Indian Antiquary Vol 22

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

Page 25

JANUARY, 1893.1
KALYANI INSCRIPTIONS.
13
Dhammacheti, or Ramadhipati, King of Pegu, who erected these inscriptions in 1476 A. D., was an ex-priest, who, in emulation of Asoka, Sirisang babôdhi-Parakkamabaha, and other Buddhist kings of old, made the parity of Buddhism one of the objects of his earnest solicitude. The main object in founding the Kalyani-sims appears to have been to afford to the Priesthood of Ramantadesa & duly consecrated place for the purpose of performing the aposatha, upasampada, and other ecclesiastical ceremonies, and indirectly to secure continuity in their apostolio succession from Mahinda, the Buddhist Apostle to Ceylon. It was held that the succession from Soņa and Uttara, the missionaries to Suvannabhumi, had been interrupted in Burma because of the violent political convulsions to which the country had been subjected. In the 11th century A. D., the Talaing Kingdom of Datên was conquered by Anuruddha or Anòratazo, King of Pagan; and two centaries later, the Pagân monarchy was, in its turn, overthrown by three Shân brothers, who took advantage of the dismemberment of the Burmese Empire caused by a Chinese invasion in 1284 A.D. While the Upper Valley of the Irrawaddy was passing through troublous times, the Talaings of the lower country had been fighting among themselves after they had regained their independence from subjection to Burma. Thus, during the four centuries that preceded the accession of Dhammachêti, Burma had scarcely enjoyed peace for any great length of time, and matters appertaining to the Buddhist Religiou had not been efficiently supervised or regalated.
The Kalyani.sima derives its name from the fact that it was consecrated by the Talaing prieste, who had received afresh their nepasampada ordination at the hands of the Mahavihêra fraternity, the spiritual successors of Mahinda, on the Kalyani River near Colombo. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Buddhist priests from all parts of Burma, from Ceylon and Siam, flocked to it to receive their upasampadá ordination. Even at the present day, priests, whose ordination is of doubtful validity, will suffer themselves to be re-ordained in it.
In preparing for the present study of the Kalyani Inscriptions, owing to want of time, I had no access to the original stone-blobs. The text was collated from two palm-leaf manuscripts, one of which was found among the papers of the late Dr. Forch. hammer, and the other was procured from the Bernard Free Library at Rangoon. On the whole, the latter manuscript, marked (B) preserves & better text, and has been generally followed in the present paper. Numerous palm-leaf copies of the Paļi text of the Kalyani Inscriptions are extant, and are carefully preserved owing to their containing an account of the proper ceremonial of consecrating & sima. No apprehension need, therefore, exist that there is any material divergence between the present edition and the original text of the inscriptions. Indeed, the general accuracy of the MSS. above alluded to will be shown later on in this Journal.
The Kalyani Inscriptions are situated at Zaingganaing, the western suburb of the town of Pogu. They oomprise ten stone slabs covered with inscríptions on both sides, and are arranged in a row. Owing either to the vandalism of the Portuguese adventurer, Philip de Brito, who, for ten years, held supreme power in Pegu at the beginning of the 17th century A. D., or to the insensate fury of Alompra's soldiery, who plundered Pegu in 1757 A. D., all of them are more or less broken ; but the fragments, which are lying scattered about, are capable of at least partial restoration. When whole, their average dimensions were about 7 feet high, 4 feet 2 inches wide, and 1 foot 3 inches thick. There are 70 lines of text to each face, and three letters to an inch. The language of the first three stones is PAli, and that of the rest is Talaing, being a translation of the PAli text.
• The modern "Kingdom of Pega," that is, the Telaing Country.
*[The Government of Burma bae rery kindly entrusted to me the task of restoring these invaluable documents to their original condition, fatis now practiomble. The work has been already begun.-ED.)