Violence and Serenity: Late Buddhist Sculpture from Indonesia

figure 1.1. Inscribed
stone, seventh century, Telaga
Batu (Sabokingking),
South Sumatra, h 2.25 m ×
w 1.48 m, Museum Nasional
Indonesia, inv. no. 155
at Talang Tuwo, is not a curse formula, but in many ways just the opposite
of one. This inscription commemorates the construction of a park, Śrīks ˙ etra,
by King Śrī Jananāśa, for the benefit of all beings. In the opening lines of the
epigraph, the inscription refers to itself as a pranidāna, a vow taken by an
individual to help all sentient creatures achieve enlightenment before doing
so oneself (also known as a bodhisattva vow).
Other phrases of the inscription also make Buddhist references. Among
the long list of blessings wished upon all beings are the following: “May the
thought of Bodhi be born in them,” “May they not be separated from the
Three Jewels,” “[May they practice] continuously generosity, observance of
precepts, patience,” “May knowledge, diligence, knowledge of all the arts be
born in them,” “[May they rejoice in the] mastery of birth, the mastery of the
karman, and mastery of impurities,” and “May they finally obtain complete
and supreme Enlightenment.”27 As Coedès noted, several of these (including
the practice of the six pāramitās) are stages on the bodhisattva’s path to enlightenment.28
The inscription, which celebrates the king’s good deeds (sucarita),
also seeks to transfer his merit (punya) to others and to lead them along
the path to enlightenment. Thus this seventh-century inscription equates the
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