Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c10.74

c10.74

The case of Hiraṇyadāma shows how the religious life of Kambuja was sustained and fostered by a close constant and intimate contact with India. There are other examples of such intercourse recorded in Kambuja inscriptions. Rāja-lakṣmī, the daughter of Rājendra-varman and the younger sister of Jaya-varman, was married to an Indian Brāhmaṇa Divākara Bhaṭṭa who was born on the banks of the river Kālindī or Yamunā, sacred with the association of Kṛiṣṇa's boyhood (No. 111). One of the ancestors of Yaśo-varman's mother, Agastya, is said to be a Brāhmaṇa of Āryadeśa versed in Vedas and Vedāṅgas (Nos. 60-62). Another Brāhmaṇa, named Sarvajñamuni, versed in the four Vedas and all the *āgamas*, and devoted to Śiva, was born in Āryadeśa (No. 111). He came to Kambudeśa and his descendants occupied high religious offices. There are many other less specific references to such migrations. There is also evidence that the learned Brāhmaṇas of Kambuja visited India. The most important instance is that of Śivasoma, the *guru* of Indra-varman. We learn from an inscription (No. 54) that Śivasoma was the grandson of king Śrī Jayendrādhipati-varman, maternal uncle of Jaya-varman II, and that he learnt the *śāstras* from Bhagavat-Śaṅkara whose lotus-feet were touched by the heads of all the sages. It has been rightly conjectured by the editor of the Inscription, that the reference here is undoubtedly to the famous Śaṅkarācārya, and presumably Śivasoma must have come to India to sit at the feet of the venerable Śaṅkara.