The Pillar Inscription and Bell at the First Monastery

Bsam Yas — known in modern Tibetan as Samye — is the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, founded c. 779 CE under Emperor Khri Srong Lde Brtsan (Trisong Detsen). Its establishment marked the formal adoption of Buddhism as a state religion in Tibet. A stone pillar stands in the monastery courtyard bearing an inscription that records the solemn oath of the emperor, his sons, and his ministers: that the practice of the Buddha's Dharma and the support of the Three Jewels shall never be abandoned, in any generation, forever.

The inscription is in two parts. The first is the oath itself — twenty-one lines carved on the pillar, declaring that the provisions for Buddhism shall not be diminished, that every future emperor shall renew the oath, that no alteration shall be made, and that the supramundane beings, worldly gods, and non-human entities are all called as witnesses. The emperor and his court then performed purification fasts and the bro ritual to seal the oath.

The second part is inscribed on a bell at Bsam Yas. Queen Rgyal Mo Brtsan Yum and her sons commissioned the bell as an offering to the Three Jewels of the ten directions. Her prayer: that by the power of this merit, the divine emperor and his sons may possess the sixty melodious qualities of speech and attain unsurpassed awakening — that is, full Buddhahood.

The pillar is extant. The suggested date of the inscription is 779 or 791 CE — either the founding year of the monastery or a subsequent consecration. This is the foundational document of Tibetan Buddhism: the moment a Central Asian empire pledged itself to the Dharma.

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.

The Oath

At Ra Sa and Brag Mar, in the temples and all such places — the supports of the Three Jewels having been established, and the Dharma of the Buddha having been practised — this shall never, ever be abandoned.

The provisions that have been arranged shall also not be diminished or reduced.

From now on, in each and every generation, the emperor, father and sons, shall make this same oath.

Those who breathe the oath shall also not change or alter it. The supramundane ones, the worldly gods, and all the non-human beings are invoked as witnesses.

The emperor, father and sons, together with all the ministers and officials, performed the purification fast and the bro ritual.

One detailed copy of the edict is kept separately.

The Bell

Queen Rgyal Mo Brtsan Yum and her sons — to the Three Jewels of the ten directions, for the purpose of making offerings — had this bell made.

By the power of that merit, may the divine emperor Khri Srong Lde Brtsan, father and sons, each possessing the sixty melodious qualities of speech, attain unsurpassed awakening.

Colophon

The Bsam Yas Inscription (insc_Bsam) and the Bell at Bsam Yas (insc_BsamBel) are companion texts from the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. The pillar stands in the courtyard of the Bsam Yas (Samye) monastery. The bell is also at Bsam Yas. Both date to the founding period, c. 779 or 791 CE, during the reign of Emperor Khri Srong Lde Brtsan (Trisong Detsen, r. c. 755–797 CE).

The pillar inscription is the foundational oath of Tibetan state Buddhism — the formal declaration that the Buddha's Dharma will be maintained forever. The bell inscription is a queen's prayer for the emperor's Buddhahood. Together they represent the two halves of the founding moment: the political oath and the devotional aspiration.

This translation is independently derived from the Old Tibetan transliterations as published by the Old Tibetan Documents Online project (OTDO, Osaka University). H. E. Richardson's translation in A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions (Royal Asiatic Society, 1985) was not directly consulted, but its existence is acknowledged. Richardson's work is the standard scholarly reference but is not freely available. This translation was produced to make the founding document of Tibetan Buddhism accessible to the public.

Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Formatted for the Good Work Library by Tanken (探検), the sixth of this name, Expeditionary Tulku Life 56.

🌲

Source Text: བསམ་ཡས་ཀྱི་གཙིགས་བྱང་དང་དྲིལ་བུ

Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, Osaka University. Transliterations of the stone pillar inscription and the bell at Bsam Yas. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

The Pillar (insc_Bsam)

(1) $ / / ra sa dang / brag mar gyI /

(2) gtsug lag khang las stsogs

(3) par / dkon mcog / gsum

(4) gyi rten btsugs pa dang / sangs

(5) rgyas gyI chos / mdzad pa 'dI /

(6) nam duyangdu yang myI gtang ma' zhig

(7) par bgyI 'o / yo byad sbyard /

(8) pa' yang / de las myi dbrI myi

(9) bskyung bar bgyI 'o / da' phyin

(10) cad / gdung rabs re re zhing yang

(11) btsan po yab sras gyis 'dI /

(12) bzhin yI dam bca'o / de las

(13) mna' kha dbud pa dag gyang /

(14) myi bgyI myi bsgyur bar / 'jIg

(15) rten las / 'da's pa' dang /

(16) 'jIg rten gyi lha dang / myI ma yin

(17) ba' / thams cad gyang dphang du /

(18) gsol te / btsan po yab sras dangd + ng

(19) rje blon gun gyis dbu snyung dang bro /

(20) bor ro / gtsigs gyI yi ge zhIb

(21) mo gcIg ni gud na mchIs so /

The Bell (insc_BsamBel)

(1) jo mo rgyal mo brtsan yum

(2) sras kyIs phyogs bcu'I

(3) dkon mchog gsum la

(4) mchod pa'I slad du cong

(5) 'di bgyis te / / de'i bsod

(6) nams kyI stobs kyis

(7) lha btsan po khrI srong lde

(8) brtsan yab sras stangs dbyal

(9) gsung dbyangs drug

(10) cu sgra dbyangs dang ldan te

(11) bla na myed pa'I byang chub du

(12) grub par smond to / /

Source Colophon

Old Tibetan transliterations from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature / Osaka University. Identifiers: insc_Bsam and insc_BsamBel. URL: https://otdo.aa-ken.jp/. The OTDO transcriptions are based on the readings of H. E. Richardson and subsequent epigraphic surveys. Both the pillar and bell are extant at the Bsam Yas (Samye) monastery.

🌲