Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch Volume III Part 6

From 1852 till 1877 Burma was ruled by Mindon-min, who if not a national hero was at least a pious, peace-loving, capable king. His chaplain, Pasmi, composed the Ssanavam?sa, or ecclesiastical history of Burma, and the king himself was ambitious to figure as a great Buddhist monarch, though with more sanity than Bodpay, for his chief desire was to be known as the Convener of the Fifth Buddhist Council. The body so styled met from 1868 to 1871 and, like the ancient San?gtis, proceeded to recite the Tipit?aka in order to establish the correct text. The result may still be seen at Mandalay in the collection of buildings commonly known as the four hundred and fifty PaG.o.das: a central Stupa surrounded by hundreds of small shrines each sheltering a perpendicular tablet on which a portion of this veritable bible in stone is inscribed. Mindon-min also corrected the growing laxity of the Bhikkhus, and the esteem in which the Burmese church was held at this time is shown by the fact that the monks of Ceylon sent a deputation to the San?gharja of Mandalay referring to his decision a dispute about a _sm_ or ecclesiastical boundary.

Mindon-min was succeeded by Thibaw, who was deposed by the British. The San?gharja maintained his office until he died in 1895. An interregnum then occurred for the appointment had always been made by the king, not by the Sangha. But when Lord Curzon visited Burma in 1901 he made arrangements for the election by the monks themselves of a superior of the whole order and Taunggwin Saydaw was solemnly installed in this office by the British authorities in 1903 with the t.i.tle of Thathanabaing[167].

3

We may now examine briefly some sides of popular religion and inst.i.tutions which are not Buddhist. It is an interesting fact that the Burmese law books or Dhammathats[168], which are still accepted as regulating inheritance and other domestic matters, are Indian in origin and show no traces of Sinhalese influence although since 1750 there has been a decided tendency to bring them into connection with authorities accepted by Buddhism. The earliest of these codes are those of Dhammavilsa (1174 A.D.) and of Waguru, king of Martaban in 1280. They professedly base themselves on the authority of Manu and, so far as purely legal topics are concerned, correspond pretty closely with the rules of the Mnava-dharma.s.stra. But they omit all prescriptions which involve Brahmanic religious observances such as penance and sacrifice. Also the theory of punishment is different and inspired by the doctrine of Karma, namely, that every evil deed will bring its own retribution. Hence the Burmese codes ordain for every crime not penalties to be suffered by the criminal but merely the payment of compensation to the party aggrieved, proportionate to the damage suffered[169]. It is probable that the law-books on which these codes were based were brought from the east coast of India and were of the same type as the code of Nrada, which, though of unquestioned Brahmanic orthodoxy, is almost purely legal and has little to say about religion. A subsidiary literature embodying local decisions naturally grew up, and about 1640 was summarized by a Burmese n.o.bleman called Kaing-z in the Mahrja-dhammathat. He received from the king the t.i.tle of Manurja and the name of Manu became connected with his code, though it is really based on local custom. It appears to have superseded older law-books until the reign of Alompra who remodelled the administration and caused several codes to be compiled[170]. These also preserve the name of Manu, but he and Kaing-z are treated as the same personage. The rules of the older law-books are in the main retained but are made to depend on Buddhist texts. Later Dhammathats become more and more decidedly Buddhist. Thus the Mohavicchedan (1832) does not mention Manu but presents the substance of the Manu Dhammathats as the law preached by the Buddha.

Direct Indian influence may be seen in another department not unimportant in an oriental country. The court astrologers, soothsayers and professors of kindred sciences were even in recent times Brahmans, known as Pnn and mostly from Manipur. An inscription found at Pagan and dated 1442 mentions the gift of 295 books[171] to the Sangha among which several have Sanskrit t.i.tles and about 1600 we hear of Pandits learned in the Veda.s.stras, meaning not Vedic learning in the strict sense but combinations of science and magic described as medicine, astronomy, Kma.s.stras, etc. Hindu tradition was sufficiently strong at the Court to make the presence of experts in the Atharva Veda seem desirable and in the capital they were in request for such services as drawing up horoscopes[172] and invoking good luck at weddings whereas monks will not attend social gatherings.

