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2020-07-02 08:14 PM -0400
TIL
Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism
ch01.htm
Maung Htin Aung.
Printed and published by U Myint Maung, Deputy Director, Regd: No
(02405/02527) at the Religious Affairs Dept. Press. Yegu, Kaba-Aye P.O.,
Rangoon, BURMA. 1981.
Copied, set in HTML, and edited by U Kyaw Tun
(UKT) (M.S., I.P.S.T., USA), and staff of
Tun Institute of Learning (TIL) .
Not for sale. No copyright. Free for
everyone.
Prepared for students and
staff of TIL Research Station, Yangon, MYANMAR :
http://www.tuninst.net ,
www.romabama.blogspot.com
index.htm |
Top
flk-ele-indx.htm
UKT: I have inserted captions to some
paras for easy reading.
This file needs to be rechecked with
the original book, especially on the
page numbers. -- 080831
The Nine Gods
Preparations for the ceremony
Buddha and
Eight Arahats : Nine Liberated Souls
Ashin Revata and Ashin Gavampati
Gods of Planets : Luminaries
The Five Great Gods :
Mother Goddesses & their attendants
Ceremony begins
Explanations of the ceremony :
Dhammapada Commentary in Harvard Oriental Series
Magic-number Nine ; my caption
Footnotes
UKT notes
Some of these notes might
be moved elsewhere in later versions of
my review of Dr. HtinAung's book.
•
Animal of Five Beauties
•
Astrology of Nakshatras
: See:
http://shrifreedom.org/vedic-astrology/navatara-chakra/ 170413
•
begging bowl
: receptacle for receiving alms to bless the giver
•
Burmese astrology : Mahaboat
•
Chronicles
•
Five Great Gods :
{nût-kri: nga:pa:} (predominance of females)
or Mother Goddesses & their attendants
•
Gayatri Mantra : Peacock sutra
•
Gods of the planets
: real astronomical planet Mercury for this edition
•
Hindu astrology: Rahu and Ketu :
Nakshatra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra 130128
•
makeshift bed
•
miniature monastery
•
Native Animal Cult
•
Phaya
•
sickness in the house
•
streamers
•
Thagyamin : Sakka the husband of Suja is the present Indra
Term "Indra" means the "king" of Devas
•
Vajrayana : Thunderbolt vehicle & Waizzar-path
•
Vessavana
•
werevolves
Contents of this page
UKT: 130116, 180507
The worship of Nine-Gods is
{Bu.ra: ko:hsu}
{pu-zau pwè:} or The Nine-Gods Puja .
It should be compared to the worship of Hindu
Navagraha
{na.wa.gra.ha.} नवग्रह
= न व ग ् र ह . See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navagraha 130116
I hold that the Vedic religion, with its
chants and mantras, was in existence long
before the Hindu-religionists came into
India through the north-western corner
from Persia (the land of Fire-worshipers).
Either to go on holding this view or to
reject it, I must now go into Zoroastrianism
the religion of Ancient Persia, and how
it stands compared to Vedic. But for the
time being, I will continue holding this view.
See
http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/zoro.pdf 130128
The Vedic religion, with its goddesses,
was taken over by the Brahmin-Poona
Braahmana Poannar
{braah~ma.Na. poaN~Na:}, and the Shaivite Ponnar
{þi-wa. poaN~Na:}.
{brah~ma.Na. poaN~Na:} to become the modern
Hindu religion. In this respect my views
in this chapter differ from those of my
respected teacher Dr. HtinAung.
Because of travel, back and forth, by
the ancients along the foothills of the
Himalayas from India in the west to
Myanmarpré in the east, the ancient
peoples, presumably the Pyus and Burmese,
of our country particularly in areas of
Tagaung
{ta.kaung:} and Pagan
{pu.gän} would be followers of the Vedic
religion, long before the birth of the
Gautama Buddha. The two religious ceremonies
are not the same as can be seen from the
difference in placement of planets or Graha
in Hindu and Burmese Mahaboat
{ma.ha.Boat} 'Burmese astrology'. I hold
that the two even though derived from Vedic
are different. I emphasize the Burmese did
not get Mahaboat from the Hindus.
Contents of this page
DHA ( p007begin )
The ceremony of the Nine Gods
{Bu.ra: ko:hsu} is usually held when there is
sickness in the house. As in the case
of all Burmese ceremonies it begins with
the issue of invitations by the head of
the household to relations and friends. In
the villages, of course, the invitation is
to the whole village. A master of ceremonies
is then engaged for a fee. In villages he
is an amateur, but in towns he is a professional
and is known as the 'Saya of the Nine-Gods Ceremony'.
[UKT ¶ ]
DHA
The Burmese term Saya {hsa.ya} means a 'Master Craftsman'
and usually the craft that he practises is
attached to his term of Saya, as, for example,
'Saya of the School' (a teacher), 'Saya of
the University', 'Saya of Medicine', 'Saya of Magic',
'Saya of Astrology', 'Saya of Carpentry',
'Saya of Masonry', 'Saya of Pot-Making',
'Saya of Machines', etc. That there should be
a Saya to perform the ceremony of the Nine Gods
is surprising since Burmese Buddhist ceremonies
do not need a priest to act as the medium between
the worshipper and the worshipped, and Burmese phongyis
{Boan:kri:} are monks and not priests in fact.
DHA
Invitations are issued in the morning and
the 'Master' is engaged from the morning,
although the ceremony will begin only in
the evening. The Master spends the whole
day in making a
miniature monastery made of banana stem,
and in making paper umbrellas, paper flag-poles with
streamers, and paper prayer-flags.
In towns, however, the Master has a
ready-made miniature monastery of wood.
In the evening, when darkness has fallen,
the Master of the Ceremony comes to the
house with all his paraphernalia and,
in the front room, he sets up his monastery.
[{p008-approx}]
Contents of this page
DHA:
The monastery is placed at the eastern end
of the front room, and it is imperative
that it faces due west. The cardinal points,
are of the utmost importance in the ceremony.
The audience will be facing the monastery
and, therefore, facing east. The Master
then sets up the images that he has brought
with him. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
Right in the centre of the monastery he
places the image of the Buddha, and, he
places the images of eight of his Chief Disciples
(all Arahats) at the cardinal points
and corners of the monastery and with
the faces turned towards the Buddha:
DHA:
Of the eight Arahats, six are well
known to all Buddhists, but two, Revata and
Gavampati, are not so frequently mentioned
in the Buddhist scriptures. [UKT ¶ ]
UKT: There is a theory that these two
were adapts in esoteric cults, and were
made into Buddhist arahants. At present
I can not remember my source for this
theory. I need to go further into the
Weizza cult in Myanmarpré, one of the
centre of which is a place called
{mèý-Bè.koan:} near Pyinmana. -- UKT130113
DHA
Sariputta and Moggallana were the Chief
and Vice-Chief Disciples of the Buddha.
They were friends, born to luxury and
riches, and together they renounced the
world and sought for the true faith, until
they met the Buddha. By that time the Buddha
had established his Order and there were
already many members, but because of their
special purity and saintliness they were
appointed First and Second Chief Disciples.
[{p009-approx}]
UKT 130128
In the above para, Dr. HtinAung has used
the terms "Chief and Vice-Chief"
"appointed". These terms are
somewhat misleading because, the Buddhist
monastic order is not formed as in
Catholic Church with Pope at the head
and Cardinals on the second level. In
Theravada Buddhist monastic order there
are no "appointed" office holders.
UKT 080826, 130110 :
Count clock-wise starting from North-east:
- North-east corner is also known as the
{aung} or "success" corner which
is connected to the Vedic Om-akshara ॐ or
{OAn}. Since the word
{OAn} pronounced with emphasis gives
{oan:}
-- the coconut or the fruit of {oan:}-palm,
and leaves are always part of the offering.
UKT 130128:
The upper castes of Hinduism, look down
on the two lower castes, especially the
fourth -- the Sudra aka Shudra. The
Sudras were the original inhabitants of
India who had been subjugated by the
second caste - the Warrior caste.
The Sudras, would not say the Om
ॐ (with the coda /m/), but {aún:}
(coda /n/ -- or more correctly /ŋ/).
On the other hand the
{poaN~Na:},
could not pronounce /ŋ/ --
the {nga.}-phoneme, but had to say
only the indefinite {þé:þé:tín}-phoneme.
This shows that the Brahmin-Poanna -- the
IE speakers -- taking over the beliefs of
the original inhabitants -- the Tib-Bur
speakers.
UKT 170727: I now realize that r1c5 is pronounced in 2 ways:
-
r1c5 in onset, non-nasal:
{gna.},
{gna},
{gna:}
-
r1c5 in coda, nasal :
{king} --> {kín}
Now the placement of Arahats in Bur-Myan worship:
1. Rahula - North-east (Sun-corner)
2. Kodnna - East
3. Revata - South-east (Mars-corner) :
- high respect held by powerful deities,
such as the ruler of planet-Mars
4. Sariputta - South
5. Upali - South-west (Saturn-corner)
6. Ananda - West
7. Gavampati - North-west (Rahu-corner) :
- high respect held by powerful deities,
such as the ruler of planet-Rahu
8. Moggallana - North
• ॐ (AUM) aka
{OÄn}
Skt: ॐ (AUM) - Primordial Sound - OnlineSktDict
Skt: ॐ { ओंकार }
oṃ { oṃkāra }
- phrase Om [Aum, Omkara ] - SpkSkt
Skt: aum ind. the sacred syllable
of the Śūdras ( 3. au )
- MonWilliWash
Bur:
{AÚn:} - n. Om ; word
prefacing Pali verse or mantra
to ensure potency or success [Sans
]
- MED2010-624
It should be noted that the Nine-god
puja and Bur-Myan astrology (the kind
related to the Planets) are intimately
connected. It is usual, for the parents
of the family to consult an astrologer
regularly, say at least once a year.
Most of the times the astrologer using
the Mahaboat
{ma.ha Boat} or Thondanpauneit method
would require the enquirer to give the
year of birth of the enquirer in Burmese
era, and the day on which he or she was
born. Using a very simple calculation,
and quoting the predictions he had learnt
by heart, he would predict the future,
usually for the coming 364 days, and
recommend what astrological action must
be taken.
Usually he would find out the Planet
that is having an effect on enquirer
and his family at the present, and the
up and coming Planet. The action would
be usually either to placate the Planet
or have something done to overwhelm it.
Of the eight Planets ruling
the days of the week (Wednesday is
divided into two to make the week have
8 rulers), the Planets ruling the
corners of the compass (North-west,
North-east, South-east, South-west)
are considered to be malefic Planets,
whereas those ruling the cardinal points
(East, South, West, North) are considered
to be benefic.
You will notice that the principal
disciples of the Buddha are assigned
to the cardinal points. Please also
note that what I have just described
is quite different from Hindu astrology
which is usually known as
{nak~hkût be-dín} or the
Astrology of Nakshatras.
Contents of this page
DHA:
Sariputta was in his wisdom next only
to the Buddha himself. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
Moggallana was famous for his supernatural
powers, and using these powers he often
visited the abode of the Gods [Devas]
and the various other worlds of the
universe; he even subjugated the Great Naga
of Mount Mayyu and once scolded Sakra or
Thagyamin,
{þi.kra:mín:} (pronounced as {þa.kya:mín:}
literally meaning the "Sugar-king"),
King of the Gods, and the Great God, Brahma Baka
{ba.ka. brah~ma}.
UKT 080826, 130129, 170727:
According to Burmese-Buddhist tradition,
Devas and Brahmas, though commonly
translated as "gods", are
different. Devas belong to the sexual
world and there are male devas and
female devas (known as 'devi'). The
Brahmas on the other hand are a-sexual,
viz. no differentiation into males
and females. Brahmas are of two kinds:
those still connected to the material
world (with "form" - explained
as "matter") and those
connected to the philosophical world
(without "form" - explained
as "energy"). Devas have
comparatively short life, whereas the
Brahmas have extremely long lives.
