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DEOEMBER, 1922)
SOME BURMESE PROVERBS
227
From all these considerations the Pandit concludes that neither the bhikkunis nor their Order were new creations of Buddha.
It has been said that Buddha was very much averse to the creation of the Order. But when he had ultimately to accede to the request of Ananda (Cullavagga, 10. 10. 6) very sadly did he say that it was like a blight and would jeopardise the existence of brahmacarya in the Samgha. To prevent possible harm he laid down eight garudhammas for discipline. But they were unavailing. The Patimokkham, Suttavibhanga and Cullavagga record instances of abuse. He had to ordain special roles in the Bhikkunfpatimolkham to check these abuses, in some cases running to the length of wilful miscarriage in latrines, killing of foetus, etc., and to prevent a free mingling with the bhikkhus. So he was not wrong in saying that if the order would otherwise have lasted for & thousand years, with the creation of the order of bhikkhunis it would not last for five hundred.
The later Sanskrit literature bears testimony to the depth of immorality to which the bhikkunis had descended. In the Sahityadarpana (3, 157, datyah Sakhi nal.... pravna. jita), and Kamasitra (Sakhi-bhikshuk-ksha panikd-ta pasi-bhavaneshu sukhopdya), they are represented to act as go-betweens between the hero and heroine. In the Malati-Madhava Saugata-jarat-pravrdjika Kamandaki, her antevdsini Avalokita, and priya-sakhe Buddharakshita were engaged in effecting a clandestine union between the lovers. This shows that Buddha was only too true & prophet. Such paribbdjilds were subsequently engaged as spies. In such circumstances how could they command respect! It is but natural that they should be contemptuously regarded. I think that the Hindus began to hate these Buddhist nuns, not because the institution was unknown to them as Mr. Rao holds, "but because the nuns, at least some of them, must have led a life of doubtful morality." Hindu or non-Hindu, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, such characters would in any circumstanoes be contemptuously treated. The contempt was hurled not at the Buddhist Order so much as at the immoral peraons. Perhaps it would not be a difficult matter to detect corruption in nunneries of mediæval Europe, or for the matter of that in any ordinary nunnery of a by-gone age.
SOME BURMESE PROVERBS. COLLECTED BY RAO BAHADUR B. A. GUPTE,
AND EDITED BY A. L. HOUGH.
1. Kyet hmä ayo: tuhma amyo:-With fowls it is the hereditary strain, with men it is lineage.
2. Ein shé pu: ein nauk mă chan: tha.Should the front of the house be hot, the back part will not be comfortable. The meaning applicable is :-It the head of a family is in trouble the other members will also suffer.'
3. Let-thè : heseik : ka lel-hteik nā.-If you pinch at the nail the finger tips will also feel the pain. The meaning is 'If you try to injure a person, be careful of his relations who will try to do the same to you.'
4. Bū :bin-hmā hpă-yon mă thi : bū:-A pumpkin will not bear fruit on a gourd-tree. It means : A good man will have a good son ;'or, put in another way, 'A good man begets good progeny."
5. Hpongyi : yu : hnin hlē lē :-A mad priest and an unstable boat. Meaning : When two persons of bad character meet they are apt to do evil deeds,'