More important as a non-Buddhist element in Burmese religion is the wors.h.i.+p of Nats[173] or spirits of various kinds. Of the prevalence of such wors.h.i.+p there is no doubt, but I cannot agree with the authorities who say that it is the practical religion of the Burmese.

No pa.s.sing tourist can fail to see that in the literal as well as figurative sense Burma takes its colour from Buddhism, from the gilded and vermilion paG.o.das and the yellow robed priests. It is impossible that so much money should be given, so many lives dedicated to a religion which had not a real hold on the hearts of the people. The wors.h.i.+p of Nats, wide-spread though it be, is humble in its outward signs and is a superst.i.tion rather than a creed. On several occasions the kings of Burma have suppressed its manifestations when they became too conspicuous. Thus Anawrata destroyed the Nat houses of Pagan and recent kings forbade the practice of firing guns at funerals to scare the evil spirits.

Nats are of at least three cla.s.ses, or rather have three origins.

Firstly they are nature spirits, similar to those revered in China and Tibet. They inhabit noticeable natural features of every kind, particularly trees, rivers and mountains; they may be specially connected with villages, houses or individuals. Though not essentially evil they are touchy and vindictive, punis.h.i.+ng neglect or discourtesy with misfortune and ill-luck. No explanation is offered as to the origin of many Nats, but others, who may be regarded as forming the second category, are ghosts or ancestral spirits. In northern Burma Chinese influence encouraged ancestor wors.h.i.+p, but apart from this there is a disposition (equally evident in India) to believe that violent and uncanny persons and those who meet with a tragic death become powerful ghosts requiring propitiation. Thirdly, there are Nats who are at least in part identified with the Indian deities recognized by early Buddhism. It would seem that the Thirty Seven Nats, described in a work called the Mahgt Mednigyn, correspond to the Thirty Three G.o.ds of Buddhist mythology, but that the number has been raised for unknown reasons to 37[174]. They are spirits of deceased heroes, and there is nothing unbuddhist in this conception, for the Pit?akas frequently represent deserving persons as being reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty Three. The chief is Thagy, the Sakra or Indra of Hindu mythology[175], but the others are heroes, connected with five cycles of legends based on a popular and often inaccurate version of Burmese history[176].

Besides Thagy Nat we find other Indian figures such as Man Nat (Mra) and Byamm Nat (Brahm). In diagrams ill.u.s.trating the Buddhist cosmology of the Burmans[177] a series of heavens is depicted, ascending from those of the Four Kings and Thirty Three G.o.ds up to the Brahm worlds, and each inhabited by Nats according to their degree.

Here the spirits of Burma are marshalled and cla.s.sified according to Buddhist system just as were the spirits of India some centuries before. But neither in ancient India nor in modern Burma have the devas or Nats anything to do with the serious business of religion.

They have their place in temples as guardian genii and the whole band may be seen in a shrine adjoining the Shwe-zi-gon PaG.o.da at Pagan, but this interferes no more with the supremacy of the Buddha than did the deputations of spirits who according to the scriptures waited on him.

4

Buddhism is a real force in Burmese life and the pride of the Burmese people. Every male Burman enters a monastery when he is about 15 for a short stay. Devout parents send their sons for the four months of _Was_ (or even for this season during three successive years), but by the majority a period of from one month to one week is considered sufficient. To omit this stay in a monastery altogether would not be respectable: it is in common esteem the only way to become a human being, for without it a boy is a mere animal. The praises of the Buddha and vows to lead a good life are commonly recited by the laity[178] every morning and evening. It is the greatest ambition of most Burmans to build a paG.o.da and those who are able to do so (a large percentage of the population to judge from the number of buildings) are not only sure of their reward in another birth but even now enjoy respect and receive the t.i.tle of paG.o.da-builder.