The formless Brahmas are considered
to be the longest living of all.
However, everyone including the
formless ones must change or
"die". Baka Brahma was one
who had lived for so long that he
had forgotten when he had come into
the Brahma world, and had thought that
he was eternal and had refuted the
Principle of Anatta (or Change).
However in the Hindu
{poaN~Na:} tradition, Brahma aka Maha Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, are all Devas
albeit more powerful. They are Mahadevas and belong the sexual world,
and must have consorts. There are two main sects in Hinduism: that of the Braahmana Poannar
{braah~ma.Na. poaN~Na:}. They believe in Vishnu-déva and his reincarnate Krishna.
Their philosophy is embodied in
Bhagava Gita preached by Krishna. The second and in a way the virulent one is
that of the Shaivite
{þi-wa. poaN~Na:} who believe in Shiva-déva
as the Supreme God and Creator. They do not
accept Bhagava Gita as the word of the Supreme God.
According to the Shaivites Shiva and his
consort Parvati set the example to the
humans by portraying vivid sexual scenes
which would now be classified as
Adult-movies in the West -- not suitable
for viewing by minors under the age 18.
They are so much sex-orientated that worship Shiva's Lingam 'penis'
perpetually stuck Parvati's Yoni 'virginal opening'.
Vishnu had a wife by the name Chandi.
Left alone, MahaBrahma forced his creation, the goddess Sarasvati
{þu-raþ~þa.ti mèý-tau}
(which made him the father and his
creation the daughter) into marriage
which she disapproved. Remember, all devas
and asuras must have mates. In fact none
is allowed in their Heaven unless married,
and those Rishis
{ra.þé.} who could not find
human-like ones were forced to mate with
female animals before they were allowed
into Heaven.
DHA: 
Kodanna was one of the eight Brahmin
astrologers who were invited by the king,
the Buddha's father, to prognosticate
the future of his new-born son, and while
the other seven foretold that the child
would become either the Buddha or the
emperor of the universe [UKT ¶ ]
UKT:
U Tun Tint (MLC) explains "the
emperor of the universe" as
Juggernaut. However, you should
not take this literally. The "emperor
of the universe" is a Chakravatin
{sa.kra.wa.té: ming:}
DHA:
Kodanna alone announced that the child would
become the Buddha definitely. Confident in
his own prophecy he renounced the world and,
becoming a recluse in the forest, he
awaited the appearance of the Buddha.
He was one of the 'Five Recluses' to
whom the Buddha preached the First Sermon,
and who became, therefore, the first
members of the Buddha's Order. He later
retired to the forest and lived alone
for twelve years, waited upon by thousands
of wild elephants.
DHA:
Ananda was a cousin and the attendant
of the Buddha. He was so busy attending
on the Buddha that he had no time to
meditate and become an Arahat
during the Buddha's life time. He was
well-loved by monks and laymen alike
because of his humility and good-nature.
When the Buddha lay dying, surrounded by
Arahats and Gods, Ananda was
human enough to cry like a child until
the Buddha consoled him.
DHA:
Upali was the barber to the prince
cousins of the Buddha, and when his
masters renounced the world he also
followed suit. He became the chief
authority on the Vinaya, or the rules
of discipline of the Order.
DHA:
Rahula was the Buddha's only son and was
received into the Order when he was still
a child; after becoming an Arahat
he became one of the Chief Disciples on his
own purity and merit. [{p010}]
Contents of this page
UKT: The above caption is mine to high
light the importance of the two Arahats
with esoteric supernatural powers and
who commanded great respect from the most
malignant entities.
DHA:
Revata and Gavampati were also possessors
of unusual supernatural powers. Revata
once created, by his super natural powers,
splendid monasteries for the Buddha and
his monks while they were passing through
a wilderness, and Gavampati once stopped
the tide and thus saved some monks from
drowning as they slept on a sand-bank.
[UKT ¶]
DHA:
Revata was the youngest brother of Sariputta,
and although he made his abode in the
forest he used to come and visit the Buddha
and Sariputta regularly. He was later
declared by the Buddha to be the foremost
of the forest-dwelling monks of his Order.
As he foresaw that his end was approaching
he went and visited the Buddha and Sariputta
for the last time, and on his way back to
the forest he was mistaken for a thief by
some king's officials and arrested and
taken to their master. Revata now announced
that he was a monk and an Arahat,
and sitting cross-legged in the air he
preached a sermon to the king. As he
finished his sermon he died and flames
rose out of his body and consumed it.
DHA:
Gavampati was a god with a golden palace
before he was born as Gavampati, but unlike
other palaces which disappeared with the
death of their gods, this palace did not
disappear; Gavampati, in fact, used to
spend much of his time in his old age
in this palace among the gods, and he was
there when he was invited to come and
participate in the First Synod, held
soon after the Buddha's death. He realized,
however, that his own death was imminent
and after making an offering to the Order
of his
begging-bowl and his robes, he died. [UKT ¶ ]
UKT 080826, 130128:
The word "begging" is not
appropriate for the Theravada Buddhist
monks, and is now replaced with "alms".
Buddhist monks do not beg. They receive alms
from the people to bless them for their good
deed. When a monk refused to receive alms
from a person, it is a sign of displeasure
and it amounts to excommunication. Figuratively
such an act is described as "keeping
the alms bowl overturned": {þa.paik mhauk
hkring:} 'the act of boycotting".
See MED2006-487.
Another word in-appropriately used by DHA
was "god". He was following the
English usage of his time. After careful
scrutiny, I have changed his usage to
"deva-god". I have to do this
to prevent our young Myanmar ethnics who
tend to equate "god" to {Bu.ra:}
and then to "Buddha". I have seen
some of my young friends translating
"king of gods" to "king
of Buddhas". This, I think is due
to the Burmese-Christians translating
their Abrahamic God as the "permanent
Buddha" misleading the uninformed
to think that Gautama Buddha (a historical
person) as inferior to the Abrahamic God
(an idea that has no scientific basis,
which is not a He, She, or It.).
DHA:
According to purely Mon and Burmese tradition
(i.e. not according to the general Buddhist
tradition), Gavampati in a previous birth
was a native of southern or Lower Burma;
he was hatched from an egg laid by a
Naga-Princess after her union with
an alchemist, but he died when he was
only ten years of age. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
He was later reborn as Gavampati and
became an Arahat . He remembered
his previous life, and on his invitation
the Buddha himself visited the kingdom of
Thaton (p010end-p011begin) in southern
or Lower Burma. According to another local
tradition Gavampati did not die at the
time of the First Synod, and he even
assisted in the foundation of the Pyu
city of Prome. The special supernatural
powers attributed to Revata and Gavampati
impressed the early Burmese. Revata was
adopted as their patron saint by the
magicians, alchemists, hermits, and
monks who dwelt in the Burmese forest
performing austerities, and Gavampati
became the patron saint of the Mons and
the Pyus.
UKT 080827:
You will notice that these two Arahats,
Revata and Gavampati, with their great magical
powers, are assigned to South-east (ruled by
Mars - the God of War) and North-West (ruled
by Rahu - the God of Darkness), two of the
most feared Planets because of their connection
to sudden death. It seems that only those
Arahats with magical powers are capable of
dealing with such malefics.
Contents of this page
UKT 130123 :
The English rendition "god"
is not right. The Planets are neither
Devas nor Asuras. I am spelling the
English rendering with capital letters
to show their special nature. They are
just luminaries in the sky which travel
against the background of fixed stars.
These luminaries have been given
human-like forms similar to the Devas
and Asuras. Please note that the Asuras
were not counted as demons in Vedic
times. They were honoured in Persia
as good guys -- just rough but truthful,
whereas the Devas are "clever"
and "slick". In India, the
Devas are good, the Asuras demons!
DHA:
After placing the images of the above-mentioned
Arahats in position, the Master of the
Ceremony now sets up the figures of the
Gods of the Planets.
[UKT ¶]
DHA: (need to check with original book)
Burmese astrology recognizes the nine
Planets, namely, Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter,
Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, and two other
planets, Rahu and Kate
{kait}. All the Burmese names of the
planets are borrowed from Hindu astrology,
but the Burmese Rahu and Kate are different from the
Nakshatra Rahu and Katu. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
The Burmese consider them to be distinct
and separate Planets, whereas Hindu
astrology considers them to be either
the Dragon's Head and Tail, or the
Ascending and Descending Nodes.
UKT , 080826, 130128:
The Hindus considered them a the
head-without-body and body-without-head
of an asura. To the Bur-Myan astrologers, Kate is the
king of all the planets.
According to the Hindu story of the
"Churning of the Cosmic Ocean",
the Devas cheated the Asuras of their
fair share of the Elixir of Immortality.
One Asura got himself mixed with the
company of Devas, and started to drink
the Elixir. The Sun-deva and the Moon-deva
saw and reported it to Vishnu who in
reality was the agent of the Deva-gods.
He cut the Asura into two: head and body --
the head became Rahu and the body Ketu.
Because of this, Rahu, whenever he got
the chance swallowed Sun-deva, or Moon-deva,
but they always come out of the open end
of his throat - a Santa Claus story of
Solar and Lunar eclipses for the kids! See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_of_milk#The_Churning_of_the_Ocean
130128
The most popular form of Burmese astrology is the
{ma.ha-Boat}, which is entirely different
from the Nakshatra Astrology
{nak~hkût bé-ding} of the Hindus. {ma.ha-boat}
was the astrology referred to Dr. Htin Aung.
According to Daw Hla Than, an astrologer-friend
of mine, who had studied {ma.ha-boat} thoroughly,
it was of Burmese origin. -- 080827
The Kait of
{ma.ha-Boat} is different from the Kétu of Hindu
astrology. The Kait is so bright that it blinds
all other plants so that they cannot have any
effect on the person -- cutting off their influence.
Whereas in Hindu, Kétu cuts off the planetary
influence by casting a shadow. I am waiting for input
from my astrologer friends. -- 130114
DHA:
As with other nations the Burmese name the
seven days of their week after the seven planets,
but Burmese astrology recognizes an eight-day
week, Wednesday being divided into two days;
until 6 p.m. it is Wednesday, but from 6 p.m.
to midnight it is Rahu's day.
UKT: The above paragraph needs to be checked.
The division point in time is the 'noon' on
Wednesday when the Sun is at Zenith. Twelve
hours before noon is the day of Wednesday-planet
(animal: elephant with tusks), whereas 12
hours after the 'noon' is the Rahu day (animal:
elephant without tusks - considered untamable).
-- 080829
Just as the gods of Hindu mythology ride on
particular animals as their 'vehicles', the
nine Burmese Planets have their own animal
vehicles and are often represented by these
animals.
UKT: the figures of animals, except the
{piñ~sa.ru-pa.} at the centre, are from
Facets of Life at Shwedagon Pagoda in
Colorful Myanmar by Daw Khin Myo Chit.
The ruler of the Planets are all portrayed
as males. No Planet is mentioned with
a wife, which attest the fact that they are
not devas or asuras but something else. They are simply
referred to as
{groh).
I have inserted the Indian Planets &
their vehicles from Wikipedia. You can
see that by just comparing the animal
vehicles of the Planets, Burmese astrology
is not Indian astrology. I hold that
the Burmese variety was the original Vedic
- Tib-Bur astrology, before it became
corrupt at the hands of the new comers
into India -- the IE and Dravidian
speakers. I base my assumption on the
presence of Naga -- an object of worship
of Tib-Bur -- in Burmese astrology.
1. Sunday-planet,
{ta.nïn~ga.nwé groh} rides on a Galon
{ga.Loan}, the Bur-Myan name for the Pali
Garuda, a mythical bird, who is the
eternal enemy of the Naga
{na.ga:}.
2. Monday-planet,
{ta.nïn~la groh} rides a tiger
{kya:}.
