This
essay stems from my research into the cult and history of the Buddhist
earth deity, known in Thailand as Mae or Nang Thoranee, “mother” or
“lady earth”. This deity is a minor character in the story of the
Enlightenment. The story of how she witnesses for the Bodhisattva
against Ma¯ra the Evil One by wringing a deluge of water from her long
hair can be found in a life of the Buddha called the Pathamasambodhi
known throughout ˙ mainland Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Laos,
Burma and Sipsong 1 Panna). In general, earth deities are symbols of
fertility, and their cults are concerned with the production of
bountiful crops, rain, wealth and childbirth. However, while the
Buddhist earth deity is associated with the life-giving elements of the
soil and the water, she is also an aggressive deity, able to protect the
bodhisattva and the site of enlightenment from evil forces. This essay
will explore her contemporary cult in northeastern Thailand, where she
is believed to have the power to defend the Thai nation and its
inhabitants, as well as Buddhism, from external threats and invaders.
Over the past few decades there has been a proliferation of
“nationalist” religious cults in South and Southeast Asia that seem to
come into being in response to political and social change. Some of
these cults are addressed to new deities such as the pan-Indian cult to
the goddess Santosı¯ Ma¯ that first appeared when a movie about the
goddess was released˙ in 1975.2 The Thai cult to Ra¯ma V (also known as
Chulalongkorn, r. 1868–1910), expressed by the worship of photographs,
amulets and statues of this popular monarch, has flourished among
urbanized middle-class Thais since the 1997–8 collapse of the Thai
economy.3 The monkey god Hanuma¯n has a venerable lineage that can be
traced back many centuries, but his cult took on new life after the
Ra¯ma¯yan.a appeared in serialized form on Indian television in 1987–8.4
168
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Babb (Babb and
Wadley 1995) and others have argued that the media (print, movies,
television) have standardized and disseminated a limited number of key
religious symbols and images throughout South Asia, creating a shared
national identity that transcends traditional cultural and social
boundaries5 and fostering a “democratic devotionalism, a populist piety,
of extraordinary proportions in the present age”. This media-nourished
piety is not dependent upon particular temples, geographical location,
or religious specialists; busy devotees are able to devise their own
rituals and calendars of worship, and their temples are “non-sectarian,
one-stop, full-service”. If new deities such as Santosı¯ Ma¯ or Ra¯ma V
have emerged in response to the changing needs of Asia’s˙ urbanized
societies, how do we understand the modern cults to ancient deities,
such as those addressed to Hanuma¯n and Nang Thoranee? In a provocative
article on the political use of the Ra¯ma¯yan.a in India, Pollock
described how the character of the cult to Ra¯ma changed over the
centuries, and has been used to express a “theology of politics and a
symbology of otherness”. Pollock noted that, although the story of Ra¯ma
is ancient, the cults to Ra¯ma did not flourish until the twelfth to
fourteenth centuries, when much of India was under the control of the
Sultanate and Hinduism was under threat. Pollock argued that the
Ra¯ma¯yan.a was promoted by the Hindu elites as a “privileged instrument
for encoding or interpreting the political realities of the twelfth to
fourteenth centuries”. The Ra¯ma¯yan.a was chosen over the many other
martial epics available because of its “demonization of the Other . . .
those who stand outside this theologically sanctioned polity” (Pollock
1993: 281). Pollock concluded his article by positing a relationship
between the political semiotics expressed in the Ra¯ma¯yan.a in medieval
India and the contemporary cults to Ra¯ma that encourage sectarian
violence against Indian Muslims (ibid., 261).6 Like the Ra¯ma¯yan.a, the
episode in the story of the Buddha’s Enlightenment when Ma¯ra is
defeated, the ma¯ravijaya, has served as a political vehicle for the
Buddhist nations of mainland Southeast Asia for centuries. In a Thai
chronicle describing King Naresuan’s famous victory over the Burmese
Upara¯ja¯ in 1593, for example, the Burmese ruler is represented as
Ma¯ra and Naresuan as the Bodhisattva (Chutintaranond 1992: 92). A
memoir written in the early nineteenth century by Princess
Narintharathewi compared the victory of Ra¯ma I over the then-reigning
King Taksin to the Bodhisattva’s defeat of Ma¯ra.7 Murals of the
ma¯ravijaya from the Ayutthayan Period often depict the hordes of Ma¯ra
as the rapacious Europeans who were vying with each other to colonize
Thailand along with neighbouring Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao.8 More
recently, artist Panya Vijinithanasarn painted a ma¯ravijaya in Wat
Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon that includes Margaret Thatcher and Ronald
Reagan in Ma¯ra’s army, and arms the Evil One with nuclear warheads.
Nang Thoranee’s role in the ma¯ravijaya as the aggressive deity who puts
the army of ma¯ra-s to flight with a deluge of water from her long hair,
in combination with her association with the soil, and the 169
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
site
of enlightenment, qualify her to express a “theology of politics and a
symbology of otherness” in Theravada Buddhist Thailand. The northeast –
Isaan – is one of Thailand’s poorest and least developed regions; its
people are known for their independence and determination in the face of
hardship caused by poor soil and inadequate water supplies. Bangkok’s
political control has often been precarious in the region. Since the
time of General Sarit Thanarat, who held power in Thailand from
September 1957 until his death December 1963, Thailand’s leaders have
tried to stabilize the region through development, instituting national
projects such as dams to improve agriculture, the establishment of Khon
Kaen University, and a teaching hospital. Private businessmen have been
encouraged to locate industrial plants in the province to counteract the
region’s chronic unemployment. Khon Kaen City, the capital of the
province, was built in 1965 at the instigation of General Sarit
Thanarat. This large city was carefully designed by city planners and
has a modern water treatment plant, an adequate electrical supply, and,
as its proud residents point out, few traffic jams as the streets are
wide, and laid out on a grid. Like all Thai cities, the centre of Khon
Kaen City (and by extension, the province of Khon Kaen) is marked by a
lak muang, the traditional Thai City Pillar.9 The lak muang is located
on top of a small hill at what is essentially the crossroads of the city
on the main road into Khon Kaen City, Klang Muang Road. The lak muang
has the usual shrine built around it, and has an attendant who maintains
the site and assists devotees who come to make offerings. Nang
Thoranee’s shrine is adjacent to the lak muang. It is located on a site
where a natural spring emerged from the ground at the foot of the hill
where the lak muang is situated. A statue-fountain of the beautiful
earth deity kneeling and wringing water from her long hair is the focal
point of the shrine. This statue-fountain was commissioned by the former
Governor of Khon Kaen, Chamnan Pocchana, and designed by a well-known
local artist named Maha¯ Surakhom. The statue was built from cast cement
on a metal armature at a site at the back of the nearby Town Hall. The
cost of construction, 150,000 baht, was met by donations rather than
civic funds. On 4 September 1981 the completed statue was inaugurated at
a ceremony held at the Town Hall, and then transported by truck to its
present location adjacent to the lak muang. After the statue was
positioned, water from the natural spring was piped to her hair to spill
into a basin in front of the shrine. The official installation ceremony
of the statue on the site took place on 5 September 1981. The Mae
Thoranee shrine has been renovated by her devotees many times since it
was first consecrated. It is presently surrounded by a high fence, and
entrance to the shrine is through a big gate decorated with Taoist
symbols and the names of donors. The enclosure also contains shrines to
the phi (local spirits), the seven stations of the Buddha,10 and various
other items of statuary, including a Chinese dragon and an oven for
burning paper 170
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offerings.
The statue-fountain of the earth deity is painted gold and red, an
effect that is “Chinese” rather than “Thai”. In addition to the
statuefountain, there is also a subsidiary statue of Nang Thoranee. Both
the statuefountain and the smaller statue receive a cult. Devotees may
bring their own offerings with them, but a complete range of offerings is
available for sale at a stall on the site: garlands of marigolds,
candles, betel leaves, areca nuts and incense. The subsidiary image is
regularly “made up” with cosmetics, and both images are “dressed” in
lengths of fabric and adorned with costume jewellery. There are several
dedicatory inscriptions at the site, commemorating the original
construction of the fountain in 1981, and subsequent renovations and
improvements to the site (such as the electrification of the shrine in
1987). A red plastic plaque set in front of the main image has been
inscribed in gold with the Thoranee Ga¯tha¯.11 The Thoranee shrine in
Khon Kaen bears a strong resemblance to similar shrines elsewhere in
Thailand. This similarity is intentional: when Governor Chamnan
commissioned the statue, he asked the artist to use a Thoranee shrine
located in Bangkok on the northeast corner of the Sanam Luang, at the
intersection of Rajadamnouern and Rajini Roads at the foot of the
Phipoplila Bridge as a model. In addition to being located in the heart
of Ratanakosin Island, near the Royal Palace, the site of this shrine is
adjacent to Bangkok’s City Pillar shrine. Devotees purchase the
traditional offerings of candles, incense, marigolds and scarves from a
nearby stall for Thoranee, and they pray to her for good fortune or
recite the Thoranee Ga¯tha¯ inscribed on a plaque on the base of the
statue.12 They drink the water that streams from the statue’s hair into a
basin in front of the statue and catch the water in bottles to take
away. In addition to preventing sickness, the water from Thoranee’s hair
is believed to prevent traffic accidents when sprinkled on cars. The
Bangkok Thoranee statue-fountain was commissioned in 1913 by the Queen
Mother Samdech Phra Sri Patcharindhara Boromarajinatha, also known as
Saovapha, to commemorate the occasion of her fiftieth birthday. The
queen, who was born in 1863, and died in 1919, was the favourite wife of
King Ra¯ma V, and the mother of Ra¯ma VI and Ra¯ma VII.13 Saovapha
enlisted her sons and brothers-in-law to design and construct the
statuefountain, and donated 16,437 baht from her personal funds to pay
for the cost of construction. Archives preserve a letter from the Queen
to the Minister of Defence of Bangkok, General Phraya Yamara¯ja¯,
containing her instructions for the consecration ceremonies on the
twenty-seventh day of the ninth month of December (1917): Tomorrow I
will make merit on my birthday by voluntarily performing a meritorious
act. I have donated my own wealth to have the statue of Nang Phra
Thoranee, who is the remedy for disease, cast and established at the
foot of the Phan Phipoplila. The statue is now ready to be consecrated,
and I ask that the merit for the fountain be reassigned for 171
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
the
sake of all sentient beings, to be a gift for the public good, to
assuage thirst, to heal sickness, to alleviate heat and to increase
health according to the great solicitude of the triple gems . . . . –
signed Saovapha14 Saovapha’s concern for the health of the public, and
their access to pure drinking water, refers to the fact that at up until
that time most Bangkok residents took their water directly from the
Chao Phaya River, resulting in illness and death from water-borne
diseases, especially in plague years.15 In 1909, a year before his
death, King Chulalongkorn had ordered the construction of Bangkok’s first
water treatment plant, which was completed on 4 November 1914 (Van Beek
1995: 164). The plant provided the pure drinking water that flowed from
the pipe in Thoranee’s hair. In this region, where one of the ancient
epithets of the earth deity in both Thailand and Cambodia is mca¯s’ tik
dı¯, “lord of earth and water”,16 oaths of fealty are consecrated by the
pouring and drinking of sacred water, and the control and provision of
water is a primary responsibility of the ruler of the land. This
confluence of earth, water and government in Saovapha’s Thoranee shrine
is further reflected in the use of the earth goddess’s image for the
logos of the water departments of the municipalities of Bangkok. A
similar logo of Thoranee was adopted by the Thai Democratic Party (Thai
Pak Prachatipat) for the Party’s seal when it was established on 6 April
1946. This logo has symbolized the Party through many election
campaigns, and is recognized throughout Thailand. A special programme
commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Thai Democratic Party
broadcast on national television in the late 1990s explained why the
image of the earth deity was chosen. When Seni and Kukrit Pramoj and the
other founding members of the Party were drafting the Party’s
constitution in Pramoj’s law office on Rajadamnoeurn St, they realized
they needed a logo for the new party. They looked out the window for
inspiration and saw Saovapha’s Thoranee fountain on the Sanam Luang. It
was decided that this image, which emphasized the importance of earth
and water for Thailand, together with the Pali motto saccam eva
amatavaca, “truth is indeed the undying word” symbolized the values of
the Party.17 As the Secretary of the Democratic Party wrote in his
autobiography: It was agreed that the symbol for the Thai Democratic
Party would be the figure of Nang Thoranee squeezing out her hair, a
figure that has the meaning of cool shade, abundance and the happiness
that emanates from the earth. (Sotthisankra¯m 1984: 94) These ideas
about a benevolent earth deity, the restorative powers of water and the
centrality of truth expressed by the founders of the Thai Democratic 172
I N D E F E N C E O F T H E N AT I O N
Party
and in Queen Saovapha’s dedication were important symbols for Thai
politics during the first decades of the twentieth century. During the
second half of the twentieth century, as Thailand became embroiled in
the Second World War, and then the war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,
the earth deity’s wrathful nature became more important for Thailand’s
political symbology. Although Thailand was never colonized, during the
Second World War the power of the Thai monarchy was at a low ebb, the
country was occupied by foreign invaders, and Bangkok was bombed. During
this period, the Thoranee shrine was not maintained, and it became
dilapidated and spoiled. Thieves vandalized the statue and stole the
water pipes, and the water in the fountain dried up. In 1957, when
General Sarit Thanarat took over leadership of the country, he ordered
that the Thoranee statue be renovated. The worn paint was scraped off the
statue and it was re-gilded; water pipes were reconnected to the water
supply and the fountain flowed like before. Electricity was installed in
the statue to illuminate and beautify the interior of the shrine at
night. The surrounding area was landscaped, trees and a decorative hedge
were planted, footpaths and fountains of gushing water were built in a
circle surrounding the statue.18 Since Sarit Thanarat renovated the
fountain on the Sanam Luang, there has been a close relationship between
Thoranee and the Thai political right: the concern for national
security as the conflict in the Vietnam War escalated and spread
throughout Southeast Asia. Alarmed by the destruction of the sangha in
Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge, the Thai Sangha formed an alliance with the
Thai Military, and left-wing political groups (including the Thai
Democratic Party) were accused of being communists. The politics of this
period are too complex to discuss in detail here, but because of its
strategic location between the Royal Palace, Thammasat University, Wat
Maha¯tha¯t (the headquarters of the right-wing monk Bhikkhu
Kitthiwuttho) and the Democracy Monument, Nang Thoranee witnessed many
scenes of political protest. In 1973, 1976, and again during the
military coup in 1991, fierce battles between right-wing activists, the
military, and student protesters were fought in front of the statue
fountain on the Sanam Luang. In the political discourse of this era,
Nang Thoranee was depicted as the ferocious defender of Thai Buddhist
nationalism, and communists and student activists were condemned as
tmil., the forces of Ma¯ra (Kitthiwuttho 1976; see also Morrell and
Samudavanija 1981). There are other Thoranee statue-fountains in
Thailand (and in Laos and Cambodia, but that is another story) (Guthrie
2004). These images do not exist in a vacuum; like the Thoranee shrine
on the Sanam Luang, they were commissioned and maintained by devotees
who hold specific beliefs about their meaning. One of the links between
Thailand’s Thoranee statue-fountains is the political discourse that
they enabled, particularly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 173
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
During
this time, mainland Southeast Asia was a battleground of conflicting
ideologies of western-style democracy and communism. Thailand was a
country under siege, from the outside and within, and Thailand’s
continued existence as an independent nation seemed to be at risk.
Despite the Thai military’s long-standing commitment to the United
States’ war in Southeast Asia, many Thai people disapproved of American
policies and resented the presence of US military bases on Thai soil.
Thai society was torn by a series of coups and student uprisings,
culminating in the failed student uprising of 1976. When the Thai
military returned to political power in 1976, students and intellectuals
fled Bangkok, some to continue their struggle for democracy in the
maquis, while others joined forces with the Thai Communist Party. The
refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam who poured over Thailand’s
borders further threatened Bangkok’s control over its border regions.
After 1979, when the Khmer Rouge had been ousted from Phnom Penh by
invading Vietnamese troops, they waged guerrilla warfare against the
Vietnamese invaders from inside Thai territory. Thai villagers were
caught up in the conflict, their fields and property damaged, and
civilians killed, and thousands of Thai soldiers were mobilized to
secure Thailand’s borders. Khon Kaen province grew increasingly unstable
during this period, and by 1979, villages in the province were known to
be sii chomphuu: “communist”. In addition to sending soldiers to
maintain political control, the military government appointed Chamnan
Pocchana, a conservative and capable administrator and protégé of
General Sarit Thanarat, to be governor of Khon Kaen province; he held
this post until 1983. Chamnan’s task was to quell the insurgency and
maintain stability by reasserting Bangkok’s control over the region.
