Notes on the early history and geography of British Burma : the Shwe Dagon Pagoda / by Em. Forchhammer.

  • Forchhammer, Emanuel, 1851-1890.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on the early history and geography of British Burma : the Shwe Dagon Pagoda / by Em. Forchhammer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tatta dubbhikkhapi/itatta varacakkasankhittaya sattarajasenaya ab- hibhutatta ca Ramanna^hanara dubbalam jatam tena tarn nivasinam bhikkbunaw sukhena pariyattim va pahpattira va paripuretum asa- koneyyatta sasanam pi dubbala?w jatam. Suriyakumaro ti pana pad- laddhakumaranamassa Manoharirahho rajjakarawakale accantadub- balam jatam. Translation.—“ Tbe tberos Sona and Uttara were sent to Ramanna, which forms a part of Suvannabhumi, to propagate the holy faith. At that time a king named Siridhammasoka governed the country. The royal residence of this regent was in a town situated to the north-west of the Kelasapabbata pagoda. The eastern half of this town was built on the summit of the mountain, and the western half was built on the level ground (along the foot of the mountain). This town is called to this day (i.e., when the Kalyani inscriptions were written) Go/amatti- kanagara, because of the many houses it contained made of earth (loam) in the fashion of the houses of the GoIsl people. “This city was situated close to the seashore; a rakkhasi (female ogre), who lived in the sea, was in the habit of seizing and devouring every child that was born in the king’s palace. On the very night the two theros arrived (in the place), the chief queen of the king gave birth to a child. The rakkhasi, knowing that a child had been born in the king’s palace, went, in order to devour the infant, towards the town ; she was surrounded by 500 attend- ants. When the inhabitants saw them they were greatly alarmed. Then the two theros, seeing that the ogress (with her attendants) had assumed the surpassingly frightful appearance of lions, of which each had one head and two bodies, created (by their magical power) monsters of the same frightful appearance, but twice the number of those accompanying the ogress, and closed in upon them, obstructing their further progress. When the Pisacas saw themselves confronted by double their own num- ber of like monsters created by the theros they cried out ‘ Now we shall be their prey ’ (we shall become food to them), and fled frightened towards the sea. In order to prevent the return of the ogress, the theros placed guards about the place and then preached to the assembled inhabitants the Brahmajalasutta. “ When they had finished their discourse 60,000 persons be- came endowed with the knowledge of the (divine) law; 3,500 men and 1,500 women renounced the world. As to the rest of the people, they became established in the saranas (i.e., em- braced Buddhism) and the silas (cardinal virtues). Thus the two theros established the religion in this region of Ramannadesa in the 236th year after the allwise Buddha had attained nirvana.