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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Ancient Khotan : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
568 TIBETAN MANUSCRIPTS AND INSCRIPTIONS [Appendix B
Mr. Francke's translation is as follows :—' The pioneers' (perhaps of merchants), ' having offered a wool-ox (Yak ? or ' a full load of wool ') to Ro ku odam bro, their men and horses will be without fault or deceit (harm) [on their journey] to Sla yul. After having met with wealth, food, and grass [for their horses, they will come] again to the land on the other side.' He adds :—' Although the names of the gods addressed cannot be identified with recorded deities, this need not be a stumbling-block. These taigas may be of an entirely local character.
With regard to so na (perhaps instead of so na to), I dare not express an opinion. W' is probably (FAT tN'.
The dropping of final ri and its is an often-recurring fact. Thus the name of the monastery Lamayurn is
spelt even nowadays '5,11:11r41.5" ; but in our case the spelling may be due to careless writing.
' 'W1•1' is possibly re1 1 With regard to 7f it must be said that the spelling Ma is incorrect. To be
in accordance with the actual pronunciation, the spelling ought to be hla. Flla is a god of the pre-Buddhistic gliiz c`os of Tibet. At the present time all letters preceding an 1, at least in Western Tibet, are pronounced as Iz; thus we have glad = hlad, glu = hlu, klu = hlu, &c. We may suppose that the letter lz in the word hla, as properly pronounced, is a substitute for a different letter which stood originally before the 1. I am inclined to believe that it stands for an original z or s. The word la, which also indicates the dative case, means originally not only "pass", but simply "elevation". It is used in this sense in Western Tibet. By prefixing an s or z before the word la, we make causative-denominative forms (according to Prof. A. Conrady, Eine indochinesische Causativ-denominativ-Bildung). These forms zla or sla would have to be translated " the elevated ones ". Zla is the present word for " planet " and " moon " ; sla I take to be the original form of hla "god ". As I have already mentioned in my A Lower Ladakhi Version of the Kesar-saga (Bibi. Ind.), we meet with an s or z (it is difficult to decide which) before the word Ma" god ", in such dialectal forms as /a sla (zla ?) " paternal deity ", ma sla" maternal deity ". The words yul and sa are synonyms used interchangeably in West-Tibetan dialects in the sense of "place". From West-Tibetan also cases of change in the local names can be adduced, e. g. T`inmogan instead of the ancient T`iizbraiz; see my article on Balu mk`ar (Indian Antiquary, 1905).
Dr. Barnett makes the suggestion that the vowel o was forgotten, and that sla yul stands for lho pd. This is quite possible, and the change of sl to lh would have to be explained in a similar way.'
II. Inscriptions on the Eastern Wall of the Hall of Endere.
To the right of a figure of a charging tiger, in letters of i to 2 inches in height :gaN 157-a~ Mr. Francke gives the modern version as :—
This he translates as : ' This is only the sign (picture) of the rkyak, the lynx, and the peacock.' He remarks : ' There may have been a Buddhist picture painted on silk hung up in the hall, on which the above creatures were represented (among others). The rkyan can often be seen on Lamaist pictures ; most of the horses have its shape (perhaps through the influence of the glin elos). Rmas is instead of rrnai ; did the confusion between genitive and instrumental begin already at these early times ?'
Underneath the preceding, in rude letters 3 to 5 inches high :—
''71711 1 trr1 ~ l Fac%N~
Mr. Francke regards the words .ErTIN. . . . as a later addition to the first three words, and renders
the whole as : C~'[?]('éa~ 1=TP7741P11 t=r 5'4151, which he translates : ' five caps (?) are lost'
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