Another proof of devotion is the existence of thousands of monasteries[179]--perhaps on an average more than two for each large village and town--built and supported by voluntary contributions. The provision of food and domicile for their numerous inmates is no small charge on the nation, but observers are agreed that it is cheerfully paid and that the monks are worthy of what they receive. In energy and morality they seem, as a cla.s.s, superior to their brethren in Ceylon and Siam, and their services to education and learning have been considerable. Every monastery is also a school, where instruction is given to both day boys and boarders. The vast majority of Burmans enter such a school at the age of eight or nine and learn there reading, writing, and arithmetic. They also receive religious instruction and moral training. They commit to memory various works in Pali and Burmese, and are taught the duties which they owe to themselves, society and the state. Sir. J.G. Scott, who is certainly not disposed to exaggerate the influence of Buddhism in Burma, says that "the education of the monasteries far surpa.s.ses the instruction of the Anglo-vernacular schools from every point of view except that of immediate success in life and the obtaining of a post under Government[180]." The more studious monks are not merely schoolmasters but can point to a considerable body of literature which they have produced in the past and are still producing[181]. Indeed among the Hinayanist churches that of Burma has in recent centuries held the first place for learning. The age and continuity of Sinhalese traditions have given the Sangha of Ceylon a correspondingly great prestige but it has more than once been recruited from Burma and in literary output it can hardly rival the Burmese clergy.

Though many disquisitions on the Vinaya have been produced in Burma, and though the Jtakas and portions of the Sutta Pit?aka (especially those called Parittam) are known to everybody, yet the favourite study of theologians appears to be the Abhidhamma, concerning which a mult.i.tude of hand-books and commentaries have been written, but it is worth mentioning that the Abhidhammattha-sangaha, composed in Ceylon about the twelfth century A.D., is still the standard manual[182]. Yet it would be a mistake to think of the Burmese monks as absorbed in these recondite studies: they have on the contrary produced a long series of works dealing with the practical things of the world, such as chronicles, law-books, ethical and political treatises, and even poetry, for Slavamsa and Ratthapla whose verses are still learned by the youth of Burma were both of them Bhikkhus. The Sangha has always shown a laudable reserve in interfering directly with politics, but in former times the king's private chaplain was a councillor of importance and occasionally matters involving both political and religious questions were submitted to a chapter of the order. In all cases the influence of the monks in secular matters made for justice and peace: they sometimes interceded on behalf of the condemned or represented that taxation was too heavy. In 1886, when the British annexed Burma, the Head of the Sangha forbade monks to take part in the political strife, a prohibition which was all the more remarkable because King Thibaw had issued proclamations saying that the object of the invasion was to destroy Buddhism.

In essentials monastic life is much the same in Burma and Ceylon but the Burmese standard is higher, and any monk known to misconduct himself would be driven out by the laity. The monasteries are numerous but not large and much s.p.a.ce is wasted, for, though the exterior suggests that they are built in several stories the interior usually is a single hall, although it may be divided by part.i.tions. To the eastern side is attached a chapel containing images of Gotama before which daily devotions are performed. It is surmounted by a steeple culminating in a _hti_, a sort of baldachino or sacred umbrella placed also on the top of dagobas, and made of open metal work hung with little bells. Monasteries are always built outside towns and, though many of them become subsequently enclosed by the growth of the larger cities, they retain s.p.a.cious grounds in which there may be separate buildings, such as a library, dormitories for pupils and a hall for performing the ordination service. The average number of inmates is six. A large establishment may house a superior, four monks, some novices and besides them several lay scholars. The grades are _Sahin_ or novice, _Pyit-s.h.i.+n_ or fully ordained monk and _Pngyi_, literally great glory, a monk of at least ten years'

standing. Rank depends on seniority--that is to say the greatest respect is shown to the monk who has observed his vows for the longest period, but there are some simple hierarchical arrangements. At the head of each monastery is a Say or superior, and all the monasteries of a large town or a country district are under the supervision of a Provincial called Gaing-Ok. At the head of the whole church is the Thathanabaing, already mentioned. All these higher officials must be Pngys.