3. Tuesday-planet,
{ïn~ga groh} rides a
{hkrïn~þé.} commonly translated as
"lion".
UKT: Imagine Mangala aka Mars, the
god of war, riding a bull.
4. Wednesday-planet,
{boad~Da.hu: groh} rides an elephant with tusks,
{hsing}.
5. Rahu-planet or Rahu,
{ra-hu. groh} rides a tuskless elephant
known as
{heing: hsing} which is believed to be more
powerful than elephants with tusks.
Inset pix: Elephants can move both forwards
and backwards, but cannot trot, jump, or gallop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant 130114
6. Thursday-planet,
{kra-þa.pa.té: groh} rides a mouse (or rat)
{krwak}.
7. Friday-planet,
{þau:kra groh} rides a guinea pig
{pu:}.
fn012-01
8. Saturday-planet,
{sa.né groh} rides on a Naga
{na.ga:}.
9. Kate-planet,
{kait groh} rides on an
'Animal of Five Beauties',
{piñ-sa.ru-pa.} a mythical animal with the
antlers of a deer, the tusks and trunk of an
elephant, the mane of a lion, the body of a
Naga, and the tail of a fish. The figures
now being set are those of the gods of the
planets astride their animals. [UKT ¶ ]
UKT: Although Dr. HtinAung has described
{piñ-sa.ru-pa.} as "mythical",
it should be noted that there was no literature
that claimed that such animals had existed.
In case of "mythical" creatures
such as Galoan and Naga, there were literature
that claimed that such animals did exist. As
such, I would not described it as "mythical"
but "composite" -- just parts put
together by the artist. I wait for input from
my peers. -- UKT130116
DHA:
The Master places the figure of the Kate planet
in the centre of the monastery but behind the
Buddha. The other eight planets have their cardinal
points and corners and each is placed behind
an Arahat as shown in the table. From their
cardinal points, and behind the Arahats, the
figures of the planets face towards the Buddha.
[{p012-013}]
UKT: 080829
There have been suggestions that the
worship of the Planets in Myanmar had its
origin in the worship of animals. If that
is so, it would be helpful to look into the
four animals assigned to the cardinal points.
Starting with tiger of the East, it should
be remarked that at least two Burmese nats
have tigers as their vehicles, which may be
traced to the belief in were-tigers similar to the
werewolves.
The next is the elephant of the South. The
elephants were quite abundant in the forests
of Myanmarpré from the north to the south
and all the indigenous tribes would have
been familiar with the largest land animal
with their remarkable intelligence, memory
and strength. Surely, this is an animal
worthy to be worshipped by the prehistoric
Burmese.
Then, the ever present mouse (or even rat)
of the West. The house mouse is one of the
most intelligent animals which have found
ways to co-exist with the humans. In spite
of our efforts to eliminate them, they do
survive and multiply in all ages and in all
societies. (Exception: Arctic circle?). There
have been instances of house mice becoming
quite friendly to the humans. To cite one
example, my father being the public health
inspector at one time in his life was
responsible to mouse eradication. In his
old age, long time after being the cause
of death to many mice, he became friends
with a little mouse who came to make friends
with him even accepting food from his hand.
Surely, the mouse is worthy of respect.
The last, the guinea pig of the North.
These little animals makes excellent pets
and companions to lonely children who
would remember them with fondness and love
expecting to be united with them after death.
The animals of the corners, the garuda
or galon is a bird of prey. There have
been reports of very young infants being
carried away for food by huge eagles, and
surely the biggest bird of prey the galon
is to be feared and secretly hated. The
lion was probably unknown to the ancient
Burmese - something foreign and something
to be feared.
The naga is of course the fictionalized king
cobra - never friendly but always ready to
warn the humans with its hisses. The last
is the tuskless elephants which are quite
rare and something totally unlike the useful
elephants with tusks. (I still have to check
the factual contents of my note -- 080829.
Contents of this page
The Five Great Gods
or Mother Goddesses & their attendants
UKT: See
Gayatri Mantra - the equivalent
of Peacock Paritta .
DHA:
Then the Master sets up his last group of
figures. They are five in number representing the
Five Great Gods, namely:
1. Thurathati
{þu-raþ~þa.ti},
2. Sandi
{sûN~ði}, (not to be confused with
{sûn~da} the 'Moon')
3. Paramé-Thwa
{pa.ra.mé-þwa},
4. Maha-Peinne
{ma.ha-pain~nè}, :
pix on
right: Maha-Peinne dancing -- UKT130115
5. Peikthano
{baiþ~þa.No:} or Gawra-manta
{Gau:ra.mûn~ta.} .
DHA:
All these goddesses and gods are Hindu
in origin. Thurathati is the Hindu
goddess Saraswati, the consort of
Brahma; Sandi is Chandi, the consort
of Siva; Paramay-thwa is Siva himself;
Maha-Peinne is the Burmese name for Ganesh
fn013-01,
the elephant-headed god; Peikthano is
Vishnu, and Gawra-manta or 'he with
the horse' is the ninth (and future)
incarnation of Vishnu.
UKT 080826 :
I will have to object to the whole of
the above para in which DHA has
faithfully portrayed the the whole
ceremony as that of Brahmin-Poanna or
Hindu. If you take #3. Paramay-thwa
{pa.ra.mé-þwa}, as the Mother-goddess
herself, and not as Shiva as the Hindu
religionists would like us to believe,
you could see that Nine-God Puja is
Vedic (of Tib-Bur speakers) with females
at the top. If it had been Hindu (of
Indo-European speakers) - of a male
dominated sex-oriented society, the
males would come first.
DHA:
As in the case of the eight Arahats, and
the nine gods of the planets, the figures
of the Hindu gods are carved in an attitude
of worship, and they are set in line facing
the Buddha in front of the little monastery.
Thurathati is on the extreme left of the
line and Siva is therefore in the centre.
It is to be noticed that Thurathati's
consort, Brahma, is absent, and Vishnu's
consort, the gentle Lakshmi, is also
absent.
Contents of this page
DHA:
On the roof of the miniature monastery
there fly nine miniature prayer-flags
and streamers from the nine miniature
poles, and there are also nine miniature
golden umbrellas. The largest prayer-flag,
pole (with streamers) and golden
[{p013-p014}] umbrella are above
the Buddha, and the remaining eight flags,
poles and umbrellas are above the Arahats
and the gods at the eight cardinal points,
and are of the same size. The five Hindu gods
do not have these insignias of worship.
DHA:
The Master of the Ceremony now places nine
miniature flower-pots in position, the
flower-pot placed before the Buddha being
the largest, the other eight of equal size.
He then places in position nine miniature
begging-bowls (UKT: alms-bowl), the largest
in front of the Buddha, the remaining eight
of equal size before the eight Arahats,
and nine miniature plates, the largest in
front of the Kate [the Hindu Ketu] planet
and the other eight of equal size before
the gods of the other planets. The
flower-pots contain three kinds of flowers
each but the begging-bowls (alms-bowl)
and the plates are empty. Finally he sets up
nine beeswax candles at the nine points
and lights them. He then starts to recite
extracts from Buddhist texts and offers
special prayers on behalf of the household.
DHA:
By this time the guests have arrived. They
kneel before the monastery and make obeisance.
The guests are served with light refreshments:
in villages pickled tea and plain tea, in
towns ice-cream and cakes. It is a social
occasion and the guests chat and laugh. At
about nine or ten o'clock the guests leave,
the inmates retire to their bedrooms, and the
Master of the Ceremony is left alone in the
room, still chanting extracts from the scriptures.
At midnight he, too, goes to sleep in a
makeshift bed in the room.
DHA:
About an hour before dawn the inmates get
up and prepare the food to be offered to
the Nine Gods. Three kinds of fruit,
usually banana, coco-nut, and plum, and
three kinds of jam are kept ready. The
rice to be offered to the Buddha and the
Arahats is cooked in an earthen pot
which has never been used before, and
the rice to be offered to the gods of
the planets is cooked separately in
another new earthen pot. At dawn, the
begging-bowls (alms-bowl) before the
Buddha and the Arahats and the plates
before the gods are filled with three
kinds of fruit, [{p014-p015}]
three kinds of jam, and cooked rice.
The Master of the Ceremony first chants
some more extracts from Buddhist texts
and offers the alms-food to the Buddha
and the Arahats. Then he invokes
the gods of the planets to come and
accept it. He recites a particular
formula of invocation for each planet,
in the following order: Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Thursday,
Rahu, Friday, Kate.
DHA:
It will be noticed that the gods of the
planets are invoked in the order of the
cardinal points, and that the chief
planet, Kate, is invoked last. After
the gods of the planets have been invoked,
the Master of the Ceremony remains silent
for a few minutes and then he recites
the formula of dispersal. Again for
each planet a particular formula is
used, but the order is changed, as
follows: Sunday, Tuesday, Saturday, Rahu,
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Kate.
UKT 130130:
I like the way I remembered as a child
the formula for "dispersal".
It sounded something like:
{Boan-za hi. Boan-za hi. þwa: hoan hoan}.
When I recited what I had remembered
emphasizing the word {þwa:} 'to get out'
- a command, U Tun Tint (MLC) burst out laughing.
"No! No!, you are completely wrong.
It is not commanding the Planets to
"get out" but something else!"
DHA:
The Sunday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Rahu
planets are considered by the Burmese
to be Malefics, or planets with an evil
influence, and the Monday, Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday planets are considered
to be Benefics, or planets with a benign
influence. Kate [Hindu Ketu] is considered
to be the most powerful and a Benefic, but
as the chief planet it cannot be grouped
with the other planets.
fn015-01
Thus the four Malefics are dispersed first,
then the four Benefics, and finally the
Kate planet. Another explanation is the
astrological belief that at the beginning
of this universe the nine planets appeared
one by one in this order. The formula of
dispersal is really a formula of expulsion
or exorcism. And with it the ceremony closes.
UKT 130130:
Kate aka Kait, king of the Planets
in our system has been made into a
head-less malefic by the Hindu religionists.
This shows that our Nine-god Puja is
entirely different from the Navagraha
Puja of the Hindus! I hold that our
Nine-god Puja is in reality the worship
of the Buddha and his eight Arahats who
have the power to control the Planets.
It is not a worship of the Planets nor
Deva-Nats. We give a feast to the Nats,
and the term used is
{ka.na:} - the word Puja
{pu-zau} is never used.
Contents of this page
DHA:
With all Burmese ceremonies there is a
Buddhist explanation, and a story from
the Dhammapada Commentary is cited
as the basis of the ceremony of the Nine Gods.
UKT130130:
See the Dhammapada story in a translation
in Harvard Oriental Series:
buddhistlegends02burluoft.pdf (link
chk: 130130).
Alas, nobody seemed to have recognized
that there could be problems in translations.
Who was the translator? Just because he
knew two languages does not mean that he
could get to the deeper meanings.
Translation usually involves only the
surface meanings. To get to the deeper
meanings, the translator must know the
culture of the target language as well
as the culture of the basis language. The
translator was probably a Christian and
he was translating something very foreign
to Judeo-Christian beliefs. And therefore
I question the reliability of the
translations of the Harvard Oriental
Series themselves. In what script was
the Pali written? How can we say that
the Pali written in the script of
SriLanka would give the original deeper
meanings written in the original script
of Behar? We have the same stories in
Bur-Myan derived from Pali written in
Myanmar script. When and how did these
stories came into Myanmarpré. Through
overland routes from Behar, or round-about
way via SriLanka?
DHA:
A Brahman, his wife, and their little son
saluted a monk, who said 'Live long!' to
both parents, but remained silent to the
little son.
