The Pillar at Ra Ma Sgang
The Skar Cung inscription stands on a stone pillar at Ra Ma Sgang, approximately 3.2 kilometres southwest of Lhasa. The pillar is now preserved at Nor Bu Gling Ka (the Norbulingka). It records a royal edict from the height of the Tibetan Empire — a constitutional declaration by King Khri Lde Srong Brtsan, also known as Sadnalegs (r. c. 797–815 CE), pledging that his dynasty will uphold Buddhism through all future generations.
The inscription opens with a survey of five generations of royal Buddhist patronage: Khri Srong Brtsan (Songtsen Gampo, r. c. 604–650) and the founding of the Jokhang at Ra Sa (Lhasa); Khri 'Dus Srong (r. 676–704) and the temples at Gling Gi Khri Rtse; Khri Lde Gtsug Brtsan (Mes Ag Tshoms, r. 704–755) and the temples at Brag Mar; Khri Srong Lde Brtsan (Trisong Detsen, r. 755–797) and the founding of Bsam Yas (Samye); and the king himself, who built the Skar Cung temple. The dynastic catalogue establishes the religious precedent. What follows is the oath: the Three Jewels shall never be abandoned, no divination or omen shall override this commitment, every future ruler from infancy to sovereignty shall study the dharma, and the gate to liberation shall remain open to all Tibetans.
The edict was confirmed by fasting and purification, inscribed on a stone pillar, and witnessed by gods and non-human beings. It is one of the most important surviving documents of the Tibetan Empire period — a state constitution in which an empire pledges itself to a religion.
H. E. Richardson published a translation in "A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions" (Royal Asiatic Society, 1985). This translation is independently derived from the Old Tibetan source text as digitised by the Old Tibetan Documents Online project (OTDO). First freely available English translation. Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
During the reign of the divine sovereign Khri Lde Srong Brtsan, the god who is a divine emanation — this edict, to make the holy dharma endure for all time.
The Works of the Dynasty
The divine sovereign's forefather Khri Srong Brtsan, during his reign, practiced the dharma of the Buddha. He built the temple of Ra Sa and others, and established supports of the Three Jewels.
During the forefather Khri 'Dus Srong's reign, he built temples at Gling Gi Khri Rtse and elsewhere, and established supports of the Three Jewels.
During the forefather Khri Lde Gtsug Brtsan's reign, he built the Kva Cu and Mching Phur temples at Brag Mar, and established supports of the Three Jewels.
During our father Khri Srong Lde Brtsan's reign, he built the Bsam Yas at Brag Mar and other temples as far as Dbung Mthar, and established supports of the Three Jewels.
And during the divine sovereign Khri Lde Srong Brtsan's own reign, he built the Skar Cung temple and others, and established supports of the Three Jewels.
The Oath
Through the ancestral lineage, this practice of the dharma of the Buddha — if it is never destroyed and never abandoned, the merit will be beyond all measure. But if it is abandoned, or destroyed, or ceases to exist, sins beyond all counting will come.
Therefore, from this day forward, through all time, the divine sovereign pledges through the ancestral lineage: the supports of the Three Jewels established during father Khri Srong Lde Brtsan's reign, and the practice of the dharma of the Buddha, shall not be abandoned and shall not be destroyed.
As it is stated, the sovereign, father and son, and all the lords and ministers, through fasting and purification, have made this as is written in the edict and inscribed upon the stone pillar.
The Law
Thus — through our forefathers and the ancestral lineage — this practice of establishing supports of the Three Jewels and the dharma of the Buddha: no matter what the concern, whether divination says "there will be sin" or "it is not auspicious," whether through dreams, omens, or any other reason whatsoever — it shall not be destroyed. It shall not be abandoned.
No matter who says such things, whether great or small, it shall not be done.
The sovereign's grandsons and sons — from those still wrapped in infant's swaddling up to those who wield sovereign authority — shall appoint virtuous spiritual friends from among the monks, and shall study whatever dharma they can take to heart.
All of Tibet shall not close the gate to studying and practicing the dharma. At no time shall the gate to liberation be blocked for any Tibetan, from those of noble birth down to common subjects.
From among the faithful, those who seek liberation shall be admitted. From among those with ability, they shall be permanently appointed to the tradition of the Blessed One. Those who follow the tradition of the Blessed One shall be bound by the commands of the dharma council, shall wield the authority and work of the dharma council, and shall be appointed as virtuous spiritual friends.
