CHAPTER III.Cosmography—The Burman hells—Definition of a Nat by Hesiod—Buddha—Gaudama—His probable history—Buddhism—Priests—Temples—Curious cave near Prome—Monasteries—Ceremonies—Funeral—Concluding remarks.
Cosmography—The Burman hells—Definition of a Nat by Hesiod—Buddha—Gaudama—His probable history—Buddhism—Priests—Temples—Curious cave near Prome—Monasteries—Ceremonies—Funeral—Concluding remarks.
The origin of the Burmese nation, like that of every other, is lost in the mists of antiquity. We know not whence we proceed, and the beginning and end of our being on this earth are alike wrapt in obscurity. But in addition to the unavoidable gloom that envelops the beginning of every nation, we have, amongst the Indian races, the additional uncertainty caused by a wild and incoherent cosmography, which, pervading the early portions of their national annals, renders it almost impossible to elicit any sort of narrative that would be satisfactory to the reader in an historical point of view. But, as everything connected with a nation and its belief, is interesting to the curious observer of mankind, it will be as well to listen to the wild and wondrous strain, the sounds of which still thrill and tremble upon the threshold of time. Here, then, is a short view of the Burmese cosmography, as a prelude to the ancient history of that country. We will listen to it from the mouth of Sangermano, one of the best and most modest of the exponents of Burmese antiquities.[86]
According to the Burmese sacred books, there are five species of atoms. The first is an invisible permeating fluid, distinguishable only by the superior order of genii called Nat. The second species is that which may be seen dancing in the gleam of a streak of sunlight. The third species consists of the dust raised by the motion of animals, and vehicles from the earth. The fourthcomprises the gross particles which form the soil on which men live. And the fifth consists of those little grains which fall when writing with an iron pen upon a palm-leaf.
These atoms are exactly proportioned to each other in the following way. Thirty-six atoms of the first make one of the second; thirty-six of the second make one of the third, and so on. Upon these proportions depends a strange system of measurement, which, carried on like the world-renowned calculation of the horse’s shoes and nails, astonishes us by its simplicity, and amuses us by its uselessness. It is as follows: “Seven atoms of the fifth and last species are equal in size to the head of a louse; seven such heads equal a grain of rice; seven grains of rice make an inch; twelve inches a palm, and two palms a cubit; seven cubits give oneta; twentytaoneussabà; eightyussabàonegaut; and fourgautajuzenà. Finally, ajuzenàcontains about six Burmese leagues, or 28,000 cubits.”[87]The measure of time into homœopathical infinitesimals is equally absurd.
The world, called Logha, which signifies alternate destruction and reproduction, is divided into three parts. It is not conceived by the Burmese to be spherical, but is imagined to be a circular plain somewhat elevated in the centre. The three parts into which the earth is divided are called the superior, where the Nat live; the middle, the residence of man; and the inferior, the place of subsequent retribution. The middle part is bounded on all sides by an impenetrable barrier of mountains, called Zacchiavalà, which rise 82,000juzenàabove the surface of the sea, and have an equal depth in the sea itself.[88]“The diameter of this middle part is 1,203,400juzenà, and its circumference is three times the diameter, its depth is 240,000juzenà. The half of this depth entirely consists of dust, the other half, or the lower part, is a hard compact stone, called sibapatavi. This enormous volume of dust and stone is supported by a double volume of water, under which is placed a double volume of air; and beyond this there is nothing but vacuity.”[89]Buchanan supplies some particularshere, omitted by Sangermano:—“Besides this earth of ours, it is imagined, that there are of the same form 10,100,000 others, which mutually touch in three points, forming between them a number of equilateral spaces, which, on account of the sun’s not reaching them, are filled with water intensely cold. The depth of these 10,100,000 triangular spaces is 84,000juzenà, and each of their sides is 3,000juzenà, in length.”[90]
In the centre of the middle system of the world, above the level of the sea, is a mountain called Miemmo or Mienmò, said to be the highest in the world, rising to the height of 84,000juzenà, and having a similar depth in the sea. Buchanan-Hamilton tells us that the word signifies Mountain of Vision in Burmese.[91]The plateau at the extreme height of Mienmò is 48,000juzenàin diameter, with a circumference of three times that extent. Three enormous rubies support the whole mass, being themselves based on the great stone Silapatavi. The four sides of the mountain are respectively of silver, glass, gold, and ruby. Miemmo is surrounded by seven chains of hills, and seven rivers, called Sida, whose waters are so clear and limpid that the lightest piece of down stripped from a feather would sink to the bottom. These various rivers are of different heights and widths. Buchanan considers the word ‘sea’ as much more applicable to these waters; Sida, in the Arakhan dialect, having that signification.