During his first year as governor of Khon Kaen, Chamnan commissioned two
public monuments: one was a cast-bronze statue of General Sarit
Thanarat, “the father of the people during disturbed times”, erected in
Khon Kaen City’s new bus station; and the second was the statuefountain
of Thoranee. In an interview, the former governor, now retired in
Bangkok, stated that he commissioned the statue-fountain in order to
create a peaceful landscape in the middle of Khon Kaen, to provide water
to the people, and alleviate heat. While the shrine is certainly a
beautiful spot in the centre of town, with its bright colours,
landscaping and fountain of water, many people in Khon Kaen have
explained that Nang Thoranee has the power to defend the province of
Khon Kaen from invaders as well as protecting her devotees from
misfortune. In fact, she is so powerful that shortly after the
installation of the statue-fountain in 1980, the communists and their
sympathizers disappeared from the northeast without any fighting. The
first time I visited Khon Kaen’s Thoranee shrine was during Thai New
Year, 14 April 1998. I remember that day well: it was about 40 degrees
centigrade, the shrine’s atmosphere was thick with incense and vibrant
with 174
I N D E F E N C E O F T H E N AT I O N
the sound
of prayers as a procession of devotees arrived to lay their offerings of
candles, incense, and wreaths of yellow marigolds in front of the main
image and at the subsidiary shrines on the site. The interest in
Thoranee was in part due to the fact that it was Thai New Year,
Songkran, a time when people visit such religious sites, but also
because of a new threat to the Thai nation: the colonization of the Thai
economy by foreign investors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On 2 July 1997, Thailand’s booming overheated economy had collapsed,
and on 20 August 1997 the government had been forced to accept a “rescue
package” of US $17.2 billion from the IMF. This loan stemmed the
free-fall of the Thai baht and restored financial stability to the
country, but also committed Thailand to harsh economic reforms imposed
by the IMF. By New Year 1998, many Thai people in Khon Kaen were
suffering severe hardship as jobs and homes disappeared and businesses
collapsed; once again, they turned to Nang Thoranee to protect them from
an uncertain future at the hands of the IMF. A series of articles in
the newspaper Siam Rath reported that, although Thailand was bankrupt
and foreign countries were trying to take over its economy, there was
gold in the ground in Lopburi. This gold is usually hidden, can only be
used in times of great need, and can only be used for the whole nation,
not for individual wealth. Soon, Thoranee will open up the gold mine,
pay the country’s debts and make Thailand rich again so the country will
not be a slave to foreigners. During the height of Thailand’s financial
crisis, a Thai-Chinese millionaire named Sia Chaleurn whose sausage
factory was based in Khon Kaen established a company named The Thoranee
Asset Mining Company to search for Thoranee’s gold mine in Lopburi,
located on land owned by the military.19 Sia Chaleurn had heard about
the gold mine when Thoranee spoke to him through a medium named Ratana
Maruphikat. The medium Ratana, who began being possessed by Thoranee
when the economic crisis began, wrote a popular book called A Message
from the Spoiled Earth. In this book, she explained that she had been
asked to broadcast the news to the Thai nation that Phra Mae Thoranee
will come back to get rid of bad people and clean and renew the country
and to invite Phra Sri Ariya [Maitreya] to become the fifth Buddha. Now
the world will be a happy and peaceful and plentiful place with good
relationships, kindness, human rights, harmony and equality.
(Marutphitakasa 1999) On 15 November 1997 the Thai Democratic Party
headed by Chuan Leekpai, was elected to bring the country out of the
financial crisis (Sharma 2002). During Chuan Leekpai’s term of office
(1997–2001) the symbol of Thoranee was again thrust into the public
consciousness. The Thai Democrat 175
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
Party
Headquarters located on 67 Set Siri Road, near the Railway Station in
Bangkok, was renovated and a new shrine to Thoranee was built. The
Party’s web page (www.democrat.or.th) was illustrated with a pulsating
blue graphic representation of Thoranee, and during the election
campaign Party members wore caps and jackets decorated with badges of
Thoranee wringing out her hair. Despite the Democratic Party’s
reputation for honesty and financial prudence, the government quickly
became unpopular as the stringent economy measures imposed by the IMF
caused unemployment to rise and wages to fall. There was much social
distress as people lost their homes and livelihoods, businesses failed,
and Thai banks were sold to foreign financial institutions. The press was
full of criticisms of Chuan Leekpai and his Party for failing to
protect Thailand from foreign investors, and for allowing the IMF free
reign in the Thai economy. Thoranee appeared on the cover of the current
affairs periodical Madichon.20 Like all political cartoons, there are
many subtexts; relevant for this paragraph is the suggestion that Chuan
Leekpai, depicted here dressed up like Thoranee, has prostituted himself
and Thailand to the IMF.21 Other articles in the press complained that
the government was betraying both Thoranee and the motto of the Party:
saccam eva amatavaca: Unfortunately this party doesn’t seem to react or
even keep their motto. They have her only for the badge on people’s
shirt or jacket- so where is the meaning? and Every single inch of the
land belongs to Phra Mae Thoranee, the one who this party respects. So
Chuan Leekpai, don’t keep quitting, don’t just sit and watch. Whether
Phra Mae Thoranee assists or not depends on your decisions, Chuan
Leekpai: Phra Mae Thoranee must be encouraged to rescue the nation.22 On
15 December 2002, I visited the shrine again. The shrine seemed rundown
and the atmosphere was depressing, with only a few devotees in
evidence. Thoranee’s red and gold paint had become shabby, the grounds
were unkempt, the water in the fountain’s basin was stagnant, and the
shrines to the phi had disappeared. I spoke with three women who came to
worship Thoranee, lighting candles and incense and arranging flowers on
her statue. The first woman told me she was a second-hand dealer from out
of town. She had heard that Thoranee can give good luck and had dropped
by to see the shrine and ask Thoranee for help with her business. Next,
I asked an elderly woman and her middle-aged daughter why they had come
to the shrine. The daughter told me she and her mother had come from
the 176
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neighbouring
province of Korat to sponsor a traditional dance ceremony in front of
the City Pillar, which is adjacent to the Thoranee shrine, for her
mother’s health. While the primary focus of their visit was the City
Pillar, they decided to also pay their respects to Thoranee and ask for
her blessings. The fact that the few devotees at the shrine were from
out of town and the run-down state of the grounds suggested that all was
not well with the cult to Thoranee in Khon Kaen City. Further research
revealed that for several years the medium in charge of the shrine,
Manop, had been embroiled in a legal battle with the municipality of
Khon Kaen. I was fortunate to be able to hear both sides of the
controversy, from Manop, and from an informant familiar with the city’s
court case. The medium Manop lives in a comfortable, modern house in a
quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Khon Kaen city. Signs on the
exterior of his house advertise Manop’s name, telephone number and
profession (“Medium to Phra Mae Thoranee”). Manop is middle-aged and has
a young wife (the caretaker I saw working at the shrine in 1998) and a
child. He told me that before he became a medium for Nang Thoranee, his
name was Naran Ning, and he worked as a reporter. One large room in his
house is set up as a shrine. It is a hodge-podge of images and statues
of various deities, including (but not exclusively) Thoranee, and ritual
paraphernalia (conches, drums, bells, tridents, etc.). Much of his
paraphernalia was donated by grateful clients. Manop also displays
photographs of himself in the company of politicians. My interview with
Manop confirmed much of the information about the Thoranee shrine, but
from a different perspective. For example, he told me that in 1980, the
governor’s wife, Chanda, visited and asked him how to make Khon Kaen
peaceful again. Manop suggested that she tell the governor to build a
shrine to Thoranee in the middle of the city, so Thoranee could drive
away the communists and bring peace to the province. Soon after the
statue was installed, the communists disappeared from the region without
any fighting. After this proof of Manop’s abilities, the governor’s wife
invited Manop to come and take care of the shrine as its official medium,
but at first he refused. After several requests he accepted the job, and
has been the official medium for Thoranee since 1981. He has a legal
contract with the city that gives him the right to rent the site of the
shrine. He paid 10,000 baht for the contract, and pays a monthly rent of
1,500 baht for the shrine, and an annual payment of 1,700 baht for
insurance. Manop was keen to emphasize that he does not misuse any of
the donations given to the shrine. He explained that he has many
enemies, people jealous of his financial and professional success as Nang
Thoranee’s medium. As a result of their criticisms, the city now wants
to break his lease. For several years, Manop has been embroiled in a
legal battle with the city to retain his hold on the contract. 177
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
I
was able to hear the other side of the story from an informant close to
City Hall. My informant explained that over the past few years, the
Thoranee shrine had become spoiled, and the pool of water flowing from
her hair had become stagnant. The main reason for the changes was the
construction of the new Mittaphap highway into Khon Kaen City. Ever
since the new highway was built, and the City Pillar displaced from its
position as the centre of the city, the natural spring that supplied the
water to Thoranee’s hair has dried up, indicating that she is no longer
present at the site. Another reason is that Nang Thoranee has abandoned
the site. This happened during the financial crisis, a time when much
money flowed into the shrine. During this time, the medium Manop was
believed to have misused some of the donations for his personal
enrichment. At the same time, the medium became involved with a young
woman and now has a young child (while mediums can be married, and have
children, their relationships with the deities who possess them are
based on their ability to keep the precepts while they are acting as
mediums). In an attempt to resolve this problem, the mayor of the city
has proposed a plan to move the City Pillar to a new site at the new
centre of the city. Thoranee’s shrine will also be moved so it is once
again adjacent to the City Pillar. The plans for the new shrines have
been drawn up, but there is popular opposition to the move. In
conclusion, the ancient Buddhist earth deity is a multivalent and
flexible political symbol, able to readjust to the left or right as
circumstances dictate. When she is needed to chase away communists, she
obliges; when she is needed to save Thailand from takeover by foreign
financial interests, she is called into action. In addition to this
“theology of politics”, Thoranee’s cult has a special significance for
Thailand’s northeast. Since the time of its establishment in 1980, the
Thoranee shrine in Khon Kaen City has been used to express a “symbology
of otherness”, identifying this isolated and underdeveloped region with
the rest of the nation, and helping its governors to forge a united Thai
Buddhist front against all invaders, be they communist or foreign
multinationals. And finally, the cult of Thoranee reflects the political
and economic realities of Thailand’s changing society. As the old
crossroads are shifted, and Thai Isaan transforms itself into a modern
industrial and educational centre, the earth deity provides an essential
and stabilizing link between the rapidly changing boundaries of the
present and a timeless Buddhist past.
Notes 1 A transliteration
and a translation of the relevant stanzas of the ma¯ravijaya from the
critical edition of the Pathamasambodhi (Cœdès and Filliozat 2001: 150) ˙
follow. Translations are mine unless otherwise noted. Tada¯ Vasundhara¯
vanita¯ bodhisattassa sambha¯ra¯nubha¯vena atta¯nam . sandha¯re˙˙ tum
asakkontı¯ pathavitalato utthahitva¯ itthisa¯maññata¯ya bodhisattassa pu
¯ rato ˙ ˙˙
178
I N D E F E N C E O F T H E N AT I O N
tthatva¯
“ta¯ta maha¯purisa aham . tava sambha¯ram . ja¯na¯mi tava
dakkhin.odakena ˙mama kesa¯ alliyanti ida¯ni parivattayissa¯mi” ti
vadantı¯ viya ta¯vad eva attano kese parivattitva¯ visajjesi. Tassa¯
kesato yatha¯ gan.godakam . sotam pavattati. Yatha¯ha pasa¯retva¯
maha¯vı¯ro cakkalakkhan.arañjitam . . Era¯van.asadison.d.am .
pava¯l.an.kurasadisa Vasundhara¯vanitam . tam . dassesi sa¯kyapun.gavo
sandha¯retum . asakkontı¯ pala¯yim . su. Girimekhalapa¯da¯ pana
pakkhalitva¯ ya¯va sa¯garantam . pavisanti chattadhajaca¯ma¯radı¯ni
obhaggavibhagga¯ni pa¯ta¯ni ahesum .. Acchariyam . disva¯ ma¯ro
savimhayabahulo. Yatha¯ha pa¯ramı¯ta¯nubha¯vena ma¯rasena¯ para¯jita¯.
Nikkhantudakadha¯ra¯hi sakkhikese hi ta¯vade disodisam . pala¯yanti
vidham . setva¯ asesato ti Then the Earth, unable to withstand the
accumulation (of perfections) of the bodhisatta emerged from the earth’s
surface in the likeness of a woman and stood in front of the
bodhisatta. “Dear Great Man, I know that you have fulfilled your
obligations, my hair is overflowing with your donative libations and I
will wring it out.” Speaking as if she were animate, she grasped her
hair and twisted. The water collected in her hair fell down flowing like
the Ganges River. Thus he said: Having extended my hand marked with the
signs of the wheel, resembling the horn of Era¯vana, like a ram made of
coral the Great Man, the Bull of the S´ akyas touched the Earth. Unable
to resist his appeal, she rose up before him in the form of a woman, and
twisted her hair, from which flowed a flood like the Ganges River. The
army of Ma¯ra was not able to withstand the flood, and was routed. The
feet of Girimekhala¯ slipped and he fell into the ocean. The parasols,
standards and fly-whisks broke and fell. Seeing this disaster, Ma¯ra was
filled with astonishment. Thus he spoke: ‘The power of the perfections of
the bodhisatta prevailed over the army of Ma¯ra, and the torrents of
water pouring from the hair of his witness have completely dispersed
them and sent them flying in all directions.’ 2 McKean (1996: 250–280)
and Hawley and Wulff (1996: 1–28). Bha¯rat Ma¯ta¯ and Santosı¯ Ma¯, like
all Indian goddesses, can be understood as a manifestation of ˙ Goddess,
however before the movie’s release, few Indians had ever heard the
Great of Santosı¯ Ma¯; the cult to the deity Santosı¯ Ma¯ was created in
the 1980s as a ˙ ˙ parties. political vehicle by militant Hindu
nationalist 3 Ra¯ma V is associated with ensuring Thailand’s
independence from European colonialism during the nineteenth century;
today his devotees (mainly urban, middle-class Thais) ask for good
fortune, prosperity and for the protection of Thailand’s national and
economic sovereignty. In Bangkok on Tuesdays and public holidays,
thousands of devotees come to make offerings in front of an equestrian
statue of the king opposite Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall; by early evening
the surroundings are carpeted with masses of pink blossoms and candles. 4
Babb (1995: 14) writes that Ramanand Sagar’s serialization of the
Ra¯ma¯yan.a for Indian television was a “watershed” in the history of
the epic. 5 Babb and Wadley (1995: 16–17 and 37); Lutgendorf (1994:
244). 6 In this article Pollock refers specifically to events such as the
pilgrimage by the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party to Ayodhya¯ in
1990 and the destruction of the mosque built at Ra¯ma’s birthplace by
Hindu militants in 1992, events accompanied by bloody sectarian riots
across India. 7 Passage cited and translated by Jory (1996: 97). 8 See,
for example, Ringis (1990: plates 15–16). 9 Quaritch Wales (1931:
302–3). The City Pillars, or lak muang, are also called
179
ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
inthakila
\inthakin\. These pillars are located in the centre of the city or
muang, and receive a cult: the usual offerings of candles, incense and
flowers but also traditional dance performances accompanied by live
music. 10 The Buddha’s activities around Bodhgaya for seven weeks
following the Enlightenment – (1) defeating Ma¯ra whilst meditating
under the bodhi tree; (2) steadfast gazing; (3) meditating on the
jewelled walkway; (4) meditating in the jewelled house; (5) meditating
under the goatherd’s tree and rejecting the daughters of Ma¯ra; (6)
meditating in the coils of the snake king Mucalinda; and (7) the
encounter with the merchants whilst meditating under the ra¯ja¯yatana
tree – are described in the Life of the Buddha called the
Nida¯naka¯tha¯. Buddhist iconography popular in Burma and Thailand
commemorates the seven weeks with the “seven stations”, a set of seven
images or shrines (Stadtner 1991). 11 The ga¯tha¯ reads: Tassa¯ kesato
yatha¯ gad.godakam . sotam . pavattati. Yatha¯ha pasa¯retva¯ maha¯vtro
cakkalakkhan.arañjitam .. ˙ Era¯van.asadiso n.d.am .
pava¯l.ad.kurasadisam .. Vasundhara¯vanitam . tam . dassesi
sa¯kyapud.gavo Sandha¯retum . asakkontt pala¯yim . su. ˙ pakkhalitva¯
ya¯va sa¯garantam pavisanti chatGirimekhalapa¯da¯ pana .
tadhajaca¯ma¯radtni obhaggavibhagga¯ni pa¯ta¯ni ahesum . . Acchariyam .
disva¯ ma¯ro ˙ savimhayabahulo. Yatha¯ha pa¯ramtta¯nubha¯vena ma¯rasena¯
para¯jita¯ ˙ ¯ra¯hi sakkhikese hi ta¯vad Nikkhantudakadha Disodisam .
pala¯yanti vidham . setva¯ asesato ti. 12 This ga¯tha¯ reads: tassa¯
bhassito yaka¯ ganga¯ sotam . pavattanti ma¯rasena¯ patithathantu osaka
gomato palayim . su parimanubha¯vena ma¯rasena¯ parajita disodisam .
pala¯yanti vidam . seti assato – la la – sa¯dhu
13 14
15 16 17 18
These
Thoranee Ga¯tha¯-s are “spells” or prayers recited by devotees. They
are abbreviated and contain many misspellings and grammatical errors
(for example, yaka¯ for yatha¯ above), but they have a close
relationship to the text of the ma¯ravijaya of the Pathamasambodhi.
Smith (1947).˙Smith became the Queen’s personal physician after the
death of the King until her death, and his book is in part a biography
of Saovapha from his perspective. Oudumaphra (1984: 454–455). In this
dedication Saovapha documents her meritorious deeds, asks for the merit
to be shared among all sentient beings, and refers to the pouring of
water as a “truth act” or “truth vow”. For the latter, see Burlingame
(1917). Smith (1947) described the devastation wrought in Bangkok by
water-borne disease. Bauer (1992). The Khmer ca¯s, mca¯s’, amca¯s’ and
Thai cau, meaning “master”, “elder”, “old one”, appear to have been
borrowed from old Mon. Sam . yutta Nika¯ya 452- 5.1.189. Phak Kruang, 21
August 1999.
180
I N D E F E N C E O F T H E N AT I O N
19
Sia Chaloeurn’s main business is a sausage manufacturing company based
in Khon Kaen that exports food all over Asia. 20 Madichon, 31 August
1999. 21 Many thanks to Louis Gabaude, EFEO Chiang Mai, for explaining
this cartoon to me. 22 Madichon, 27 September 1999, translation K.
Aphaivong.
