Indian Antiquary Vol 22

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 23

JANUARY, 1893.]
KALYANI INSCRIPTIONS.
his lay hearers were incarnations of the deities and Mahîyâna Bodhisattvas above specified. Attention is invited to the rosary as the chinha of Avalokitesvara. Indra's third horizontal eye in the forehead is also characteristic, and Indra is usually the umbrella-holder to Buddha.
In conclusion, I may note that for several years I have been engaged on a work dealing with quite an untrodden field of Indian Buddhism, for the study of which I have had exceptional opportunities, vir., The Tantric Buddhism of Magadha as illustrated by its remains, and in its relations to the Lamaic Pantheon.'
A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE KALYANI INSCRIPTIONS OF DHAMMACHETI,
1476 A. D.
BY TAW SEIN KO. The absence in the Buddhist Church of any organized ecclesiastical hierarchy ander a central Government renders it imperative that some kind of efficient check should be devised for the dae maintenance of discipline, harmony, and moral control. It was, therefore, ordained by Gautama Buddha that twice in the month, at full moon and at new moon, and also once a year, at the end of the rainy season, meetings should be held, where the assembled priests should be asked whether they had committed any of the offences mentioned in the Patimökkha, or whether the commission of such offences by any of them had been seen, heard of, or suspected by the others. The former meetings are called upôsatha and the latter pavúraná. For the purpose of holding these meetings, at which it is the bounden duty of all priests to attend, it is necessary that & convenient and central place should be appointed. Such a place is called & sime, and the ceremonial for its consecration is prescribed in the second khandhaka of the Mahavagga, a part of the Vinaya Pitaka. This ceremonial has, however, been interpreted in various ways by the commentaries and scholia on the Mahavagga, such as the Vinaya!! hakatha, Sáratthadipani, Vimativinôdani, Vinayaļiká by Vajîrabuddhithêra, Kankhavitarani, Vinayavininhchhayapakarana, Vinayasangahapakarana, Simálankárapakarana, and the Simalaikúrasangaha; and the object of the Kalyani Inscriptions is to give an authoritative ruling on these varied opinions, and to prescribe & ceremonial for the consecration of a sima, which shall be in accordance with what is laid down by Gautama Buddha, and which, at the same time, shall not materially conflict with the interpretations of the commentators.
Incidentally the inscriptions are meant to prove the apostolic succossion of the Buddhist priesthood of Burma, and give a good deal of valuable information as to the geography of the period. So many positive ourrent dates are also given, with references to Sinhalese and Burmese History, that the historical truth of many of the statements contained in them should be capable of conclusive proof,
A sima serves another purpose than that above explained. It is the place where the upasampada ordination and other ecclesiastical ceremonies are performed. Unless the consecration of the sima is considered to be valid, the coremonies performed therein are held to be null and void. Hence a sima is intimately connocted with the existence of the Buddhist Priesthood, on which the whole fabric of Buddhism rests.
The following account of the manner in which simas aro at the present day consecrated in Burma will be of interest, as showing how the accretions of ages have modified the simple ceremonial of Gautama Buddha. A piece of land suitable for the consecration of a simá, and generally measuring about 105 or 126 feet in perimeter, is obtained from the British Government, which declares that the land is visur gáma, that is to say, land in respect of which revenue and all usufructuary rights have been irrevocably relinquished by the secular authorities in favour of the Buddhist Priesthood. Within the limits of this land, the learned and qualified priests, who have been appointed to perform the ceremony of consecration,
* The modern Bermone word for this is beng, spelt sim.