At the four cardinal points of Miemmo, in the midst of an immense sea, lie the four great islands which form the habitations of mankind. They are respectively in the forms of a half-moon, a full moon, a square, and a lozenge or trapezium. In the last of these, lying towards the south, opposite the ruby side of Miemmo, are situated the kingdom of Burmah, Siam, China, Ceylon, and the other places with which the Burmans are acquainted, together with many more with which nobody is acquainted.[92]Besides these four great islands, there are two thousand small ones, whence, according to the Burman idea, the Europeans come. The seas are filled withhorrible monsters and terrible whirlpools; however, this is not the case in the small straits between the little islands and Zabudiba. With the other islands, on account of the horrors of the deep, it is impossible to hold any communication. At present, however, the Burmans are beginning to lose faith in their geography; and Buchanan always heard Britain spoken of in Amarapura asPyee-gye, or the Great Kingdom.[93]
We have next to consider the nature of the living beings which, according to the Burmese, live in this world.[94]They are divided into three classes: Chama, or generating beings; Rupa, or corporeal, but ungenerated and ungenerating beings; and Arupa, or spirits. These three classes are again subdivided into thirty-one species. The Chama contains eleven species, seven happy and four unhappy. One of the happy states is man, and the remaining six are of the Nats, corporeal beings in every respect superior to men. The four unhappy states are infernal states, into which the sinful are sent to expiate their crimes in torment for a season. These are called Apè. The Rupa contains sixteenbon, or states, as they are called, and the Arupa four.
The doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, is admitted by the Burmans, but is not precisely of the same character with that of the Hindoos, or the improved system promulgated by Pythagoras. They maintain that the soul and body perish together, and that then a new body and soul are formed from the fragments, and that its nature agrees with the deservings of the individual. Thus every one gradually attains higher excellence, becoming successively a Nat, a Rupa, an Arupa, &c., till at length the individual attains that high state of eternal calm known by the name of Nieban.
This state of existence has been generally translated annihilation, and, as Crawfurd observes,[95]this misconception has thrown “an unmerited share of obloquy on the worship of Budd’ha.” Dr. Buchanan remarks, that the term is very inaccurately translated;[96]and Colebrooke was the first to give a correct definition of it, in an essay on the Philosophy of Indian Sectaries.[97]Sangermano’s definition I subjoin:—“This consists in an almostperpetual ecstasy, in which those who attain it are not only free from the troubles and miseries of life, from death, illness, and old age, but are abstracted from all sensation; they have no longer a thought or desire.”[98]
Human life is continually on the decrease or the increase. At first men attained to an age which can only be conceived by this calculation. “It is said, that if it should rain continually for the space of three years over the whole world, which is 1,203,430 juzenà in diameter, the number of drops of rain fallen in this time would express the number of years that compose an assenchiè,”[99]the term implying the whole period. But the wickedness of man caused his life to be more and more limited, and it reached at length to ten years only. From that time it increased, on their becoming more virtuous, and again they lived an assenchiè. This increase and decrease is to be fulfilled sixty-four times before the destruction of the world. This variation is however limited to the inhabitants of Zabudiba. Space will not permit me to give the description I would of the northern island, where the Burman Utopia is placed. The philosophical inquirer will find it in Sangermano and Buchanan.
The Nats, or genii, have their various seats in the intermediate space between Mienmò and the confines of the world, and live in different degrees of happiness and power. These abodes of the Nats are represented as very delightful, and it is thither that the devout Buddhist hopes to come. The four conditions of punishment are, degradation into beasts; Preitta, a state of sorrow resembling the Tartarus of the Hellenes; the Assurichè, almost identical with Preitta; and Niria, the actual hell of the Burmese.
The transformation into beasts is reserved for those who do not keep a sufficient restraint over themselves, and who speak in a heedless and evil manner. Those who neglect to give alms, too, pass into this condition. An elephant lives sixty years, a horse thirty, an ox and a dog, ten, and upon this they base their calculations.[100]
In the second state of punishment, Preitta, the condemned are obliged to live upon disgusting filth, and inhabit sewers, cisterns, and tombs. Some wander naked through gloomy forests, making them re-echo with theirlamentations, exposed to storms, and fainting with hunger and thirst. Some plough the ground with a plough of fire; others feed on their own flesh and blood, and tear themselves with hooks; and some are tormented by fire. Misers, uncharitable persons, persons who give alms to the wrong Rahaans or priests, are condemned to Preitta.
Assurichè is very like Preitta in its punishments, only every torment is here more acute and frightful. Quarrelsome persons, strikers with weapons, advancers and abettors of bad men, are sent thither.
In the fourth hell, Niria, the sufferings are by fire and cold. It is situated in the midst of the great stone Silapatavi, and is divided into many hells. Here the worst of mankind are punished, and here sit the judges, selected from the dead, upon their peculiar expiation. The time of confinement in all these places is undecided, and very few, if any, are sentenced to eternal punishment. By good behaviour in all these places the sufferers may attain to the position of insects, and gradually rise through all gradations, and finally attain Nieban.[101]The crimes and their punishments are very whimsical, and some very horrid. They are given at length in Sangermano. However, a spirit of mercy runs through all their dogmas, and, as already observed, every one may regain his lost position, though it is this southern island that is the most favoured; for here only can the believer attain Nieban. The infidels only are condemned to eternal torment.
