Sanskrit buddhism in burma pdf

Introduction and history of buddhism burmese art in burma. Min bahadur shakya director nagarjuna institute of exact methods chakupat, lalitpur, nepal contents introduction exploring sanskrit buddhist canon 3. Brahma is part of hindu trinity, a deity with four heads. As a result, many western investigators have exclaimed that burmese buddhism is far stronger than buddhism in any other theravada nation. Buddhism had been the state religion of burma beginning with the kingdom of pakan in 1044, and was briefly reinstated as the state religion under prime minister u nu in 1961 until the military coup in 1962. In the reign of narapatisuthu, pali, sanskrit, and mon languages were. Nariman, literary history sanskrit buddhism 1920 pdf. There was always the intention of making these texts more widely available. Theravada, like all other buddhist schools, claims to adhere most closely to the original doctrines and practices taught by the buddha.

Theravadins accept as authoritative the pali canon of ancient indian buddhism and trace their sectarian lineage back to the elders sanskrit. Contents acknowledgments 4 a note on burmese transcription 5 a note on pali loanwords 6 introduction 9 i. These records are in the hands of the descendants of hindu colonists who at different periods, some even before the spread of buddhism in burma, settled in this country. This paper describes the linguistic and cultural influence of india on the countries of indochina in the 5th to 15th centuries a d. A trading centre of southern burma, thaton was the main trade hub for trade between india and burma. It describes the history of digital sanskrit buddhist canon project, its prospects and future. School of oriental and african studies london university, 1990. Asia bandar seri begawan, bangkok, colombo, dacca, hanoi, hong kong, islamabad, jakarta. Myanmar, or burma as the nation has been known throughout history, is one of the major countries following theravada buddhism. Theravada buddhism is the longest enduring school of buddhism2 and is prevalent throughout south east asian countries such as thailand, sri lanka, and burma. Mahayana buddhism in burma was out of the question, as my researches led me to infer that the sarvastivada was also at one time prevalent in burma, as also tantrayana and mantrayana. The sanskrit literature in buddhism, however, is by no means exclusively mahayanist.

The king removed the religion of ayi3ji3 and brought htay2ra1wa2da1 boatda1 ba2dtha2 theravada buddhism to bagan civilization. Buddhist hybrid sanskrit bhs is a modern linguistic category applied to the language used in a class of indian buddhist texts, such as the perfection of wisdom sutras. Hindus in myanmar are the least discriminated against minority religion in myanmar,probably because buddhism had some roots in it. If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf file here. There is no official state religion, but the government shows preference for theravada buddhism, the majority religion of the nation. Occupying the center is the pali textual tradition with its beliefs, practices, and institutions as interpreted by the burmese theravada sa.

The dalai lama is currently living in exile in india with a community of tibetan buddhist followers. The first inhabitants of myanmar belonged probably to. So you can consider that buddhism first flourished for the myanmar people in the 11th century, although the history is much earlier if you count civilizations in lower burma. In 399 he left china for india, finally arriving there after six years of hard travel. Over the years we have tried to collect a copy of every printed sanskrit buddhist text, primarily for the purpose of annotating the book of dzyan. Burmese, pali, and sanskrit texts written in the burmese script are transliterated according. Theravada is the dominant school of buddhism in burma, cambodia, laos, thailand and sri lanka, and it has more than 100 million followers worldwide. Nirvana is part of the third truth on cessation of dukkha in the four noble truths, and the summum. The digital sanskrit buddhist canon free download as powerpoint presentation.

Burma is the british colonial officials phonetic equivalent for the first half of brahma desha, the ancient name of the region. The guide to the tipitaka is an outline of the pali buddhist canonical scriptures of theravada buddhism from burma. Book from the archaeological survey of indiacentral archaeological library, new delhibook number. Aniruddha also known as anawrahta was king of the burmese kingdom of. The role of the sangha in the 1988 uprising and after. Rewata dhamma wrote, nowadays burma has become a very popular centre for the study of abhidhamma and the practice of vipassana meditation. The western terms scripture and canonical are applied to buddhism in inconsistent ways by western scholars. Religion in burma, ad 0 dr than tun, 1959 u mya, part 2, 1961 u mya, part 1, 1961.

A series of epigraphic records in pali, sanskrit, pyu and mon datable to the 6th and. Buddhism in myanmar from its origins through the countrys loss of. The title of the dissertation, sanskrit buddhism in burma, requires a word of explanation. Hinduism, along with buddhism, arrived in burma during ancient times. Subsequently this pdf was made from the html page made by above method. The two languages have much in common, but sanskrit has a more complex grammar and a larger vocabulary than pa. The emerging role of buddhism in clinical psychology. The study of sanskrit buddhist texts continues to the present day, and much importance is placed upon them for mahayana buddhists who look to india as.

