With her vast knowledge of Khmer linguistics and epigraphy, the author effortlessly leads us along the often unexpected and always inventive way of how the Cambodian people adapted external influences to their own beliefs and worldview. The most fascinating aspect of the Cambodian syncretism is perhaps the fact that many deities remained in the spiritual realm as “venerated but not worshipped” forces.
From these notes, we will underline:
Adaptative Freedom:“Two of the chief Brahmanic gods were neatly taken over by Theravada faith, i.e. Indra and Brahma. Nearly nothing was left from their past lofty and impressive features. But these were substituted for by highest ranks in the Buddhist cosmology. Indeed, they were assimilated with their Buddhist namesakes, with the result that their names were carried over, untouched, into the new system, and prefixed by the sacred headword brah.”
Secularization : “God Yama had kept a vague and dim figure of judge in hell. But Theravadin eschatology was now more concerned with the working of karmic retribution, than with the threat of effective punishments of evil-doers in hell. In other words, the pragmatic Khmer Buddhists rather dreaded the action of yamapâlas, the ‘hell-wardens’, while holding unanimously the Buddha as the main judge of their deeds. The name Yamarâj, now redundant, was secularized, and applied to the “Minister of justice”, nowadays written either yama- or yomarâj. As for Skanda, the young god also named Kumâr, he was too involved in healing sick children to disappear completely. His name was wholly secularized, hence the modern word skand, “convulsions” as disorder of infants, then any such disorder in all creatures. The most fantastic story concerns Kâma, Skt. lexical item and name of the god of love. It was a well-known noun in ancient Cambodia, as one of the elements of the trivarga, thus meaning “desire, longing after, pleasure, love …”. Predictably, austere Theravada could not accomodate such a concept, especially in the sense of “sensual love, sexual enjoyment”. It banished it from trivarga, and cast out god Kama altogether. But the other side of Theravada, made of kind- and open-mindedness, tolerated effusive expression in poetic and lyric creations. Especially in lyric poetry, lovers went on singing their griefs and joys and the part played therein by a « god » of love whom they addressed as Kamadeb, and who is still very popular nowadays.”
“Recycling” the gods: “I have focused my attention on the particular subject of Brahmanic gods, and the ways they were allowed to survive and to have an active part in the Cambodian Theravadin community. A few were adopted by the Buddhists because they suited weil their new world-representation. Several others owed their survival to a transfer into magic, therefore joined happily the most popular and active sphere of supernatural world, whilst a few were rescued from the sinking Brahmanism by linguistic and institutional usages. And this is one of the best illustrations of the present-day multifaceted Khmer culture.”
Photo: Kama, the god of love, with Uma on a Banteay Srei bas-relief (by susan)
Saveros Pou (SaverosLewitz in the 1970s-1980s) ពៅ សាវរស (24 Aug. 1929, Phnom Penh- 25 May 2020, France) was a French linguist of Cambodian origin. A retired research director of the CNRS in Paris, a specialist of the Khmer language and civilization, she carried out extensive work of Khmer epigraphy, starting as a young researcher with teachers George Cœdès, Jean Filliozat,Louis Renou, Armand Minard, Anne-Marie Esnoul, André Bareau and the Cambodian intellectual living in Paris Au Chhieng.
Born in a respected and learned family — her uncle, Nhieuk Nou (1900−1982), was ‘okhnya mahamantri’ (Royal Palace secretary), her grandfather, Kae Nou កែ នូ (1864−1958), a judge and ‘pandit’ (sage), and her father Pou Chroeng ពៅ ច្រឹង a provincial governor and later on an officer at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts -, she was raised after their mother’s premature death by her older sister, Pou Siphan ពៅ ស៊ីផាន់, and went to the Sutharot Girls School and Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh. She had wished to pursue higher studies in Philosophy abroad but her father first rejected the idea, and she was 21 when he gave her permission to go study in France, taking Linguistics, Literature and Anthropology at Sorbonne University, later adding degrees History, Geography, and Literature. (as per an interview conducted by Ham Chhayly ហម ឆាយលី on 27 June 271997).