I may conclude this account of the Burman cosmography with a few lines of the oldest writer on Hellenic philosophy, in which a very tolerable description of the nature of the Nat is given.
When in the dark and dread abodes of earth,The men of earliest golden age were laid,Their bones remained, but, soaring to the sky,Their life-enduring souls fled far on high;Still hov’ring there above the realms of earth,Still loving much the land that gave them birth,They kindly watch o’er the affairs of men.Spirits beneficent, clad in the filmy air,They take their rapid flight, and with a lib’ral hand,Like kings, they scatter wealth and justice in their fatherland.[102]
When in the dark and dread abodes of earth,The men of earliest golden age were laid,Their bones remained, but, soaring to the sky,Their life-enduring souls fled far on high;Still hov’ring there above the realms of earth,Still loving much the land that gave them birth,They kindly watch o’er the affairs of men.Spirits beneficent, clad in the filmy air,They take their rapid flight, and with a lib’ral hand,Like kings, they scatter wealth and justice in their fatherland.[102]
When in the dark and dread abodes of earth,The men of earliest golden age were laid,Their bones remained, but, soaring to the sky,Their life-enduring souls fled far on high;Still hov’ring there above the realms of earth,Still loving much the land that gave them birth,They kindly watch o’er the affairs of men.Spirits beneficent, clad in the filmy air,They take their rapid flight, and with a lib’ral hand,Like kings, they scatter wealth and justice in their fatherland.[102]
When in the dark and dread abodes of earth,
The men of earliest golden age were laid,
Their bones remained, but, soaring to the sky,
Their life-enduring souls fled far on high;
Still hov’ring there above the realms of earth,
Still loving much the land that gave them birth,
They kindly watch o’er the affairs of men.
Spirits beneficent, clad in the filmy air,
They take their rapid flight, and with a lib’ral hand,
Like kings, they scatter wealth and justice in their fatherland.[102]
It may easily be conceived, from what I have had occasion to mention, that the Burman chronology is as wildas any of the other Indian chronologies.[103]According to them, in every period (the age which intervenes between one time, when the life of man amounts to an assenchiè, and the next) there appears a royal being, who lives to an incalculable age, and assumes the title of Sumada. There have been eleven of these. The whole number of kings who have reigned since the last of these Sumadas to the age of Gaudama, is estimated at 334,569! The earliest date in Burmese to which we can give any credence, is the beginning of the epoch in which the period of Gaudama, or Gautama, falls, corresponding withB.C.661. The date of the birth of Gaudama is said to beB.C.626. He was the son of Thoke-daw-da-reh, king of Ma-ge-deh, the present province of Behar, in Hindustan. His mother’s name was Máhà-Maï, or the Great Maia, a coincidence which has led to his identification with the Hermes of the Hellenes, and the Thoth of the Egyptians. The new-born child was nursed and baptized by two incarnate deities called Esrur-Téngri and Hurmusta-Téngri, and received the name of Artashidi (Artasidd’hi); his divine origin and perfections were made known by the bowing of the idol, before which he was presented, according to the custom of his father’s family.[104]He had lived in four hundred millions of worlds before his present appearance, and, like any other inhabitant of the world, had gradually worked his way up through the state of beasts, and had been in every condition of human life. He exclaimed, immediately upon his birth, “Now I am the noblest of men! This is the last time I shall ever be born!” When ten years of age he was placed under the care of a wise man, named Bahburemihbacshi, who instructed him in every kind of knowledge: however, he soon seems to have outstripped his teacher, for we learn that shortly afterwards he retaliated and taught the wise man fifty or sixty languages. At twenty he married, but either from the shrewishness of his wife, or some other cause, he expressed a desire to turn anchorite, assumed the name of Gaudama, and gave himself up to the contemplation of the Deity. But for some reason or other he had great difficulty in following up his wishes, and it was not untilsome strenuous attempts that he finally combated all the arguments of his antagonists. This is not the place to go into the numerous disputes concerning this person, and I shall content myself with presenting the reader with the remarks of a writer in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana.[105]
“The Indian fable, therefore, may be assumed as the basis of the rest; and the truth, concealed under this mass of fiction, seems to be simply this: that a son of the king of Mágad’ha, whose rank and austerities had secured the veneration of his countrymen, had sense enough to perceive the absurdity of the Bráhmanical system, and ability enough to persuade his countrymen to adopt his. The success of his new doctrine was such, that at one period it had nearly suppressed the ancient faith of the Hindùs; but when events, which we cannot now trace, had re-established the authority of the Bráhmans, they showed that they were not behindhand in retaliation; the followers of Budd’ha were persecuted without mercy, and scarcely an individual of that faith can now be found in Hindustan. Some of the fugitives appear to have taken refuge in Ceylon, while others fled into the mountains of Tibet. From Ceylon they conveyed their doctrine to the eastern peninsula of India. From Tibet it travelled over Tátáry to the north and west, into China on the east, and from thence into Cochin-China and the other regions on the south, where it is only divided by a lofty chain of mountains from its kindred faith, imported from the south and west into the kingdoms of Ava and Siam.”