181
10 KING, SANGHA AND BRAHMANS Ideology, ritual and power in pre-modern Siam Peter Skilling *
I
Ritual: hybridity and complexity This essay explores inscriptions, the
Three Seals Law Code, chronicles, royal eulogies,1 and other primary
sources in an attempt to understand some of the conceptions and
idealizations of kingship and religion and the intricacies of ritual
relations from the Ayutthaya to the early Ratanakosin period. I include
brahmans because I do not believe that the Buddhism of Siam (or that of
the region) can be studied in isolation, without taking into account the
social and ideological ecologies within which it and other knowledge
and ritual systems have functioned. If Buddhism was the dominant
discourse in the ideological hierarchy, it was not the only one, and the
brahmanical discourse should not be ignored. Brahmans played, and to a
degree still play, a significant role in the state rituals of successive
Siamese kingdoms. They presided over their own brahmanical rites and
participated in ceremonies with Buddhist monks. In both cases they
received offerings, and otherwise they – or the deities they cared for –
received land grants with attendant privileges. The importance of ritual
and ritual status to the social and political orders is self-evident,
even if it is not fully understood. Ritual was essential to the
political functioning of the states that evolved within and beyond the
boundaries of modern Thailand. We might describe these polities as
‘ritual states’ rather than as ‘theatre states’. Ritual in the sense of
spectacle, of public performance, shares many features with theatre –
stage, props, costume, rehearsed actions and speech – but the
resemblance does not go far beyond that. Is it adequate to conceive of
politics simply in terms of explicit exercise of power, of trade or
market forces? Ritual itself is a product and an expression 182
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
of
power, and most if not all political entities (and perhaps most if not
all human organizations) indulge in ritual performance – the ritual
state is not, after all, a Siamese, South-East Asian, or even South
Asian invention. And given the significant role of ritual in state
economies and regional and trans-regional diplomacy, it cannot be
dismissed as pre-modern extravagance or despotic caprice. The annual
outlay on royal finances was enormous. Classes of artisans and
functionaries depended for their livelihood on ritual. Ritual needs
influenced trade, since certain ritual paraphernalia – for example the
ca¯mara, the whisk fashioned from the tail of the yak – had to be
imported over long distances. Religieux were enlisted to protect the
state and promote prosperity and well-being. A distinctive feature of
Siamese religion is the hybridism of its rituals.2 The complexities of
ritual life demonstrate the inadequacy of describing pre-modern Siam as
‘Theravadin’, or, even more so, of conceiving of Theravada as a ‘state
religion’. As far as I know, the term ‘Therava¯da’ does not occur in
chronicles or inscriptions from the early Ayutthaya period on, and the
idea of ‘state religion’ is alien to the region of the period. In this
chapter I reserve the term ‘Theravada’ for the monastic lineage – the
aggregate or series of lineages, changing with time and place, that
emanate or claim to emanate from the Maha¯viha¯ra tradition of Ceylon.
These monastic lineages did not, in fact, generally choose to identify
themselves as ‘Theravadin’ or even, much of the time, ‘Maha¯viha¯rin’.
Rather, they used specific terms that changed as new lineages were
introduced over the centuries. They described themselves as belonging to
the Sı¯hala-vamsa ˙ (the lineage from Ceylon), to the Lan˙ ka¯-vamsa
(the lineage from Lanka), ˙ or to the Ra¯mañña-vamsa (the lineage of the
Mon country), and so on. ‘Sı¯hala-bhikkhu’ did not˙ necessarily refer
to a monk from Ceylon – in texts like the Pali chronicle Jinaka¯lama¯lı¯
it means ‘monastic [ordained within] the Ceylonese lineage’. Monks
might belong to the ‘town-dwellers’ (ga¯ma-va¯sı¯) or ‘forest-dwellers’
(araññava¯sı¯). Medhamkara Maha¯thera, who in the four˙ teenth century
composed the learned cosmological text Lokadı¯pakasa¯ra at
Muttima-nagara (modern Martaban) in the Mon country, is described in the
colophon as ‘an ornament of the lineage of renowned great elders
belonging to the forest-dwellers of the Island of Ceylon’.3 In the late
1680s at Ayutthaya, Simon de La Loubère (1642–1729), ‘Envoy
Extraordinary’ to the court of King Narai (r. 1656–1688), observed that
‘There are two sorts of talapoins at Siam, as in all the rest of the
Indies. Some do live in the woods, and others in the cities.’4 In
northern Siam monks might belong to the lineage of Wat Suan Dok or Wat
Pa Daeng. At the time the Jinaka¯lama¯linı¯ was compiled, that is, in
the first three decades of the sixteenth century, there were three
lineages in the northern Siam: the Nagarava¯sı¯, the Pupphava¯sı¯, and
the Sı¯hal.abhikkhus, i.e. the city-dwellers, the Suan Dok monks, and
the Wat Pa¯ Daeng monks.5 In the South, in the central Malay peninsula,
there were four ordination 183
PETER SKILLING
lineages
called the ‘four ka¯ ’. ‘Ka¯ ’ being an abbreviation of ‘Lan˙ ka¯’, we
may describe them as the ‘four Lan˙ ka¯ lineages’:6 Ka¯ kaew Ka¯ ra¯m
Ka¯ ja¯ta Ka¯ doem
Pa¯ Kaew (Vanaratana) lineage Ra¯mañña lineage Pa¯ Daeng lineage (?) Former lineage
This
classification of lineages evolved at an uncertain date, certainly in
the Ayutthaya period. It was centred in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and spread
to neighbouring states like Chaiya and Phatthalung. The ‘Register of
Royal Officers in Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat’, a document issued in Lesser
S´ aka Era 1172 ( 1811), during the Second Reign,7 lists four officials
with a rank of 200 sakdina¯ who supervised the corvée labourers who bore
the palanquins for the royally ranked monks (ra¯jagan.a) belonging to
the ‘four ka¯ ’.8 If Theravada monasticism is to have a history, we must
pay attention to the development and self-conception of these lineages.
The fact that the lineages have evolved from the Theravada of Sri Lanka
– or more distantly from the Thera lineage at the time of the
Thera/Maha¯sa¯mghika split that ˙ not prevent us took place in Northern
India in the third century – should from studying their individual
and regional evolutions. Further, we should ask to what degree it is
appropriate to indiscriminately apply the term ‘Theravada’ – the name of
a monastic lineage with a trans-regional history of over two thousand
years – to religion, art, or architecture. Does the use of the term
level differences, and confound the singularities of history? Does it set
up an ideal and ahistorical ‘religion’, against which the actual
becomes a deviant, and even degenerate, ‘other’? Does it evoke the trope
of decline? Does it lull us into the complacency of thinking that we
understand something when we do not? These questions need to be
addressed, and for the present I prefer to use the term sparingly and
cautiously. Complex hybridity and samana-chi-phra¯ m The complex and
hybrid nature of Siamese religion is reflected in the Thai phrase
samana-chi-phra¯m (saman.a-jı¯-bra¯hman.a), which may be analysed into
‘mendicants, renunciants, and brahmans’. We may compare it with the
phrase ubiquitous in the Pali canon, saman.a¯ va¯ bra¯hman.a¯ va¯,
‘religieux or brahmans’ – in both cases the compounds have a
comprehensive sense of ‘religieux of all stripes’.9 And this is
important: for the most part there is no abstraction in terms of
‘religion’, ‘creed’, or ‘faith’ – distinctions are recognized, rather,
in terms of ritual and function. Insofar as I make such distinctions in
this chapter, they are provisional shorthands, and not discrete or
exclusive systems. 184
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
A
ruler has relations with specific deities, and supports the
samana-chiphra¯m as appropriate throughout the ritual year. King Ra¯ma
I, founder of the Chakri dynasty, consciously forged an ideology that
drew on the past – Ayutthaya and Thonburi – and suited current
circumstances. He was not only devoted to the S´ a¯sana¯, but was also
well versed in the scriptures. He expressed his ideals in a celebrated
verse:10 I will devote heart and mind To exalt and elevate the holy
Buddha S´ a¯sana¯. I will ensure the safety of the entire realm And
protect the people and the nobles. In the preamble to his version of the
Ra¯makian, Ra¯ma I expresses his ideals at length in ra¯y verse.11
Ra¯ma I’s first ‘Edict on the San˙ gha’ states that the King:12 . . .
compassionately sought out means to enable monks (saman.a), brahmans,
ministers (sena¯patı¯), and populace (praja¯-ra¯stra), all ˙ ˙ human of
them, to realize the three felicities (sampatti) [those of the world, of
the heavens, and of nirva¯n.a], and to escape from the sufferings of the
four realms of loss and from the terrors of cyclic existence
(catura¯pa¯yadukkha lae san˙ sa¯rabhaiya). This is the duty of the king
in Thai documents: to care for samana-chı¯phra¯m, or religious
specialists as a whole, for the ministers and nobles, for the populace,
and to support and defend Buddhism. The monarch – the supreme supporter
(upathambhaka) of the Buddha S´ a¯sana¯ 13 – must ensure that the
populace lives at ease and in peace (yu¯ yen pen suk). The hybridity of
religious personnel and objects of worship in Sukhothai is evident from
Inscription 4 from Wat Pa Mamuang, in Khmer, composed in Greater S´ aka
Era 1269 ( 1349), during the reign of King Lithai (Maha¯dharmara¯ja
I).14 The epigraph records, inter alia, the setting up of an image of
I¯s´vara,15 as well as of Visn.u, in a temple.16 It refers to ‘ascetics,
brahmans, penitents, and religieux’,˙17 and perpetual offerings to all
tapasvi and brahmans.18 The juxtaposition of brahmanical and Buddhist
signifiers and the joint participation in rituals is common. Perhaps the
earliest record of this is in the Wat Maheyong inscription from Nakhon
Si Thammarat.19 The fragmentary Sanskrit text, in characters dating
between the seventh and the ninth centuries, records donations of
buildings and materials to Buddhist monks (both as a community and
individually), and of food to the community of the twice-born, the
brahmans (dvija-gan.a). The court used Buddhist and brahmanical
cosmological, mythological, calendrical systems, as appropriate to
circumstances. The perennially popular 185
PETER SKILLING
story
of Ra¯ma, called Thai the ‘Glory of Ra¯ma’ (Ra¯makı¯rti), was expressed
in poetry and performance – in court and local versions, in dance and
in several varieties of shadow puppetry. The epic was depicted in mural
painting, for example in the galleries of the ‘Emerald Buddha’ temple,
and in stone relief carvings, set in the perimeter wall of the uposatha
hall of Wat Pho (Wat Phra Chetuphon) in Bangkok.20 Rites invoke a
pantheon of deities, Buddhist, brahmanical, ancestral, and local.
Inscription 45 – a pact between Sukhothai and Nan dated 1393 – invokes
the powers of local and ancestral spirits, and of deities according to
both brahmanical and Pali systems of classification.21 Oaths like the
Ayutthaya-period Lilit ongka¯n chaeng nam invoke cosmopolitan hosts of
deities. In the Ratanakosin period, in 2530 (1807), in a royal ritual
the san ˙ gha offered water charged by Buddhist chanting (nam phra
phutthamon); then the brahmans offered blessing water from conch shells
(nam sang asiarawat phak) after which they blew conches in celebration
(jayaman˙ gala).22 The hybrid nature of Siamese ritual is seen in
language, ceremonial materials, rites, and participants.23 Pali is
paramount if not predominant. Not only do the monks recite Paritta and
other texts in Pali, as to be expected, but the brahmans also recite
formulas in Pali – or a thoroughly hybrid Pali-Sanskrit-Thai.24 The
shared ritual language is a hybrid of Thai, Pali, Sanskrit, and Khmer.
Even when a text may appear to be in Pali, it may be written in Thai
syntax and verse (see Prapod op. cit.). In written documents different
scripts are used for different purposes. Thai-language text is written in
Khom-Thai or Thai script, or, for example in a paper accordion
manuscript of the Ongka¯n chaeng nam, in a South Indian Grantha script
adapted for Thai.25 Pali is written in the Khom script, as are the
formulae inscribed on talismans and magic diagrams. Manuals may be
written in Thai script, but with the embedded Pali in Khom script.26 I
prefer to avoid the term ‘syncretism’, with its implications of
adulteration of an imagined ‘pure’ religion. Even if ‘syncretism’ is
acceptable as a descriptive term, it is not an accurate model or
teleology. ‘Hybridism’ is a creative and selective use of diverse forms,
an expression of ideologies in which the boundaries are fluid, if they
exist at all. How did this hybridism develop, how does it function, how
and why does it change? How different is it in different regions and
societies – the North, the Centre, the South, or among the Mon, the Lao,
the Khmer? At present we understand this very little at all, and much
more research into original sources is needed, accompanied by constant
assessment of our assumptions and categories. An intriguing document for
the study of ‘religion’ is an inscription from Kamphaeng Phet dated
Greater S´ aka Era 1432 ( 2053 = 1510).27 The epigraph, inscribed
on the base of a large bronze image of a standing I¯s´vara, records the
meritorious deeds of Chao Phraya Dharma¯s´okara¯ja, ruler of Kamphaeng
Phet and descendant of Sukhothai royalty. The inscription states in part
that: 186
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
Chao
Phraya Dharma¯s´okara¯ja set up this Lord I¯s´vara to protect
four-footed and two-footed creatures in Muang Kamphaeng Phet and to help
exalt the religions (sa¯san.a¯) – the Buddha-sa¯sana, the ˙ – to not
let them lose ˙ Saiyasa¯sana, and the Debakarrma their ˙ lustre and to
make them as one. Here three categories are explicitly mentioned – but,
apparently, given equal weight – Buddhasa¯sana¯, Saiyas´a¯sana, and
Debakarrma. Cœdès explained ‘Saiyas´a¯sana’ as Pali˙ Seyyasa¯sana,˙
‘littéralement “la religion excellente”, . . . ˙ une désignation
courante de la religion bra¯hmanique’,28 and translated ‘Debakarrma’ as
‘le culte des divinités’.29 Although the precise meanings may not be
clear, it seems safe to say that the categories were functional and
non-exclusive, and did not refer to ‘religions’ in the modern sense.30
II
Figures of the king All beings rely on the ksatriya, who builds
pa¯ramı¯ and by nature has ˙ samana and bra¯hmana, the citizens, to be
compassion and leads . . established in virtue. King Ra¯ma I31 State
ideologies centred in the person of the king. The king was a
Maha¯dhammika-ra¯ja¯dhira¯ja – a ‘Great, Righteous, Superior King of
Kings’. In Inscription 3, dated 1357, King Lithai of Sukhothai is
consecrated as S´ rı¯ Suriyavamsa Maha¯dharmara¯ja¯dhira¯ja.32 In
Inscription 5, he is described ˙ as S´ rı¯ Suriyavam sa Ra¯ma
Maha¯dharmara¯ja¯dhira¯ja.33 In Inscription 4, the ˙ Khmer version of
the preceding, he receives the same title, prefixed by the Khmer title
‘Phra ba¯t kamrateng añ’.34 In addition, the king could be a
bodhisattva, a Buddha, a cakravartin, or a deity. Royal titles reveal
the intricate conceptions of kingship:35 Somdet phra chao
ra¯ma¯dhipatı¯ndra s´rı¯ surindra paramacakrabartisara
pavaradhammika-maha¯ra¯ja¯dhira¯ja-ja¯ti-hariharin-indra-tejojaiyamahaisuriya-savarrya¯deba¯dideba-tribhu
¯ vana¯rtha-paramapa¯da-pabitra phra buddhi chao yu hua.36 Phra pa¯da
somdet phra chao eka¯dadharatha-is´ara37-paramana¯rtha˙ paramapabitra
phra buddhi chao yu hua phu song
das´abidhara¯jadharrma-anantasambha¯ra¯tireka-eka-an ˙ ga-suriyavan˙
savis´uddhi˙ paramabuddha¯n˙ ku¯ ra-paramapabitra.38 Phra s´rı¯
sarrbejña somdet phra ra¯ma¯dhipatı¯
sindara-parama-maha¯cakrabartis´vara-ra¯ja¯dhira¯ja-ra¯mes´vara-dharmikara¯ja-tejo-jayaparama-deba¯dideba-trı¯bhu¯
vana¯dhipes´ra-lokajestha-vis´uddhi˙˙ 187
PETER SKILLING
makuta-buddha¯n˙
ku¯ ra paramacakrabartis´vara-dharmikara¯ja¯dhira¯ja an ˙ 39 prasert.
The long titles – often in ra¯y metre – invoke idealized images of the
ruler, as warrior and powerful spiritual and temporal leader, using
Thai, brahmanical and Buddhist figures. They rarely include other
qualities – kings as poets, dramatists, or merchants.40 Given the
orality of contemporary culture and the belief in the power of language,
the titles were potent condensations of the royal person. King as
bodhisattva King Ra¯ma I referred to people making merit as a support
for attainment of the level of a Buddha (phra buddha-bhu¯ ma), the level
of a Paccekabuddha (pacceka-bhu¯ ma), or the level of an Arhat
(arahata-bhu¯ ma).41 These, in hierarchically descending order, are the
three goals open to one who wishes to practise Buddhism.42 The king
perfects the bodhisambha¯ra, often used in expressions of taking refuge
in the compassion of the king. Literally, the term means ‘requisites of
awakening’, and refers to two requisites, merit (puñña) and wisdom
(ña¯n.a). King Lithai of Sukhothai announced his aspiration to
Buddhahood publicly in inscriptions. In Inscription 4, he ‘aspires to
become a Buddha in order to lead all beings out of the Three worlds’
(traibhava). In Inscription 5, he aspires to lead all beings out of the
suffering of cyclic existence (san˙ sa¯radukkha). Inscription 6 – stanzas
composed in Pali by Maha¯sa¯mi San˙ ghara¯ja in praise of Lithai –
compares the king’s perfection of giving (da¯napa¯ramı¯) to that of
Vessantara, his perfection of wisdom (pañña¯pa¯ramı¯) to that of
Mahosatha, and his perfection of moral conduct (sı¯lapa¯ramı¯) to that
of Sı¯lavara¯ja.43 Here ja¯taka literature and ideology intersect – the
ja¯taka stories are presented as ideals, as role-models for kings, and
kings incorporate ja¯takas into their public image. Widely disseminated
through the media of the sermon and the painted image, the ja¯takas had a
deep and enduring social role. Kings of Ayutthaya also adhered to the
bodhisattva ideal. The preamble to a law dated 1433 ( 1976) states
that ‘His Highness has set his heart on the performance of the
perfection of giving (da¯napa¯ramı¯) with the aspiration (pra¯thana¯)
for realization of awakening (bodhiña¯n.a), to lead all beings to ˙
freedom from the fears of cyclic existence and the suffering of the
woeful realms’.44 In the ‘Palatine Laws’ (kot monthianba¯n) princes of
the highest rank – those whose mother is an Agramahesı¯ – are called ‘no
phuttha¯ngkun’, ‘sprouts (Thai no) of the sprout (Pa¯li an˙ kura) of
the Buddha’, that is, children of a bodhisattva.45 Boromara¯ja IV (r.
1529–1533) was also known as No Buddha¯n˙ kura. The ‘Eulogy of the Glory
of King Pra¯sa¯t Thong’ identifies Pra¯sa¯t Thong 188
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
(r.
