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husband, the upāsaka (OU upase) Külüg Inanč Šaču Saŋun.52 The inscription
speaks of the establishment of a monastery (OU v(i)rhar < Sogdian βrγʾr < Skt.
vihāra) by means of driving the stake into the earth53 in order to meet Buddha
Maitreya in the future.54 The two lay followers express their hope that after
having received the prediction (Skt. vyākaraṇa) for future buddhahood from
Maitreya they will later reappear as Buddhas in the world (OU keniŋä burhan
yertinč<ü>dä bälgürmäkim(i)z bolzun)55 after having fulfilled the six pāramitās
in a hundred kalpas, eons, and three asaṃkhyeyakalpas, incalculable eons. A
long enumeration of noble women and male dignitaries who are said to have
practiced anumodanā, rejoicing (in the good actions of other people), with
the couple follows.56 A list of persons who all seem to be craftsmen, who
were involved in the construction of the monastery, is appended.57 The list
includes the name of a scribe (OU petkäči) Bäg Arslan as well. After the wish
is expressed that they may all attain buddhahood, further persons are men-
tioned among others the harpist (OU kuŋkawčı) Bogunču and again the scribe
Bäg Arslan and maybe the people who had driven the stake into the earth.58 It
is likely that the scribe Bäg Arslan was the person who inscribed the text on
the stake and that the musician is mentioned because the consecration of the
place was accompanied by music.
The third stake inscription commemorates a similar event: a family—the
upāsaka Tarduš Tapmıš Yayatgar Čaŋšı Yälü Kaya and the upāsikā T(ä)ŋrikän
Körtlä Hatun T(ä)ŋrim together with their daughter Yügätmiš Hatun T(ä)ŋrim
and their son, the name of whom is only partly preserved as [.. .]’k Inal—com-
missioned the erection of a statue of Maitreya and of a monastery the name of
which is damaged in the inscription ([.. .]lyq čandradas).59 Note that contrary
to stake inscription I, where the wife is mentioned first, in this inscription the
husband comes first.
In stake inscription III, a long list of people who rejoice together with the
donors over the merit they acquired (OU bu ädgülüg išimizkä anumodit eyin
52 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 161 (lines 4–5).
53 On the expression šat ıgač tokı- in line 10 as a parallel to Chinese dacha (打刹) see
Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 173.
54 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 161 (lines 9–10).
55 Moriyasu thinks that burhan yertinčüdä is a compound and translates “in the Buddha
world” but this is impossible because this type of a nominal compound would require the
possessive suffix at the second constituent. Cf. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 163.
56 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 161–162 (lines 12–19).
57 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 162 (line 19).
58 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 164.
59 Ed. Moriyasu, “Stake Inscriptions,” 186–187 (lines 4–11).