Sak Yant translation

[Charw]

Hi,

Last year I visited Chiang Mai and got a Sak Yant tattoo by Ajarn Rung. He designed it for me so I know the basis of the meaning, but would love to get the writing translated if anyone can!

Thank you for your help if anyone chooses to do so :)

 

[blackcab]

Moved to the Thai forum.

[Wongkitlo]

12 hours ago, Charw said:

Thank you for your help if anyone chooses to do so

It is not a usual Thai script. Is probably more Sanskrit based so you would probably need to ask a monk. Maybe some of the more learned here might know but my wife could not translate. Probably means " My dog has a long tail"

[Neeranam]

You should have asked before getting it!

 

Sorry, I can't read it. 

 

These tattoos can be very powerful; it's important to know exactly what they mean and are for.

 

 

 

 

[4reaL]

It's Pali which is the Buddhist script used throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.

 

Often when done is a non formal setting i.e. other than by a Monk in a Temple the lettering is wrong and a bunch of gibberish.

 

 

[Kwasaki]

14 hours ago, Charw said:

Hi,

Last year I visited Chiang Mai and got a Sak Yant tattoo by Ajarn Rung. He designed it for me so I know the basis of the meaning, but would love to get the writing translated if anyone can!

Thank you for your help if anyone chooses to do so ????

 

It's the Cambodian script. 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

It's the Cambodian script. 

Sorry should of wrote OLD Cambodian. 

[Charw]

4 hours ago, 4reaL said:

It's Pali which is the Buddhist script used throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.

 

Often when done is a non formal setting i.e. other than by a Monk in a Temple the lettering is wrong and a bunch of gibberish.

 

 

Thank you, it was done by a monk (as named) and in a temple so I hope not!

 

4 hours ago, 4reaL said:

It's Pali which is the Buddhist script used throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.

 

Often when done is a non formal setting i.e. other than by a Monk in a Temple the lettering is wrong and a bunch of gibberish.

 

 

[Charw]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Sorry should of wrote OLD Cambodian. 

Good to know, thank you ????

[Kwasaki]

28 minutes ago, Charw said:

Thank you, it was done by a monk (as named) and in a temple so I hope not!

 

My friend who was a Thai monk for 10 years and now a Govt teacher told me is very special to Thai people what you had done.

Disregard anything westerners say about it. 

Choddie ????

 

[JHicks]

It looks a bit like , which is the Tai Tham script used for the Lanna language previously spoken around Chiang Mai as well as a few other languages, including Pali. It does crop up a lot in old Buddhist texts. If it is Tai Tham (and if those are the right characters) I don't think the language is Pali. If it was written in Thai script it would be งสอ็นสจกา, which doesn't look like Pali to me. The other possible languages aren't spoken by many people and I don't think there are any online dictionaries.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, JHicks said:

It looks a bit like , which is the Tai Tham script used for the Lanna language previously spoken around Chiang Mai as well as a few other languages, including Pali. It does crop up a lot in old Buddhist texts. If it is Tai Tham (and if those are the right characters) I don't think the language is Pali. If it was written in Thai script it would be งสอ็นสจกา, which doesn't look like Pali to me. The other possible languages aren't spoken by many people and I don't think there are any online dictionaries.

It's Old Cambodian confirm by a Thai person.

There is a Old Lanna Thai language and other tribe languages. 

Old Buddhist texts originate from India when the likes Burma, Laos, Cambodia were part of what was known as Greater India.

[Charw]

7 hours ago, Neeranam said:

You should have asked before getting it!

 

Sorry, I can't read it. 

 

These tattoos can be very powerful; it's important to know exactly what they mean and are for.

 

 

 

 

You’re probably right! I guess at the time the experience and meaning was more important than the exact words, but I know for next time ???? thanks!

[JHicks]

3 hours ago, JHicks said:

I don't think the language is Pali. If it was written in Thai script it would be งสอ็นสจกา, which doesn't look like Pali to me.

 

According to Wikipedia, the tradition with these tattoos is to spells out "abbreviated syllables from Pali incantations" - so it probably is Pali after all, and the reason it doesn't seem to make sense is that it is abbreviated (plus the characters aren't a perfect match so I'm sure I didn't nail them all). I guess that means you'd need someone who knew the incantation to figure out what it means.

 

On the script, all the candidates are related and look fairly similar. Wiki says "in Cambodia and central Thailand, the Old Khmer script of the Khmer Empire is used [this was the Pallava script, or a half-way house between the Pallava script and the modern Khmer script, depending on the time period. Pallava does fit some of the characters very well, but doesn't seem to fit others at all. The modern khmer script is quite angular, with lots of chevron type things like little pennants, so not a good match]. While in northern Thailand yantra tattoos may use Shan [lots of circles - not a good match], northern Thai [this is Tai Tham - the script in my last post], or Tai Lu [basically the same as Tai Tham, unless they're referring to something called "Fak Kham". I can't find any pictures of Fak Kham though. I haven't heard of it before and it seems to have died out early on], and in Laos the Lao Tham script is employed [this is basically the same thing as Tai Tham]". So it could be any of them but I think Tai Tham is most likely, especially as OP got the tattoo in northern Thailand.

[Neeranam]

 

 

I find these fascinating and am investigating.

https://www.sakyantchiangmai.com/sak-yant-designs-and-meanings/ 

 

1. i ra cha ka ta ra sa

2. ti hang ja toh loh ti nang
3. soh ma na ga ri tah toh
4. pi sam lah loh pu sa pu
5. ka pu bam too tahm wa ka

Hah Taew, represents 5 yants or magical spells. Each one will be done individually and the following magical spells have been cast to do as described below.

[Neeranam]

The writing is Pali language, although as that language doesn't have an alphabet, it is written in the Lanna alphabet.

 

[Kwasaki]

My friend a Thai govt language teacher knows of many old Thai languages and said it's not any Thai but recognized it as Old Cambodian script.

OP should ask on the I didn't think existed " Cambodia Forum "

[tgeezer]

Something topical has resulting in me taking an interest in the word Utopia which I have learned from Wikipedia is a made up word the meaning of which is debatable.  I mention this not only because I have nothing much better to do but also because it may be worth suggesting that there may well be more than one scholarly interpretation of the ancient text you have.    

[Deppalla69]

I can not read this script but usually sak yant katas are written in Thai Khom which is a brother of Khmer Khom. Some in the north sak Lana script but this is Thai Khom.Aj rung usually sak this script.