1629–1656) not only as a bodhisattva, but with a specific bodhisattva
among the ten future Buddhas starting with Metteyya of the Maha¯viha¯ra
tradition.46 It states that in a former life Pra¯sa¯t Thong was the
elephant of the Pa¯rileyyaka forest (kuñjara pa¯ lı¯ laiyak). This
elephant devotedly looked after the Blessed One for three months, when,
in the tenth year after his awakening, he sought out the solitude of the
jungle rather than endure the quarrelling of the monks of Kosambi (see
Malalasekera 1983, vol. II: 191–192). The elephant is destined to be the
tenth future Buddha named Suman˙ gala.47 The Royal Chronicle of
Thonburi, ‘Phan Chanthanuma¯t edition’ (composed during the First Reign,
that is, during the time of Ra¯ma I), opens with the statement that in
2309, before the fall of Ayutthaya,48 The miraculous King [Taksin]
who counted among the sprouts of a Buddha (no buddha¯n˙ ku¯ ra chao)
realized in his wisdom that Krung S´ rı¯ Ayutthaya was in danger because
the ruler of the country and the people were unrighteous. He therefore
exerted with the strength of compassion (kamlang karun.a¯) towards
monks, brahmans, and teachers (saman.abra¯hman.a¯ca¯rya), [fearing that]
the excellent Buddha S´ a¯sana¯ would decline and disappear. He
therefore assembled his followers and troops of soldiers, Thai and
Chinese, about one thousand in number, well-armed with all types of
weapons, accompanied by high officers . . . and went to camp at Wat
Phichai which was an auspicious and powerful site (man˙
gala-maha¯stha¯na). By force of the radiance (tejas) of his paramount
requisites of awakening (paramabodhisambha¯ra), the deities who guard
and protect the Holy Buddha S´ a¯sana¯ shouted out in approval
(sa¯dhuka¯ra) and caused rain to fall as an auspicious indication of
great victory (maha¯bijaya-r.ksa) as ˙ the army set forth from Wat
Phichai . . . the Burmese were unable to withstand his perfections
(pa¯ramı¯) and retreated. Before he came to the throne, the future King
Taksin had already aspired to Buddhahood. The Royal Chronicle of
Thonburi relates the story as follows:49 Wednesday, eighth of the waxing
moon of the third month. [King Taksin] went to pay homage (namaska¯ra)
to the Buddha image (phra patima¯kara) at Wat Klang Wat Doi Khao Kaew.
He asked the resi˙ monks, ‘Do you lords remember: when this layman still
lived at dent Ban Rahaeng, he lifted a glass bell above his head, and
made a resolution of truth (satya¯dhistha¯na) to test his perfection
(phra ˙ pa¯ramı¯): ‘If in future I will ˙really succeed in realizing the
holy, paramount consecration of the wisdom of full awakening (phra
parama¯bhiseka-sambodhiña¯n.a), when I strike this bell may it break
only at the ˙knob, that I may make from it a glass cetiyatha¯na to hold ˙
189
PETER SKILLING
paramount physical relics (phra
parama-sa¯rı¯rikadha¯tu).’ After making the vow, I struck the bell, and
it broke only at the knob. This was seen firsthand as a marvel. The monks
responded that this was true in accordance with the royal statement.
After he took the throne to reign in Thonburi (r. 1767–1782), Taksin is
described as a bodhisattva in the ‘Praises offered by the San˙ gha to
Somdet Phra Chao Krung Thonburi’, dated Lesser S´ aka Era 1141 (1779):50
The King (phra maha¯krah.satra) is the mainstay of the lineage of ˙
Majesty will have Ayodya¯nagara [i.e. sprouts of Buddhahood. His
Thonburi] made as delightful as the Ta¯vatimsa heaven. His majesty is
Phya Tham Lert Lok . . . He will gain ˙omniscience (phra
sabbaññutaña¯n.a) . . . His Majesty accomplishes the ten perfections . .
. [these are listed] . . . Without fail he constantly offers the four
requisites to the bhikkhu-san ˙ gha who possess the virtues of ethical
conduct.51 Two of the decrees (phra ra¯jakamnot) issued by King Ra¯ma I
of Ratanakosin in Lesser S´ aka Era 1144 ( 1782), the first year of his
reign, show that he aspired to Buddhahood as soon as he took the
throne. The preamble to Decree No. 36 states that the king has the royal
aspiration to seek the realization of awakening at the level of a
Buddha (ra¯japranidha¯napra¯thana¯ phra buddhabhu¯ ma-bodhiña¯n.a)’.52
Decree No. 35 states that the king ‘practices the pa¯ramı¯ in order to
realize the supreme consecration of the realization of perfect
awakening’ (parama¯bhiseka-sambodhiña¯n.a).53 ˙ The opening of King
Ra¯ma I’s Ra¯makian elaborates the author’s 54 aspirations: The Somdet
Paramount Righteous King (paramadharmikara¯ja) Has taken birth below [in
the human world], just like Phra Na¯ra¯yan.a. He has greatly expanded
[the kingdom’s] boundaries And built glorious things, bright, bejeweled,
and beautiful. He treasures the lofty aspiration In his heart imbued
with profound wisdom As he cultivates [the path of a bodhisattva]
predominant in faith (s´raddha¯dhaik) With omniscience (sarvajña) as his
goal. He cuts off miserliness (macchariya) completely And breaks the
wheel of cyclic existence He leads the way across the flood to the
security of peace (yogaksema, i.e. Nirva¯n.a) Lovingly˙favouring and
rescuing people bound by fetters (sam . yojana). 190
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
To
the poverty-stricken He freely dispenses his wealth Never tiring of
spending, of exchanging money for merit (pun.ya). Here King Ra¯ma I is
described as a bodhisattva ‘predominant in faith’,55 one of the three
types of bodhisattva postulated in Maha¯viha¯ra tradition – saddha¯dika,
pañña¯dhika, and viriya¯dhika (see Skilling 2002). In his San˙
gı¯tiyavan ˙ s´a, a Pali chronicle composed in the First Reign, Somdet
Phra Phonnarat describes both King Ra¯ma I and his younger brother, the
Wang Na¯ or Upara¯ja (1743–1803), as bodhisattvas, the elder as
saddha¯dhika, the younger as pañña¯dhika:56 tada¯ ayojjhanagarapubbe dve
ra¯ja¯no buddha¯n˙ ku¯ ra¯ bodhisatta¯ maha¯puñña¯pa¯ramisannicita¯
bha¯taro saddha¯dhika¯ pañña¯dhika¯ sabbaññutaña¯n.abhipatthita¯
vasanta¯. . . . Previously, at that time there dwelled in the city of
Ayojjha two kings, sprouts of future Buddhas, bodhisattvas, who had
accumulated great merit and perfections (pa¯ramı¯), predominant in
faith, predominant in wisdom, aspiring to the wisdom of omniscience. . .
. atha tesam . dvinnam . saddha¯dhiko hiri-ottappasampanno
brahmaviha¯rajutindharo sı¯la¯digun.a¯dhiko jetha¯dhira¯ja¯ divase
divase mac˙ chasakun.a¯dike satte mocetva¯ atidukkaram .
sudha¯bhojana¯ha¯ram . attano adhiva¯setva¯ bhikkhusan˙ ghassa san˙
gı¯tika¯le tampi ada¯si atidukkaram . Of the two, the elder king,
predominant in faith, endowed with a sense of shame and with conscience,
resplendent in the [four] brahmaviha¯ra, exceptionally endowed with the
virtues of morality, etc., every day having set free fish, birds, and
other living creatures, having himself respectfully presented pure food
to the community of monks, he presented it at the time of the san˙
gı¯ti. katthapan.n.a¯ha¯rikañ ca dhaññatan.d.ulakotanañ ca katva¯ sayam .
pac˙˙ ¯ ka¯yabalena kusalacetana¯visesena ˙ ca¯petva pañña¯dhiko
atikusalo mahiddhiko maha¯puñño tatha¯vidho sı¯la¯digun.asampanno
buddha¯n˙ ku¯ ro sabbaññutaña¯n.a¯bhipatthano anuja¯dhira¯ja¯ ca tesam .
tañ ˙˙ ca aññam maha ¯da ¯nam ada ¯si. . . Having brought firewood and
leaves, and having pounded the grains to husk the rice, having cooked it
himself with his own physical strength and with a rare determination,
the younger king, predominant in wisdom, exceptionally talented,
extremely meritorious, a sprout of the Buddha endowed with virtues of
morality, etc. like 191
PETER SKILLING
those [of his elder
brother], aspiring for the wisdom of omniscience, gave to them and
others great offerings. King Ra¯ma II is described as a bodhisattva in a
khlong dan poem, a eulogy composed by Phraya¯ Trang, who compares the
king to Is´vara, Indra, and Brahma¯, to a bodhisattva, and to
Maitreya.57 An elaborate description of the qualities of King Ra¯ma III
(r. 1824–1851) is given in a royal order dated Lesser S´ aka Era 1186
( 1824), the first year of his reign:58 He is a lord paramount
righteous king of kings (somdet paramadharrmika-ra¯ja¯dhira¯ja chao), an
upholder of the ten royal virtues, devoted with endless energy to great
awakening (anantaviriyaya¯maha¯bodha¯bhirata), endowed with ultimate
great perfections (paramartha-maha¯pa¯ramı¯), endowed with the pure
royal patience and wisdom (phra ra¯jakhantı¯-prı¯ja¯ña¯n.avisuddhi) . . .
He maintains the four san˙ ghahavatthu according to ancient royal
custom. His royal heart firmly delights in the accumulation of merit
(kus´ala) to foster, support, and protect the excellent Buddha S´
a¯sana¯ (pavara-buddhas´a¯sana¯), to cause it to endure, flourish, and
shine for a full five thousand years. He possesses excellent royal love
and compassion (pavara-ra¯ja-metta¯-karun.a¯) for the world of sentient
beings (sattvaloka), and intends to foster and protect the land (phaen
din), to allow all monks, religieux, and brahmans
(saman.a-chiy-bra¯haman.a), commoners, citizens, and servitors of the
dust of his holy feet (phrai fa¯ ana¯praja¯ra¯stra lae kha¯ tu ¯ n
la-ong thulı¯ phra ba¯t) to live at ease ˙ ˙ in every place within the
boundaries of the realm and in happiness (khet-khop-khandha-sema¯). King
as Buddha Epithets of the Buddha were regularly used in titles given to
kings. These include ‘Phra Sisanphet’, which is from Sarvajña,
‘Omniscient’ and ‘Somdet Phra Buddha Chao Yu Hua’, ‘Mighty Holy Buddha
Lord above [my] head’.59 The latter is frequent in reference to a
reigning monarch, or in direct address. Phra Boromatrailokanath (r.
1448–1488) is Paramatrailokana¯tha, ‘Paramount Saviour of the Triple
World’. Kings were posthumously called Phra Phuttha Chao Luang. Their
death was described as a ‘nirva¯n.a’. There do not seem to be any
ancient tracts that attempt to explain the concept, or modern
investigations of, how, when, or where it arose. The victorious king
mirrors the Buddha; the victorious Buddha mirrors the king. Images of
the ‘adorned’ or ‘crowned’ Buddha (phra phuttharu¯ p song khruang) were
produced in large numbers in Ayutthaya and Bangkok. In some cases they
were explicitly identified with kings, as for example the 192
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
images
of King Ra¯ma I and King Ra¯ma II set up by King Ra¯ma III, which today
grace the main altar complex of the ‘Emerald Buddha’ in Wat Phra Kaew
in Bangkok.60 These are standing crowned Buddhas in ornate and delicate
royal attire, all gilded. The names assigned to the two Buddha images by
King Ra¯ma III are also the posthumous names of the kings used to this
day (with a slight modification to the name of King Ra¯ma II instituted
by King Ra¯ma IV): Phra ba¯t somdet phra buddha yot fa¯ cul.a¯lok (Ra¯ma
I) Phra ba¯t somdet phra buddha loet la¯ nabha¯laya (Ra¯ma II).61 The
conception of the Buddha in Siam is bound up with ideas of victory
(jaya), glory (s´rı¯), radiance (tejas), and of merit (puñña), wisdom
(pañña¯), and perfection (pa¯ramı¯). Impartial, universally
compassionate, the Buddha is the source of blessings and protection. A
popular verse expresses this conception of the Buddha: maha¯ka¯run.iko
na¯tho attha¯ya (hita¯ya, sukha¯ya) sabbapa¯n.inam . pu¯ retva¯ pa¯ramı¯
sabba¯ patto sambodhim . uttamam .. The greatly compassionate saviour
For the sake (benefit, and happiness) of all breathing things Fulfilled
all the perfections and realized ultimate full awakening. The
Jinapañjara-ga¯tha¯ opens by invoking the fact that Buddhas have
vanquished Ma¯ra: jaya¯sana¯gata¯ buddha¯ jetva¯ ma¯ram . sava¯hanam . ,
‘seated on the victory throne, the Buddhas, having defeated Ma¯ra and
his [elephant-] mount’. The Jayaman˙ gala-ga¯tha¯ invokes eight
victories of the Buddha to bring victory, success, and good things. Each
stanza ends with the refrain tam ˙ gala¯ni, sada¯ sotthı¯ bhavantu te –
‘by that . tejasa¯ bhavantu te jayaman radiance may there be for you
victory and blessings, may there always be well-being for you’. These
qualities parallel the qualities of kingship, as is stressed in texts
such as the Vidita-ja¯taka. The king as bodhisattva accumulates merit
and wisdom, the requisites of awakening (bodhisambha¯ra). He cultivates
the perfections, and at the same time he is fit to rule owing to the
merit and perfection that he has already accumulated. King as
cakravartin The ideal cakravartin with his seven treasures is described
at length in the Traibhu¯ mikatha¯, a cosmological treatise composed by
King Lithai (r. 1346/ 7–1368/74?) when he was Upara¯ja at Si
Sajjana¯laya, an important city in the Sukhothai complex.62 The term
occurs once in Sukhothai epigraphy, but not 193
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as
a title.63 In contrast, it is frequent in Ayutthaya documents,
including law books, literature, and inscriptions, in which kings are
described as ‘Paramamaha¯cakravartin’ or ‘Culacakravartin’. One king
bore the name Maha¯chakkapat, that is, Maha¯cakravarti (r. 1548–1569).
One of the common royal titles is Somdet ‘Phra Paramara¯ja¯dhira¯ja’.
This and titles like Jaiyara¯ja¯dhira¯ja (r. 1534–1537) or
Mahindra¯dhira¯ja (brief reign in 1569) express sovereignty and victory.
Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, and Ratanakosin kings belong to the Su¯ryavamsa, ˙
the ‘Solar Lineage’. The king is a hero, his virility demonstrated by
his large harem and many children. His exploits are praised in poems,
and he is identified with Ra¯ma, the great ksatriya warrior of the
Ra¯makı¯rti. A king should possess the five types of ˙ regalia – the
kakudhara¯jabhan.d.a.64 The regalia includes the ‘glorious victory
sword’ (khan jayas´rı¯), or the phra saeng. Phokhun Pha¯ Muang of
Sukhothai (circa mid-thirteenth century) was given a khan jayas´rı¯ by
the king of Muang S´ rı¯ Sodharapura, that is Angkor Thom.65 King Lithai
received regalia (the crown and the white sunshade) and victory sword,
as mentioned in Inscriptions 4 and 5 from Sukhothai.66 The discovery of
white elephants during a king’s reign are important signifiers of his
power, since it is his merit that attracts them.67 In the late
nineteenth century, King Ra¯ma V (Chulalongkorn, r. 1868– 1910)
instituted the practice of presenting a royal sword, the phra saeng
ra¯jasastra¯, to the then administrative units, the monthon. When the
administrative system changed, the swords were presented to the
provinces (changwat). Exquisitely fashioned, with bejewelled gold
handles and sheaths, the swords were kept in the monthon or provincial
treasuries. When the king visited a province to remain for at least one
night, the sword would be taken out and presented to him by the governor
in a public ceremony conducted upon his arrival.68 The custom is
followed today. King Bhumibol Adulyadej initiated a new custom, that of
bestowing a Buddha image named Phra Buddhanavara¯japabitra to each
province. These were presented by the king himself to twenty-one
provinces between 2510 and 2528 ( 1967–1985),69 and by his appointed
representative Crown Prince Maha¯ Vajiralongkorn to thirty-one provinces
between 2532 and 2533 ( 1989–1990). At present all seventy-six
provinces have received a Phra Buddhanavara¯japabitra image. King as a
deity The king is Ra¯ma, his capital Ayodhya¯. The first king of
Ayutthaya was ‘Ra¯ma the Lord’ (Ra¯ma¯dhipati, r. 1351–1369), and
Ra¯ma¯dhipati remained an epithet of kings throughout the Ayutthaya and
early Bangkok periods. The second king was Ra¯mesuan (Ra¯mes´vara, r.
1369–1395, with a brief interruption in 1388); his successor was
Ra¯mara¯ja¯ (r. 1395–1409). The king is Indra, as in the name
Indrara¯ja¯ (Indrara¯ja¯ I, r. 1409–1424; Indrara¯ja¯ II, 194
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
r.
