If I am reborn, I wish to be reborn as Khmer again!

 

 

About 20 years ago, not too far from Nokoreach (currently occupied by Thailand), a complete stone inscription was discovered (see Photo 1). The inscription dated from the 11th century, under the reign of King Udayaditiyavarman II (Udaya Aditiya = the Rising Sun), and it was inscribed in two languages. The first 30 lines consist of a poem in Sanskrit, and the last 6 lines are in Khmer. Chirapat Prapandvidya, a professor of archeology at the Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, translated the inscription into English, and the content of the inscription was published in the Journal of the Siam Society, Vol.78, Part 2 (1990).

 

Those who would like to learn about the details of this inscription should refer to the published article above. My goal here is not to talk about the entire subject described by Prof. Chirapat Prapandvidya, but I just want to point out a short sentence in Sanskrit to show how much Khmer people from that era loved their Nation. Furthermore, it is not just me who was interested in this issue, I also heard the interest of Prof. Kangvol Khatshima (a Khmer language professor at the Silapakorn University) who discussed this issue during a lecture in Bangkok also. A sentence found on line 29 (see Photo 2) reads: “If I will be rewarded for my meritorious acts, I wish to be reborn in Kampuja [again]”.

 

Translated by  Ang Choulean

 

 

I always keep saying, ” I was born as Khmer I shall live as Khmer and I shall die for Khmer.” 

Pang Sokheoun