Mahayana buddhism in burma was out of the question, as my researches. It was presented in ebti and cbeta conference organized by dharma drum college, taipei in the year 2007. Sanskrit and pali influence on languages and literatures. He met the buddha when still a child, and later, when the sakya princes received ordination, he did so. The influx of indian culture into ancient burma, realized mostly by the. It was written in the pali language, a close relative of sanskrit, and so this collection came to be called the pali. Literary history of sanskrit buddhism ancient buddhist texts. It was in 1824 that the british diplomat brian hodgson found numerous sanskrit buddhist manuscripts there. Sanskrit means polished or refined and is the name of the classical language of india.

Written in the eleventh or twelfth century by a monk whom we might as well keep calling saddhammaghosa. The buddhist monk upagupta, who preached and taught meditative practices in northwest india over two thousand years ago, is venerated today by the laity in parts of burma, thailand, and laos as a proctective figure endowed with magical powers. Buddha wouldve been born into a hindu culture just the way christ was born into judaism. Early buddhist manuscript project ukusa importance of. The sasanavamsa, written in burma in 1861, uses the word pdli in a context where it seems to be the name of a language. Nirvana is the ultimate spiritual goal in buddhism and marks the soteriological release from rebirths in sa. Indian settlers were promoting different variants of sanskrit written culture in java.

Burma first came in contact with buddhism with the trade relationship with india. The literal meaning of the term is blowing out or quenching. Siam and burma who observe a prosaic and more the sacred language of tibet, ancient form of buddhism. Buddhism in myanmar combines several key elements from its variegated past to produce a unique form of theravada orthodoxy. With buddhism closely affiliated with burmese identity, particularly burman identity, nationalism took on specific buddhist associations. It is shown that indias penetration into southeast asia took the forms of late brahmanism early hinduism and of buddhism. Two schools of buddhism 9 the sanskrit literature in buddhism, however, is by no means exclusively mahayanist. Burmese hindus are a mix of bengalis, tamils, telegus, and uttar pradeshis who arrived in burma under british colonialism.

Buddhist ebooks free download urban dharma buddhism. Buddhism and buddhist practice in early burmese politics buddhism in early burma 24. Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by monks, but were later written down and composed as manuscripts in various indoaryan languages which were then translated into other local languages as buddhism spread. The logic and beauty within sanskrit reflects the two levels the outer knowledge passed on from teachers and books, and the inner knowledge or intuition gained through experience. Burmese buddhist imagery of the early bagan period anu open. In recent years myanmar has attained special eminence in the buddhist. The author demonstrates a remarkable continuity among traditions focused on upagupta in ancient sarvastivadin sanskrit materials, key pali texts. As india is a close neighbor, hinduism has had a regional. Buddhism in independent burma during the parliamentary period 33 buddhism and the state after the 1962 military takeover 38 iii.

China and japan is buddhism written it is sanskrit and although very few books on sanskrit have ever been discovered there, in unquestionable that at one time there was an immense literature, a vast amount of which was translated. Theras, who followed in the tradition of the senior monks of the first buddhist sangha, or community. Before all the widely spread sect of the sarvastivadis, which belonged to the hinayana and which is indicated by its designation of positivists, possessed a canon of its own and a rich literature in sanskrit. Myanmar buddhist myanmar buddha buddhism in myanmar. Sanskrit and pali influence on languages and literatures of ancient. According to both the 2014 census of the burmese government buddhism is the dominant religion, of 88% of the population, practiced especially by the bamar, rakhine, shan, mon, karen people and chinese ethnic groups. The form of buddhism that developed elsewhere in asia is called mahayana. It is sometimes called buddhist sanskrit or mixed sanskrit. The digital sanskrit buddhist canon vajrayana sanskrit.

After studying sanskrit and obtaining many sanskrit texts of the tripitaka buddhist canon, he returned to china by sea in 414. Many messengers and monks were sent to thaton to spread the teaching of the buddha by the king ashoka of india. The popularisation of buddhist practice in burma 26 2. Shravakayanathe hearer vehicle, ii mahayana buddhism the great vehicle, and iii vajrayana buddhism the diamond vehicle. In recent years myanmar has attained special eminence as the host for the sixth buddhist council, held in yangon rangoon between 1954 and 1956, and as the source from which two of the major systems of vipassana meditation have emanated out into the greater. With the military coup of 1962, about 1 million indians were forced out of burma, but some remained, mostly in yangon rangoon, mandalay, and in the bago district. The word anatman is found in its meaning of what is not the soul or spirit, also in brahmanical sanskrit sources bhagavadgita, 6,6. The name myanmar is the regional language transliteration of brahma, where b and.