Myazedi inscription ( my, မြစေတီ ကျောက်စာ ; also Yazakumar Inscription or the Gubyaukgyi Inscription), inscribed in 1113, is the oldest surviving stone inscription of the
Burmese language
Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the count ...
. "Myazedi" means "emerald stupa" ("zedi" being akin to the Pali "
cetiya
upright=1.25, Phra Pathom Chedi, one of the biggest Chedis in Thailand; in Thai, the term Chedi (cetiya) is used interchangeably with the term Stupa
Cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials" (Sanskrit ''caitya''), are objects and places used by Buddhi ...
" and Thai "
chedi"), and the name of the inscription comes from a pagoda located nearby. The inscriptions were made in four languages: Burmese,
Pyu
Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township
Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...
,
Mon, and
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
,
which all tell the story of Prince
Yazakumar
Yazakumar ( my, ရာဇကုမာရ် ; pi, Rājakumāra; 1078–11??) was the titular governor of north Arakan during the reign of his father King Kyansittha of the Pagan Dynasty of Myanmar (Burma). He is best known for the Myazedi inscr ...
and King
Kyansittha
Kyansittha ( my, ကျန်စစ်သား, ; also spelt as Kyanzittha or Hti-Hlaing Shin; 1030 – 1112/13) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He cont ...
. The primary importance of the Myazedi inscription is that the inscriptions allowed for the deciphering of the written Pyu language.
There are two main inscriptions in Burma today. One exists on the platform of the Myazedi Pagoda, in the village of Myinkaba (south of
Bagan
Bagan (, ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that wou ...
), in
Mandalay Division
Mandalay Region ( my, မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to ...
. The other was discovered by German Pali scholar Dr.
Emil Forchammar in 1886-1887, and is currently in display at the Bagan Archaeological Museum. The Myazedi inscription is recognised as
Memory of the World Register
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
Translation and Analysis
The inscription has 39 lines in Burmese language, 41 lines in Pali, 33 lines in Mon Language and 26 lines in Pyu language. It can be generally divided into three categories, donation, wish and curse. The nearest translation is as follows:
Analysis
The typical Bagan handwriting was either rectangular or circular in shape, but in this inscription, the handwriting reassembles
Tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs ...
seeds. Being the beginning of Myanmar Literature, some words were not written systematically, that is, the consonants and vowels were separated (e.g, was written as on a line, and written on the next line).
There were only words for the
first person,"I" and "my",in Bagan period.In the inscription,instead of "he",Yazakumar referred to himself as "The son of the beloved wife"()and "it" was referred as "This"().Some words had archaic meanings(e.g,,which has modern meaning of "abandon",meant "Lovely ,or beloved"and , meaning "relax" or "mix thoroughly",meant "donate").
Yazakumar referred to his father as Śrī Tribhuvanāditya Dhammarāja,meaning "The king who can enlighten all three worlds like the sun",his mother as Trilokavaṭansakā devi (The queen who could lead all three worlds) and the Pagan Empire as Arimaddanāpura Empire (Meaning: The place where they can successfully outnumber enemies) respectively.
The purpose of the donation category is to let people appreciate their deeds. The wishing category is part of the tradition of Buddhism. The main intention of writing curse to preserve the donations and to prevent donated structures from being damaged.
From this inscription, the reign periods of Kyansittha,
Anawrahta
Anawrahta Minsaw ( my, အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone ...
,
Saw Lu
Saw Lu ( my, စောလူး ; also spelled Sawlu; also known as Min Lulin ( ), ; 19 April 1049 – 21 April 1084) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1077 to 1084. He inherited from his father Anawrahta the Pagan Empire, the ...
,and
Alaungsithu
Alaungsithu or Sithu I ( my, အလောင်းစည်သူ ; also Cansu I; 1090–1167) was king of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1112/13 to 1167. Sithu's reign was a prosperous one in which Pagan was an integral part of in-land ...
can be calculated, old Pyu Language can be learnt, and Yazakumar's respect and love for his father can be observed.
In Pali
In
Pali language
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhis ...
, the inscription reads:
#''Śrī. Buddhādikam vatthuvaram namitvā pāññam katam yam jinasā''
#''sanasmim anārikam Rājakumāra nāmadheyyena vakkhā''
#''mi sunātha metam. Nibbanā lokanāthassa aṭhavī''
#''sādike gate sahasse pana vassānam chasate vā pare ta''
#''-thā. Arimaddananāmasmim pure āsi mahabbalo rājā''
#''Tibhuvanādicco udicca diccavamsajo. Tassā te''
#''kā piyā devi sā Tilokavaṭamsikā hi''
#''tesi kusalā sabbekiccesu pana rājino. Ta''
#''ssā seko suto Rājakumaro nāma nāmat-''
#''-o amacco rājakiccesu byavato satimā''
#''vidu. Adā gāmattayam tassā deviyā soma''
#''hipati pasanno sabbadā dāsa pribhogena buññjitum.''