DHA:
Said the father, 'Reverend Sir, why was
it that when we saluted you, you said,
"Live long!" But when this boy saluted
you, you said not a word?' 'Some disaster
awaits this boy, Brahman.' 'How long
will he live, Reverend Sir?' 'For seven
days, Brahman.' 'Is there any way of
averting this, Reverend Sir?' 'I know
of no way of averting this.' 'But who
might know, Reverend Sir?' 'The monk Gotama;
go to him and ask him.' 'Were I to go there,
I should be afraid because of having
abandoned my austerities.' 'If you love
your son, think not of having abandoned
your austerities, but go to him and ask him.'
DHA:
The Brahman went to the Teacher, and
himself straightway saluted him.
'Live long!' said the Teacher. When
the boy's mother saluted him, he said
the same. But when they made the boy salute
him, he held his peace. Then the Brahman
asked the Teacher the same question he
had previously asked the monk, and the
Teacher made the same prediction. The
Brahman asked the Teacher, 'Reverend Sir,
is there no way of averting this?' 'There
might be, Brahman.' 'What way might there
be, Reverend Sir?'
DHA:
'If you erect a pavilion before the door
of your house, and set a chair in the
centre of it, and arrange eight or
sixteen seats in a circle about it,
and cause my disciples to sit therein;
and if you then cause texts to be recited
for the purpose of securing protection
and averting evil consequences for the
space of seven days uninterruptedly, in
that case the danger that threatens him
might be averted.' 'Sir Gotama, it is a
perfectly easy matter to erect a pavilion
and do all the rest, but how am I to obtain
the services of your disciples?' 'If you
will do all this, I will send my disciples.'
'Very well, Sir Gotama.'
DHA:
So the Brahman completed all of the
preparations at the door of his
house and then went to the Teacher.
The Teacher sent the monks, and they
went and sat down, seating the boy
also on a little bench. For seven nights
and seven days without interruption,
the monks recited the usual texts, and
on the seventh day the Teacher came
himself. [UKT ¶ ]
DHT:
When the Teacher came, the deities of all
the worlds assembled. But a certain ogre
named Avaruddhaka
{a.wa.roat~ta.ka.}, [{p016-p017}]
who had served
Vessavana
{wuþ~þa.wûN~Na.} for twelve years and
who had received the boon, 'Seven days
hence you shall receive this boy',
approached and stood awaiting. But when
the Teacher came there, and the powerful
deities gathered themselves together,
and the weak deities drew back stepping
back twelve leagues so as to make room,
then Avaruddhaka stepped back also.
DHA:
The Teacher recited the Protective Texts
all night long, with the result that when
the seven days had elapsed, Avaruddhaka
failed to get the boy. Indeed, when the
dawn of the eighth day rose, they brought
the boy and caused him to make obeisance
to the Teacher. Said the Teacher, 'Live
long!' 'Sir Gotama, how long will the boy
live?' 'For a hundred and twenty years,
Brahman.' So they gave him the name of
Lad-Whose-Years-Increased, Ayuvaddhana.
fn017-01
UKT: The name is Āyuvḍḍhana from:
VIII. 8. THE LAD WHOSE YEARS INCREASED
If a man have the habit of reverence.
This religious instruction was given by
the Teacher while he was in residence at
Arannakutika near Dighalambika with
reference to the youth Dighayu. [235]
See downloaded Buddhist Legends, translated from the original Pali
text of the Dhammapada Commentary, by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Harvard
Univ. Press ,1921, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries
-
EWBingame-BuddhistLegends<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô>
(link chk 180507)
DHA:
That the explanation is an afterthought
seems obvious. The Dhammapada story
does mention eight or sixteen monks seated
round the Buddha, but they did not sit in
the form of a square but a circle. The
story makes no mention of the planets.
Moreover, the story of the Nine Gods contains
elements which can have no Buddhistic
explanation.
UKT 130130:
Let's critically examined the points
raised by Dr. HtinAung to show that the
ceremony is not Buddhist. We note that
he did not insist that it is Hindu in
the above para. So let's read the story
given in Dhammapada as found in the
Harvard Oriental Series, first. See:
fn017-01.
Firstly DHA, insisted that the monks
sat in a "circle", not in
the form of a "square". This
is a weak point: see the diagram with
8 points. The idea is to cover all the
8 points of compass. Just ask the monks
#2, #4, #6 & #8 to move a little
backwards, and you would not know whether
they were sitting in a circle or square.
Secondly, the whole ceremony
is the worship of Arahants who has the
power to avert danger including those
from the Planets. Remember at the end
of all stories about conversion of a
person into an Arahant, the Gautama
Buddha is always counted as one. For
example, after the conversion of Kodana,
the very first one, it is stated:
"now there are two in the world".
Thirdly, I insist that the
ceremony was derived from the religion
of the original Tib-Bur speakers. Some
of the speakers were converted to
Buddhism and some to Hinduism. I look
at the rise of Buddhism not from
Hinduism, but from something
pre-Buddhistic and pre-Hinduistic.
DHA:
The full name of the ceremony means
'Offering of Alms-food to the Nine Buddhas.'
It will be noticed, however, that there
are only one Buddha and eight Arahats.
Phaya, the Burmese word for Buddha,
can never be applied to a monk, even if
he be an Arahat, but before the introduction
of Buddhism it could mean a god, and so
the real meaning of the Burmese word
Phaya-kozu would seem to be the Nine Gods.
If that is so, the Nine Gods must mean
the nine planets, and in the ceremony
the gods of the nine planets are, in fact,
being worshipped, although that fact is
hidden underneath a coating of Buddhism.
UKT 130130:
I suggest that
{Bu.ra:ko:hsu pu-zau-pwè:} was a
pre-Buddhistic ceremony changed into
a worship of those who should be
worshipped meaning the Buddha and his
disciples. The Planets and the Deva-gods
were invited to the ceremony so that
they can worship the Buddha and his
disciples. It does not mean 'Offering of
Alms-food to the Nine Buddhas.' The word
"alms-food" is not included.
If it had been 'Offering of Alms-food'
it would have been {hswum:kûp}. However
since alms-food is involved in the
second part held in the morning, there
is no point in differing from DHA.
DHA:
In the ceremony no special prayers or
scriptures are prescribed for the worship
and offering of alms-food to the Buddha
and the eight Arahats. The Master
of the Ceremony chooses [{p017end-p018begin}]
the prayers and the scriptures at his
discretion, but certain set formulas of
worship and offering for the nine planets
are prescribed, and the Master of the
Ceremony must recite those particular
formulas. The Buddha and the Arahats
are never invoked nor dispersed, but
the nine gods are not only invoked
but carefully dispersed.
DHA:
That the ceremony has some Hindu origin
is illustrated by the presence of the
figures of the five Hindu gods and
goddesses, although no prayers nor
offerings are made to them, and by the
fact that the alms-food offered does
not include any meat. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
To the more devout Masters of the
Ceremony the combination of the worship
of the Buddha and the Arahats, on the
one hand, and that of the planets, on
time other, seems so incongruous that
occasionally one finds such a Master
using a miniature monastery for the
Buddha and the Arahats and a miniature
one-roomed house for the planets; he
calls the monastery 'the Buddha's
Monastery' and the the 'Planet's
House'.
UKT 130124:
The Hindu families do perform
the Navagraha puja. Though the two pujas,
Buddhist and Hindus bear the same name,
there are major differences between the
two. See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navagraha
130124 . The pix below is not from Wikipedia.
Notice the householder and his wife sitting
together with the puja-master in front
of the Planet's House.
DHA:
Hindu astrology was known and practised
in Burma before A.D. 1056, and the
Chronicles tell of two reforms of the
Burmese calendar in A.D. 78 and A.D. 640
respectively, according to astrological
predictions and requirements. Even at
the present day Hindu astrology,
necessarily modified by Burmese beliefs,
still holds sway in the mind of the average
Burmese, who often consults a professional
astrologer.
UKT 130130:
There is a difference between Hindu
astrology and astronomy. And I feel
that the very word Hindu is a misnomer.
Astronomy was known to the ancients, and
planetary positions had been worked out
using mathematical methods which are no
longer used. To solve the mathematics
involved a method of itineration, known
as Suriya Siddhanta, was used to precisely
predict the position of the luminaries
against the background of fixed stars.
See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Siddhanta
130130. In the Wikipedia article you will
find: "the knowledge that the Sun
deva-god gave to an Asura called Maya.
Asuras were enemies of the Deva, the Gods
of Hindus. Asuras were believed to be
residents of the nether worlds."
You will see the mention of Deva-gods,
and Asura-demons. Imagine the Sun deva-god
as the originator of a piece of knowledge.
Why not Maha-Brahma? It is now my belief
that the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity is
just a later addition of Brahmin-Poannas.
So it was the Sun deva-god who was the
source of knowledge in Indian astronomy.
In the Planet set up of the Indians, the
Sun deva-god is at the centre. What about
the Bur-Myan set up? It is Kait riding
on five animals which were made into a
composite.
The inclusion of Deva-gods and Asura-demons
were just a ploy to make the mathematics
interesting. That the method can stand
up the present astronomical measurements
can be seen by its estimates of the
diameters of the planets Mercury and
Saturn: the differences are less than 1%
of the modern scientific values.
The Burmese and Pyu mathematicians used
these calculations to set the lunar
calendar used for raising of crops and
forecasting of weather, to the solar
calendar. And when the calculations
become unwieldy they set the counting
of years to a small number such as 2.
They did this on two occasions - the
reason they gave to the king -- who must
be ignorant of mathematics but who must
enforce the new calendar, and the local
population who would have to use the
new calendar, was astrological. And they,
took in the ploy "hook, line, and
sinker" whole heartedly. That I
think (just conjecture) was the reason
why the author of the Chinese chronicle
Man-Shu had written about
"fortune tellers and astrologers".
DHA:
The basic belief of Burmese astrology
is that the planets, except Kate, mould
a man's fate. The planet of a man's birth
day will be the main guardian of his fate,
but at each particular period of a man's
life, a particular planet throws upon him
its baneful or its beneficial influence.
For example, at one period of his life he
will be under the influence of Saturn
and ill-fortune will befall him, but at
another period he will be under the influence
of Venus and good fortune will result. Thus
the ebb and flow of a man's fortune depends
on the paths in sky of the planets. The
Burmese chronicles [{p018-p019}]
always mention the particular day of the
week on which each king was born, and
until the last two decades the name of
a Burmese indicated upon which day of
the week he was born.
DHA:
The letters of the Burmese alphabet [DHA
should have said "Myanmar akshara"
which is used by Burmese, Karen, Mon, Shan
and others] were divided up between the
eight planets thus:
ka kha, ga, gha, nga -- Monday
sa, hsa, za, zha, nya -- Tuesday
ta, hta, da, dha, na -- Saturday
pa, hpa, ba, bha, ma -- Thursday
la, wa -- Wednesday (Wednesday before noon)
ya, ra -- Rahu's day (Wednesday afternoon)
tha, ha -- Friday
a -- Sunday
UKT: I have divided the original list
into two as above. The first 4 rows are
the {wag}-consonants, and the second
4 rows are the approximants. I wonder
what the relations between astrology and
phonetics are. -- UKT130130
and on this division a person's name was
chosen. Thus, the first name of a
Saturday-born would begin with one of the
following letters:
ta, hta, da, dha, na -- Saturday
as, for example, 'Tin', 'Htin', 'Nan'.
This custom of naming a person after
his birthday planet has now fallen into
disuse, except in old-fashioned families.
DHA:
The Burmese pagoda, like the ceremony of
the Nine Gods, retains under a Buddhistic
colouring the cult of the planet gods.