He obtained Nieban, or died,B.C.543.[106]At his death he advised that his relics and image should be worshipped and his law obeyed, until the appearance of the next Boodh or Budd’ha. This event is to take place in five or six thousand years. The ordinances of Gaudama are still in existence, although all the sayings of his three predecessors are lost. Gaudama’s laws were handed down by tradition until four hundred and fifty years after his obtaining Nieban, when they were written down inA.D.94. The work, which is divided into three sections, having similar subdivisions, is called the Bedagat, and is written in Pali. The book in an entire state is rare,though parts are not very scarce. The cosmography, of which I have given a specimen, is contained in them.
The following hymns, translated by Csoma de Korös, will give a good idea of the Buddhistic ritual.[107]
Priest.“There has arisen the Illuminator of the world! the world’s Protector! the Maker of light! who gives eyes to the world, that is blind,—to cast away the burden of sin.”
Congregation.“Thou hast been victorious in the fight: thy aim is accomplished by thy moral excellence: thy virtues are perfect: Thou shalt satisfy men with good things.”
P.“Gotama (Sakhya) is without sin: He is out of the miry pit. He stands on dry ground.”
C.“Yes, He is out of the mire; and he will save other animate beings, that are carried off by the mighty stream.”
P.“The living world has long suffered the disease of corruption. The Prince of physicians is come to cure men from all diseases.”
C.“Protector of the world! by thy appearance all the mansions of distress shall be made empty. Henceforth, angels and men shall enjoy happiness,” &c. &c.
P.“To Thee, whose virtue is immaculate, whose understanding is pure and brilliant, who hast the thirty-two characteristic signs complete, and who hast memory of all things, with discernments and foreknowledge.”
C.“Reverence be to Thee: we adore Thee; bending our heads to our feet.”
P.“To Thee, who art clean and pure from all taint of sin; who art immaculate, and celebrated in the three worlds; who being possessed of the three kinds of science, givest to animated beings the eye to discern the three degrees of emancipation from sin.”
C.“Reverence be to Thee!”
P.“To Thee, who with tranquil mind clearest the troubles of evil times: who, with loving kindness, teachest all living things to walk in the path designed for them.”
C.“Reverence be to Thee!”
P.“Muni! (Sage!) whose heart is at rest, and who delightest to explain the doubts and perplexities of men: who hast suffered much for the good of living beings: Thy intention is pure! Thy practices are perfect!”
C.“Reverence be to Thee!”
P.“Teacher of the four truths; rejoice in salvation! who, being thyself free from sin, desirest to free the world from sin.”
C.“Reverence be to Thee!”
Such is the strain in which the believers in Gaudama address their Saviour; and its similarity to the Roman Catholic services, noticed by so many writers, is extreme. Prinsep well assigns the origin of the legend of Prester John to the accounts which the early missionaries heard of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.[108]
The reformation which led to the establishment of Buddhism in the place of the ancient Hindū creed, was important in many respects, but in none so much as in the grand principle which it instilled into the minds of its votaries; the unity and indivisibility of the object of adoration, substituted for the gross polytheism of Hindūstan. But it has this fault, if it be a fault, that no clear conception of the object of adoration is presented in the place of the numerous divinities the creed displaces. Gaudama, like Confucius in China, is to be venerated, and not adored. The perfect Buddha whence Gaudama and his predecessors proceeded can alone be confided in. Even this, however, admits of some palliation. The vulgar, perhaps, could not understand, and certainly not appreciate, the mystery which the ministers of religion cherish and preserve. Consequently a scale has been instituted, like that in Tibet, for the capacity of the several classes of believers.
The general principles of the practical creed have been thus summed up by Csoma de Korös:[109]—
1. To take refuge only with Buddha. 2. To be steadfast in the determination of aiming at the highest pitch of excellence, in order thus to arrive at the proper state of Nieban. 3. To be obedient and reverent toward Buddha. 4. To make pleasing offerings. 5. To glorify and exalt Buddha by music and singing, and constant praise. 6. To confess sin truly and humbly, with a fixed resolution to repent. 7. To wish well toward all. 8. To encourage the ministers of the faith in their mission.