The ordained shall be treated as a field of merit, as granted by us, father and son. In the sovereign's palace, supports of the Three Jewels shall be established. Offerings shall not be abandoned or diminished at any time, and they shall be maintained as a field of merit.
In summary: in the sovereign's palace and in the realm of Tibet, nothing shall be done to eliminate or abandon the Three Jewels.
The Witnesses
During any forefather's, grandson's, or son's reign — those who cut off the conditions for the Three Jewels shall be dealt with according to the law of no degradation and no destruction, as it appears at the head of the divine register of households.
Henceforth, in each and every generation, the sovereign, father and son, shall pledge this same oath. From this oath there shall be no slackening and no alteration.
Both the supramundane and the worldly — gods and all non-human beings — are called as witnesses.
The sovereign, and all the lords and ministers, fast and perform purification.
The detailed text of this edict is deposited in the month when the edict was written during the father's reign.
Colophon
The Skar Cung Inscription (insc_Skar), also known as "The Skar Cung Edict," is a stone pillar inscription from the Tibetan Empire period, originally standing at Ra Ma Sgang approximately 3.2 kilometres southwest of Lhasa. The pillar is now preserved at Nor Bu Gling Ka (the Norbulingka). It dates to the reign of Khri Lde Srong Brtsan (c. 797–815 CE).
This is the longest and most comprehensive of the Tibetan Empire's Buddhist edicts. Where the Bsam Yas oath (also in this archive) records a single moment of commitment, the Skar Cung inscription embeds that commitment in a dynastic history stretching back five generations — from the founding of the Jokhang under Songtsen Gampo to the founding of Samye under Trisong Detsen. It is both a constitutional document and a religious pledge: an empire tells its future selves that the dharma shall not be abandoned, and it binds gods and spirits as witnesses to that promise.
This translation is independently derived from the Old Tibetan transliteration as published by the Old Tibetan Documents Online project (OTDO). H. E. Richardson's translation in A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions (Royal Asiatic Society, 1985) was not consulted. Richardson's work is the standard scholarly reference but is not freely available. This translation was produced to make the inscription accessible to the public.
Translation notes: "btsan po" is rendered as "sovereign" throughout; "'phrul gyi lha btsan po" as "the divine sovereign, the god who is a divine emanation." The epithet "'phrul gyi lha" (lit. "the god who is a miraculous emanation") was a formal title of the Tibetan kings. Certain administrative terminology — particularly "lha ris kyi khyim yig gi mgo nan" (the divine register of households) and "ma dma's ma zhig pa'i chos" (the law of no degradation and no destruction) — is rendered literally, as the exact referents of these ninth-century legal instruments are uncertain.
Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Formatted for the Good Work Library by Tanken (探検), the seventh of this name, Expeditionary Tulku Life 57.
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Source Text: སྐར་ཅུང་གི་གཙིགས།
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Transliteration of the stone pillar inscription at Ra Ma Sgang, Lhasa. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
(1) 'phrul gyi lha btsan po khri lde srong brtsan gyi ring
(2) la / dam pa'i chos yun du brtan bar gtsigs
(3) brnan pa /
(4) 'phrul gyi lha btsan po / myes / khri srong brtsan gyi
(5) ring la / sangs rgyas kyi chos mdzad de / ra sa'i gtsug
(6) lag khang las stsogs pa brtsigs shing / dkon mchog
(7) gsum gyi rten btsugs pa dang / myes / khri 'dus srong gi
(8) ring la / gling gi khri rtse las stsogs par / gtsug lag
(9) khang brtsigs te / dkon mchog gsum gyi rten btsugs
(10) pa dang / myes / khri lde gtsug brtsan gyi ring la / brag mar gyi