#''Aniccatā vasam tassā gatāya pana deviyā rā-''
#''-jā Rājakumārassa adā gāmattayam puna. Aṭhavīsa''
#''-ti vassāni rajjam dhammena kātriya māranantika rogassa-''
#''vassam patte narādipe. Saranto dhammarājassa mahantam gu-''
#''ṇa saññcayam kāretvā satthuno bimbam sabbasovaṇṇa-''
#''yam subham. Gahetvā tam mahatena sakkārena sumānaso''
#''upasaṅkamma rājanam āha cintitamattano. Bhavamkatvā''
#''nidam satthubimbam sovaṇṇyam subham akāsim vo va-''
#''-ram puññam sāmi tumhe nūmodatha. Gāmattayam pivo''
#''sāmi pubbe dinnantu me again imasseva munidassa demi ta''
#''ññcā nūmodatha. Evam vutte mahipālo roge''
#''nāturamānaso sadhu, sadhūti vatvāna tuṭhahattho''
#''pamodito. Dayā payo mahātheyo theyo muggali''
#''puttako sumedhatta sumedhoti laddhanāmo ca paṇṭito''
#''brahmapālo tathā brhamadevo sampanna silavā so no''
#''bahussuto samghasena vho varapaṇṭito. Etesam pa-''
#''na bikkhūnam sammukhā so sumānaso jalam pātesi katavana sa-''
#''kkhintu vasudhātalam. Tato so tan mahāmacco bibam so va-''
#''-ṇṇayam subham patiṭhāpiya kāresi guham kaññcanathūpikam.''
#''Katvāna maṅgalam Buddhapatimāya guhāyaca akāsevam paṇī''
#''dhānam nibbinno bhavasaṅkate. Karonetana mayā etam yam pu-''
#''-ññam tam samācitam hotu sabbaññuta ññaṇa pative dhā-''
#''-yā paccayo. Yattakā ta maya dāsā gamattayaniva-''
#''-sino dinnā guhāya sovaṇṇapatimāya mahesi''
#''no. Putto me va paputto va añño va panañña''
#''tako yo koci pāpa samkappo naro assaddha''
#''mānāso. Kareyyupadduvam tesam dāsānam si naramamo''
#''Metteya dipadindassa dassanam nāthigacchatū''
#''ti.''
[Ministry of Burmese Culture- Myanmar Inscriptions, Volume 1, p.6-7]
Gallery
Image:Myazedi-Inscription-Burmese.JPG, In Burmese
Image:Myazedi-Inscription-Mon.JPG, In Mon
Image:Myazedi-Inscription-Pali.JPG, In Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
Image:Myazedi-Inscription-Pyu.JPG, In Pyu
Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township
Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...
References
*
*
*
*
Nishida Tatsuo
was a professor at Kyoto University. His work encompasses research on a variety of Tibeto-Burman languages, he made great contributions in particular to the deciphering of the Tangut language.
Biography
Born in Osaka, Nishida graduated from the ...
西田龍雄 (1955) "Myazedki 碑文における中古ビルマ語の研究 Myazedi hibu ni okeru chūko biruma go no kenkyū. Studies in the later ancient Burmese Language through Myazedi Inscriptions." 古代學 ''Kodaigaku Palaeologia'' 4.1:17-31 and 5.1: 22-40.
*
Yabu Shirō 藪 司郎 (2006). 古ビルマ語資料におけるミャゼディ碑文<1112年>の古ビルマ語 / Kobirumago shiryō ni okeru myazedi hibun senhyakujūninen no kobirumago ōbī / Old Burmese (OB) of Myazedi inscription in OB materials. Osaka: Osaka University of Foreign Studies.
Link to pictures
Myazedi Inscription at AncientBagan.co
Myazedi Inscription A at Zenod
Myazedi Inscription B at Zenod
{{Burmese chronicles
History of Myanmar
Burmese culture
Earliest known manuscripts by language
Multilingual texts
Bagan
Inscriptions of Myanmar
Memory of the World Register
1113 works
Burmese Buddhist texts
Buddhist inscriptions
12th-century inscriptions