The eight cardinal points round a pagoda
are named after the planets, and the terms
east, west, north, south, south east,
south-west, north-east and north-west are
never used to refer to the various points
of the pagoda; instead the following terms
are used:
the Sunday corner (north-east)
the Monday corner (east)
the Tuesday corner (south-east)
the Wednesday corner (south)
the Saturday corner (south-west)
the Thursday corner (west)
the Rahu corner (north-west)
the Friday corner (north) [{p020}]
Contents of this page
DHA:
A person who has been told by the astrologer
that he is under the baneful influence of a
Malefic offers special prayers at the 'corner'
of that particular planet. He will also offer
special prayers at the corner of his own
birthday planet. It will be noticed that
the Kate planet is absent. The original
reason for this can only be guessed. Perhaps
it was found difficult to put the Kate
planet right in the centre, or perhaps, as
the fortunes of a man never fell directly
under this planet's influence, no special
prayers to the Kate planet were considered
necessary. Each of the eight corners of the
pagoda has a sign, which depicts not the
particular god astride his animal, but the
animal itself.
DHA:
All the above facts will indicate that
there existed a magico-religious cult
connected with the worship of the planets
before Buddhism became the official
religion of the Burmese. A Chinese
chronicle of the ninth century, the
, mentioned the presence
in Burma of 'many fortune tellers and
astrologers'. The cult was, of course,
Hindu in origin, but whether it was
superimposed on an existing native cult
is a matter for consideration.
UKT: Who was the author of ?
Was he writing from first-hand experience
or just repeating the stories that he
must have heard from the Chinese-traders
who were after all only interested
in making a profit. They were not in
northern Myanmarpré to collect historical
facts. Because of their arrogance in
dealing with the natives, there had been
armed conflicts between the two countries.
Alas, I can not read nor speak Chinese,
otherwise I would have looked into the
Old Chinese in which the chronicle was
written. I am suspecting the word
"fortune teller" which to the
Western mind is an epithet: the glorified
cheats. -- UKT130130
DHA:
Leaving aside the mythical and composite
animal that the Kate planet rides, the
animals ridden by the other eight gods
are real animals to the Burmese mind.
Although the Naga and the Galon
are mythical animals, the average Burmese
villager still believes that they are real
animals living in the depths of the forests
of Burma. The conception of these
animal-vehicles of the planets is Hindu
in origin but Burmese in development. [UKT ¶]
DHA:
It has been noted that the signs at the
eight corners of a pagoda depict not the
planet-gods but the animals. It may
therefore be that the cult of the nine
planets took over for its support an existing
native animal cult. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
Just as the Naga
fn020-01
was worshipped, perhaps the other seven
animals also were once worshipped by the
Burmese. It may be also that there was a
native cult connected with the mystic
number nine. Of [{p020-p021}]
course with most peoples of the world
nine is a mystic number, and to the
Buddhist it is also a mystic number
because the Buddha has 'nine special
attributes'. However, there is some
evidence that with the Burmese there
was a definite magico-religious cult
connected with the number. [UKT ¶ ]
Contents of this page
DHA:
The Burmese word ko
{ko:} can mean both 'nine' and' to seek
protection by worshipping', and the
Burmese phrase Nat-ko
{nat.ko:} means to 'offer (food) to
the Nat to get his protection'. In
making offerings to a Nat, nine
candles, nine dishes of food or
nine kinds of food are often used.
With the Ceremony of the Nine Gods,
although the nine candles, the
nine-flower pots, etc., can be explained
away as being merely consequential
to the fact that the gods were nine
in number, it is to be noted that nine
kinds of offering are made, leaving
aside the rice, namely: three kinds
of flowers, three kinds of fruit, and
three kinds of jam.
DHA:
The popular Burmese card game
Ko-Mee {ko:mi:} or 'Nine Fires',
success at which depends entirely on
chance and not on skill, was originally
a ritual game connected with the mystic
number nine. [UKT ¶]
DHA:
In addition, there were 'nine districts'
of Kyaukse in Upper Burma, and in these
districts, even at the present day, the
number nine must be avoided, as the Nats
will be angry if their special number
is used by human beings. For example,
if a caravan of nine carts goes on a
trading venture, a dire accident will
result. [UKT ¶]
DHA:
If one builds a house on the ninth
waxing or waning of a Burmese month,
disaster will follow, and if one
goes out with eight companions, sorrow
will result.
DHA:
But whether the cult of the Nine Planets
was superimposed on existing native cults
or otherwise it was definitely non-Buddhist,
and all non-Buddhist religious cults,
whether native or alien in origin, were
suppressed after Buddhism became the
official religion of the Burmese under
Anawrahta. For a non-Buddhist cult to
survive it was necessary to give it a
colouring of Buddhism, and also to admit
that the gods of the cult were inferior
to the Buddha and were supporters of the
new religion. [UKT ¶ ]
DHA:
The cult of the Nine Planets had to bow
to (p021end-p022begin) the new order of
things. The Ceremony of the Nine Planets
was transformed into the joint-ceremony of
the worship of the Buddha and the eight
Arahats, and the worship of the
Nine Planets. Admission that its gods
were inferior to the Buddha and were
supporters of the new religion was made
by carving the figures of the Nine Planets
and the Five Hindu Gods and Goddesses in
an attitude of worship, and by placing
them with their faces turned towards the
image of the Buddha. At first, of course,
there could have been no real change of
heart, and in secret many devotees at
the new ceremony would be worshipping
the old gods of the planets. But as
centuries passed and Buddhism gradually
became firmly rooted in the life of the
Burmese people, the anti-Buddhist and
the pre-Buddhist elements in the ceremony
gradually receded to the background.
Contents of this page
fn020-01 The
worship of the Naga is considered
in the appendix to Chapter 7.
Go back fn020-01b
fn012-01 According
to astrological beliefs prevailing among
the Shans, the Friday planet rides
on an ox.
fn012-01b
UKT: Is it an ox or bull? The former
is neutered is considered to be no
longer perfect.
fn013-01 The
Burmese Ganesh and the other Hindu gods
are considered in detail in Chapter 3.
fn013-01b
fn015-01 Although
Kate remains important in the ritual
of the Nine Gods, modern Burmese
astrology tends to ignore it.
fn015-01b
fn017-01
Burlingame, Buddhist Legends, Part II
(Harvard Oriental Series).
fn017-01b
See downloaded Buddhist Legends, translated from the original Pali text
of the Dhammapada Commentary, by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Harvard Univ.
Press ,1921, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries
-
EWBingame-BuddhistLegends<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô>
(link chk 180507)
VIII. 8. THE LAD WHOSE YEARS INCREASED
If a man have the habit of reverence.
This religious instruction was given by
the Teacher while he was in residence at
Arannakutika near Dighalambika with
reference to the youth Dighayu. [235]
in HARVARD ORIENTAL SERIES, EDITED
WITH THE COOPERATION OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS,
BY CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN, Professor
at Harvard University; Honorary Fellow
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, of
France, of England, and of Germany;
Corresponding Member of the Society of
Sciences at Gottingen, the Russian
Academy of Sciences, and the Academie
des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres of
the Institute of France. Volume 29. 1921.
The downloaded pdf is in
TIL library:
~~Lib-Philo-Relig/HavardOrientalSeries.
Just click:
buddhistlegends02burluoft.pdf 130117
(link chk: 130130). There are 378 pdf
pages, and on p.235, you will find the
story as Book #8, Story #8 "The Lad
whose years increased". The
translation is by: E.W. Burlingame, from
the original Pali text. On pdf-page 235
of 378 pages, you can start reading the
story.
Contents of this page
The figure of
{piñ-sa.ru-pa.} from U Sein Pe,
{Bu.ra: ko:hsu pu-zau-næÑ:}, Shweti Sarpay
Taik, Yangon, p101 has a short body and
looks like a bull. However, because this
animal is a composite, it seems that the
Burmese artists are at liberty to
create more than one version -- with
wings. The animal with the elongated body
is usually found on top of the pole from
which the big drum of the traditional
Burmese orchestra is hung.
Go back
animal5beauti-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080829, 130131, 170413
The
celestial equator of 360 deg of arc is divided into 27 divisions called
Nakshatras grouped into 9 groups called Taras. The 0th deg of arc is the
beginning of first Rasi - Aries the Ram. It is also the beginning of the
first Tara - the Ashvins twins the physicians of the Dévas.
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashvins 170413
Do not confuse the Ashvin twins (both males) with the depiction of a man
mating with a woman ( मैथुन «maithuna» 'mating' ).
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithuna_(astrology) 170413
"Mithuna is the third sign in Indian astrology. The Mithuna is
equivalent to the Gemini in Tropical Zodiac. The only difference is
that Mithuna is represented by a man and a woman." Gemini means "twins".
Nakshatras
{nak~hkût} are also known as Moon Mansions
or Lunar Mansions. The Skt-Dev
Nakshatras
नक्षत्र
= न क ् ष त ् र -->
{nakS-tra.} is with the hissing-dental
{Sa.} not present in Bur-Myan. The Skt-Myan
{nakS-tra.} is not easily pronounced
by average Bur-Myan speaker.
I am familiar with the Hindu and Myanmar
systems, but not with Arabic and Chinese.
The following is worth reading online.
http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/MoonMansions.htm
130131. See the downloaded file in TIL
library: ~~Lib-gen/Astrology/
MoonMansions.htm
(this link may not work)
From: Vedic astrology lessons - the nakshatras,
http://www.astrojyoti.com/lesson2.htm 080829
First the zodiac was divided into 12 main
Rasis, to study the effects of the planets
placed there. Then the ancient seers added
another sub divisional system of breaking
down the zodiac into 27 Nakshatras
{nak~hkût} or star constellations. [UKT ¶ ]
Each nakshatra has a span
of 13 degrees and 20 minutes. After that
each nakshatra was further subdivided
into 4 Padas, or quarters, of 3 degrees
and 20 minutes. Hence the first zodiac
sign Aries, which has 30 degrees, contains
the entire 4 padas (13:20') of the 1st
star constellation Ashwini, the entire
4 padas (13:20') of the 2nd star
constellation Bharani and the 1st pada
(3:20') of the third star constellation
Krittika. So each rasi contains total
9 padas. [UKT ¶ ]
These nakshatras belong to three main
groups: Deva or divine
{nût}, Manusha or human
{lu}, and Rakshasa or Demonic
{Bi-lu:}. They have different ruling
deities, owned by different planets and
have divergent qualities. Hence while
studying the effects of a planet placed
in Aries, it is also studied in which
nakshatra it is placed and in which pada
of that nakshatra it is placed. This
system of analysis exists only in Indian
astrology [and Myanmar].
The nakshatra in which your moon is
placed at the time of your birth is
called your Janma Nakshatra. This
janma nakshatra has also got its
influence on you.
UKT: Moon in astrology is
{sûn:} - MEDict2006-125
However, U Tun Myint, Pali-thak-Dictionary,
p.057, gives a different spelling:
{siñ:].
From the way we pronounce it,
{sûn:} seems to be right.
Nakshatras:
01. Ashwini, 02. Bharani, 03. Krittika,
04. Rohini, 05. Mrigasira, 06. Arudra,
07. Punarvasu, 08. Pushyami, 09. Aslesha,
10. Magha, 11. Poorvaphalguni, 12. Uttaraphalguni,
13. Hasta, 14. Chitra, 15. Swati,
16. Visakha, 17. Anuradha, 18. Jyestha,
19. Moola, 20. Purvashadha, 21. Uttarashadha,
22. Shravana, 23. Dhanishta, 24. Satabhistha,
25. Purvabhadra, 26. Uttarabhadrapada, 27. Revati.
See also: Navatara Chakra -
http://shrifreedom.org/vedic-astrology/navatara-chakra/ 170413
The Sun is the lord of the signs (the body), and the Moon
is the lord of the naksatra (the mind). The Atma is entangled to the
mind, wherever the body goes the atma must go. Therefore the naksatras
are very important. The Navatara is the 27 naksatras divided into 3 groups of
nine. This chakra is used for fine-tuning the vimshottari dasa
results as well as for making Muhurta specific to an individual chart.
1. Janma – birthstar, one’s own nature, most influential
naksatra.
2. Sampat – wealth, it shows the kind of wealth you should
possess, how your mind works in taking the resources available.