(11) kva cu dang mching phur gtsug lag khang brtsigs ste / dkon
(12) mchog gsum gyi rten btsugs pa dang / yab / khri srong lde
(13) brtsan gyi ring la / brag mar gyi bsam yas las stsogs
(14) pa / dbung mthar gtsug lag khang brtsigs ste / dkon
(15) mchog gsum gyi rten btsugs pa dang / lha btsan po / khri
(16) lde srong brtsan gyi ring la yang / skar cung gtsug lag khang
(17) las stsogs pa brtsigs ste / dkon mchog gsum gyi rten
(18) btsugs pa las stsogs pa /
(18) gdung rabs rgyud kyis /
(19) 'di ltar sangs rgyas kyi chos mdzad pa 'di / nam du yang ma
(20) zhig / ma btang na / legs pa dpag du myed par 'gyur /
(21) btang ste / zhig gam / myed par gyur na / sdig pa grangs myed
(22) par 'ong bas / da phyin chad nam nam zha zhar / 'phrul gyi lha
(23) btsan po / yab / khri srong lde brtsan gyi ring la / dkon mchog
(24) gsum gyi rten btsugs pa dang / sangs rgyas kyi chos mdzad pa
(25) myi gtang ma zhig par / gdung rabs rgyud kyis yi dam bca'o
(26) zhes 'byung ba las stsogs pa / btsan po yab sras / rje
(27) blon / kun kyis dbu snyung dang bro bor te / gtsigs kyi yi ge dang /
(28) rdo rings la bris pa bzhin du yang mdzad do /
(28) 'di ltar / yab
(29) myes / gdung rabs rgyud kyis / dkon mchog gsum gyi rten
(30) btsugs shing / sangs rgyas kyi chos mdzad pa 'di / gces spras ci
(31) la yang / sdig go zhe'am / ma legs so zhes / mo dang rmyi ltas las
(32) stsogs ste / ci'i phyir yang rung ste / myi gzhig go / myi spang ngo /
(32) de skad
(33) ces / che chung sus gsold kyis kyang / de ltar myi mdzad do /
(33) btsan
(34) po dbon sras / sku chu ngur bzhugs pa yan cad / chab srid kyi
(35) mnga' bdag mdzad pa man chad kyang / dge slong las / dge ba'i
(36) bshes nyen bskos ste / chos thugs su ci chud chud du bslab cing /
(36) bod
(37) yongs kyis kyang chos slob cing spyad pa'i sgo myi gcad / nam du yang bod ya
(38) rabs man cad / bod 'bangs las thar par gzud pa'i sgo myi bgag
(39) par / dad pa'i rnams las thar par btsud de /
(39) de'i nang nas
(40) nus pa las / bcom ldan 'das kyi ring lugs rtag du bsko
(41) zhing / bcom ldan 'das kyi ring lugs byed pa'i rnams chos 'khor
(42) nas bya'o cog gi bka' la yang btags ste / chos 'khor gyi las dang
(43) dbang byed cing / dge ba'i bshes nyen byed par bsko'o /
(43) rab du byung ba'i
(44) rnams / nged yab sras kyis / mchod gnas su gnang ba bzhin du byas
(45) ste / btsan po'i pho brang na dkon mchog gsum gyi rten btsugs shing /
(46) mchod pa yang / gu du myi spang myi bskar zhing mchod gnas su bgyi'o /
(47) mdor na / btsan po'i pho brang dang / bod khams na / dkon mchog gsum myed
(48) pa dang / spang ba'i thabs ci yang myi mdzad do /
(48) yab myes dbon sras
(49) gang gi ring la yang rung ste / dkon mchog gsum gyi rkyen bcad pa'i rnams
(50) kyang ma dma's ma zhig pa'i chos su / lha ris kyi khyim yig gi mgo nan las
(51) 'byung ba bzhin du chis mdzad do /
(51) da phyin chad gdung rabs re re zhing yang /
(52) btsan po yab sras kyis / 'di bzhin du yi dam bca'o /
(52) de las mna' kha
(53) dbud pa dag myi bgyi myi bsgyur bar / 'jig rten las 'das pa dang / 'jig
(54) rten gyi lha dang myi ma yin pa thams cad kyang / dpang du gsol te /
(54) btsan po /
(55) rje blon kun kyis kyang / dbu snyung dang / bro bor ro /
(55) gtsigs brnan pa'i
(56) yi ge zhib mo ni / yab kyi ring la gtsigs kyi yi ge bris pa'i zla la
(57) bzhag go /
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan transliteration from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Identifier: insc_Skar. The OTDO transcription is based on established epigraphic readings of the stone pillar. The inscription was originally located at Ra Ma Sgang, approximately 3.2 km southwest of Lhasa, and is now preserved at Nor Bu Gling Ka (the Norbulingka). Dating: reign of Khri Lde Srong Brtsan (c. 797–815 CE).
OTDO editorial marks (underscores indicating damaged or uncertain readings in the original stone) have been silently resolved in the transliteration above. The full diplomatic transcription with editorial marks is available at the OTDO website.
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