Although all monks must take part in the daily round to collect alms yet in most monasteries it is the custom (as in Ceylon and Siam) not to eat the food collected, or at least not all of it, and though no solid nourishment is taken after midday, three morning meals are allowed, namely, one taken very early, the next served on the return from the begging round and a third about 11.30. Two or three services are intoned before the image of the Buddha each day. At the morning ceremony, which takes place about 5.30, all the inmates of the monastery prostrate themselves before the superior and vow to observe the precepts during the day. At the conclusion of the evening service a novice announces that a day has pa.s.sed away and in a loud voice proclaims the hour, the day of the week, the day of the month and the year. The laity do not usually attend these services, but near large monasteries there are rest houses for the entertainment of visitors and Uposatha days are often celebrated by a pious picnic. A family or party of friends take a rest-house for a day, bring a goodly store of cheroots and betel nut, which are not regarded as out of place during divine service[183], and listen at their ease to the exposition of the law delivered by a yellow-robed monk. When the congregation includes women he holds a large fan-leaf palm before his face lest his eyes should behold vanity. A custom which might not be to the taste of western ecclesiastics is that the congregation ask questions and, if they do not understand, request the preacher to be clearer.

There is little sectarianism in Burma proper, but the Sawtis, an anti-clerical sect, are found in some numbers in the Shan States and similar communities called Man are still met with in Pegu and Tena.s.serim, though said to be disappearing. Both refuse to recognize the Sangha, monasteries or temples and perform their devotions in the open fields. Otherwise their mode of thought is Buddhist, for they hold that every man can work out his own salvation by conquering Mra[184], as the Buddha did, and they use the ordinary formul of wors.h.i.+p, except that they omit all expressions of reverence to the Sangha. The orthodox Sangha is divided into two schools known as Mahgandi and Slagandi. The former are the moderate easy-going majority who maintain a decent discipline but undeniably deviate somewhat from the letter of the Vinaya. The latter are a strict and somewhat militant Puritan minority who protest against such concessions to the flesh. They insist for instance that a monk should eat out of his begging bowl exactly as it is at the end of the morning round and they forbid the use of silk robes, sunshades and sandals.

The Slagandi also believe in free will and attach more value to the intention than the action in estimating the value of good deeds, whereas the Mahgandi accept good actions without enquiring into the motive and believe that all deeds are the result of karma.

5

In Burma all the higher branches of architecture are almost exclusively dedicated to religion. Except the Palace at Mandalay there is hardly a native building of note which is not connected with a shrine or monastery. Burmese architectural forms show most a.n.a.logy to those of Nepal and perhaps[185] both preserve what was once the common style for wooden buildings in ancient India. In recent centuries the Burmese have shown little inclination to build anything that can be called a temple, that is a chamber containing images and the paraphernalia of wors.h.i.+p. The commonest form of religious edifice is the dagoba or zedi[186]: images are placed in niches or shrines, which shelter them, but only rarely, as on the platform of the Shwe Dagon at Rangoon, a.s.sume the proportions of rooms. This does not apply to the great temples of Pagan, built from about 1050 to 1200, but that style was not continued and except the Arakan PaG.o.da at Mandalay has perhaps no modern representative. Details of these buildings may be found in the works of Forchhammer, Fergusson, de Beyli and various archological reports. Their construction is remarkably solid. They do not, like most large buildings in India or Europe, contain halls of some size but are rather pyramids traversed by pa.s.sages. But this curious disinclination to build temples of the usual kind is not due to any dislike of images. In no Buddhist country are they more common and their numbers are more noticeable because there is here no pantheon as in China and Tibet, but images of Gotama are multiplied, merely in order to obtain merit. Some slight variety in these figures is produced by the fact that the Burmese venerate not only Gotama but the three Buddhas who preceded him[187]. The Shwe Dagon PaG.o.da is reputed to contain relics of all four; statues of them all stand in the beautiful Ananda PaG.o.da at Pagan and not infrequently they are represented by four sitting figures facing the four quarters. A gigantic group of this kind composed of statues nearly 90 feet high stands in the outskirts of Pegu, and in the same neighbourhood is a still larger rec.u.mbent figure 180 feet long. It had been forgotten since the capture of Pegu by the Burmans in 1757 and was rediscovered by the engineers surveying the route for the railway. It lies almost in sight of the line and is surprising by its mere size, as one comes upon it suddenly in the jungle. As a work of art it can hardly be praised. It does not suggest the Buddha on his death bed, as is intended, but rather some huge spirit of the jungle waking up and watching the railway with indolent amus.e.m.e.nt.