3. Vipat – danger, shows dangers to life and business, bad
days.
4. Kshema – well-being, cure, time to get healed, if not healed
here then can cause problems in next naksatra.
5. Pratyak – obstacles, bhadaka, can cause death or death-like
suffering, if start an activity on this naksatra there will be many obstacles.
6. Sädhana
– achievement, good for starting activities as they will succeed.
7. Naidhana – death, the worst of the bad stars (3, 5, 7).
8. Mitra – friend, friends who are close.
9. Parama Mitra – best friend, supporters, community, friends
will meet you, good for things dealing with crowds.
Go back
astro-nak-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080828
The word <begging> is inappropriate,
since the Buddhist monks do not <beg>,
and the current usage is <alms-bowl>.
However, if a monk does <beg>, then,
and only then, should he be termed a
<mendicant monk>, and his bowl the
<begging-bowl>. The usage of the
word <begging-bowl> was common at
one time, probably due to the Westerner's
outlook on those who would not <work>
for a living. To a Myanmar, it is the
lay-man who has to <thank> the monk
for receiving the alms offered, and thus
a monk does not say <thank you>
in return, but would say approvingly
Thadu
{þa-du.} 'good' in Pal-Myan (not
Sadu which is Sanskrit) three times
to express his recognition of the good
deed done by the lay-man.
mendicant adj. 1.
Depending on alms for a living; practicing
begging. n. 1. A beggar.
2. A member of an order of friars
forbidden to own property in common, who
work or beg for their living. [Middle
English from Old French from Latin
mendīcāns mendīcant- ,
present participle of mendīcāre
to beg from
mendīcus needy, beggar from
mendum physical defect] -- AHTD
Go back
beg-bowl-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080826 , 130131
According to the Mahaboat
{ma.ha-boat} Burmese Astrology, each
Planets influences the individual for
a certain number of years known as
"Planet life"
{groh þak}. It is may be glossed as
Planet-governance', and it is as follows:
Sun -- 6 years;
Mon -- 15 years;
Tuesday -- 8 years;
Wednesday -- 17 years;
Saturn -- 10 years;
Thursday -- 19 years;
Rahu -- 12 years;
Friday -- 21 years.
The total -- 108 years : the life-span
of a human is taken to be 108 years.
The Mahaboat Planet-governance
{ma.ha-boat groh þak} is different
from Nakkhut-Bedin
{nak~hkût bé-dïn} the "main
division" or
{htu-la. daþ~þa}. Those who are learning
to read and write Bur-Myan should note
the horizontal conjunct glyph a part of
which has been coloured red.
Go back
bur-astro-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080826, 130131
Glass Palace Chronicle, Part 1, 1993
reprint, p184 states that in Buddhist
Era
{þa-þa.na þak~ka.raiz} 624 in the
reign of King {þu.moan~da.ri} of
Sri Ksetra there was a calendar reform.
The reform is known as {dau:dau:ra.þa.}
reform.
The second calendar reform took place
in Pagan period in the Pyu Era 562 which
is known as {hka.hsa.pyiny~sa.} reform
resulting in Pagan Era which is the
present Burmese Era.
Go back
chroni-note-b
Contents of this page
Five Great Gods
{nût-kri: nga:pa:}
or Mother Goddess and their attendants
In mentioning the "Five Great Gods", it is the
Goddesses first with the males Gods coming up last. This justifies a change
of caption to "Five Goddesses and Gods" or my preferred caption "Mother
Goddesses and their attendants".
-- UKT 080902
Though Thurathati and Sandi are goddesses,
they are collectively called Great Gods
{nût-kri: nga:pa:} as if they were males.
It stems from our custom of not
differentiating much between the two
sexes. In Bur-Myan culture, women have
a high place -- something very foreign
to the colonial-writers. In many ways
our culture could be called matriarchal
-- not patriarchal.
It should be noted that the ceremony is
to placate the angry Planet or Planets
if there are any, or to commemorate the
Motherhood. The Devi-Mothers are present
only as part of the worshippers. Together
with Devi-Mothers would come their
male-attendants.
The term Five Great Gods
{nût-kri: nga:pa:} is a collective term
-- number 5 is always constant.
In U Po Kya Thirty-seven Kings (in
Burmese), p.017-019, we find six sets of
five nats. The set of five given above
corresponds to the set recognized during
the reign of King Thalun in the 17th
century. This set included Thurathati
{þu-raþ~þa.ti}.
However during the reign of King Bodawpaya
(18th century) a different set, without
Thurathati, was recognized. U Po Kya noted
that the set recognized by the present day
Nine-Gods-Sayas and Nat-Sayas is the set
which included Thurathati.
UKT 080902, 130131:
From Thurathati, through Sandi to
Peikthano, we have the
{nat-kri: nga:pa:}. Are they to be
included into the pantheon of Nat-Devas?
Are they above
{þi.kra:ming:} or under him? What
about the Planets
{groh}?
This question does not come in
in the worship of the Nine-Gods is
{Bu.ra: ko:hsu}
{pu-zau pwè:}, because neither the
{þi.kra:ming:} nor his entourage of the
36 Burmese nats, Anawrahta had placed
under him, are included.
Go back
five-gr-gods-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 130115
The reader must note
that what I have written under my caption:
The Tibeto-Burman Mother Goddess, is pure
conjecture.
See Hymns of Rig Veda, translated by
Ralph T.H. Griffith, 2nd edition, 1896 :
http://www.sanskritweb.net/rigveda/griffith.pdf 130115,
or the websites mentioned therein:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/index.htm
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/rigintro.htm
The hymns directed to the RigVeda gods
and goddesses were the most ancient in
Vedic religion. These had been taken
over by Hindu religionists and converted
into Huduism. The three most important
gods were Indra, Agni, and Soma. By
important I mean those who received the
most number of hymns. Hymn #35, 01-035,
is directed to Sva as Goddess or Savitar
the God.
We will look into the first two gods,
one by one. The definitions are from
Macdonell A Practical Sanskrit
Dictionary :
¤
{AIn~dra.} इन्द्र
«indra» [ índra ] = (इ न
्) (द ् र)
-- m. Indra, chief of the Vedic gods;
--°, highest, chief, prince of -
(p045c3) . [Note: such spellings in
Skt-Dev use vowel-letters. If we are
present in Bur-Myan usage it would be
{ain~dra.}]
¤ 
{ag~ni.} अग्नि
«agni»
= अ ग ् न ि
- m. fire; conflagration; god Agni.
(p003c1-b15)
After the above two, Soma received the
most number of hymns. Soma is the third,
and is the Elixir of Life which has been
interpreted to mean a health drink
containing, a narcotic and/or alcohol
which has been abused. It is also
identified with the Moon. As soon as
the Moon is mentioned, we must look into
the Moon-rabbit that might be connected
with preparation of something connected
with plant materials. See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit
130131. In it is mentioned the Chinese
story of the Moon-goddess with her white
rabbit (the Rabbit in the Moon) pounding
the herbs to make the Elixir of Life for
her. Because of this connection, we should
interpret Soma as the Moon-Devi which gives
a cool invigorating light -- an elixir of
life or "long life and a soothing
medicine" to humans.
Now lets look into Gayatri Mantra the
oldest hymn in Rig Veda. Its metre is
different from other Sanskrit hymns,
and which therefore preceded Sanskrit.
In it, the Trimuti -- Brahma, Vishnu,
and Shiva -- is not mentioned. Only one
entity was mentioned -- Sva (which the
Hindu grab-religionists say is Shiva):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_mantra
130115 :
The following excerpt is taken from Wiki
article:
"Recitation of the Gayatri Mantra is preceded by
oṃ (ॐ) and the formula
bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
(भूर् भुवः स्वः)
[ स्वः = स ् व ः -->
{þwa:.} -- Not emphatic but creak ],
known as the
mahāvyāhṛti
("great utterance"). This
prefixing of the mantra proper is
described in the
Taittiriya Aranyaka (2.11.1-8), which
states that scriptural recitation was
always to begin with the chanting of
the syllable oṃ, followed
by the three Vyahrtis and the Gayatri
verse."
I hold that
{þwa:.} स्वः
is the Mother-Goddess herself. I wait
for input from my peers and I am ready
to change my view.
The final line of Gayatri Mantra is
also interesting and offers a possible
means of original worshippers.
धियो॒
यो नः॑
प्रचो॒दया॑त्॥
।
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
If they had been Tib-Bur speakers,
the personal pronoun would have been
{ngaa.}. But IE speakers not having
this phoneme had to use
{na:.} नः॑ . This
phoneme is also present in Mon-Myan
{na:.} .
In Pyu archeological sites the images of
the Mother Goddess was found. I contend
that the Tib-Bur speakers such as the Pyus
worshipped the Mother Goddess -- Sva of
Gayatri Mantra or Shakti. Serving her
would be other devas (gods and goddesses).
Only later, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
purported to be her sons replaced her
in importance. Sarasvati (the first teacher
of her children) was taken for wife by
the Brahma, Lakshmi (who looks after the
welfare of her children) taken for wife by
Vishnu, and Parvati or Sandhi (the defender
of her children) taken for wife by Shiva.
The worship of the five great gods
{nût-kri: nga:pa:} in the ritual of the
Nine-God Puja was therefore not a Hindu idea
but a form of Vedic worship.
The Vedic worship as is still practiced
by the Brahmin-Poonas involves chanting
hymns such as the Gayatri Mantra -- the
most important hymn in Rig Veda. I suggest
that this mantra is the equivalent of
Peacock Paritta which I as a child had
to recite every day once in the morning
and a second time in the evening when I
was going to a village school in Kyaik-htaw
village, in Kungyangon township, ran by
Saya Kywè. (Time period: 1943 early during
WWII - we never suffered lack of schooling
in most villages and small towns during
most of Second World War.) The Peacock
in the Paritta - yet to become Gautama
Buddha in the last human existence -
recited the Paritta to the Rising Sun in
the morning and to the Setting Sun in
the evening. See Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_mantra
130115 : The following excerpt is taken
from Wiki article.
"Recitation of the Gayatri Mantra is
preceded by oṃ (ॐ) and
the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
(भूर् भुवः
स्वः), known
as the mahāvyāhṛti
("great utterance"). This prefixing
of the mantra proper is described in the
Taittiriya Aranyaka (2.11.1-8),
which states that scriptural recitation
was always to begin with the chanting of
the syllable oṃ, followed by
the three Vyahrtis and the Gayatri verse."
I contend that the animism of the hill
country described by Dr. HtinAung is not
the same as the Vedic worship.
Go back
Gayatri-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080826 , 130129
The ancients, standing on Earth viewed
the luminaries in the sky as travelers
-- traveling against the background of
fixed stars. Eventually I will be dealing
with the real astronomical planets for
which I will have to leave out the sun
and the moon. The ancients were looking
at a system, with the Earth at the centre.
Their system is known as geo-centric, and
the mathematical relations are complex.
Now, we have a simpler system, the solar-centric
aka helio-centric, which considers
the sun as the centre. The mathematical
equations are simpler. Remember both
geo-centric and solar-centric are just
models and both are neither true nor false:
it all depends on the position of the
observer. Now let's imagine we are
stationed somewhere in the universe and
observing the solar system with the sun
at the centre. I am giving an animation
from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_planet 130129
Astrologically, all Planets, including those of
the Moon and Venus, are considered to
be males. Mercury is also a male and is
not considered to be a hermaphrodite.
In Roman mythology, Mercury was always
a close companion of Jupiter and was
considered be a hermaphrodite aka
homo. In astronomy, Mercury is so close
to the Sun, that it appears as a small
dark spot just before sun set-and sun-rise
for certain periods in a year. Why the
Romans had Mercury and Jupiter close
together is unexplainable. Maybe it was
an aberration from some other ancient
system which regarded the Sun as the
most important, and Mercury as a close
companion of Sun -- in which case it would
agree with the astronomical observations.