1488–1491). The king is Na¯ra¯yan.a, as seen in the name Somdet Phra
Narai (r. 1656–1688). The special vocabulary used for referring to
royalty (ra¯jas´abda) expresses the divinity of kings. The birth of a
king is a descent or entry into the world (pha¯n phibhob). The death is a
return to heaven (suwannakhot = svarggata). The buildings, pavilions,
gates, and gardens in the palace bear names that evoke the pleasures of
the paradises of Indian and Buddhist mythology and the powers of the
cakravartin. Royal policy The ideals of royal policy are prescribed in a
variety of texts. The classical sources were the Tripitaka and the
commentarial and ancillary Pali literature ˙ ¯ra Theravada. Especially
important was the Ja¯taka, of Sri Lankan Maha¯viha with its ideologies
of bodhisattva and pa¯ramı¯. The ideal code of conduct was the ‘ten
duties of a king’, the dasabidha-ra¯jadhamma. When a king was seen as a
bodhisattva, his conduct was interpreted in the light of the requisites
(sambha¯ra) and the ten perfections (dasa-pa¯ramı¯). Normative texts
included nı¯ti literature such as Ra¯janı¯ti, one version of which was
translated into Thai in 1805 ( 2348), that is, during the First Reign,
from a ‘Pa¯li version from Pagan’.70 Texts on strategy such as Pichai
sonkhra¯m (Bijaiya-sam . gra¯ma, ‘[Manual for achieving victory] in
war’) and the Pu ¯ m ra¯jadharma attribute the various troop formations
to the sage Ka¯mandakı¯, author of the Nı¯tisa¯ra. The Maha¯dibbamanta
and other hybrid chants were recited when the troops set out for the
battlefield. Diplomacy was governed by strategy and by a desire to
promote the ´ a¯sana¯. Images of the Buddha might be sent to tributary
states (pades´ara¯ja), S and images and palladia might be brought back
to the capital from defeated neighbours, as in the case of the Emerald
Buddha. In certain periods, such as the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, the court saw itself as the centre ´ a¯sana¯, with a duty to
spread and foster it in other countries. of the S Thus monks were sent
to Sri Lanka to revive the higher ordination, as were scriptures and
other items. The ten royal virtues The ten royal virtues
(dasabidha-ra¯jadhamma) do not seem to be known in the Buddhist
literature of India. Indian Buddhist texts use another, older list, the
ten wholesome paths of action (kus´alakarmapatha) as their norm. The ten
karmapatha – also known in Pali – are, however, ethical guidelines for
all, not only for kings. The history of the ten royal virtues remains to
be investigated. Where was the list drawn up – in South India, in Sri
Lanka, or in South-East Asia? The ten are mentioned in the Ja¯taka,71
usually in the phrase dasa ra¯jadhamme akopetva¯ dhammena rajjan
ka¯resi, where they are 195
PETER SKILLING
also listed.72
The ten ra¯jadhamma are mentioned in a Polonnaruwa inscription of King
Vijayaba¯hu I near the end of his reign, that is in the early twelfth
century.73 Reference is made to the ten royal virtues in inscriptions
from Sukhothai, such as the Nakhon Chum inscription from Kamphaeng Phet,
which attributes the ten virtues to King Lithai,74 or Inscription 5
from Sukhothai.75 The Traibhu¯ mi phra ruang also discusses the ten. The
Ayutthaya poem Lilit yuan pai states that King Boromatrailokana¯th
(Paramatrailokana¯tha, r. 1448–1488) possessed the ten qualities. In his
poem Lilit taleng pai, Somdet Phra Maha¯saman.a Chao Krom Phra
Parama¯nujita Jinavarorasa (1790–1853) praises King Naresuan
(Nares´vara, r. 1590–1605) for the same reason.76 In eulogies of kings
the possession of the ten becomes a standard trope.
. III The
institution of the sangha The institution of the monastic order, the
san˙ gha, was open to most, if not all, males, at least in theory. Entry
into the san˙ gha opened the opportunity to climb the social ladder.
Monks who succeeded in the educational system could be appointed to
royal monastic rank (phra rajagan˙ a) and rise – according to ability
and ambition – through the hierarchy (Wyatt 1994). In Ayutthaya and
Ratanakosin, some high-ranking monks came from humble backgrounds. In
Ratanakosin the position of San˙ ghara¯ja – ‘King of the San˙ gha’, head
of the monastic order – was occupied by commoners in some cases, in
others by members of the royal family.77 Monastics were included in the
sakdina¯ system.78 The Three Seals Law Code lists the social rank
(sakdina¯) of religieux:79 A sa¯man.era who knows the Dharma is equal to
300 na¯; A sa¯man.era who does not know the Dharma is equal to 200 na¯;
A bhiksu who knows the Dharma is equal to 600 na¯; ˙ u who does not
know the Dharma is equal to 400 na¯; A bhiks A phra˙ khru who knows the
Dharma is equal to 2400 na¯; A phra khru who does not know the Dharma is
equal to 1000 na¯; A brahman who knows the arts and crafts
(s´ilpas´a¯stra) is equal to 400 na¯; A tayom brahman is equal to 200
na¯; A white-robed ascetic (ta pa khao) who knows the Dharma is equal to
200 na¯; A white-robed ascetic who does not know the Dharma is equal to
100 na¯. Monks received offerings from the king, such as monastic
requisites, ceremonial fans, and palanquins, in accordance with their
rank or scholastic attainments. Monks of a certain rank received a
regular royal stipend 196
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
(nityabhat).
Every year after the completion of the rains-retreat, the king visited
royal monasteries to offer robes to the monks. A royal kathina, ˙ whether
by land or by water, was an opulent display of royal munificence,
occupying much of the state apparatus, a grand affair which inspired
poems like the ‘Lilit on the Royal Kathin Procession’ (Lilit krabuan hae
phra kathin byu¯ haya¯tra¯), composed by Prince Parama¯nujitajinorasa
(1790–1853) in praise of a procession in the reign of King Ra¯ma III.80
Equally grand was the annual (at least in theory) pilgrimage to Phra
Phutthabat (Buddhapa¯da), the shrine of the footprint of the Buddha in
Saraburi province (see Skilling 2005). Powerful kings were able to keep
the san˙ gha in check – the model of As´oka was always to hand. La
Loubère noted that just before he arrived in Siam the king had
diminished the ranks of the san˙ gha – ‘these privileged persons’ – by
holding examinations to test their knowledge of the Pali language and
scriptures. As a result, he had ‘reduced several thousands to the
secular condition, because they had not been found learned enough’
(Loubère 1986: 115). In Lesser S´ aka Era 1135 ( 1773) King Taksin of
Thonburi issued a ‘Decree on the Training in Ethics (sı¯lasikkha¯)’,
which gave the text of the monastic code (Pa¯timokkha) in Thai. Each of
the 227 rules was followed by a brief statement of the result of
breaking it. For example, the first four rules, the pa¯ra¯jika, which
entail expulsion from the order, are followed by ‘one who breaks [the
rule] falls to the Hell of Unremitting Torment (Avı¯cinaraka)’. The
decree concludes with the statement: These are the 227 training rules
(sikkha¯pada): let a monk of good family (saman.a-kulaputra) who does
not know the commentaries (atthakatha¯) or the canon (pa¯lı¯) study them
until they are bright and ˙˙ in his mind (khandha-santa¯na), and then
ordain and practice clear according to this order in every respect. Not
long afterwards, King Ra¯ma I was dissatisfied with the state of the
monastic order. Starting in the first year of his reign (1782) he issued a
series of ten edicts, the Kot phra song, to reform the conduct of the
monks.81 According to the Three Seals Law Code, monks of rank could act
as witnesses in legal cases. In several instances we have contemporary
records showing that high-ranking monks were witnesses and guarantors of
treaties, such as the pact of mutual assistance between Sukhothai and
Nan dated 27 February, 1393.82 The titles of two out of the (probably)
four monks who participated are preserved: Somdet Phra Maha¯thera San˙
ghara¯ja Rattan.avan˙ s´a¯ca¯rya Phra Maha¯thera Dharrmasena¯pati.
197
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Monks
also acted as witness in the treaty of 1560 between King Jayajetth˙˙
a¯dhira¯ja (1548–1571) of Candapurı¯ (Laos) and King Maha¯cakrabarti
(1548–1569) of Ayodhya¯, recorded in a bilingual (Lao/Tham: Thai/Khom)
inscription dated 1563.83 A cetiya called Phra Dha¯tu S´ rı¯ Song Rak
was erected at Muang Dan Sai (Loei) to commemorate the alliance. This is
worthy of note: cetiya were not only built to enshrine relics. They
were also built to commemorate events such as an alliance or a military
victory. The Jesuit Marcel Le Blanc (1653–1693), who visited Siam in the
1680s, wrote that during the reign of King Narai (1656–1688) ‘the
Talapoins or priests of the idols constitute a third estate in the
kingdom’ (Le Blanc 2003: 10). He observed that the members of the san˙
gha ‘always take the place of honour, and the great mandarins bow before
them, and when they go to the palace, the princesses and ladies of the
seraglio spread, out of respect, under the feet of these Talapoins the
cloth they wrap around their neck. By their solidarity and the credit
they command, they are the most formidable faction in the kingdom’
(ibid.: 11). Le Blanc describes the explicit role of monks in
Petchra¯ja’s coup.84
IV Brahmans The Ksatriya does not flourish
without the Brahmin, and the Brahmin does˙ not prosper without the
Ksatriya; but when Brahmin and Ksatriya are united, they prosper˙ here
and in the hereafter. ˙ Manu 85 Early evidence – Chinese reports,
inscriptions, icons, and structural remains – attest to the presence of
brahmans and Brahmanism in South-East Asia, including Siam – above all
in the old centres of power and trade in the Malay peninsula, but also
in central states like Dva¯ravatı¯, Sri Thep, and Muang Phra Rot.
Ayutthaya Brahmanism is often traced to Cambodia, to the Khmer court of
Angkor, but this strikes me as an oversimplification of a long historical
process.86 Evidence of brahmanical practice is plentiful in the Chao
Phraya valley, and brahmans must have been important agents in the
societies of the region from the earliest period. There are numerous
lin˙ ga, images of Visn.u, images of Su¯rya, and brick towers (pra¯ng)
and stone and ˙ brick foundations. It is plausible to suggest that the
brahmanism of early Ayutthaya developed from that of the earlier states
of the Chao Phraya valley, bearing in mind that social groups are never
static, and that the brahman community and court practices would have
undergone regular replenishment, from India, Angkor, or elsewhere, and
would have been regularly reinvented and adapted. We have seen above
that rulers at Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet set up costly images of
brahmanical deities, and that at Sukhothai there was a deva¯laya, a
building to house the images. The Khmer-language inscription 198
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
from
Wat Pa Mamuang (Inscription 4) referred to above records royal
endowments to the deva¯laya. Other centres of power – Ayutthaya,
Phetchburi, Phatthalung, and Nakhon Si Thammarat – had brahmanical
shrines, which came to be called bot phra¯m.87 Phetchburi, Nakhon Si
Thammarat, and Bangkok had ‘giant swings’ for the performance of the
annual Triyampawa¯y ritual, when I¯s´vara descended to earth for a week
at the beginning of the new year.88 During the festival, with the
ensuing Tripawa¯y festival in which Na¯ra¯yan.a descended to earth,
there were elaborate rites, with music and dance, including ram saneng,
arts that are now, unfortunately, lost. Brahman families (traku¯ l)
lived in Nakhon Si Thammarat,89 Phatthalung,90 and Chaiya91 in the
South, and in at least Phetchburi and Ayutthaya (and later Ratanakosin)
in the Centre. Their religious and social role was determined by birth –
in that sense, they were a caste, though references to the system of
four varn.a in Siamese records seem to be the imposition of an
abstraction rather than a social reality. The ritual position was
transmitted patrilineally: only male brahmans had ritual functions, but
only chosen sons were trained or ordained to become brahmans. That is,
every male born into a Brahman family did not become a ritual
specialist. That brahmans were essential to the functioning of the state
is seen from the fact that when King Ra¯ma I established Bangkok he
established a brahmanical shrine complex in the heart of the capital, in
imitation of the bot phra¯m at the former capital. This, the
‘Devastha¯na’, remains a functioning institution to this day. Griswold
and Prasert note that the courts of SouthEast Asian rulers had brahmans
‘to advise on statecraft, law and technical matters; to regulate the
calendar and cast horoscopes; to manage the Swinging Festival, the First
Ploughing, and rites for the control of wind and rain; to perform
ceremonies; and to discharge a host of other tasks.’92 Brahmans are
essential to the coronation – at which, for example, they present the
regalia to the king – and to many of the ‘royal ceremonies of the twelve
months’. Some of the duties and privileges of the brahmans are
stipulated in the collection of documents published under the title
‘History of the Brahmans of Nakhon Si Thammarat’.93 The first document
lists twenty ‘auspicious ceremonies’ (man˙ galabidhı¯) to be performed
by brahmans alone, followed by five ceremonies to be performed together
with the monks.94 In Ayutthaya and in early Ratanakosin, important roles
of the brahmans included the performance of ritual
(bidhı¯karma/phithikam) – which they shared with the san˙ gha and with
members of the court such as the Krom a¯lak – and the judging of legal
cases (tat sin khadı¯). ‘Khun Chai Aya’ (Khun jaiya-a¯ña¯ maha¯visuddhi
prı¯cha¯-a¯ca¯rya) was an important position in the legal system until
the Fifth Reign, when the position itself was retained but no longer
occupied by a brahman. The code on civil hierarchy lists the sakdina¯
for the brahmans, starting with Maha¯ra¯jaguru with 10,000.95 The
personnel devoted to rites are listed with their ranks in the ‘Register
of Royal Officers in Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat’, a document issued in 199
PETER SKILLING
Lesser
S´ aka Era 1172 ( 1811), during the Second Reign. One section gives
the titles of the officials in charge of brahmanical ceremonies and
institutions. The institutional functions included supervision of the
ritual swing (ching cha¯), of brahmanical temples (devastha¯na) and of
the ho phra, along with their servants or kha¯ phra.96 Most of the
officials had a rank of two hundred sakdina¯. Separate officials were in
charge of the rituals and images of Phra Isuan (I¯s´vara, also called
Phra Sayumbhu¯vana¯th) and Phra Narai (Na¯ra¯yan.a), each of whom had
his own shrine. The ‘History of the Brahmans of Nakhon Si Thammarat’
describes royal land-grants made to maintain the images of deities
(deva¯ru ¯ p). Grants of households and land were made to images of Phra
Na¯ra¯yan.a and Phra Is´vara. The land and produce was administered by
appointed brahmans of rank, and the inhabitants – the brahman families –
enjoyed privileges like freedom from taxation and from interference by
government officials.97 High-ranking brahmans had special funeral rites,
detailed in the ‘History’. After cremation, the relics (dha¯tu) of a
brahman of the first rank were to be placed in a pot and carried in
procession – to the music of wind instruments, drums, gongs, singing,
hand-bells, horns, and conch-shells – to a body of flowing water. The
leader of the procession should raise the relics above his head, stand
in the middle of the water, and send them to the place of god.98 The
practice of granting land, including villages with their inhabitants and
products, to brahmans and monasteries began in India, and was
introduced to South-East Asia at an early date.99 Early inscriptions in
the region concern such grants, and it is likely that grants made to
brahmans in Ayutthaya represented a continuity of pre-Ayutthaya
practice. No Sukhothai grants to brahmans are preserved, but we have
seen that there were brahmanical temples. The practice of granting land
to religious institutions, such as monasteries, temples, cetiya, or
images, Buddhist and brahmanical – the kalpana¯ system – had an enormous
effect on the economy, since the grants removed both land and people
from the obligations of tax and corvée service. The legal – and hence
social – status of brahmans may be gauged from the Three Seals Law Code,
in which they figure prominently, in terms of crimes they might
themselves commit, of crimes committed towards them, and of their duties
and privileges in state ritual. For example, the ‘Law on Disputes’ lays
down severe punishments for those who physically abuse religious figures
and teachers:100 If someone gets into an argument with and beats,
curses, slashes, or stabs a samana, brahmana, or bud.d.ha¯ca¯riya, or
his or her own father, mother, or grandfathers and grandmothers,
wounding them heavily with iron bars: have him flogged thirty times (3
yok), paraded on land for three days and in a boat for three days, have
the fingers of both hands amputated and have him floated on a raft for the
public to see. 200
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
If
he beats any of them heavily with a club and wounds them, have him
flogged thirty times, paraded on land for three days and in a boat for
three days, have the fingers of the right hand amputated and have him
floated on a raft. If he beats any of them heavily with his hands, have
his ten fingernails pulled out, have him imprisoned for six months,
raised on a tripod for three days, and flogged with a leather lash thirty
times. His chest should be tattooed with the statement ‘I beat my
father, I beat my mother’. If he beats them with a stick but not
heavily, have his ten fingernails pulled out, have him imprisoned for six
months, raised on a tripod for three days, and flogged with a leather
lash thirty times. If he beats them with his hands but not heavily, have
the five nails of one hand pulled out, have him jailed for three months,
and flogged with a leather lash twenty-five times. If they die he should
be executed. Literary roles The role of brahmans in literature gives
them a permanent place in the Buddhist imagination, which cannot do
without them. According to Maha¯viha¯ra texts, in their final human lives
Buddhas-to-be are born only in brahman or ksatriya families. Brahmans
˙inhabit the ja¯takas in general, including those composed in Siam. The
most famous – or infamous – literary brahman is Ju¯jaka, whose
immortality is assured not by his good deeds, but by his role in the
Maha¯ja¯ti or Vessantara-ja¯taka, a tale told and retold in sermon,
enacted in ritual, and depicted in mural and cloth painting. Ju¯jaka has
a life of his own, and may be supplicated for wealth or success through
images or yantra. A bronze image consecrated in 2001 ( 2544) at Wat
Thalung Thong has on the base the mantra ‘om . siddhi siddhi ju¯ jako
sva¯ha¯h.’. Another well-known brahman is Don.a, who was appointed to
distribute the relics of the Buddha after the Maha¯parinirva¯n.a and the
cremation. Don.a’s distribution of the relics is depicted in mural
paintings of the life of the Buddha. It is traditionally believed that
Ayutthaya brahmans composed several classics of Thai literature, for
example Cinta¯man.i, the manual of Thai writing, language, and prosody,
composed, according to a colophon, by Phra Maha¯ra¯jakhru¯
Hora¯dhipati.101 He also is held to have composed ‘Sua Kho’, based on a
ja¯taka, and the ‘Eulogy of the Glory of King Pra¯sa¯t Thong’.102 But
these attributions of authorship have been contested, and unless further
evidence comes to light, the question must be left open. The role of
brahmans in education included acting as tutors for princes. Experts in
astronomy and astrology (horas´a¯stra), brahmans controlled the
calendar.103 201
PETER SKILLING
V Conclusions In this
chapter, I have examined the ideals of kingship and of two powerful
social institutions, the monastic order (san˙ gha) and the brahmans.104
The ideals are hybrid, distinctively Thai, set in a complex
cosmology.105 The texts that support this hybridism include ja¯takas,
nı¯ti, law books, and ritual manuals. Ritual languages have included
Thai, Khmer, Sanskrit, and Pali, and in some cases Tamil and Mon.
