214 Translation of a Burmese Inscription. [May, 



II. — Translation of an Inscription in the Pdli character and Burmese 

 Language, on a stone at Buddh Gya, in Behar. Plate XVI. 



When the Burmese ambassador Mengy Maha Chesu and his suite 

 were on their way to the Upper Provinces, to visit the Governor Gene- 

 ral ; they took the opportunity of paying their devotions at the cele- 

 brated Buddhist temple near Gya. There, as usual making notes of 

 every occurrence, they took copies of an ancient inscription in the Pali 

 character, discovered by them, in a half-buried situation near the Maha 

 Bodhi gdch or sacred pipal tree, on the terrace of the temple. A copy 

 of their manuscript having come into Ratna Paula's hands, he has 

 obliged me by lithographing the text, as a sequel to the more lengthy 

 inscription from Ramree in the present number. 



It will be remarked that there is a near coincidence in the names of 

 the kings of Ava, alluded to in the two inscriptions ; although an inter- 

 val of more than 500 years separates the two in date : this can only be 

 cleared up by a better knowledge of the history of the country, than 

 we now possess. In the Burmese chronological table, published in 

 Crawfurd's Embassy, Sato-mang-bya (probably the same as Sado-meng) 

 only founded Angwa or Ava in the Sakkaraj year 726. In 667-8, Ta- 

 chi-shang-si-ha-su reigned in Panya : his grand-son founded and 

 reigned in Chit-gaing. 



At page 111, Lieut. Burt refers to an unintelligible inscription at Gya, 

 mentioned by Mr. Harington ; but that contained only one line, and 

 was in a different locality. The present inscription seems therefore to 

 have escaped attention up to the present moment : it is now recorded 

 as furnishing an authentic note of the construction of the Buddha Gya 

 monument in the year 1305 a. d. ; for it maybe presumed that the pre- 

 vious Chaityas and Buddhist structures had been long before levelled 

 with the ground, and the inscription states, that previous missions to 

 reconstruct the edifice had been unsuccessful. As proving that this spot 

 is held in peculiar veneration by the Burmese, it may be remembered that 

 in 1823, a deputation of Buddha priests was sent from Amarapura, 

 by the Burman emperor, to perform the obsequies of his predecessor, 

 recently deceased, at the shrine of Buddha Gya. 



Translation. 



"This is one of the 84,000 shrines erected by Sri Dharm Asoka, 

 ruler of the world (Jambodioip), at the end of the 218th year of Buddha 

 annihilation, (B. C. 326,) upon the holy spot in which Bhagava'n 

 (Buddha) tasted milk and honey (madhupayasa :) In lapse of time, 

 having fallen into disrepair, it was rebuilt by a priest named Naik- 

 mahanta. Again, being ruined, it was restored by RajaSADO-MANG. 

 After a long interval it was once more demolished, when Raja Sempyu- 