Go back
god-planet-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080826, 130128
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra 130128
The term "Hindu astrology" is
somewhat misleading, because there is a
difference in the horoscopes cast by the
northern Hindus (predominantly Hindi speakers),
and by southern Hindus (predominantly
Tamil speakers). These should be termed
"Hindi Natashtra Astrology"
and "Tamil Nashatra Astrology".
Of course, the Bur-Myan astrologers
(Theravada Buddhist by religion) when
they are using similar "Hindu"
astrology, use a different horoscope set up.
This we would have to call the
"Burmese Nashatra Astrology".
By "Burmese", "Hindi",
and "Tamil", I mean the
speech-scripts used: "Bur-Myan",
"Hind-Dev", and "Tamil-Tamil".
Rahu and Ketu are not 'real' Planets of
the Celestial sphere with the Earth at
its centre. In this respect what we are
talking about here, is different from
the planets in the Solar system where
the Sun is at one of the foci of the
ellipse.
By 'Planet' is meant a luminary in the
sky which travel against the background
of 'fixed' stars. Because they do move
as observed from the Earth, the Sun and
the Moon are considered to be planets.
Rahu and Ketu are 'assumed' Planets
postulated to predict the eclipses of
the Sun and Moon in Vedic Astronomy.
Astrologically, Rahu is considered by
both Burmese and Hindus to be an evil
(malefic) Planet.
The opposite member of Rahu is Kate.
Please note that the spelling with
the silent 'e' at the end as is common
in English, is very trouble-some in
pronunciation. It would have been better
if it had been spelled "Kait"
rhyming the word <maid>.
Kate aka Ketu, is considered by
Burmese Mahaboat Astrology to be not only
benefic but the king of the Planets. To
the Hindus, Ketu is a malefic.
Excerpt from:
http://www.komilla.com/pages/rahu-ketu.html 080829
UKT 130131: I wish the article was written in a more simpler manner. The
ideas presented are not scientific and very much against the Theravada views.
Because, of these, I am presenting the article as it was written except for
breaks in some paragraphs.
Rahu & Ketu are the names
given to the Nodes of the Moon. Rahu
is the North Node and Ketu is the
South Node. They are points on the
ecliptic where the Moon is in alignment
with the Sun and the Earth. They indicate
the precise point of the harmony with
the three most important influences in
our life -- the Sun, the Earth and the
Moon. This relationship plays an important
part in the enfolding of individual
consciousness.
Note from the article:
All planetary positions in this article
refer to the sidereal Zodiac which is
currently 23 degrees 49 minutes and
30 sec. behind the Tropical Zodiac.
Nakshatras are fixed stars or lunar
mansions.
Their role as Karmic indicators of our
life is connected with their power to
cause eclipses. The eclipses occur in
the vicinity of Rahu-Ketu during the Full
Moon and the New Moon. (During New Moon
when it is +/- 18 degrees from Rahu-Ketu,
the Solar eclipse takes place. At the
full Moon +/- 11 degrees 15' from the
nodal position, the Lunar eclipse takes
place.) [UKT ¶ ]
As they symbolically eclipse the Sun
(consciousness) and the Moon (the Mind),
they have a great part to play in darkening
[or interfering] our perspective in order
to bring in new light. They deal with the
concept of death and re-birth,
transformation and regeneration. During
the eclipses the light from the Luminaries
is darkened. [UKT ¶]
UKT, 130128: Think of the mechanism of
influence by the Luminaries on Man.
Rahu-effect is like putting an opaque
screen between the Luminaries and Man,
whereas Ketu-effect is like putting a
very bright blinding light between.
During the interference by Ketu, the
Man becomes more religious and even
thinks of abandoning his family to
become a recluse -- a monk. The total
effect is bad on the family, but good
on the Man because it helps him on his
journey to Nibbana - the total
liberation.
The energies created are powerfully
psychic, pregnant with new information
and occult power. The period after the
eclipse is considered a rebirth of the
Sun and the Moon. The role of Rahu-Ketu
in this powerful alignment of the Sun,
Moon and the Earth gives them the role
of the ultimate controllers of the destiny.
The prime importance given to Rahu Ketu
in Vedic Astrology is one of it's key
features. They have been given the status
of Planets to emphasise their significance
and the importance placed on eclipses.
They are known as Chayya Grahas (shadow
planets). They have no substance and
are physically non-existent. [UKT ¶]
Yet their influence is full of potency
and spiritual significance. They work
in unison 180 degrees apart, two opposite
points in the zodiac with a mission to
churn our lives in order to externalise
hidden potential and wisdom. In keeping
with their shadowy nature, they work on
a psychological level. It is always
difficult to gauge their effect because
their main concern is with our emotional
makeup. They effect us internally. We
are unaware of what exactly is happening
to us at the time.
In Vedic Astrology, the concept of the
Soul's journey through different lifetimes
is central to it. The final goal of the
soul is to break this cycle of life and
death. Like the beads on a necklace,
various lifetimes are joined together
to form a necklace, each life being
different but interconnected by an
invisible thread. The invisible thread
is Rahu and Ketu. [UKT ¶ ]
The purpose of the soul in this life
to act out his given Karma, destroy
the illusions of the materialistic life
and move towards the pursuit of self
realisation. To live on the astral
planes where pleasure and pain do not
have the capacity to hurt, the mind
is still and at peace. The soul's
journey in a particular life time and
it's connection with eternal life is
indicated by the position of Rahu and
Ketu. Ketu deals with the past Karma
and Rahu with the future.
The five instincts that keep us attached
to the materialistic purpose of life
are Kaam (Desire, passions) Krodh (Anger)
Madh (intoxicants- drugs, alcohol etc)
Moh (Attachment) Lobh(Greed) and
Matsaya(Jealousy). We need to control
our instincts rather than allowing
ourselves to be controlled by them. Both
Rahu and Ketu have the ability to keep
our mind focused on these instincts --
Rahu by exaggerating and Ketu by obscuring
or blocking. [UKT ¶ ]
We are tied down to the cycle of
unhappiness and dissatisfaction as
we cannot break away from our lower
selves. We are born again and again
to experience the pleasures and pains
of the earthly life until we recognise
them to be the illusions that they are.
On a subconscious level we are afraid
that if we give up these desires, we
will lose out. Once we start
understanding the principle of letting
go, enjoying what life has to offer
but not getting attached, then we
are able to grow spiritually. Rahu Ketu
deals with the inner fight within us,
the moral and the social choices we
have to constantly make and the inner
dilemmas.
Go back
naksh-rahu-ketu-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080829, 130130
A makeshift bed was a simple affair:
a reed mat, a pillow, and a light blanket.
Being males, we (I was still a child and
others as children), were allowed to
sleep in the room. It was a pleasant
smelling room filled with scent -- from
the beeswax candles, from the fruits and
flowers and from the incense sticks. We
knew that "goodies" would be
offered at dawn and were ready to grab
them when the offering was over and the
invited Mother-Goddesses &
their attendants, and the Planets had
left.
Go back
makeshift-bed-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT: 080827, 130113
Burmese use a special term,
{kyaung:hsaung} , for a miniature
"residence" of the Buddha
or a nat. As a child, I always thought
of a miniature monastery as a
<doll-house>. The term for the
regular monastery is
{kyaung:} . All other items made for
the ceremony are made to scale: little
umbrellas, little flag-poles with
miniature streamers, and little
prayer-flags.
I was told that the word
{kyaung:} 'monastery, school' is
pronounced the same in Nepali and
Tibetan.
Go back
mini-monas-note-b
Contents of this page
Inclusion of Naga,
who knows more than "to eat, to sleep,
and to mate" shows that the caption
"Animal" cult is not justified.
-- UKT 080829, 130130
Apart from the composite
Animal of Five Beauties
{piñ~sa.ru-pa.}, of the eight other
animal-vehicles of the Planets, six are
real animals and two are mythical. The
real animals are: tiger, lion (though
different in appearance from the real ones),
elephant, mouse, tuskless-elephant, and
guinea pig. The mythical ones are the Galon
{ga.Loan} (Hindu: garuda) and
Naga {na.ga:}.
Of the two mythical ones above, Naga
{na.ga:} is a special case in Buddhism:
in both Mahayana and Theravada. According to
Mahayana, Gautama Buddha had preached his
Diamond Sutra to the Nagas without preaching
to the humans, which puts the Naga equal to
the Devas. In Theravada, the Abhidamma was
preached to the Devas but not to the humans.
The Abdhidamma that we know today in the
human world is an abridged version which
his Chief disciple who had accompanied him
to Deva world had preached.
So the Naga is not an animal, but some
entity that could protect the humans and
there is no reason why pre-Buddhists
(and pre-Hindus) should not be worshipping
it. Myanmarpré was indeed the land where
the Naga was worshipped in days before
Anawrahta. But that does not make the
inhabitants of Tagaung and Old Pagan
animal-worshippers.
To the Bur-Myan Buddhist, an animal is
one which knows three things only: to
eat, to sleep, and to have sex. According
to this definition, many "humans"
in the world could be classified as
"animals". The idea of
"animal" is different in
Myanmarpré and the West. My beloved saya
DHA would know it, but he was following
the ideas of the British-colonizers when
he was writing in English.
It should be noted that animals are
important in Hindu mythology -- from:
The Animal Deities
http://www.webonautics.com/mythology/animaldeities.html
"Animals have a special place in
Hindu mythology. One comes across various
animals in Hindu mythology some, which
have been personified and given a form
as the centuries passed. These animals
have been symbolic as the vehicles and
carriers of various deva-gods or one,
which have helped the deva-gods in various
times. Some of them appear as independent
divine creatures and are worshipped in
various ways:
• AIRAVATA the elephant - vehicle of Hindu
Indra and Buddhist Sakkra
• AKUPARA the tortoise - on which Earth
or Prithvi rests
• ANTELOPE - vehicle of Vayu and Chandra
• ARVA, mythical being half horse and half bird
- one of the horses of the moon
• BUFFALO - vehicle of Yama
• CERBURA - the three headed infernal dog of the Krishna legend
• CROW - vehicle of Shani
• DOG and HORSE - vehicle of Shiva as Bhairava
• GARUDA the king of birds - half man and
half eagle or vulture, vehicle of Vishnu
• JAMBAVANT - the king of bears - ally of Rama
• KAMADHENU - the cow of plenty
• MAKARA or JALAMPA the mythical sea monster
- Varuna ( god of water)
• MOUSE - vehicle of Ganesha
• NANDI the bull - vehicle of Shiva and Parvati
• PATAVANI the peacock - vehicle of Kartikeya
• PARROT - vehicle of Kamadeva (the Hindu Cupid)
• RAM, the he-goat - vehicle of Agni
• SARAMA - dog of Indra
• SHESHNAG or ANANTA the infinite
- the king of Nagas vehicle of Vishnu
or the bed on which Vishnu rests
• SWAN - vehicle of Saraswati and Brahma
• TARKSHYA - winged horse personifying the sun
• TIGER and LION - vehicle of Parvati
as Kali and Durga
• UCHCHAIH - SRAVAS - the eight headed king
of horses produced during the churning of oceans
Go back
nati-ani-cult-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080828, 130130
The word "Phaya" is an English
rendering of the Bur-Myan word
{Bu.ra:}, and the rendering is incorrect
from the point of view of the rules of
writing the Myanmar akshara. The consonant
involved is either {hpa.} or {Ba.} and
not {pa.}. The mistake has been made
because English does not have tenuis
consonant {pa.} /p/ unless preceded by
the hissing sound {S} /s/.
The Bur-Myan word
{Bu.ra:} usually means the Buddha.
However, since the word is also used in
addressing monks, royalty including queens
{mi.Bu.ra:}, and at one time, even for
high officials, we cannot say that it
is used for Buddha only.