South-East Asian law books (dharmas´a¯stra) and chants for Brahmanical
ceremonies cite verses or passages in Pali: that is, Pali becomes the
classical legal and ceremonial language of the region. Traditions
overlap, and replenish each other. Our sources are multivocal. I have
not expected to find, let alone construct, a single definition of
kingship, or of the relations between ruler, san˙ gha, and brahmans. The
relation between kingship and religion is too often portrayed in terms
of ‘legitimation’. I find the concept of legitimation to be
unsatisfactory – it simplifies a complex of social and conceptual forces,
and in the end explains little. King, san˙ gha, and brahmans were
partners in a complex organism of state protection and state welfare
Buddhism. Nira¯t Nong Khai, a poem composed by Luang Phatphongphakdı¯
(Tim Sukhaya¯ng, 1847–1915, written when he was Khun Phipit Phakdee),
paints a vivid picture of the rites conducted before the troops set out
to fight the ‘Chinese Ho’ in Laos in 1875, during the Fifth Reign:106 At
three in the afternoon, as the auspicious moment nears, Hubbub erupts as
commoners and nobles get ready to leave. When Somdet Chao Phraya¯
hurries up The Chao Khun comes out to greet him with a bow.107 All
together the monk and brahman astrologers Sat scattered in groups and
rows in great numbers. Officials set up a line of bench-seats For the
aspersing of the water, a beautiful dais. The commander of the troops
pays respect to the Somdet And then goes to the dais at the head of the
field. He asperses water charged with Buddhamantra to bring success in
war Then stands and tramples a wooden effigy of the enemy. The monks,
representatives of the Buddha’s lineage Chant ‘jayanto’108 together in
chorus Victory gongs resound and reverberate Brahman astrologers rattle
two-faced drums Phra Khru Hora gives victory blessings to empower the
troops Senior brahmans blow conch-shells The Chao Phraya¯-s advance
together
202
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
And
the nobles sit together in numbers Uttering blessings to bring success.
Monks and brahmans received royal titles and ranks in the sakdina¯
system. In times of war, brahmans and monks both blessed the armies.
Before the troops went to war, a ‘khlo¯ n tawa¯n’ or ceremonial ‘gateway
to the jungle’ was erected.109 Two brahmans sat on it and aspersed the
troops with holy water.110 According to the ‘Register of Royal Officers in
Muang Nakhon Si Thammara¯t’ ( 1811), the brahmans in this position in
Nakhon Si Thammara¯t, each with two hundred sakdina¯, bore the titles
Khun Ña¯n.asambhu¯v and Khun Ves´anubhaktra.111 A brahman with the title
Khun Jaiyaba¯rmı¯, with the same rank, was in charge of erecting the
khlo¯ ng thawa¯n. Monks blessed the armies by reciting the
Maha¯dibbamanta, itself a hybrid text par excellence, that evokes all
possible deities without any discrimination.112 Strategists consulted
Phichai Songkhra¯m manuals to prepare troop formations. Nobles
participated in the ideology of merit and status, extending their
patronage to the repair and building of temples, and then offering the
temple to the king, who would grant it ‘royal temple’ status (thawa¯y
pen phra a¯ra¯ma luang). Did brahmans also endow temples? This is not
clear, although there are traditions that they did so, which need to be
investigated further. Elite patronage extended into tributary or subject
states: Chao Phraya¯ Bodin Decha¯, for example, left a record of his
renovations of temples in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Bernon 2003). Chao
Phraya¯ Bodin Decha¯ (Sing Singhaseni, 1777–1849) was the leading
general in the wars of King Ra¯ma III’s reign. In the inscription, which
dates to Lesser S´ aka Era 1201 ( 1840), he relates that after the
seizure of Phnom Penh the religious foundations were damaged and ruined,
and he used his private funds to repair ‘viha¯ra, uposatha halls,
Buddha images, stu¯ pas, and cetiyas’. Furthermore, when he did this he
aspired to become a Buddha, and nothing less. The economic role of
ritual was great. Inscriptions, royal chronicles, and royal orders often
give detailed inventories of the expenses, and it should be possible
for an economic historian to estimate, at least roughly, the amount of
exchequer dedicated to state ritual. An early itemization of royal
expenditures is seen in the Khmer-language inscription from Wat Pa
Mamuang in Sukhothai. King Ra¯ma I transported Buddha images from
Sukhothai and from the old capital in large numbers, and had them
restored and gilded. Some were huge, such as S´ rı¯ S´ a¯kyamuni, the
image which he enshrined in Wat Suthat. During the reign of King Ra¯ma
III, Ratanakosin was a flourishing power; new trading relations were
formed, and economic and social change was rapid. Ra¯ma III built three
new temples, restored fifty temples, and sponsored Buddha images and
Tipitakas. He built gates and ˙ fortifications, boats and cannon.113 The
aspiration to Buddhahood of the kings of Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, 203
PETER SKILLING
Thonburi,
and Ratanakosin was publicly proclaimed, in inscriptions, edicts,
decrees, chronicles, and poems, and in their very names, titles, and
epithets. That they were bodhisattvas was part of their image. There
does not seem to be any treatise that attempts to explain the practice.
Was there any explicit ritual, or was the aspiration simply made on the
occasion of issuing edicts or dedicating merits? It is interesting that
the bodhisattva kings are identified with one or other of the three types
of bodhisattva described in Maha¯viha¯ra tradition, as in King Ra¯ma
I’s preamble to his Ra¯makian, or in Somdet Phra Phonnarat’s San ˙
gı¯tiyavan˙ s´a, both composed in the First Reign. Not only kings, but
also other members of the royal family, were bodhisattvas by birth, as
‘sprouts of the Buddha’. This concept, ‘bodhisattvahood by birth’,
merits study. It strikes me as unique to South-East Asia. Are there
parallels in Sri Lanka, or elsewhere? In the First Reign, the Upara¯ja,
the king’s brother, was publicly described as a bodhisattva, and in the
Third Reign one of the leading nobles, the commander of the Thai armies
Chao Phraya¯ Bodin Decha¯, describes himself emphatically as a
bodhisattva in an inscription set up in the conquered city of Phnom
Penh. The bodhisattva ideal had a strong following, not only among the
nobility: high-ranking and ordinary monastics also recorded the
aspiration, for example in colophons and inscriptions.114 Much more
research on the role of brahmans is needed. The Three Seals Law Code
suggests that in early to mid-Ayutthaya they were powerful and
privileged, a unique group whose status came with birth. What happened
to brahmans with the fall of Ayutthaya is not clear, and I have not
found any evidence for their status in the Thonburi period – a period,
after all, of turbulent reconstruction and ideological confusion. Were
there brahmanical shrines in Thonburi? Were brahmanical rites performed?
Did King Taksin support the brahmans? Such questions await answers. The
brahmanical texts and rites we know today are for the most part
subordinated to Buddhism. This raises the question: when did the
brahmans become Buddhist, or begin to situate their rituals within a
Buddhist frame? Did this process begin in Ayutthaya? Or did it start
during the reign of King Ra¯ma I?115 The Ratanakosin reconstruction of
King Ra¯ma I was a reinvention of Ayutthaya society and reformulation of
state ideals. King Ra¯ma I was deeply committed to Buddhism, and his
edicts show clearly that he wanted to ensure that in rites and
ceremonies Buddhism came first. This trend was continued, to a greater
degree, by King Ra¯ma IV, who refashioned rituals and introduced
Buddhist rites to supplement or replace brahmanical ceremonies. But this
period is beyond the range of this essay.
A note on sources This essay presents, for the most part, original Thai sources in my own translations. 204
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
The
Three Seals Law Code For the Three Seals Law Code, I have used the
five-volume Khurusapha edition, cited by section title, volume, and page:
Kotma¯y tra¯ sa¯m duang, Bangkok: Ongka¯n kha¯ khong khurusapha¯, 2537
[1994]. (The long title, from the original edition by Robert Lingat, is
Pramuan kotma¯y rajaka¯n tı¯ 1 chulasakara¯j 1166 phim ta¯m chabap luang
tra¯ 3 duang). A useful aide is Ishii Yoneo et al., The Computer
Concordance to the Law of the Three Seals (5 vols, Bangkok: Amarin
Publications, 1990). Inscriptions The first two volumes of the corpus of
Siamese inscriptions were bilingual, in Thai and in French, compiled by
George Cœdès: Recueil des inscriptions du Siam I, Inscriptions de
Sukhodaya (Bangkok: Bangok Times Press/ Bibliothèque Nationale
Vajiraña¯n.a, Service Archéologique, 1924). The volume contains an
introduction on the epigraphy of Siam, the inscriptions of Sukhothai,
and a list of the inscriptions of Siam, and romanized texts with
translation of inscriptions I to XV. Recueil des inscriptions du Siam
II, Inscriptions de Dva¯ravatı¯, de Çrı¯vijaya et de La˘ vo (Bangkok:
Bangok Times Press/Institut Royal, Service Archéologique, 2472 (1929
)). The volume contains an introduction on Dva¯ravatı¯, Grahi,
Ta¯mbralin˙ ga, and La˘vo, and romanized texts with translations of
Inscriptions XVI to XXIX. A revised second edition was reprinted, in
reduced format, by the Fine Arts Department in 2504 [1961]. The most
valuable source in English remains Prasert Na Nagara and A. B. Griswold,
Epigraphic and Historical Studies (Bangkok: The Historical Society,
1992), referred to herein as EHS. This is a collection of studies
originally published in the Journal of the Siam Society between July
1968 and July 1979. Reference is made to the study number (EHS 1, EHS 2,
etc.) followed by page number of the text with location in the
inscription by face and line, then page number of the translation. For
concordances of the study numbers with the original publication in the
Journal of the Siam Society, see J. C. Eade, The Thai Historical Record:
A Computer Analysis (Tokyo: The Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies
for UNESCO, the Toyo Bunko, 1996), p. xv, or Piriya Krairiksh, Charuk
pho khun ra¯m khamhaeng: wannakhadı¯ prawatisa¯t ka¯n muang haeng krung
sya¯m (Bangkok: Matichon 2547 [2004]), pp. 293–296. For a bibliography
of Sukhothai inscriptions (in Thai), see ibid., pp. 298–303; for
summaries with bibliographical references (in Thai) see ibid., pp.
315–360. EHS and Piriya’s Charuk are reprints: it is regrettable that
little work on the inscriptions of Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, or Bangkok has
appeared since in European languages. Useful for the study of Sukhothai
inscriptions is Ishii Yoneo et al., A
205
PETER SKILLING
Glossarial
Index of the Sukhothai Inscriptions (Bangkok: Amarin Publications,
1989). Chronicles A new edition of the ‘Corpus of Chronicles’ (Prachum
phongsa¯wada¯n) has been undertaken in celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary, or golden jubilee, of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s
accession to the throne in 1996 ( 2539): Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n
chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2542
[1999]–), vols 1–10 plus one˙ index volume (2544 [2001], for vols 1–5)
published as of 2548 (2005). For the most part, the chronicles have been
edited anew, and some new texts have been added. Foreign language
access to the rich chronicle materials is limited. For a synoptic
translation of the chronicles of Ayutthaya, see Richard D. Cushman
(tr.), David K. Wyatt (ed.), The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya (Bangkok:
The Siam Society, 2000), a stupendous accomplishment. For Chao Phraya¯
Thiphakorawong’s chronicles of the First and Fourth Reigns, see the
wellannotated and thoroughly indexed translations published by the
Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, Tokyo: Thadeus and Chadin Flood
(tr.), The Dynastic Chronicles, Bangkok Era, the First Reign (vol. 1,
1978); Chadin Flood, The Dynastic Chronicles, Bangkok Era, the First
Reign (vol. 2, 1990); Thadeus and Chadin (Kanjanavanit) Flood, The
Dynastic Chronicles, Bangkok Era, the Fourth Reign (5 vols,
1965–1974).116 I have benefited from the well-researched and thoroughly
annotated work by Saichon Satya¯nurak, ‘Buddhism and Political Thought
during the Reign of King Ra¯ma I’ (Phutthasa¯sana¯ kap naew khit ta¯ng
ka¯n muang nai ra¯jasamai phra ba¯t somdet phra phuttha yot fa¯
chula¯loka (po. so. 2325– 2352), Bangkok: Matichon, 2546 [2003]).
Saichon’s exemplary study cites not only published works like the Three
Seals Law Code, but also unpublished archival sources. Another useful
work is Preecha Changkhwanyun, Thammarat–Thammara¯ja¯ (Bangkok:
Chulalongkorn University Press, 2542 [1999]). One of the most important
sources to appear is the ‘Encyclopædia of Thai Culture’, published in
Bangkok in 1999 ( 2542) in four sets, one for each region:
Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k tai: The South: 18 volumes;
Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k kla¯ng: The Centre, 15 volumes;
Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k nua: The North, 15 volumes;
Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k isa¯n: The North-East, 15 volumes.
Another important publication is Tamra 12 duan khat tae samut khun
thipmontian chao wang wai (Bangkok: 2545).
206
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
European-language
literature I do not generally refer to European-language secondary
literature, which in any case is limited. Mention may be made of the
pioneering works of H. G. Quaritch Wales, especially: Siamese State
Ceremonies: Their History and Function with Supplementary Notes
(Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1992: reprint of Siamese State
Ceremonies, first published in 1931, and Supplementary Notes on Siamese
State Ceremonies, first published in 1971); Ancient South-East Asian
Warfare (London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1952); Ancient Siamese Government
and Administration (London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1934, repr. New York:
Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1965). Wales’ pioneering work must be used
with caution as there are numerous mistakes, misunderstandings, and
mistranslations. Classical studies include: Yoneo Ishii, translated by
Peter Hawkes, Sangha, State, and Society: Thai Buddhism in History
(Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press, 1986: Monographs of the
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, English-language
Series, No. 15); Craig James Reynolds, The Buddhist Monkhood in
Nineteenth Century Thailand, a thesis presented to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Cornell University for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, December 1972; Trevor Ling, Buddhism, Imperialism and War:
Burma and Thailand in Modern History (London: George Allen and Unwin,
1979).
A note on dates and transliteration Dates are given in S´
akara¯ja and Buddhist Era, as appropriate. The Christian Era () is
added in square brackets to bibliographical references. Regnal dates are
from David K. Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History (2nd edn, Chiang Mai:
Silkworm Books: 2003, pp. 309–313). For a newly annotated version of
‘Athiba¯y rajaka¯n khrang krung kao’, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab’s list
of the kings of Ayutthaya first published in Prachum phonsa¯wada¯n Part
5, 2460 [1917], see Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka
(Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2542 [1999]), vol. 1, pp. 355–366.˙
Transliteration follows the simplified Royal Institute system
(Romanization Guide for Thai Script, Bangkok [1968] 1982), with the
modification that for long vowels I use the standard Indic diacritics
(a¯, ¯ı, u¯ ). Pa¯li or Sanskrit words are given as cited in the source,
without standardization, for example san˙ ghaha-vatthu instead of san˙
gaha-vatthu. In citations I retain the transliteration of the work
quoted, for example ‘Sukhodaya’ for ‘Sukhothai’, ‘Is´vara’ for
‘I¯s´vara’, niti for nı¯ti, and so on. For modern place names I follow
Praka¯t samnak na¯yok rathamontri lae praka¯t ra¯jabanditayasatha¯n
ruang kamnot chu thawı¯p prathet muang luang maha¯samut thale lae ko lae
ruang ka¯n khian chu changwat khet amphoe lae king amphoe (Second
Impression, Bangkok: The Royal Institute, 2524 [1981]).
207
PETER SKILLING
Notes *
1 2 3 4
5
6
7 8 9
10 11 12
I
am grateful to Santi Pakdeekham for his many suggestions regarding
sources for the ideas presented in this essay. The texts translated here
are not easy, often employing old words not found in the lexicons (and,
if poetry in general defies translation, Thai poetry with its complex
rhymes and its emphasis on sonance and alliteration, is especially
defiant). My translations are provisional attempts to convey certain
meanings. This is not the place to grapple with the semantic subtleties,
which I have had to gloss over. The genre of royal eulogies is attested
in the inscriptions of Sukhothai, and continues to the present day. See
Yuphorn Saengtaksin, Wannakhadı¯ yo phra kiat (Bangkok: Onka¯n kha¯
khong khurusapha¯, 2537 [1994]). I use the trope of hybridity in a
linguistic rather than a genetic sense. See e.g. Crystal (1999: 151),
‘hybrid: a word composed of elements from different languages’. Hybrid
rituals draw on different languages and practices. sı¯haladı¯pe
araññava¯sinanam . pasattha-maha¯thera¯nam . vam . sa¯lam . ka¯rabhu¯
ta, cited in Prasert and Griswold (1992: 535). Prasert and Griswold’s
work is henceforth referred to as EHS. La Loubère (1986: 114).
‘Talapoin’, derived from Mon, entered European languages from Pegu, and
from the sixteenth century onwards was a common term for ‘Buddhist
monk’. See Yule and Burnell (1903, repr. 1984: 890–891), Lewis (1991:
230b). For the Mon forms see Shorto (1971: 172), s.v. trala’, trila’,
etc. Penth (1994: 171). See also Saeng Manavidura (1978: xliv–xlv). Both
Penth and Saeng use the term ‘sect’, which is, however, inappropriate.
These were monastic ordination lineages within the greater lineage of
Maha¯viha¯ra Theriya. They did not have lay members, and did not
disagree on doctrine – only on monastic procedures. Prince Damrong
Rajanubhab, Tamna¯n gan.a san ˙ gha (Bangkok, 2466 [1923]), pp. 39–41;
Sutthiwong Phongphaibu¯n, ‘Ka¯ 4 fa¯y: khana song’, in Sa¯ra¯nukrom
wathanatham thai pha¯k tai (Bangkok, 2542 [1999]), vol. 1, pp. 286–288.
