyAbhiSheka of three Khmer monarchs, none of whom were shaiva-s. Two were bauddha-s following their yoginI-tantra-s, and the builder of Angkor was a vaiShNava. It illustrates the general sarvAdhikArin principle in H tradition.
Fire transport
The early Aryan-s carried their fire in pots while on the move and installed it in fire houses or fire sheds when stationary. In the case of the Iranians, it evolved into fire temples. In the case of the Indians, it was the fire-house – the agnyAgara. Such are depicted in some of the earliest iconic art, post the second urbanization in India.
It continued into the shaiva tradition and is mentioned in the early pAshupata text in AV-parishiShTha. Versions of it further continued to be seen in the mantra-mArga tradition – as the shivAgni, which was locally installed or carried on the move. Below is a Khmer inscription on the installation of one such fire.
The Prasat Srange Khmer indravarman’ s hotR^i-s inscription in modern orthography:
rājā rājadhirājo yaḥ Śrīndravarmeti viśrutaḥ |
ācāryo nandikācāryaḥ taddhotā sumahātapāḥ ||
śara-khāṣṭāṅkite śāke devāgniḥ nandikeśvaraḥ |
sthāpito vidhinā tena hutvāgniñ ca sadārcayet ||
pañca-tanmātram asyedaṃ pañcakāman dadāti yaiḥ |
patreṇa kampitaṃ tebhyaḥ suvarṇa-vyajanāni ca ||
The king, the king of kings, who is renowned as Śrī Indravarman, the ācārya Nandikācārya is his hotṛ of great austerity.
In Śaka marked by the arrow, space and 8 (805 ~883 CE), the divine fire of Nandikeśvara was installed as per ritual procedure by him, and having offered oblations, may he always worship it.
This set of five subtle elements (pañca-tanmātra-s) of it bestows the pleasures to the five senses (pañcakāma) to those who fan it with a leaf, and to them are also given golden fans.
A frieze from Bayon showing the transportation of ritual fire by Khmer officiants
chitrasena-mahendravarman
The famous inscription of chitrasena mahendravarman from early 600s, king of the Chenla kingdom that later expanded into the Khmer empire (in modern orthography):
bhaktyā bhagavataś śambhor
mātā-pitror anujñayā |
sthāpitañ citrasenena
liṅgañ jayati śāmbhavam ||
With devotion to Lord Śambhu,
with the permission of [his] mother and father,
Citra-sena installed the liṅga of Śambhu [, which] is victorious
While there is no image of his performing the sthApana, we have a much later image of a Khmer monarch performing li~Nga sthApana with his two shivAcharya-s.
Da Noi
A fragmentary stone slab from Da Noi, 400-500 CE, contains an ornate inscription that appears to have been a verse describing tripura-dahana. It was likely a śārdūlavikrīḍita:
d(ai)tyānān tr[i]purā(r)danāya sa śaraṁ puṣpyan nabhaḫ pal(l)ava[m] yas(y)ān (ta)s(ya) ca [-] rma [–] hariṇā nā sā [.]i[…]
To crush the triple-planets of the daitya-s, he (=Rudra) […] an arrow, which was a blossoming shoot in the sky,[…] by Hari […]