Teong-kha-pa, an eminent Buddhist reformer of thefourteenth century, defined the duty of the different classes of Buddhists in the following manner.[110]
“Men of the lowest order of mind must believe that there is a God; and that there is a future life, in which they will receive the reward or punishment of their actions and conduct in this life.
“Men of the middle degree of mental capacity must add to the above, the knowledge that all things in this world are perishable; that imperfection is a pain and degradation; and that deliverance from existence is a deliverance from pain, and, consequently, a final beatitude.
“Men of the third, or highest order, must believe in further addition: that nothing exists, or will continue always, or cease absolutely, except through dependence on a causal connection, or concatenation. So will they arrive at the true knowledge of God.”
“What is this,” exclaims Prinsep, enthusiastically, “but Christianity, wanting only the name of Christ as its preacher, and the Mosaic faith for its antecedent? It is these that the missionary must seek to add.”
The foundation of Buddhism is certainty rotten, and yet we cannot deny that in its recognised principles, the religion is far from being so debasing as many others. Prejudice, that great foe to toleration and peace, has prevented the perception of this fact. Of course, the lamentable truth of the generally lax administration of every faith, is no less false with regard to Buddhism; and by the carelessness of its ministers, and indifference of the laymen, it is in as bad odour as any other faith. Thus much for Buddhism in general; now I shall proceed to give a short account of Burman Buddhism.
Gaudama[111]declares himself God and Lord for 5,000 years, during which time his ordinances must be kept. Gaudama declares himself the only true God, and states that there were many false gods of all descriptions. The doctrines of the false gods are called the laws of the six Deittì. Upon the appearance of Gaudama some renounced their errors, and others were conquered. The laws and ordinances of the Burmans are precisely similar to those which I mentioned in another place,[112]and therefore neednot be repeated here. The observer of these commandments will finally become a great Nat or spirit. Besides the observation of these laws, there is merit in the deeds called Danà, and Bavanà. The first is charity to the priests, the second, the meditation of the three words Aneizz’a, Doechà, Anattà. The transgressors of the laws will be condemned to Niria, or one of the other places of punishment. In the course of 2,000 years the ordinances of Gaudama, 3,000 years having already elapsed, will no longer be binding, but another god will appear to give laws to the world.
The images of Buddha or Gaudama are generally represented with a pleasant countenance; and, on the whole, his religion cannot be considered a severe one. “It unites,” as Dr. Buchanan Hamilton has remarked,[113]“the temporal promises of the Jewish, with the future rewards of the Christian dispensation; all its states of beatitude are represented in the glowing and attractive colouring of the Mohammedan paradise; and its various gradations of future punishment have the plausibility of purgatory; but its priests are not like those of the Roman Church, intrusted with the dangerous power of curtailing their duration.”[114]
At Pegu, the deserted capital of the kingdom of that name, there is a celebrated temple, which Symes has well described in the Asiatic Researches, in an elaborate article on the city of Pegu, and it will not be inappropriate to transfer the account to my own pages:[115]—
“The object in Pegu that most attracts and most merits notice is the temple of Shoe-ma-doo, or theGolden Supreme. This extraordinary edifice is built on a double terrace, one raised above another; the lower and greater terrace is above ten feet above the natural level of the ground; it is quadrangular. The upper and lesser terrace is of a like shape, raised about twenty feet above the lower terrace, or thirty above the level of the country. I judged a side of the lower terrace to be 1,391 feet, of the upper, 684; the walls that sustained the sides of the terraces, both upper and lower, are in a state of ruin; they were formerly covered with plaster, wrought into various figures; the area of the lower is strewed with the fragments of small decayed buildings, but the upper is keptfree from filth, and in tolerably good order.... These terraces are ascended by flights of stone steps, broken and neglected; on each side are dwellings of the Rahaans or priests, raised on timbers four or five feet from the ground; their houses consist only of a single hall—the wooden pillars that support them are turned with neatness, the roof is of tile, and the sides of sheathing-boards: there are a number of bare benches in every house, on which the Rahaans sleep—we saw no other furniture.
“Shoemadoo is a pyramid, composed of brick, and plastered with fine shell-mortar, without excavation or aperture of any sort, octagonal at the base and spiral at top—each side of the base measures 162 feet; this immense breadth diminishes abruptly, and a similar building has not inaptly been compared to a large speaking-trumpet.