See also Chaiwut Piyakun, ‘Kalapana¯ Wat Khian Ba¯ng Kaew’, Sa¯ra¯nukrom
wathanatham thai pha¯k tai (Bangkok, 2542 [1999]), vol. 1, pp. 283–285;
Gesick (1995). The identity of Ka¯ ja¯ta is not certain. Prince Damrong
interpreted it as a lineage of monks from Lanka itself (taking ja¯ta as
ja¯ti). If we take ja¯ta in the sense of ‘red’, the name suggests the
Pa¯ Daeng lineage – which would place Vanaratta (Pa¯ Daeng) and
Vanaratana (Pa¯ Kaew) side by side in Ayutthaya-period Nakhon. Tamniap
kha¯ ra¯jaka¯n muang nakhon si thammara¯j in Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n
chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka, vol. 5 (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2542
˙ [1999]), p. 163. For sakdina¯, see below. Cp. the inclusive phrase
satva tangla¯y muan ying cha¯y s´raman.a bra¯hman.a¯ (here the text is
broken) in an inscription ‘in which King Ra¯mara¯ja of Ayudhya¯
promulgates a law in the vassal kingdom of Sukhodaya in 1397’: EHS 4
(text) p. 116, Face I, line 11, (tr.) p. 126. Prachum phleng ya¯o chabap
ho samut haeng cha¯t (Bangkok: Khlang Witthaya¯, 2507 [1964]), p. 15.
Phra ba¯t somdet phra phuttha yot fa¯ chula¯lok maha¯ra¯j, Bot lakhon
ruang ra¯makian (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2540 [1997]:
Wannakam samai ratanakosin, muat banterngkhadı¯), vol. 1, pp. 1–2. An
excerpt is translated below. Kot phra song 1, in Three Seals Law Code 4:
166.
208
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
13
14 15 16 17 18
19 20
21 22 23 24
25
26 27 28
agra-maha¯-sa¯sanu¯
pathambhaka phra buddhasa¯sana¯: Saichon Satya¯nurak, Phutthasa¯sana¯
kap naew khit ta¯ng ka¯n muang nai ra¯jasamai phra ba¯t somdet phra
phuttha yot fa¯ chula¯lok (po so 2325–2352) (Bangkok: Matichon, 2546
[2003]), p. 230, citing the Three Seals Law Code. Cœdès (1924: 93)
(henceforth referred to as Cœdès, Recueil I); EHS 11 Part I, Section 5,
(text): 486, Face I, lines 52–53 (tr.): 491. ru¯ p phra is´vara: line
50. pratistha¯ phra mahes´vararu ¯ p visn.uru¯ p . . .
deva¯layamaha¯ksetra: lines 52–54. ˙ ˙ a bra¯hmana tapasvi yati: ˙ line
42. ˙ s´raman . . tapasvi bra¯hman.a phong pu¯ ja¯ nitya: line 54. The
translation of tapasvi as ‘penitent’ is not satisfactory. The term
occurs with some frequency in the epigraphy of the region – for example
in Inscription 19 – and requires further study. For a stylistic study of
brahmanical images from Sukhothai, see Subhadradis Diskul (1990). Cœdès
(1929: 34–36). Henceforth referred to as Cœdès, Recueil II. See Niyada
Laosoonthorn, Sila¯chamlak ruang ra¯makian wat phra chetuphon
mangkhala¯ra¯m/The Ramakien Bas-reliefs at Wat Phra Chetuphon (Bangkok:
Mu¯lanithi Thun Phra Phuttha Yot Fa¯ nai Phra Boromara¯ju¯pathamb, 2539
[1996]). See also Inscription 64, the Nan version of the pact. The two
versions are edited, translated, and discussed in EHS 3, pp. 67–107.
Saichon, Putthasa¯sana¯, p. 103. See Prapod Assavavirulhakarn (2003).
For an earlier study of a text belonging to the same family, see Jaini
(1965). Note that Jaini’s title is misleading, since the text is more
probably from Siam. For some hybrid texts from Phatthalung, see Chaiwut
Phiyaku¯n, Ka¯n pariwat wannakam thong thin pha¯k tai praphet nangsu but
ruang tamra¯ phra¯m muang phathalung (Songkhla: Satha¯ban thaksinkhadı¯
suksa¯ Maha¯withaya¯lai Thaksin, 2543 [2000]). See the manuscript
illustrated in Phochana¯nukrom sap wannakhadı¯ thai samai ayutthaya¯
lilit ongka¯n chaeng nam chabap ra¯jabandithayasatha¯n (Bangkok: The
Royal Institute, 2540 [1997]), pp. 10–11. ‘Khom’ is a script that
evolved from the Khmer script to be used for writing Pa¯li and Thai in
Siam. Hybrid language is also used in Khmer religion. Saveros Pou has
called this ‘Khmero-Pa¯li’ (Pou 1991: 13–28). Inscription 13, in EHS 14,
pp. 625–640, with four figures. Recueil I, p. 159, n. 1. That is, Cœdès
derives the term from Sanskrit s´reyas, ‘excellent’, ‘superior’. As far
as I know, the term s´reya-s´a¯sana¯ does not exist in Indian literature
– to begin with, s´a¯sana¯ is not usually used in the sense of religion
– and the term seyya-sa¯sana¯ is not known in Pali literature, at least
that of Sri Lanka. The Khamphaeng Phet inscription – one of the
earliest, if not the earliest, surviving occurrence of the term – uses
sa¯sana as the final member of ˙ ¯sana¯, as an independent the compounds.
It also uses s´a¯sana¯, spelled sa . ˙ word. In the compounds
‘Buddha-sa¯sana’ and˙ ‘Saiya-sa¯sana’, -sa¯sana ˙ ˙ would, however, be
pronounced sa¯t, and thus be a homophon, in ˙Thai pronunciation, of
s´a¯stra. In later cases, s´a¯stra, often spelled sa¯tra, is commonly
used. ´ aivaIt has been suggested that the term s´reya-s´a¯stra may
derive from S s´a¯stra, or that it derives from seyya in the sense of
lying down, horizontal, perhaps with reference to tiraccha¯na-vijja¯. I
am not convinced by either explanation. Further research into the early
occurrences and evolution of the term is needed. The ‘History of the
Brahmans of Nakhon Si Thammarat’, in the last section, apparently
written in Lesser S´ aka Era 1096 ( 1734–35), uses the term
209
PETER SKILLING
29 30
31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38 39 40
‘saiyas´a¯tra’
twice for brahmanical rites: Tamna¯n phra¯m muang nakhon si thammara¯j
([Bangkok]: Rong phim Sophon Phiphatanakorn, 2473[1930]), p. 45. At the
end of his Ra¯makian, Ra¯ma I states that ‘this royal composition,
Ra¯makian, has been written following brahmanical legend (niya¯y saiy):
it does not have any profound substance (kaen sa¯n) – I have [written
it] with the aim to celebrate and worship [the Buddha]’: Phra ba¯t
somdet phra phuttha yot fa¯ chula¯lok maha¯ra¯j, Bot lakhon ruang
ra¯makian (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2540 [1997]): Wannakam
samai ratanakosin, muat banterngkhadı¯, vol. 4, p. 582. The passage
shows that by Lesser S´ aka Era 1159 ( 1797), when the work was
concluded, the short form ‘saiy’ was in use. One should not take Ra¯ma
I’s statement as a devaluation of Brahmanism: at the end of Unarut he
makes a parallel remark, this time calling his source an ‘ancient tale’:
‘the royal composition Unarut does not have any profound substance
(kaen sa¯n); I have composed it after an ancient tale (ruang bora¯n), to
celebrate the city’: Bot lakhon ruang unarut: phra ra¯janiphon nai phra
ba¯t somdet phra phuttha yot fa¯ chula¯lok maha¯ra¯j (Bangkok: The Fine
Arts Department, 2545 [2002]), p. 449. Two of the sketchbooks of
brahmanical deities use saiyasa¯tra or s´aiya¯s´a¯stra in their titles:
Phra samut ru¯ p phra saiyasa¯tr and Tamra¯ pha¯p thevaru¯ p
saiya¯s´a¯stra (Tamra¯ pha¯p thevaru ¯ p, pp. 95, 179). Another sense of
the term is magic or sorcery. The study of this term, and of other
indigenous terms for Brahmanism and Buddhism, not only in South-East
Asia but in general, is a desideratum. For Sri Lanka, see Carter (1993:
9–25). ‘Debakarma’ (devakarma) seems to be connected with elephant
training: see Tamra¯ pha¯p thevaru¯ p, pp. 28, 53, 101, 102, 191, 192,
where Gan.es´a is represented in two forms – standing and seated – as
‘Phra Devakarrma’. In early modern usage, S´ reyas´a¯sana came to be
used in contrast with Buddhas´a¯sana¯, for example in Prince Damrong
Rajanubhap, ‘Tamna¯n ka¯n ken taha¯n thai’, originally published in 2464
[1914], reprinted in Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka,
vol. 5 (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2542 ˙ The term is used in
modern polemics, as in an article by [1999]), pp. 211, 233. Sulak
Sivarak, ‘Phut kap saiy nai sangkhom thai’ [Buddhism and ritual in Thai
society] (Silpawatthanatham/Art and Culture, vol. 15, no. 7, May 1994,
pp. 76–91) or an ensuing book by the same, Phut kap saiy nai sangkhom
thai (Bangkok: Khana Kammaka¯n Sa¯sana¯ Puea Ka¯n Phathana¯/Satha¯ban
Santipracha¯tham, 2538 [1995]). From the Three Seals Law Code, Phra
ra¯jakamnot mai, Section 36, cited in Saichon, Phutthas´a¯sana¯, p. 230.
EHS 11 Part I, Section 2 (text), p. 441, Face I, line 7 (tr.), p. 449.
EHS 11 Part I, Section 6 (text), p. 502, Face I, lines 13–14 (tr.), p.
508. EHS 11 Part I, Section 5 (text), p. 486, Face I, lines 12–13 (tr.),
p. 490. For a newly annotated version of ‘Athiba¯y rajaka¯n khrang
krung kao’, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab’s list of the kings of Ayutthaya
first published in Prachum phonsa¯wada¯n Part 5, 2460 [1917], see Prachum
phonsa¯wada¯n chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka (Bangkok: The Fine Arts
Department, 2542 [1999]), vol. 1, pp. 355–366. ˙ of kings used in the
Three Seals Law Code are analysed in Vickery (1984). Titles Phra
aiyaka¯ra a¯jña¯ luang, 1895 [ 1352], in Three Seals Law Code, 4:
2–3. Read -eka¯da¯saratha-ı¯s´vara-. Phra aiyaka¯ra luang, 1976 [
1433], Section 13, in Three Seals Law Code, 4: 17. Wat Cul.a¯man.ı¯
Inscription of Phra Paramatrailokana¯tha, 2223 ( 1680). ‘The kings
of Ayutthaya . . . were considered in ritual to be avatars of Hindu
deities such as Vishnu or Indra. But to the Europeans who came to Siam
in the
210
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
41 42
43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
52 53 54 55 56
57 58 59 60
seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, the ruler of Ayutthaya was the principal
trader in the Kingdom, and thus a formidable competitor as well as
trading partner’: Dhiravat na Pombejra (1998: 67). John Crawfurd, sent
as British envoy to Bangkok in 1822, noted this for Ratanakosin: ‘The
King of Siam is both a monopolist and a trader’ – see Crawfurd (1987:
380). Three Seals Law Code, Phra rajakamnot mai, Section 13, 5: 243. The
spelling ‘bhu¯ ma’ for Pa¯li-Sanskrit ‘bhu¯ mi’ is a Thai hybrid form.
These goals were common to all Buddhist schools in ancient India, and
reference to them should not be construed, as is too often the case, as
‘Maha¯ya¯na influence’. Maha¯ya¯na ideology evolved from the
reinterpretation of the three goals, and not vice versa. For the
bodhisattva in Maha¯viha¯ra tradition see, e.g., Bhikkhu Bodhi (1978),
or Rahula’s classical essay, ‘The Bodhisattva Ideal in Therava¯da and
Maha¯ya¯na’, in Rahula (1978: 71–77). EHS 11, Part I, Section 7 (text),
p. 515, Face I, lines 4–7 (tr.), p. 517. Phra aiyaka¯ra a¯jña¯ luang,
Section 13, in Three Seals Law Code, 4: 17. The Pa¯li term buddhan˙ kura
is used as a synonym of bodhisattva in classical texts from Ceylon.
Kham chan sansern phra kiat somdet phra phuttha chao luang pra¯sa¯t
thong (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2543 [2000]), pp. 49–56. For
his story, see H. Saddhatissa (1975: chapter X). Phra
ra¯japhongsa¯wada¯n krung thonburı¯ chabap phan chanthanuma¯t, in
Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka, vol. 3 (Bangkok: The
Fine Arts Depart˙ ment, 2542 [1999]), p. 475. Phra ra¯japhongsa¯wada¯n
krung thonburı¯ chabap phan chantanuma¯t, p. 505. Saichon,
Phutthas´a¯sana¯, p. 211. For the politics and culture of Thonburi, see
Nidhi Iaewsiwong, Ka¯n muang thai samai phra chao krung thonburı¯
(Bangkok: Matichon Press, 4th printing, 2539 [1996]). For early
Ratanakosin, see the same author’s Pa¯k kai lae bai rua: wa¯ duai ka¯n
suksa¯ prawatisa¯t–wannakam ton ratanakosin (2nd printing, Bangkok:
Phraew Samnak Phim, 2538 [1995]). Three Seals Law Code, 5: 326. Three
Seals Law Code, 5: 321. Phra ba¯t somdet phra phuttha yot fa¯ chula¯lok
maha¯ra¯j, Bot lakhon ruang ra¯makian (Bangkok: The Fine Arts
Department, 2540 [1997] Wannakam samai ratanakosin, muat banterngkhadı¯,
vol. 1, p. 1). Bot lakhon ruang ra¯makian, p. 1, line 10. The Thai form
here is s´raddha¯dhaika (pron. sattha¯tuk), for Pa¯li saddha¯dhika.
San˙ gı¯tiyavan ˙ s´a (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2544 [2001]:
Wannakam samai ratanakosin, vol. 3), pp. 248, 262. For the Wang Na¯, see
S. Phla¯y Noi, Wang na¯ phraya¯ sua: phra pavarara¯ja prawat somdet
phra boworara¯j chao maha¯surasingana¯t krom phra ra¯jawang bowon nai
rajaka¯n tı¯ 1 (3rd printing, revised, Bangkok: Silpawatthanatham, 2545
[2002]) and Phra kiartikhun somdet phra bowarara¯ja¯ chao
maha¯surasinghana¯t (bunma¯) (Bangkok: Mu¯lanithi
Maha¯surasinghana¯t/Wat Maha¯tha¯tyuwara¯jarangarit, 2538 [1995]).
Wannakam phraya¯ trang (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2547 [2004]),
pp. 248–258. Chotmaihet rajaka¯n tı¯ 3, vol. 3 (Bangkok:
Sahaprachaphanit, 2530 [1987]), pp. 26–27. The forms ‘buddha’ (in Thai
pronunciation phuttha) and ‘buddhi’ (in Thai pronunciation phutthi) are
used interchangeably in our documents. At this time there was no custom
of making statues or portraits of living monarchs.
211
PETER SKILLING
61 62
63 64
65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78
79 80 81
The
consecutive names Ra¯ma I, II, etc. were assigned retrospectively in
1916, during the Sixth Reign. See Phochana¯nukrom sap wannakhadı¯ thai
samai sukhothai traibhu¯ mikatha¯ chabap ra¯jabandithayasatha¯n
(Bangkok: The Royal Institute, 2544 [2001]), pp. 88–125; Cœdès and
Archaimbault (1973: 86–111); Reynolds and Reynolds (1982: 135–172).
Inscription 8, in EHS 11, Part II, Section 10 (text), p. 555, Face I,
line 13 (tr.), pp. 560–561. The five kakudhabhan.d.a have been defined and
illustrated with a line drawing in the ‘Royal Institute Dictionary’
(Phochana¯nukrom chabap ra¯jabanditayasatha¯n) from the first edition
published in 2493 [ 1950] to the current edition published in 2546
[2003]. Inscription 2 in EHS 10 (text), p. 363, Face I, line 33, khann
jayasrı¯ (tr.), p. 381. For Inscription 4, see EHS 11, Part I, Section 5
(text), p. 486, Face I, line 11, makuta . . . khan jayas´rı¯y
svetachatra (tr.), p. 490. For inscription 5, see EHS ˙ I, Section 6,
(text), p. 502, Face I, lines 10–11, [ja]yas´rı¯ (tr.), p. 508. 11, Part
Cf. the phrase ‘dai cha¯ng phuek ma¯ su¯ phra ba¯ramı¯’. See Phra saeng
ra¯jasastra¯ pracham muang (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2539
[1996]). In 2525 (1982) Queen Sirikit stood in for His Majesty, in 2585
(1985) Crown Prince Maha¯ Vajiralongkorn did so. Ra¯janitisa¯stra khong
bra¯hman. anantaña¯n.a lae bra¯hman.a gan.amissaka (Bangkok: 2463
[1920], ‘Ba¯n phanaek chabap luang khian nai rajaka¯n tı¯ 3’, plae phra
ra¯janiti cha¯k phra pa¯l.¯ı bhuka¯m thawa¯y. Ja¯taka (PTS edition) I
260, 399; II 400; III 320; V 119, 378. Ja¯taka (PTS edition) III 274.
Epigraphia Indica XVIII, p. 338. EHS 11 Part I, Section 2 (text), p.
446, Face II, line 26 (tr.), p. 462. dasabiddha-ra¯jadharma: EHS 11,
Part I, Section 6 (text), p. 502, Face I, line 15 (tr.), p. 508. For
references, see Prakong Nimmanhemindh, ‘Totsabidhara¯jadharrma’, in
Sa¯ra¯nukrom watthanatham thai pha¯k kla¯ng, vol. 6, pp. 2448–50. The
concept and role of the office of ‘san˙ ghara¯ja’ changed radically in the
late nineteenth century. Ayutthaya society was graded in terms of rice
fields (na¯), although whether fields were ever actually allocated, or
whether na¯ was simply a measure, remains a subject of debate. For a
concise analysis of sakdina¯ and other indicators of status, see Akin
Rabibhadana (1975: 93–124). See Reynolds (1987: 152), ‘[T]he term
[sakdina¯] refers to positions in a socio-political hierarchy
underpinned by economic relations. The positions were differentiated by
amounts of land allocated, e.g., from 100,000 units for the
highest-ranking prince, to 10,000 units for a noble, and down to 25
units for a commoner and 5 for a slave.’ By the middle of the twentieth
century, sakdina¯ was used in some circles as a translation of
‘feudalism’; as a result, the term has its own history in modern Thai
historiography and polemics. Na taha¯n hua muang, Three Seals Law Code I
§ 27. Somdet Phra Maha¯samana Chao Krom Phra Parama¯nujitajinorasa,
Lilit krabuan phayuhaya¯tra¯ ta¯ng cholama¯k lae sathalama¯k (Bangkok:
Rong Phim Borisat Sahathammik, 2539 [1996]). See Three Seals Law Code,
vol. 4, pp. 229–257. ‘Kot’ is from Pa¯li katika¯, a technical term for a
Vinaya offence, and presumably related to the Pa¯li˙ terms
212
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
82 83 84
85 86
87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103
katika¯
and kathika¯va(t)ta, the latter used in Ceylon for royal decrees on
san˙ gha ˙ ˙ affairs. See Ratnapala (1971: 6–16), Introduction.