The word
{Bu.ra:} can be a form of address like
<your majesty>, <your honour>,
and <your worship>. I remember,
when I was a child in Kungyangon, when
the village head-men came to see my
father, a mere public-health inspector,
they would refer to him as
{Bu.ra:} and themselves as "your
royal servants". They would not
sit in a chair level with his. My father
insisted that they did not refer to him as
{Bu.ra:} and they sat on chairs. However,
they refused to sit in chairs because to
them it is the "seat of the 'kula'"
and insisted that they were only used to
the native custom of sitting on the floor.
When my mother offered them a carpet,
they refused again insisting that a
carpet was only fitting for a monk. She
finally had to provide them with a
{hpa.yaung: pu.hso:} 'waxed cloth' --
a linoleum sheet.
In the case of
{mi.Bu.ra:}, {mi.} can be translated as
<mother>, and therefore {mi.Bu.ra:}
can be literally be translated as <Mother
Worshipful>. Therefore, I would have
to disagree with Dr. HtinAung and would
suggest that the ceremony is used to
worship the Buddha and his eight disciples,
all nine taken together as those who do
deserve worship. As to Dr. Htin Aung's
conclusion that the ceremony is the worship
of the nine Planets, I would have to
disagree with him. For this if the Planet
were equal to a Nat, the word would be
{ka.na:}, or something else and not
{pu-zau}.
Go back
Phaya-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT: 080827, 130110
Though Dr. HtinAung had stated that the
ceremony was held because of an ailment,
it was not always so -- at least in our
house. We do it for fun, as an excuse for
an evening party, where friends meet
friends, neighbours meet neighbours, and
of course, boys meet girls. However, sad
to say, this custom of the worship of the
Nine Gods as an evening party is slowly
dying, at least, in larger towns.
Go back
sickness-in-house-note-b
Contents of this page
Streamers are of two kinds:
• 
{tän-hkwun} - a long cylindrical streamer
- UHS-Dict326
• 
{koak~ka:}
- n. kokkar bent bamboo
stick tied to a flagstaff - MED2006-014
- a paper streamer - UHS-Dict030
Go back
streamer-note-b
Contents of this page
Is Indra
{AIn~da.}, the name of an office -- the
office of "King" similar to
"President" of the modern times
-- or a personal name? My study shows
that it is the name of an office and
not a personal name. -- UKT130201
To the Burmese Buddhist
{þi.kra:ming:} (pronounced as
/{þa.kya:ming:}/ and mistakenly taken
by children as the "Sugar-king")
is the King of the Gods. He is one of chief
supporters of Buddhism. Though U Hoke Sein
(UHS-Dict-p855) gave the meaning of
Thagyamin as Indra
{AIn~da.},
Childers
on p419 gave the following entry under:
SAKKO, Çakra or Indra. -
Childers p419
"When Gautama Buddha deposed Indra
from his godship, he made him a powerful
archangel ruling over the five lowest
kámadevalokas and having his abode in
the Távatimsa heavens (see Máro).
He is widely different from the Hindu
Indra, though retaining many of his
attributes. He is inferior in majesty
and power to the two other archangels
Mahábrahma and Mára. Like Mahábrahma,
he is represented as exercising a
beneficial influence over the affairs
of men. When a good man is struggling
with adversity, the fact is made known
to Sakka by the throne on which he sits
becoming warm ... . It is then his wont
to take some earthly disguise and
descend to the relief of the sufferer..."
See Dictionary of Pali Proper Names by
G.P. Malalasekera on Sakka and Sujā
From: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakka 080923, 130201
UKT 130201: I feel there is a mix up
words in this article. Sakka the husband
of Suja was just one king of the kingdom
of Devas. If he were to die, another
would become king. The new king and his
wife would have other personal names,
not Sakka & Suja.
Vedic religion and Hinduism :
The name Śakra "powerful",
used as an epithet of Indra, is found
in several verses of the Rig Veda. It
is also found many times in the other
Vedas such as the
Samaveda and
Atharva Veda. The name is also
copiously used in many later texts like the
Mahabharata.
Jainism : In Jain texts, Śakra
appears several times as a name of the
king of the devas.
Buddhism : Śakra
(Sanskrit) or Sakka
{þak~ka.} is the ruler of the
Trāyastriṃśa Heaven
in Buddhist cosmology. His full title
is Śakro devānām
indraḥ (Pāli:
Sakko devānaṃ indo
"Śakra, lord of the
devas"). In Buddhist texts
Śakra is the proper name and
not an epithet of this deity; conversely,
indra in Sankrit and inda
Pali are sometimes used as an epithet
for Śakra as "lord".
In the Chinese tradition, he is usually
analogous with the Taoist Jade Emperor,
whose birthday is celebrated on the
ninth day of the first lunar month of the
Chinese calendar (usually in February).
In Buddhist texts, Śakra's myth
and character are very different from
those of the Vedic Indra. According to
G.P. Malalasekara, "Sakka and Indra
are independent conceptions. None of
the personal characteristics of Sakka
resemble those of Indra. Some epithets
are identical but are evidently borrowed,
though they are differently explained."
The Trāyastriṃśa heaven
which Śakra rules is located on
the top of Mount Sumeru (cf.
Meru), imagined to be the polar
center of the physical world, around
which the Sun and Moon revolve.
Trāyastriṃśa is the
highest of the heavens which is in
direct contact with the Earth. Like
the other deities of this heaven,
Śakra is long-lived but mortal.
When one Śakra dies, his place
is taken by another deity who becomes
the new Śakra. Buddhist stories
about Śakra (past or present)
are found in the Jātaka stories
and in several sutras, particularly in the
Saṃyutta Nikāya.
Śakra is married to
Sujā[7],
daughter of the chief of the Asuras,
Vemacitrin (Pāli Vepacitti).
Despite this relationship, a state of war
generally exists between the Thirty-three
gods and the Asuras, which Śakra
manages to resolve with minimal violence
and no loss of life.
UKT 130201:
The family relationships of the
present king of the Devas:
This is a conjecture based on
¤
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vemacitrin 130201
¤
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotic_tribes_of_ancient_India 130201
Sakka is the present king
(or Indra) of a country of on the height
of the Mt. Meru. It seems that there are
two kingdoms - one populated by the Devas,
and the other by Asuras. Sakka and his
companions drove out Vepacitti from the
kingdom of Devas and took Vepacitti's
daughter Suja as wife. Vepacitti had to
move to the country of Asuras where he
became king. And that makes Sakka the
son-in-law of Vepacitti. The two
countries are always at war at the
beginning of the rainy season, and
the humans below see flashes of
lightening and hear thunder, and
gets rain drops which are the weapons
used in the battle.
Śakra is mentioned in many Buddhist
sūtras, and is often shown consulting
the Buddha on questions of morality.
Together with
Brahmā , he is considered a protector
of the Buddhist religion.
Who is the Brahmā mentioned above?
Is he the one known as Maha Brahma of
the Hindus? Let's keep the religions
apart. -- UKT130201
Go back
Thagya-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 130117
The word «vajra» वज्र
= व ज ् र -->
{wa.zra.} can be glossed as 'thunderbolt'
or 'lightening' implying speed and
effectiveness. In Bur-Myan, it is
{wa.ra.zain} given as 'the weapon
carried by Indra, thunderbolt'. --
MED2006-471. Thus I have translated
Vajrayana as the Thunderbolt-vehicle.
«vajra» वज्र
is also translated as 'diamond' because
of the sparkling property of the gem.
When Vajrayana is described as
the Tantric Buddhism, many Burmese
Buddhist could not accept it because the
Tantra has been identified with the much
maligned Ari-monks of pre-Anawrahta
Pagan. Some Aris were engaged in sexual
acts such as deflowering of the bride
before the wedding. From it the malignment
spread to Mahayana.
Yet we have our Burmese
{waiz~za}-path of lengthening the
"mind-life", even after the
dissolution of the flesh and bone
material body. The individual, without
this decay-prone body, would meet
the next Buddha, hear his sermons, and
then only enter Nirvana or set on his
own journey to Buddhahood.
The Vajrayana and the Weizza
{waiz~za}-path are entirely different. I
had thought they were the same until I
came to study Skt-Dev. I wait for input
from my peers.
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana#Mantrayana_and_Vajrayana 130117
Vajrayana
(Skt-Dev वज्रयान )
is also known as Tantric Buddhism,
Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna,
Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism
and the Diamond Way or Thunderbolt Way.
Vajrayana is a complex and multifaceted
system of Buddhist thought and practice
which evolved over several centuries.
[1]
According to Vajrayana scriptures
Vajrayana refers to one of three
vehicles or routes to enlightenment,
the other two being the Hinayana and
Mahayana.
Founded by the Indian
Mahasiddhas महासिद्ध
= (म ह ा) (स ि द ्) (ध)
'possessor of great power' , Vajrayana
subscribes to Buddhist tantric literature.
[1]
UKT 130201:
Though Mahasiddha 'possessor of great power'
and Htwak-ruppauk
{htwak-rûp-pauk} 'one who is free from
material body' are different they mean
the same kind of person because the
latter is one who has acquire great power.
In Bur-Myan by 'great power' is meant
the ability to fly through the air and
move through the solid earth and the
power to transform many things.
He does not have a flesh and bone
physical body. To get to this stage he
dies a death which every one can see -
{a.þé-htwak}, or, his flesh and bone
body simply becomes ethereal -
{a.rhing-htwak}. See MLC MED2006-207
for comparison.
There are two kinds of
{htwak-rûp-pauk} individuals:
Zawgyi
{zau-gyi} and Waizzar
{waiz~za}. The former still indulges
in sex, but the latter is free from
sex and is more powerful. Zawgyi
{zau-gyi} is a prankster, but Waizzar
{waiz~za} has high morals and is
known as a Bodaw
{Bo:dau}. In both cases they
wait for the coming of the next Buddha to
hear his sermons and then only enter
Nibbana. Sakka aka Thagyamin
{þi.kra:ming:} is considered to be a
{Bo:dau} - he may still have a wife but
he does not indulge in sex anymore.
UKT: More in the Wikipedia article.
Go back Vajrayana-note-b
Contents of this page
-- UKT 080128
{wuth~tha.wuN~Na.} also known as
{ku.we-ra.}, one of the four guardian gods
of the world. He is the ruler of ogres,
and his abode is on the northern side of
Mount Meru.
There are four guardian gods of the world
known as {sa.tu.ma.ha-ra-za}:
1. 
{Da.ta.raT-HTa.} -- of the eastern
side of Mount Meru
2. 
{wi.ru-pak~hka.} -- of the southern side of Mount Meru
3. 
{wi.ru-Lha.ka.} -- of the western side of Mount Meru
4.
{ku.wé-ra.} -- of the northern side of Mount Meru
-- UMK-USL, p.043
Of the four, at least one,
{wi.ru-pak~hka.} is described surprisingly
as a huge snake with an ugly body --
a far-cry from the picture of a ruling god
in human-like form. To be checked with PTS
dictionary.
Go back
vessavana-note-b
Contents of this page
Thamunkya
{þa.mûn:kya:}
Excerpt from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf 080829
Werewolves, also known as
lycanthropes or
wolfmen, are mythological
humans with the ability to
shapeshift into wolves or wolf-like
creatures, either purposely, being
bitten by another werewolf or after
being placed under a curse. The
medieval chronicler
Gervase of Tilbury associated the
transformation with the appearance of
the full moon; however, there is
evidence that the association existed
among the ancient Greeks, appearing
in the writings of
Petronius. This concept was rarely
associated with the werewolf until the
idea was picked up by Gervase.
Shape-shifters similar to werewolves
are common in tales from all over the
world, though most of them involve
animal forms other than wolves.
UKT: See Professor Dr. Sein Tu on
were-tigers of Myanmar in an accompanying
article. Temp. placement:
MYN\nat-tiger\weretiger.htm
Go back
werewolves-note-b
Contents of this page
End of TIL file