“Six feet from the ground there is a wide ledge, which surrounds the base of the building, on the plane of which are fifty-seven small spires of equal size and equidistant; one of them measured twenty-seven feet in height, and forty in circumference at the bottom; on a higher ledge there is another row, consisting of fifty-three spires, of similar shape and measurement. A great variety of mouldings encircle the building, and ornaments, somewhat resembling the fleur-de-lys, surround what may be called the base of the spire; circular mouldings likewise gird this part to a considerable height, above which there are ornaments in stucco, not unlike the leaves of a Corinthian capital, and the whole is crowned by atee, or umbrella of open iron-work, from which rises an iron rod with a gilded pennant. Thetee, or umbrella, is to be seen on every sacred building in repair, that is of a spiral form. The raising and consecration of this last and indispensable appendage is an act of high religious solemnity, and a season of festivity and relaxation.... The circumference of theteeis fifty-six feet; it rests on an iron axis fixed in the building, and is further secured by large chains strongly riveted to the spire. Round the lower rim of the umbrella are appended a number of bells, of different sizes, which, agitated by the wind, make a continual jingling. Theteeis gilt, and it is said to be the intention of the king to gild the whole of the spire; all the lesser pagodas are ornamented with proportionable umbrellas, of similar workmanship, which are likewise encircled by small bells. The extreme height of thebuilding from the level of the country is 361 feet, and above the interior terrace 331 feet.”
I have been thus particular in quoting this curious account, as I wish to impress upon my readers the necessity of comparing this place of worship with those described by myself in another place.[116]
Crawfurd, the intelligent ambassador, who unfortunately looked with too sinister an eye upon the institutions of the Burmese, has given us an interesting description of the appurtenances of a temple, together with a few remarks upon their endowment, of which I present the reader with a condensed abstract, epitomizing but little:—
“Close to our dwelling,” says the judicious observer,[117]“there was the neatest temple which I had yet seen in the country. It was quite unique, being entirely built of hewn sandstone. The workmanship was neat, but the polished stone was most absurdly disfigured by being daubed over with whitewash. The temple itself is a solid structure, at the base of a square form, each face measuring about eighty-eight feet. It is surrounded by a court, paved with large sandstone flags, and inclosed by a brick wall. At each corner of the area there is a large and handsome bell with an inscription. To the eastern face of the temple there are two open wooden sheds, each supported by thirty-eight pillars. These were among the richest things of the kind that I had seen in the country. The pillars, the carved work, the ceiling, the eaves, and a great part of the outer roof, were one blaze of gilding. In one of them only there was a good marble image of Gautama. Buildings of this description are called by the Burmans, Za-yat, or, in more correct orthography,[118]Ja-rat.... On the west side of the temple there is a long, rudely-constructed wooden shed, where are deposited the offerings made by the king and his family to the temple. These consist of two objects only, state palanquins and figures of elephants.... The palanquins now alluded to are litters of immense size and weight, with two poles, and each requiring forty men to bearthem. They are all richly gilt and carved, with a high wooden canopy over them. In each of those in the temple there was placed one or more large figures of Gautama or his disciples. The figures of elephants are about a foot and a half high, standing upon wooden pedestals.... Why the gifts to this temple in particular consist of elephants, I was not able to learn.... On the river face of this temple there are two large houses of brick and mortar, of one story, with flat stone roofs, called Taik, by the Burmans, and purporting to be in imitation of European dwellings. These are also considered Za-yats, or caravanseras. They are comfortless places as can be, the interior being so occupied with stone pillars that there is hardly room to move about.... The guardian Nat of the temple now described, is Tha-kya-men, or, more correctly, Sa-kya-men, or the lord Sakya. He is, according to the Burmans, the second in power of the two kings of the Nats. Of this personage there is, in a small temple, a standing figure, in white marble, not however of a very good description, measuring not less than nine feet eleven inches high. The statue seems to be of one entire block.”
This temple is named Aong-mre-lo-ka, a title signifying the “place of victory.”—It was built by King Men-ta-ra-gyi, in the year 1144 of the Burman era, orA.D.1782, in the second year of his reign. He was the fourth son of the energetic Alompra, the founder of the dynasty which still occupies the throne. Alompra was succeeded by his first and second brother, and by his nephew, Senku-sa, son of the latter. His uncle, however, conspired against him, raised the son of the elder brother, Maong-maong, to the regal dignity, who had been excluded from the throne, partly by reason of the law of succession, and partly by the ambition of his uncle. In a few days, however, he, after drowning Senku-sa, and probably disposing in a like manner of Maong-maong, assumed the government, and, in thanks to heaven for the success of his ambitious schemes, he built this temple on the spot whence he had commenced his successful agitation.[119]
I shall have occasion hereafter to return to the subject of the Burmese temples, in connection with the Golden Dagon temple at Rangoon; I shall, therefore, say no moreof them in this place. Two curious monuments, however, deserve mentioning, as they have evidently some connection with the ancient religion of Burmah. I shall again use the words of an eye-witness:[120]—
“On the summit of a steep tongue of land I found a large circular opening, about fifty feet deep, caused by the earth having given way; there being no apparent reason for this, unless an excavation existed, I immediately descended into the valley, in hopes of finding an opening at the side of the hill. After a short search, I discovered three small brick arches, about four feet high, leading into the hill; having crept into one of these, I perceived, by a ray of light issuing from the aperture above, that there were several more passages branching off from the spot where I remained; and I therefore determined on returning at some future period with a lantern, to examine the cavern. On subsequently renewing my search, I found that after creeping along the passage from the arch for about five yards, the communication entered a small chamber, sufficiently high to enable me to stand erect, whence four other passages led off in different directions; and it was from one of these having given way that the chasm had been formed in the hill. As the quantity of earth requisite to fill up the passage could not have caused such a large hollow above, it may be concluded that a room of considerable dimensions must have existed there. Notwithstanding the annoyance I experienced from many bats, which were constantly flying about my face and lantern, and from the heat, which was very oppressive, I proceeded on my hands and knees down the other passages; but, after going a very short distance, was obliged to return, the earth having fallen and filled up the gallery so very much, that it did not seem prudent to proceed further, particularly as, from the closeness of the air, I might have been rather unpleasantly situated.”