Inscription 45, EHS 3, pp. 67–107. EHS 24, pp. 788–803. Le Blanc, pp. 20
foll. This was a volatile period, and at least some factions in the
cosmopolitan city had attempted to convert King Narai to Islam (leading
to the Makassar revolt) or to Catholicism. See Hutchinson (1968), or
Wyatt (1984: 101–104). na¯brahma ksatramr.dhnoti na¯ksatram . brahma
vardhate, brahma ksatram . ca ˙ ˙ ˙ sam . pr.ktam iha ca¯mutra vardhate:
Olivelle (2005: (9)322). In some cases the role of brahmanism is
caricatured by ‘Sukhothai romanticism’, which portrays Sukhothai as a
sort of open society of the Thai, and Ayutthaya as an absolutist state
in which the ‘true Thai’ values were distorted by brahmanical
superstitions and Khmer despotism. ‘Bot’, abbreviated from Uposatha
‘hall’, came to be used for religious buildings such as churches, which
are bot khrit. The complex series of rites was last performed in 2477
( 1934). See Sutthiwong Phongpaibun, ‘Tamna¯n phra¯m muang nakhon si
thammarat’, in Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k tai, vol. 6, pp.
2670–71; Pricha Nunsuk, ‘Sa¯sana¯ phra¯m nai pha¯k tai’, in Sa¯ra¯nukrom
wathanatham thai pha¯k tai, vol. 15, pp. 7347–7372. For a note on the
surviving brahmanical structures in Nakhon Si Thammarat, see Munro-Hay
(2001: 301–307). See ‘Phra¯m muang phattalung’, in Sa¯ra¯nukrom
wathanatham thai pha¯k tai, vol. 11, pp. 5262–69. See ‘Phra¯m muang
chaiya, trakun’, in Sa¯ra¯nukrom wathanatham thai pha¯k tai, vol. 11,
pp. 5260–62. EHS 14, p. 631. For a summary of the contents of this
‘exceedingly curious work’, see Wyatt (1975: 52–56). Tamna¯n phra¯m
muang nakhon si thammara¯t (Bangkok: Rong Phim Sophon Phiphatanakorn,
2473 [1930]), p. 20. Phra aiya¯ka¯ra tamnaeng na¯ phonlaruan, Section
19, in The Three Seals Law Code 1: 265 foll. Tamniap kha¯ ra¯jaka¯n
muang nakhon si thammara¯t in Prachum phongsa¯wada¯n chabap
ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka, vol. 5 (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2542 ˙
[1999]), pp. 161–162. Tamna¯n phra¯m muang nakhon si thammara¯t, pp.
12–14. ‘History of the Brahmans of Nakhon Si Thammara¯t’, p. 22. The
literature on the subject for India is immense. For grants in Orissa,
see Singh (1993). For the evolution from grants to individuals to grants
to temples in medieval Andhra, see Talbot (2001: 88). Phra a¯ya¯ka¯n
laksana wiwa¯t, Section 32, in Three Seals Law Code (3: 199).
Bud.d.ha¯ca¯riya is vr.ddha¯ca¯rya, senior teacher. For Maha¯ra¯jakhru¯,
see Kham chan sansern phra kiat somdet phra phuttha chao luang prasa¯t
thong (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2543 [2000]), Introduction.
Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 2543 [2000]. Another important
literary figure, well beyond the range of this already inflated article,
is the rishi. Whatever the origins of the concept, for our period the
vocation is very much a part of the Thai religious imagination. Many of
the rishis of Thai tamna¯n geography, including that of the
Ca¯madevı¯vam . sa, probably have Mon or Lua ancestors, but even this
ancestry is mixed with the ‘isi’ of Pali texts
213
PETER SKILLING
104
105
106 107
108 109
110 111 112
113
and
the ‘r.sı¯’ of brahmanical texts. For a dedication of a Buddha image by
a ˙ in Mon, in the cave Tham Rusi as Khao Ngu¯, Ra¯jaburi province,
rishi inscribed see Cœdès, Recueil II, p. 19: puñ vrah . r.si s´rı¯
sama¯dhigupta. See also ˙ Shorto (1971: 320), ‘risi’. These were not the
only pressure groups in pre-modern society – there were mandarins and
nobles (khun na¯ng), merchants and manufacturers, farmers and gatherers,
etc. The groups discussed here are those who manufactured and enacted
ideology and ritual. For the most part, our sources are elite documents –
inscriptions, laws, decrees, courtly literature. There are few
documents for study of grassroots ritual in the period in question – but
the study should certainly be attempted. One omission in studies of the
political imagination in Siam is the role of China and the Chinese.
Given the presence of Chinese in the region for over a millennium, and
the weight of trade and political links, it is hard to imagine that
Chinese conceptions of power and hierarchy did not affect Thai
ideologies. They certainly did come into play in the Siamese court’s
self-representation to the Chinese court through embassies or ‘tribute’.
But did they not function closer to home? We must also ask whether
court ceremonial adopted anything from Persia or contemporary courts of
India. Luang Phatphongphakdı¯ (Tim Sukhaya¯ng), Nira¯t Nong Khai
(Bangkok: Thai Wathana Phanich, 2541 [1998]), p. 3. ‘Chao Phraya¯’ is
Somdet Chao Phraya¯ Boroma Maha Si Suriyawong (Chuang Bunnag,
1808–1883). ‘Chao Khun’ is Chao Phraya¯ Mahinthornsakdamrong (Peng
Phenkun), commander of the First Army and of one of the two armies sent
to suppress the Ho. ‘Jayanto’ is a popular chant beginning jayanto
bodhiya¯ mu¯ le, sa¯kiya¯nam . nandivad.d.hano. See Phochana¯nukrom
chabap ra¯jabanditayasatha¯n pho. so. 2542 (Bangkok: Nanmi Publishing,
2546 [2003]), p. 209a: ‘Khlo¯ n thawa¯n: a gate to the jungle (pratu¯
pa¯), a jungle gate which is made according to brahmanical lore (tamra¯
phra¯m), decorated with layers of leaves, through which soldiers depart
when going to war. Two brahmans sit on high platforms, one on either
side of the gate, to sprinkle water charged by devamantra, for the
success and blessings (jayaman˙ gala) of the departing troops.’ Khlo¯ n
is from Khmer, thawa¯n is Sanskrit dva¯ra. In his Nira¯t ta¯ din daeng,
King Ra¯ma I refers to passing the khlo¯ n thawa¯n on his way to fight
the Burmese (Klon phleng ya¯o nira¯t ruang rop phama¯ tı¯ ta¯ din daeng
phleng ya¯o rop phama¯ tı¯ nakhon si thammara¯j lae phleng ya¯o ruang
tı¯ phama¯, Bangkok: Siam Press Management Ltd, 2547 [2004]), p. 29.
Khlo¯ n thawa¯n is also the door to the palace, and the female troops
who guard it. The ‘History of the Brahmans of Nakhon Si Thammara¯t’
includes ‘khlo¯ n thawa¯n boek phrai’ among the twenty rites to be
performed by brahmans: Tamna¯n phra¯m muang nakhon si thammara¯j, p. 20.
Tamniap kha¯ ra¯jaka¯n muang nakhon si thammara¯t, in Prachum
phongsa¯wada¯n chabap ka¯ñcana¯bhiseka, vol. 5 (Bangkok: The Fine Arts
Department, 2542 ˙ nga¯n thava¯y nam sang tam kho¯ l thawa¯n. [1999]),
p. 162, phanak According to the Tamniap kha¯ ra¯jaka¯n, op. cit.,
immediately following the two brahmans just mentioned, a brahman with
the title Khun Phanavek had the duty to read the ‘Bijaya-ya¯tra¯’
(phanak nga¯n a¯n phichai ya¯tra¯). Can this be connected with the
recitation of Maha¯dibbamanta? See Tamna¯n watthu satha¯n ta¯ng ta¯ng
seung phra ba¯t somdet phra nang klao chao yu¯ hua song satha¯pana¯
(first published 2472 [1929]; 6th printing, for the cremation of Nai
Chamnian Nakhonprasa¯t, Bangkok: 2514 [1971]); Santi Leksukhum,
214
K I N G, S A N G H A A N D B R A H M A N S
Chitrakam
thai samai rajaka¯n tı¯ 3: khwa¯m khit plian, ka¯n sadaeng ok ko plian
ta¯m (Bangkok: Muang Boran, 2548 [2005]; Sa¯ra¯nukrom phra ba¯t somdet
phra nang klao chao yu ¯ hua rajaka¯n tı¯ 3, vol. 1 (Bangkok: Mu ¯
lanithi chalerm phra kiat phra ba¯t somdet phra nang klao chao yu ¯ hua,
2545 [2002]). 114 The ‘bodhisattva monks’ of pre-modern Siam require a
separate study. 115 One of the best early ethnographic notes available
is not on the brahmans of Siam, but on those of Cambodia: see Moura
(1883: 213–219). For Siam, see Crawfurd (1987: 149–153). An interesting
account of the court brahmans at Phnom Penh in the early 1920s is given
by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab in his Nira¯t Nakhon Wat (originally
published 2467 [ 1924]). For Cambodia into the post-Khmer Rouge
period, see also de Bernon (1997: 33–58). 116 See, e.g., vol. 5, p. 33,
‘Religion, 1. Brahmanism in Siam’.
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233
INDEX
Aggañña
sutta 28, 33–4, 78 Alaungpaya, King 2, 37 allotropism 75–6, 96
Ambedkar, Dr. 108 Ang Duang 71, 88, 92 animal sciences
(tiraccha¯navijja¯) 4, 17, 18 Asoka Maurya 78–9, 87, 114, 127, 128, 197
Aung San Suu Kyi 67
Dhammakay 110 dhammara¯ja 54, 77, 79, 87,
126, 127, 130, 135, 137 Dhammathat 26f Dhammayuttika Nika¯ya (Thommayut)
15, 18, 83, 106, 110, 115 donations 130, 182f 188 Durkheim, Émile 2, 3
Badon,
King 34, 37, 38, 40 Bagyidaw, King 34, 35, 56 Bigandet, Bishop 12, 58
Bodawphaya, King 5, 53, 56 Brahmans 184, 198f 201, 202 Buddha Jayanti
108, 110, 119 Buddha relics 107–8, 111, 128 Buddhist Institute, Phnom
Penh 108
Fa Ngum 122, 123. 129 FUNCINPEC 90, 92 Furnivall, J.S. 27
Emerald Buddha 129, 186
Gethin, Rupert 29 golden age motif 108
cakkavattin
77–8, 123, 127, 135, 137, 193f Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) 90, 91,
93, 94, 96, 97 Caravan 164–5 Cedi Luang, Chiang Mai 128 Champassak
Chronicle 134, 135, 136 Chulalongkorn, King (Ra¯ma V) 12–13, 14, 146,
168, 172, 184 Chuon Nath 108, 110–11 Crystal Buddha 136 dasara¯jadhamma
7, 9, 50 n.23, 77, 126, 130, 195–6 David Neel, Alexandra 114 Democratic
Kampuchea 6, 71, 118 Democratic Party (Cambodia) 6, 104, 105
Hit
Sip Saung 145, 148 Hun Sen 91 Huot Tath 110–11 Indra 150, 152
International Monetary Fund (IMF) 175–6 Janaka¯bhivamsa, Ashin 17, 18f
24 n.3 ˙ 87, 114–17 Jayavarman VII Jinaka¯lama¯lı¯ 125, 183 kathin 106,
197 Khmer Republic 71 Khmer Rouge 71, 88–9, 90, 96, 118 Khom script 186
Khon Kaen 8, 158, 162, 170f 178 Khuon Nay 6, 104f 112, 114, 117
235
INDEX
royal donations (kappana) 130, 132
Kinwun Mingyi 32, 42, 49 Kitthiwuttho, Bhikkhu 173
Sainya
Cakkhaphat Phaen Phaeo, King 7, 123, 124, 126, 133, 137 sakdina¯ system
9, 184, 196 saksit 3, 80, 81, 92 Sangha Act, 1940 15 Sangkum Reastr
Niyum 83, 85, 86, 96, 97, 105, 113, 114, 115 Sasana University 14
Setthathilat, King 126, 127, 128, 133 Shwe Zan Aung 5, 65 Sı¯hala
Nika¯ya 125 Sihamoni, King 92 Sihanouk, King 71, 83, 84, 86–7, 88, 90,
92, 97, 105, 113, 114, 115, 116 Sisowath Kossamak, Queen 105, 117, 118,
120 Sisowath, King 82 Sixth Buddhist Council 20, 108 Son Ngoc Thanh 83
Son Sann 90–1 Suriyavongsa, King 126, 132, 134, 135 Suvanna Banlang,
King 124
lak muang 170, 177, 178 Lithai, King 187, 188, 193, 194
Lokes´vara 97 Lon Nol 89 Maha¯ Nika¯ya 18, 84, 106, 110
Mahachulalongkorn University 20 Mahamakut Teacher College 15, 20
Maha¯sammata 2, 28, 33, 35, 38, 47, 78 Maitreya 2, 108, 119 n.8, 150,
152, 157, 159, 160, 189 Ma¯ra 8, 169, 173, 193 Marks, Rev. Dr. John 12,
31, 56 Meas Yang 112 Meru 76, 127 Mindon, King 4–5, 12, 38, 39, 41–2,
47, 58 Mongkut, King (Ra¯ma IV) 12, 83 Monivong, King 82 Ña¯n.issara,
Ashin 22 Nak Tham 15, 23 Nang Thoranee 8, 168f Ne Win, General 14, 20,
22, 67 Nitsay 146, 148 Norodom, King 82 Oudong 92 Oum Sum 118
Pathamasambodhi 168 ˙ Parian 15, 23 People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK)
71, 89, 93, 118 Phayre, Sir Arthur 31, 59–61, 62 Pol Pot 6 Pra¯sa¯t
Thong, King 188 Prayutto, Phra Prayud 10, 19, 21 prophecy 7 prophetic
writings 109, 143–64 ra¯jadhamma 27f Ra¯jathat 26f Ra¯ma I, King 185,
188, 189, 190, 191, 193, 194, 199, 203, 204 Ra¯ma II, King 192, 193
Ra¯ma III, King 197, 203 Ra¯makian 185–6, 194, 204 Ra¯maya¯n.a 168–9
Taksin,
King 189–90, 197 Taw Sein Ko 52, 57 Tep Vong 102 n.42, 118 Tham script
147–8, 149 Thammasat University 173 Thanarat, General Sarit 170, 173,
174 That Luang, Vientiane 127, 128 Thibaw, King 12, 62 Thittila, Ashin
18 Three Seals Law Code 182, 196, 200, 204, 205 Tilok, King 122, 123,
124 Trailok, King 123 U Chan Htoon 65 U Hpo Hlaing 4–5, 27, 40–8, 49 U
Htin Fatt 43, 45, 49 U Kyaw Htun 4–5, 27–40, 48, 49 Vajiravud, Prince
12–13, 15, 72 Vangbuli, King 122. 123 Vann Molyvann 113 Vessantara 28,
114 Vicittasa¯ra¯bhivamsa, Ashin 22 vinaya 3, 19, 137 ˙ Visun, King 122,
124, 126, 127, 129
236
INDEX
Voegelin, Eric 6, 73–5, 79, 94–5 Wat Boronives 12–13, 21 Wat Mahathat 21 Weber, Max 1, 44, 45, 74–5, 98
World Buddhist University, Rangoon 20, 22 Young Men’s Buddhist Association 5, 53, 63–4, 107
237
Buddha Quotes on the Mind
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” -Buddha
“All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?”
“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
“There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.”
“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.”
“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”
“To understand everything is to forgive everything.” -Buddha
“Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment.”
“People with opinions just go around bothering one another.”
“Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you.”
“In the sky, there is no distinction of east
and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then
believe them to be true.”
“The secret of health for both mind and body
is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate
troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ”
“To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear”
“There is nothing more dreadful than the
habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that
disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a
thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. ”
Buddha Quotes on Wisdom
“If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
“In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?” -Buddha
“A man is not called wise because he talks
and talks again; but is he peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in
truth called wise.”
“Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame.”
“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”
“Pain is certain, suffering is optional.” -Buddha
“A dog is not considered a good dog because
he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a
good talker.”
“Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.”
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
“Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”
“Nothing is permanent.”
“A jug fills drop by drop.”
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot
coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who
gets burned.”
Inspirational Buddha Quotes
“One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.” -Buddha
“There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
“Imagine that every person in the world is
enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the
right things to help you.”
“If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.” -Buddha
“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”
“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.”
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.”
“On life’s journey faith is nourishment,
virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right
mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life,
nothing can destroy him.”
Buddha Quotes on Happiness
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a
single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.” -Buddha
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
“It is ridiculous to think that somebody else can make you happy or unhappy.”
“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.”
“A disciplined mind brings happiness.”
“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” -Buddha
“Happiness is not having a lot. Happiness is giving a lot.”
“Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
Buddha Quotes on Love
“He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”
“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.”
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” -Buddha
“You can search throughout the entire
universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection
than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You
yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love
and affection.”
“True love is born from understanding.”
“If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”
Monks, these four types of individuals are to be found existing in the world… The individual who practices for his/her own bene
Þ
t and for that of others is, of these four, the foremost, the chief, the most outstanding, the highest and supreme.”
–(Chav
l
tasutta
ṁ
, AN II. 95. Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)