Further studies under the guidance of Profs. Armand Minard (Sanskrit Grammar), Louis Renou (Philosophy and Sanskrit Literature), André Bareau (Buddhism and Pali) and Jean Filliozat (Culture and Civilization of Kalinga) led to her doctoral thesis “Reamker (Khmer version of the Ramayana, 16th – 17th century)” in 1978. Then, Saverous Pou went to England to deepen her knowledge of the Old Mon language (with Prof. G.H. Luce in Jersey) and Modern Mon with Prof. H.L. Shorto in London. At University of Hawai’i, she conducted additional research in linguistics.
Already a leading researcher in linguistics and social history of Cambodia, as well as a respected teacher for several generations of students, she exchanged ideas with Cambodian fellow researchers, had the opportunity to communicate with Khmer and Sanskrit pioneer researcher George Coedès and François Martini, and had a lasting influence on the younger generations of Khmerologists, from Ang Choulean to Grégory Mikaelian and others.
Her work in the field of etymology, specifically applied to old Khmer (from 6th to 14th centuries) was seminal, while her varied skills enabled her to tackle areas such as the very rich processes of derivation in Khmer, religion, codes of conduct, zoology and botany, culinary art, etc. This encyclopedic approach is reflected in her Dictionnaire vieux khmer-français-anglais.
‘Madame Pou’, as she was respectfully and affectionately referred to, is the author of more than 150 books and articles, published in several orientalist journals such as the Journal Asiatique and the Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient. Saveros Pou’s last book published before her passing away was Un dictionnaire du khmer-moyen (Phnom Penh, Buddhist Institute, Sāstrā Publishing House, 2017).
Mme Saveros Pou in 1970 (photo Reyum/Mikaelian)
Mme Saveros Pou in 1970 (photo Reyum/Mikaelian)
Prof. Pou Saveros in 1996 (photo by ហម ឆាយលី Ham Chhayly).
Prof. Pou Saveros in 1996 (photo by ហម ឆាយលី Ham Chhayly).
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (I): Mots khmers considérés à tort comme d’origine savante”, Journal Asiatique(JA), 1967, 1: 117 – 31. [RVC1]
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (II): Mots sanskrits considérés comme khmers”, JA, 19672: 243 – 60. [RVC2]
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (III): Mots khmers considérés à tort comme d’origine siamoise”, JA, 19673 – 4: 285 – 304. [RVC3]
“La dérivation en cambodgien moderne”, Revue de l’Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes (RENLOV), IV, 1967: 65 – 84.
“L’accentuation syllabique en cambodgien”, Papers of the CIC Far Eastern Institute, Michigan 1968: 155 – 67.
Lectures cambodgiennes (Reader), Paris, Maisonneuve, 1968, 110 p.
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (IV): Du mot ‘mourir’ dans le rājasabd”,JA,1968: 211 – 7. [RVC4]
“Note sur la dérivation par affixation en khmer moderne (cambodgien)”, RENLOV V, 1968: 117 – 27.
“Quelques cas complexes de dérivation en cambodgien”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JRAS), 1969: 39 – 48.
“Note sur la translittération du cambodgien”, BEFEOLV, 1969: 163 – 9.
“Notes ethnobotaniques sur quelques plantes en usage au Cambodge” [with J.E. Vidal, G. Martel], BEFEOLV, 1969: 171 – 232.
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (V) Les mots lanleń /lanlyin dans les inscriptions khmères”,JA, 1969: 157 – 65. [RVC5]
[review] “Introduction to Cambodian par J.M. Jacob, London, OUP, 1968, in‑8°, 341 р.”,BSOASXXXII, 3, 1969: 652 – 4.
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (VI): Les noms des points cardinaux en khmer”, JA, 1970: 131 – 41. [RVC6]
[review] “The Khmer Language par Y.A. Gorgoniev, Moscou, Nauka, 1966, in-16, 134 р.”, Bulletin of the Society of Linguistics and Philology (BSLP), LXIV, 1970, 2: 232 – 5.
[review] “Early Indo-Cambodian Contacts. Literary and Linguistic par K.K. Sarkar, Santiniketan, Viśvabharati, 1968, in‑8°, 76 p.”, BSLPLXV, 1970, 2: 34 – 6.