This same officer saw another such structure on the plain of Pagahm, among the ruins; but finding that it was used as a robber’s cavern, he did not explore it. From what he could see, it was larger, and in better repair.
The priests of Burmah[121]are named Pongyees, meaning “great example,” or “great glory.” The Pali name,“Rahan,” or “holy man,” once so much in use among them, is now almost obsolete. The office is not hereditary, for the Burmans are unshackled by castes; and, indeed, a priest may become a layman again, though after re-entering society he may not again assume the sacerdotal position. Thus the convents of Burmah serve as a place where an education superior to that usually obtained in the schools may be received, and the young man, not being bound by any vow, may return to the active scenes of life, and take military or political rank. If the youth find the peaceful pursuits of the convent more to his taste, he can remain, and become a priest. The system of the priesthood is not badly managed. The Burmans have no church-rates, and pluralism, not being worth anything, is, of course, unknown. The priests have no political influence, and are only consulted on ecclesiastical and literary matters; they live on the charity of their parishioners, and, on the whole, they do not appear to be badly off.
The ritual, for which I must refer the reader to my frequently quoted authority Sangermano,[122]is very strict in regard to priests; that, however, is of no consequence, for in the foul and corrupted Burmese empire all these institutions have fallen into disrepute. The priests live as those of the convents of the middle ages did; and the similarity between the Roman Catholic and Buddhist ceremonies, so amply proved by MM. Huc and Gabet,[123]extends equally to the men.
Their dress is of a yellow colour, and is formed by two cloths, which are so wrapped around them as to completely envelop them from the shoulders to the heels. Their heads are shaved, and to shade the bare poll from the burning sun, they carry a talipot or palmyra-leaf in their hands. In M. Dubois de Jancigny’s Indo-Chine, and in Malcom, there are plates of the dress, which convey a very tolerable idea of the look of a priest out walking.
The priesthood of Burmah is divided into regular grades, like those of Europe. I shall quote the summary of Malcom in preference to any other.[124]“The highest functionary is the ‘Tha-thena-byng’, or archbishop. He resides at Ava, has jurisdiction over all the priests, and appoints the president of every monastery. He stands high at court, and is considered one of the great men ofthe kingdom. Next to him are thePonghees, strictly so called, one of whom presides in each monastery. Next are theOo-pe-zíns, comprising those who have passed the noviciate, sustained a regular examination, and chosen the priesthood for life. Of this class are the teachers or professors in the monasteries. One of them is generally vice-president, and is most likely to succeed to the headship on the demise of thePongyee. Both these orders are sometimes calledRahans, orYahans. They are considered to understand religion so well as to think for themselves, and expound the law out of their own hearts, without being obliged to follow what they have read in books. Next are theKo-yen-ga-láy, who have retired from the world, and wear the yellow cloth, but are not all seeking to pass the examination, and becomeOo-pe-zíns. They have entered for an education, or a livelihood, or to gain a divorce, or for various objects; and many of such return annually to secular life. Many of this class remain for life without rising a grade. Those who remain five years honourably are calledTay,i.e.simply,priests; and those who remain twenty, areMaha Tay,greatoraged priests. They might have become Ponghees at any stage of this period if their talents and acquirements had amounted to the required standard. By courtesy, all who wear the yellow cloth are called Ponghees.”
In some parts of Burmah there are also nunneries, though the Bedagat neither authorizes nor requires them; indeed, manifestoes have been issued by several of the kings of Ava to prevent women under a certain age from entering these institutions.[125]On the subject of the khyoums, however, I cannot do better than refer to the works of MM. Huc and Gabet, Mr. Prinsep, and others.
The most interesting and most characteristic ceremony of these Burmese is the funeral of a priest, as it contains a mixture of solemnity and absurdity rarely to be met with anywhere. I shall proceed, therefore, to describe it.
