Indian Epigraphy c14.s5.11

c14.s5.11

The Cambodian inscriptions are mostly of Śaivite character, although there are some Vaiṣṇavite and a few Buddhistic records. The inscriptions show how Indian culture was adopted in Cambodia by some of the local people who were semi-savages roaming about naked about the beginning of the Christian era when the Indians first came into contact with them. Some interesting facts about life in Cambodia, as revealed by the inscriptions, are the worship of Śiva, Viṣṇu and the Buddha side by side; the existence of different religious sects like the Bhāgavatas, Pāñcarātras and Pāśupatas; the adoption of the caste system dominated by Brāhmaṇas versed in the Vedas, Vedāṅgas and Upavedas as well as of Sanskritic names by the kings, noblemen and common people; the popularity of the Tantric religion and of well-known Tantric texts; the existence of Devadāsīs in the temples and of priests of the same family sometimes conducting religious rites of the royal families for centuries in succession; the creation of new castes by the king and admission of new members to a caste such as that of the goldsmiths; the popularity of the study of the works of Indian authors like Pāṇini, Patañjali, Manu, Vātsyāyana, Viśālākṣa, Pravarasena, Mayūra, Guṇāḍhya and Suśruta. King Yaśovarman is stated to have composed a commentary on Patañjali’s *Mahābhāṣya*, while one of his ministers was an expert in the *Horā-śāstra*.¹ The same king is known to have founded 100 *āśramas* which were a sort of convents or monasteries. The Śaivas, Vaiṣṇavas and Buddhists had their own *āśramas* which were religious centres radiating Indian culture throughout Cambodia.