Lumbinī Inscription of Emperor Aśoka: Evidence that Buddha's birthplace is now in Nepāl

The Asokan Pillar at Lumbini

Photo: Abhas D Rajopadhyaya / Amalekh Weekly 2013

देवनागरी लिपिमा मूलपाठ

1. देवान पियेन पियदसिन लाजान वीसगिवसाभिसितेन
2. अतन आगाच महीयिते हिदबुधे जाते सक्यमुनीति
3. सिलाविगडभीचा कालापति सिलाथभेच उसंपापिते
4. हिदभगवम् जायेति लुम्मिनिगामे उबलिकेकटे
5. अठभागियेच ।

Transliteration:

(From impression taken by Dr. Führer)
1. Devānapiyena piyadasina lājina vīsativasābhitsitena
2. atan āgācha mahiyite hida budhe jāte sakyamunīti
3. sillā vigaḍabhichā kālāpita silāthabhecha usapāpite
4. hida bhagavaṁ jāteti luṁminigāme ubalikekaṭe
5. athabhagiyecha

A plate (erroneously?) providing transliteration and
translation of the inscription.

Photo: Abhas D Rajopadhyaya / Amalekh Weekly 2013

Transliteration in an information plate
at the pillar, Lumbini 

(Perhaps with errors(?))

1. Devāna piyena piyadasina lājina visativasābhitsitena
2. atana agācha mahīyite hidabhdhe jāte sakyamuniti
3. silāvigadabhīchā kālāpite silāthabhecha usapāpite
4. hide Bhagavam jāteti lumminigāme ubalike kate
5. athabhagiye cha 

Perhaps, the differences would be easier to locate in the following Devanāgarī transliteration of the above erroneous reading:

1. देवान पियेन पियदसिन लाजिन विसतिवसाभिसितेन
2. अतन अगाच महीयिते हिदब्धे जाते सक्यमुनिति
3. सिलाविगदभीछा कालापिते सिलाथभेछ उसपापिते
4. हिदे भगवम् जातेति लुम्मिनिगामे उबलिके कटे
5. अठभागिये छ ।

Translation in Nepālī:

(Derived from the same plate)

देवताहरूका प्रिय प्रियदर्शी (अशोक) राजा राज्यकालको बीसाैँ वर्षमा अाफैँ अाउनुभयो । यहाँ शाक्यमुनि बुद्धको जन्म भएकोले (बुद्ध जन्म) सङ्केतक शिलामा पूजा गरी यो शिलास्तम्भ स्थापना गर्नुभयो । यहाँ भगवान्को जन्म भएकोले लुम्बिनी गाउँको बलि (कर) घटार्इ अाठाैँ भाग मात्र कायम गर्नुभयो ।

Translation in English:

(Derived from the same plate)

King Piyadasi (Asoka), the beloved of the Gods, in the twentieth year of his reign, himself made a royal visit. Sakyamuni Buddha was born here, therefore the (birth spot) marker was worshipped and a stone pillar was erected. The Lord having born here, the tax of the Lumbini village was reduced to the eight part (only). 

This article is also available at: http://inscriptionsofnepal.blogspot.com/2014/11/lumbini-inscription.html.

Lumbini: Buddhas, Birds and Beasts - ECSNEPAL

Lumbini: Buddhas, Birds and Beasts

This article is shared from Features section of ECS Nepal.

By: Daniel B Haber

The woman at the tour desk of the Kathmandu Guest House handed me my tickets to Lumbini on Buddha Air “how appropriate”, I thought. I flew out late Saturday night on the last Buddha Air flight from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa’s Gautam Buddha Airport.

It was pitch-dark on the lampless highway to the birthplace of the Light of Asia. Six or seven centuries before the Christian era—and some 2,000 years before the Disney-era—Lumbini, located on an important trade route between Kashi (Varanasi) and Taxila, was famed for its celestial pleasure groves. It was here that Queen Maya Devi, wife of King Sudodhana, chose to give birth to her baby son, a prince named Siddhartha who later became known as “The Buddha” or the Enlightened One.

Coming from polluted Kathmandu, the pristine atmosphere of Lumbini in the rural Terai is palpable. There are still shady groves and heavenly breezes even in the hot months such as April and May when Buddha Jayanti usually falls.