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien (VII): Les doublets d’origine indienne”, JA, 1971:103 – 38. [RVC7]
[review] “Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader par F.E. Huffman, Yale Linguistic Series, Yale, 1970, in‑8°, 365 p.”,BSOASXXXIV, 1973, 3: 649 – 50.
“Deux cas de doublets en khmer”, in Langues et Techniques. Nature et Société, Hommage Haudricourt, Paris, Klincksieck, 1971, I: 149 – 56.
[review] “Rioen Rāmakerti nai Tā Cak’. Histoire du Reamker, présenté par F. Bizot, Phnom Penh, EFEO, 1973”, Artibus Asiae (AAs), 1976, 38⁄4: 320 – 21.
“Inscriptions en khmer moyen de Vat Athvéa (K. 261)”, BEFEOLXIV, 1977:151 – 66.
“Les Cpap’ ou ‘Codes de conduite’ khmers III. Cpap’ Kūn cau” [with P.N. Jenner], BEFEOLXIV, 1977: 167 – 215. [CPAP3]
[tr. and commentary] Rāmakerti (XVIè-XVIIè siècles), Paris, PEFEO vol. CX, 1977, 299 р.
Etudes sur le Ramakerti (XVIè-XVIIè siècles), Paris, PEFEO vol. CXI, 1977, 201 р.
“Inscription dite de Brai Svay ou ‘Bois des Manguiers’ de Sukhoday”, BEFEOLXV, 1978, 333 – 59.
“Les Cpāp’ IV. Cpāp’ Rājaneti ou Cpap’ Brah Rājasambhār” [with P.N. Jenner), BEFEOLXV, 1978: 361 – 402. [CPAP4]
“Recherches sur le vocabulaire cambodgien X. L’étymologie populaire”, JA, 1978: 153 – 77. [RVC10]
“Sarasvati dans la culture khmère”, BEI4, 1986: 321 – 39.
[review] “International Seminar on Rāmāyaņa. Traditions and National Cultures in Asia 2 – 6 Oct. 1986, Lucknow”, BEI4, 1986: 51 – 55.
“Etudes sur le Rāmāyana en Asie (1980−1986)”, JA, 1987, 1 – 2: 193 – 201.
“Old Khmer and Siamese”, KK2, Berlin, 1988: 37 – 48.
កម្រងច្បាប់ — Guirlande de Cpap’, Paris, Cedoreck, 1988, 2 vols. 638 p.
[review] “Reamker (Ramakerti), the Cambodian version of Ramayana, Translated by J.M. Jacob, London, The Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Fund, New Series (XLV), 1986, in‑8°, 320 p.”,KK2, 1988 : 72 – 6.
“Notes on Brahmanic Gods in Theravādin Cambodia”, Indologica Taurinensia, XIV, Colette Caillat Felicitation Volume, 1987 – 88: 339 – 51.
“Sanskrit Loanwords in Old Khmer: Some morphological Observations”, Dialectes dans les littératures indo-aryennes, Pub. ICI, 55, Paris, Collège de France &ICI, 1989: 569 – 78.
“Portrait of Rama in Cambodian (Khmer) Tradition”, Rāmāyaņa Traditions and National Cultures in Asia, D.P. Sinha &S. Sahai eds., Lucknow, Directorate of Cultural Affairs (Uttar Pradesh), 1989: 1 – 7.
Nouvelles Inscriptions du Cambodge, Paris, PEFEOCTDI-XVII, vol. I, 1989, 155 p.
“Le khmer et ses locuteurs”, Language Reform. History and Future, I. Fodor & C. Hagège, eds., Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag, vol. V, 1990: 239 – 52.
“Regard sur les études littéraires khmères”, SK10 – 13, 1987 – 90: 39 – 58.
“Vocabulaire khmer relatif au surnaturel” [with Ang Choulean], Seksa Khmer10 – 13, 1990 – 90: 59 – 129.