In Upper Burma there are not so many large images but as one approaches Mandalay the paG.o.das add more and more to the landscape.

Many are golden and the rest are mostly white and conspicuous. They crown the hills and punctuate the windings of the valleys. Perhaps Burmese art and nature are seen at their best near Sagaing on the bank of the Irrawaddy, a mighty flood of yellow water, sweeping down smooth and steady, but here and there showing whirlpools that look like molten metal. From the sh.o.r.e rise hills of moderate height studded with monasteries and shrines. Flights of white steps lead to the princ.i.p.al summits where golden spires gleam and everywhere are paG.o.das of all ages, shapes and sizes. Like most Asiatics the Burmese rarely repair, but build new paG.o.das instead of renovating the old ones. The instinct is not altogether unjust. A paG.o.da does not collapse like a hollow building but understands the art of growing old. Like a tree it may become cleft or overgrown with moss but it remains picturesque. In the neighbourhood of Sagaing there is a veritable forest of paG.o.das; humble seedlings built by widows' mites, mature golden domes reared by devout prosperity and venerable ruins decomposing as all compound things must do.

The paG.o.da slaves are a curious inst.i.tution connected with temples.

Under the Burmese kings persons could be dedicated to paG.o.das and by this process not only became slaves for life themselves but involved in the same servitude all their posterity, none of whom could by any method become free. They formed a low caste like the Indian Pariahs and though the British Government has abolished the legal status of slavery, the social stigma which clings to them is said to be undiminished.

Art and architecture make the picture of Burma as it remains in memory and they are the faithful reflection of the character and ways of its inhabitants, their cheerful but religious temper, their love of what is fanciful and graceful, their moderate aspirations towards what is arduous and sublime. The most striking feature of this architecture is its free use of gold and colour. In no country of the world is gilding and plating with gold so lavishly employed on the exterior of buildings. The larger PaG.o.das such as the Shwe Dagon are veritable pyramids of gold, and the roofs of the Arakan temple as they rise above Mandalay show tier upon tier of golden beams and plates. The brilliancy is increased by the equally lavish use of vermilion, sometimes diversified by gla.s.s mosaic. I remember once in an East African jungle seeing a clump of flowers of such brilliant red and yellow that for a moment I thought it was a fire. Somewhat similar is the surprise with which one first gazes on these edifices. I do not know whether the epithet flamboyant can be correctly applied to them as architecture but both in colour and shape they imitate a pile of flame, for the outlines of monasteries and shrines are fanciful in the extreme; gabled roofs with finials like tongues of fire and panels rich with carvings and fret-work. The buildings of Hindus and Burmans are as different as their characters. When a Hindu temple is imposing it is usually because of its bulk and mystery, whereas these buildings are lighthearted and fairy-like: heaps of red and yellow fruit with twining leaves and tendrils that have grown by magic. Nor is there much resemblance to j.a.panese architecture. There also, lacquer and gold are employed to an unusual extent but the flourishes, horns and finials which in Burma spring from every corner and projection are wanting and both j.a.panese and Chinese artists are more sparing and reticent. They distribute ornament so as to emphasize and lead up to the more important parts of their buildings, whereas the open-handed, splendour-loving Burman puts on every panel and pillar as much decoration as it will hold.

The result must be looked at as a whole and not too minutely. The best work is the wood carving which has a freedom and boldness often missing in the minute and crowded designs of Indian art. Still as a rule it is at the risk of breaking the spell that you examine the details of Burmese ornamentation. Better rest content with your first amazement on beholding these carved and pinnacled piles of gold and vermilion, where the fantastic animals and plants seem about to break into life.

The most celebrated shrine in Burma is the Shwe Dagon PaG.o.da which attracts pilgrims from all the Buddhist world. No descriptions of it gave me any idea of its real appearance nor can I hope that I shall be more successful in giving the reader my own impressions. The paG.o.da itself is a gilt bell-shaped ma.s.s rather higher than the Dome of St.