When a Burman priest dies, his body is embalmed. The process of embalming is conducted in the following manner. The body is opened, the intestines taken out, and the spaces filled with various descriptions of spices, the orifice being closed up again, and sewed together. After this the whole body is covered by a layer of wax, toprevent the air from injuring it; over the wax is placed a layer of lac, together with some bituminous compound, and the whole is covered with leaf gold. The ceremony somewhat reminds one of the description given by Herodotus of ancient Egyptian embalming.[126]The arms are laid across the breast of the body. The preparation of the body takes place at the house.[127]
About a year afterward the body is removed to a house built expressly for such purposes, where it is kept until the other priests order it to be burnt. In this house the body is disposed upon a raised stage of bamboo and wood, and the house itself is ornamented with paper and leaf gold. By the stage, the coffin, overlaid with gold and painted with figures of death in various ways, was placed. In the courtyard of the house two four-wheel carriages await the time fixed for the burning, one being intended for the coffin, the other for the stage, with its apparatus. The carriage on which the corpse is placed has another stage built upon it, similar to the one in the house, with the difference of its being larger, and fixed upon an elephant in a kneeling posture.
The people of the place have to prepare rockets and other fireworks, as well as images of animals to which the rockets are fixed. The images are then drawn through the streets and round the town; all the citizens, when the ceremonies are strictly observed, being compelled to assist. The procession opens with some flags; then a number of dancing girls and boys follow; after this the carriages with the figures, drawn by boys and bullocks; and on the occasion which Mr. Carey describes, there followed, by the express command of the governor, a quantity of young women “dancing and singing, with an older woman between each row to keep them in order.” Then came the principal persons of the place under umbrellas, a sign of rank, as in ancient Nineveh, and all modern Asiatic countries. Lastly, the procession was closed by men, dancing and singing in like manner.
The images on the carriages are usually very large, much larger than life, and represented buffaloes, elephants, horses, and men. Each street attends its own carriage in the procession.
The following day the townspeople are divided into two parties, and strange indeed must be the sight of the multitude. The carriage containing the corpse has four large cables attached to it, and the two parties of the townspeople pull against one another, and strive to draw away the carriage and its contents. This contest is continued till superior strength puts an end to it, or till the cable breaks, and the losing party tumble head over heels.
The third day is spent in discharging the rockets. The figures were fixed on carriages, and the rocks were fastened to strong ropes by rattan loops, in such a manner that being passed between the legs of the animals, “so that when discharged, they, sliding on the ropes, ran along the ground.” In the evening there is another grand display of fireworks.
The next day the corpse is burnt in a temporary house by small rockets, which, sliding down on to the coffins along ropes in rings of rattan, set the coffin on fire. Sometimes, as we are informed by Crawfurd,[128]the body is blown from a cannon to convey it more quickly to heaven!
What can be said of such puerility and solemnity joined together? How melancholy is the aspect of such things, and what can we think of the moral or religious condition of a nation who made such seeming fun (for under what other term can a large portion of the ceremony be comprehended?) of the solemnest moment of existence, and that, too, in the burial of a minister of that God to whom, in humility and reverence, they lifted up their hearts in prayer. Very often, however, the most solemn and the most trivial are mingled in very remarkable proportions. We have one example of that, at least, in religion, nearer home.
The Buddhist religion is remarkable in many points, but decidedly the most curious circumstance connected with it, is the vast numbers of believers which own its influence. That the religion is ancient, perhaps more ancient than any other form of eastern worship, except Brahmanism, can scarcely be doubted; but that it extended so far over the earth as some would have us believe, is scarcely credible. Reuben Burrow, a long time ago, called Stonehenge a Buddhist temple; and since then thenotion has been revived by Higgins in his Celtic Druids, as well as in another work.[129]
Mr. Pococke, too, the author of India in Greece, would persuade us that the early Greeks were Buddhists, and that Pythagoras, correctly written (according to him) Buddha-gooroos (Buddha’s spiritual teacher), was a Buddhist missionary!
However, let the religion be ancient or modern, in principle it is one of the best that man ever made for man. Mr. Malcom, from whom as a missionary one would of course expect rabid intolerance, bears testimony to this:—“There is scarcely a principle, or precept, in the Bedagat, which is not found in the Bible. Did the people but act up to its principles of peace and love, oppression and injury would be known no more within their borders. Its deeds of merit are in all cases either really beneficial to mankind, or harmless. It has no mythology of obscene and ferocious deities; no sanguinary or impure observances; no self-inflicted tortures; no tyrannizing priesthood; no confounding of right and wrong, by making certain iniquities laudable in worship. In its moral code, its descriptions of the purity and peace of the first ages, of the shortening of man’s life because of its sins, &c., it seems to have followed genuine traditions. In almost every respect it seems to be the best religion which man has ever invented.”[130]
It is true there is another side to the picture; but why should we turn the face to the wall, and expose the tattered back? Let us leave it as it is, but let us recollect that the ill side is there, and make the recollection atone for many faults in the character of the worshippers of Buddha.