C.R. de Khmer Buddhism and Politics from 1954 to 1984 par Yang Sam, Khmer Studies Institute Inc., Newington (U.S.A.), 1987, petit in‑8°, 97 p., SK10 – 13, 1990: 134 – 36.
“Sanskrit, Pali and Khmero-Pāli in Cambodia”, Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference, vol. VII, Sanskrit outside India, J.G. de Casparis ed., Leiden, Brill, 1991: 13 – 28.
“Les dérivés désidératifs en khmer, Austroasiatic Languages, Essays in honour of H.L. Shorto, London, SOAS, 1991: 183 – 91.
“Les noms des monuments khmers”, BEFEOLXXVIII, 1991: 203 – 24, Pl.
“Conférence Internationale sur le Rāmāyaņa de Vālmīki, Turin 1992”, BEI9, 1991: 235 – 7.
Lectures cambodgiennes — A Cambodian Reader, Paris, Cedoreck, 1991, 109p.
“Notes historico-sémantiques khmères”, Asie du Sud-Est et Monde Insulindien (ASEMI) XII, 1 – 2, 1991 : 111 – 124.
[review] “Dialectes dans les littératures indo-aryennes, Paris, Collège de France &ICI, 1989, 578 р.”, BEFEOLXXVIII, 1991: 337 – 9.
[review] “Ramayana Traditions and National Cultures in Asia, Sinha, D.P. & Sahai, S., ed., Lucknow, 1989, 22×28, 222 p., illustr.”, BEFEOLXXVIII, 1991: 339 – 42.
[review] “Circles of Kings. Political Dynamics in Early Continental Southeast Asia, par Renée Hagesteijn, Dordrecht-Holland, Providence‑U.S.A., 1989, ib‑8°, 175 р.”, BEFEOLXXVIII, 1991: 347 – 9.
[review] “A Glossarial Index of the Sukhothai Inscriptions par Ishii, Y, & Al., Bangkok, Amarin Publication, 1989, 15 x 26, 254 p.”, BEFEOLXXVIII, 1991: 349 – 51.
Dictionaire vieux khmer-français-anglais — An Old Khmer-French-English Dictionary — វចនានុក្រមខ្មែរចាស់-បារាំង‑អង្លេស, Paris, Cedoreck, 1992, 555 p. ISBN2−86731−023−7; 2d augmented edition: Paris, L’Harmattan, 2004, 732 p.
“From Old Khmer Epigraphy to popular Tradition: A study of the names of Cambodian monuments”, Southeast Asian Archaeology 1990, Proceedings of the Third Conference of the EASEAA, Ian Glover ed., Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull, 1992: 7 – 24.
“Indigenization of Rāmāyana in Cambodia”, Asian Folklore Studies(AFS) vol. LI‑1, 1992: 89 – 102.
[review] “Rāmāyaņa and Rāmāyaņas, ed. Monika Thiel-Horstmann, Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1991, 259 p.”,AFSLI‑2, 1992: 376 – 8.
“From Old Khmer Epigraphy to Popular Tradition: A study of the names of Cambodian monuments”, Southeast Asian Archaeology, Proceedings of the Third Conference of the EASEAA, Ian Glover ed., Center for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull, 1992: 7 – 24.
“Īsūr-īśvara, ou Śiva, au Cambodge”, Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica (OLP), 24, 1993: 143 – 77.
“From Valmiki to Theravāda Buddhism: The example of the Khmer classical Rāmakerti”, Indologica Taurinensia, XIX-XX, Proceedings of the Ninth International Rāmāyana Conference (Torino, April 13 th-17th, 1992), 1993 – 4:267 – 84.
“Vişnu-Nārāy au Cambodge”, OLP25, 1994: 175 – 95.
“Ancient Cambodia’s epigraphy: the concept of merit-making and merit-offering”, in Pierre-Yves Manguin ed., Southeast Asian Archaeology 1994, part II.
“L’offrande des mérites dans la tradition khmère, JA, CCLXXXII, 2, 1994:391 – 408.
“Indra et Brahma au Cambodge”, OLP, 26, 1995: 141 – 61.
“Introduction à l’étude du vieux khmer” [with S. Vogel], Cahiers d’études franco-cambodgiennes(CEFC), 4, Jan. 1995: 1 – 41.