Paul's and terminating in a spire. It is set in the centre of a raised mound or platform, approached by lofty flights of steps. The platform, which is paved and level, is of imposing dimensions, some nine hundred feet long and seven hundred wide. Round the base of the central paG.o.da is a row of shrines and another row runs round the edge of the platform so that one moves, as it were, in a street of these edifices, leading here and there into side squares where are quiet retreats with palm trees and gigantic images. But when after climbing the long staircase one first emerges on the platform one does not realize the topography at once and seems to have entered suddenly into Jerusalem the Golden. Right and left are rows of gorgeous, fantastic sanctuaries, all gold, vermilion and gla.s.s mosaic, and within them sit marble figures, bland, enigmatic personages who seem to invite approach but offer no explanation of the singular scene or the part they play in it. If a.n.a.lyzed in detail the artistic merits of these shrines might be found small but the total impression is unique. The Shwe Dagon has not the qualities which usually distinguish great religious buildings. It is not specially impressive by its majesty or holiness; it is certainly wanting in order and arrangement. But on entering the platform one feels that one has suddenly pa.s.sed from this life into another and different world. It is not perhaps a very elevated world; certainly not the final repose of the just or the steps of the throne of G.o.d, but it is as if you were walking in the bazaars of Paradise--one of those Buddhist Paradises where the souls of the moderately pure find temporary rest from the whirl of transmigration, where the very lotus flowers are golden and the leaves of the trees are golden bells that tinkle in the perfumed breeze.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 124: For the Pyus see Blagden in _J.R.A.S._ pp. 365-388.

_Ibid._ in _Epigr. Indica_, 1913, pp. 127-133. Also reports of _Burma Arch. Survey_, 1916, 1917.]

[Footnote 125: So C.C. Lowis in the _Gazetteer of Burma_, vol. I. p.

292, but according to others the Burmese chronicles place the event at the beginning of the Christian era.]

[Footnote 126: Sometimes called New Pagan to distinguish it from Old Pagan which was a name of Tagaung. Also called Pagan or Pugma and in Pali Arimaddanapura.]

[Footnote 127: See the travels of Kia Tan described by Pelliot in _B.E.F.E.O._ 1904, pp. 131-414.]

[Footnote 128: More correctly Taung-ngu.]

[Footnote 129: For the history and present condition of Buddhism in Burma the following may be consulted besides other works referred to in the course of this chapter.

M. Bode, _Edition of the Ssanavam?sa_ with valuable dissertations, 1897. This work is a modern Burmese ecclesiastical history written in 1861 by Pasmi.

M. Bode, _The Pali Literature of Burma_, 1909.

The Gandhavam?sa: containing accounts of many Pali works written in Burma. Edited by Minayeff in _Jour. Pali Text Soc._ for 1886, pp. 54 ff. and indexed by M. Bode, _ibid._ 1896, 53 ff.

Bigandet, _Vie ou Lgende de Gautama_, 1878.

Yoe, _The Burman, his life and notions_.

J.G. Scott, _Burma, a handbook of practical information_, 1906.

_Reports of the Superintendent, Archaeological Survey, Burma_, 1916-1920.

Various articles (especially by Duroiselle, Taw-Sein-Ko and R.C.

Temple) in the _Indian Antiquary_, _Buddhism_, and _Bulletin de l'Ecole Franaise de l'Extrme Orient._]

[Footnote 130: So too Prome is called Srkshetra and the name Irrawaddy represents Irvat (the modern Ravi). The ancient town of Srvast or Svatthi is said to reappear in the three forms Tharawaddy, Tharawaw and Thawutti.]

[Footnote 131: See _Indian Antiquary_, 1893, p. 6, and Forchhammer on the Mahamuni PaG.o.da in _Burmese Archaeological Report_ (? 1890).]

[Footnote 132: Dpav. VIII. 12, and in a more embellished form in Mahvam?sa XII. 44-54. See also the Kalyani Inscriptions in _Indian Ant._ 1893, p. 16.]

[Footnote 133: Through the form Saton representing Saddhan. Early European travellers called it Satan or Xatan.]

[Footnote 134: The Burmese identify Aparantaka and Yona to which Asoka also sent missionaries with Upper Burma and the Shan country. But this seems to be merely a misapplication of Indian names.]

[Footnote 135: See Forchhammer, _Jardine Prize Essay_, 1885, pp.