National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Cu. VIII]   THE CHRONICLES OF LADAKH : TRANSLATION   119

The laws were purified.

He was impartial towards the nobility,

And his subjects he loved like children.

He was appreciative to both master and servant.

Sacrifices were offered to the gods on high,

And alms were given to the poor below.

And so on. Continually, and without break, innumerable mchod-rtens and other

monuments were erected. At Lha-sa the great lamas received offerings of one hundred

severally. To the monasteries of the Uplands, as well as to those of his own dominions,

he was merciful and appreciative without partiality towards particular districts. He

extracted beforehand the root of the tree of [future] evil reputation, and in its place

planted good report. (B MS.) This same King of Faith presented to all the monasteries

in Tibet, but especially to Lha-sa and Bsam-yas and similar(?) lamaseries, gold-water and

sacrificial lamps. To all the great lamas without distinction he made presents, whilst

the brotherhoods were invited to tea-generals. The congregations that were under his

own sway, great and small, received honours without distinction. [He erected] images

of the Lha (god) that he himself worshipped out of gold and silver, [caused] holy books

[to be written, and built] the Rdza-nan-gi-ma-ni-rin-mo (a mani wall). Materials were

collected for erecting the symbols of body, word, and spirit (the image, the scriptures,

and the stúpa) ; printing blocks were made for the Ham-sdud-bzaia-gsum, the hymn to

Hjam-dbyajis called .Gah-blo-smon-lam, the Ses-bya-kha-dbyii s, the Gser-hod-gyai -

skyabs, the Bkah-sgyur-ro-cog (mchog) and the Le(= Las 2)-bdun. All these having been

satisfactorily completed, he distributed sacred books amongst all the laity. He [also

had] a Ma-ni-then-skor (prayer-wheel) put up, made of gold, silver, and copper. (C MS.)

Many Dháranis (?) were completed (engraved), and Man-yul clave together like curdled

milk and was happy. (B MS.) Again, amongst all the people there occurred neither

strife, nor robbery, nor theft ; it was a life passed in happiness such as that of a child

with his fond mother. After this, when the king's wife had given birth to a son,

Lha-chen-Bde-skyon-rnam-rgyal, she died. He having afterwards married Zi-zi-

Kha-thun of Bu-rig, she bore a son, Bkra-sis-rnam-rgyal, and a daughter, Bkra-sis-

dban-mo, in all two children.

NOTES BY DR. K. MARX

The ?rani wall called Rdza-nai -gi-ma-iii-rill-mo is found near the Leh bridge over the Indus. [This must be a mistake. People tell me that it is found near the village of Dga-ra (Skara). Thus we had better say, near the bridge over the Leh-brook '.—F.]. It is generally asserted that it was built by the Mongols, which is an error.

NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR

The Jesuit Desideri visited Leh in 1715 A.D. He calls the king Nima-Nimghial, and testifies to the absolute independence of the Ladakh Empire. The Latin Bible found by Moorcroft (vol. ii, pp. 22-3) in Ladakh was probably left there by Desideri. It came from the Papal Press, and was dated 1598 A.D. For a legal document and inscriptions of this king see my article ` Archaeology in W. Tibet ', Indian Ant., vols. xxxv, xxxvi. Inscriptions of the time of this king are very common. The following are found in my collection :—No. 66,