“The concept of avatara in the Ramayana Tradition of Cambodia”, OLP.
“Nouveau regard sur Śiva-īśvara au Cambodge”, BEFEO89, 2002: 145 – 82.
Choix d’articles de Khmérologie. Selected Papers on Khmerology [presented by Grégory Mikaelian], Phnom Penh, Reyum, 2003, 503 p.
“The concept of avatara in the Ramayana Tradition of Cambodia”,OLP31, 2005:123 – 35.
“Les fleurs dans la culture khmère”,JA293 – 1, 2005: 45 – 98.
“Comment nommer les espèces végétales nouvelles: Le Lexique khmer moyen”, JA294 – 2, 2006: 373 – 407.
Ramakerti I: ‘La Gloire de Rama’, drame épique médiéval du Cambodge [with Grégory Mikaelian], Paris, L’Harmattan, 2007.
“Emprunts lexicaux khmer-moyens au monde indo-persan”, JA296 – 1,2008:141 – 156.
Nouvelles inscriptions du Cambodge vol IV, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2011.
សទ្ទានុក្រម សំស្រ្កឹតខ្មែរ‑បារាំង — Lexique de Sanskrit-Khmer-Français (Sanskrit utilisé au Cambodge), Editions Angkor, Phnom Penh, 2013.
[awaiting publication] “Satya, śapatha and sāksī in Cambodia’s Tradition”, Proceedings of the 13th World Sanskrit, Edinburgh Conference, July 2006.
[awaiting publication] “Un texte de Satyapranīdhān du 17e siècle cambodgien” [with Grégory Mikaelian].
Un dictionnaire du khmer-moyen, Phnom Penh, Buddhist Institute, Sāstrā Publishing House, 2017, 325 p.
Conference Communications
International seminar on Rāmāyaņa traditions and national culture In Asia, Lucknow (India), 2 – 6 Oct.1986.
Conférence Internationale sur le Rāmāyaņa de Valmīki, Torino (Italy), 1992 [BEI9, 1991: 235 – 7].
La langue khmère, la linguistique et le khmer, manuel de grammaire khmère: perspective de travail, emprunts indo-aryens, lexique et datationm. La littérature khmère: thème et genres littéraires, état des études littéraires khmères et littérature khmère, Phnom Penh Royal University with Alliance française and Cercle de linguistique franco-khmere, 9 – 23 February 1993.
Ancient Cambodia’s Epigraphy: a Socio-Linguistic Look, European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 6th International Con-ference, Leiden (the Netherlands), 02 – 06 September 1996.
Phnom Penh Buddhist Institute: research at the invitation of Dr. Hema, UN Cultural Section representative in Cambodia, 24 Dec 1998- 19 Jan. 1999.
The Hermitage (Asrama) in Ancient Cambodia as Evidenced by Epigraphy, Albert-Ludwings Universität Freibourg, Orientalisches Seminar, Indologia, 11 Nov. 1999.
The Victoria and Albert Museum and the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, Proceedings of the 10th EurASEAA Conference, London, 14 – 17 Sept. 2004.
Satya, Sapatha and Šaksi in Cambodia’s Tradition, Proceedings of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Edingburgh, (Scotland, UK), 10 – 14 July 2006.
Kalpana in Ancient Cambodia, Proceeding of the 10th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, London, 2008.
In Cambodia, Yama (kh យមរាជ) is theking of the Dead, son of Surya reigning over the subterranean world. According to ethnologist Ang Choulean, Vraḥ Yamarāj or ‘King Yama’ is "the God closest to the Khmers", the one to these days invoked in "annual Pchum Ben (Fortnight of the Dead) and mortuary rituals. Yama astride his buffalo looms large in Angkorian lintels across the centuries as the god of death and justice and as the subject in imprecations aimed at transgressors and temple vandals." Prof. Ang Choulean remarked that in Cambodia, Yama's representations and altars, originally facing south like in Indian traditions, started to be oriented in the northeast direction from the 13th-14th centuries, emphasizing the promise of reincarnation over physical death.