The Advent of Buddhism in Myanmar

We have several stories that Buddhism reached Myanmar even in
the life time of the Buddha 536-483 BC. The Buddha was supposed to visit places where he thought his visit and his teachings might save a certain creature or many creatures in generalfrom some trouble that accrue out of being alive. The people of Rakhine on the western coast of Myanma believed that the Buddha came to Legaing preaching. He would stand on a hill top to predict that sometime afterwards, a city would appear in this locality where Buddhism would thrive. In this way we thought that we were fortunate to know when a city in Myanma would be built by whom at some critical tome of our history. It is said that two merchant adventurers from Lower Myanma came as far as Budhagaya and had had an admirable good fortune to meet the Buddha a few days after the Enlightenment. From the Buddha the two men received the hairs that they enshrined in a stupa which also housed the relics of two other Buddhas before Gotama. Most probably the two brothers were from Orissa. No Buddha image could be older than AD 76 or a stupa earlier before Asoka 274-232 BC.
One Mon learned monk known as Mawlamyine Taung Bauk Sayadaw, who lived several years in India visiting all Buddhist sites, and tried to make maps showing the extension of Buddhism beyond India, was in favour of locating Suvannabhumi in Java. With all these uncertainties and probabilities it is rather difficult to say how the Teachings of the Buddha arrived in our land.
There are terracotta votive tablets left by Pyus who built quite and extensive kingdom during the 4th and 9th centuries AD and these tablets bear witness that the Buddha’s image and the Yedharma stanza inscribed beneath the throne of Buddha in

reverse. That bears the evidence that the Pyus were Buddhists in the 1st century AD or earlier. Mons, another people of Lower Buddhists in the 7thcentury. Then we would not be much wrong to say that the Teaching of the Buddha would have reached our land only in important extracts on gold, silver, copper plaques as well as
on stones were found in Pyu cities and they were usually put at the gates of their residences and their cities. That was done for the benefit of protection against evil spirits and all other external and internal enemies.
We have one question as to who brought these supposedly important extracts from Buddhist text to these people. There were sailors, merchants and even settlers. But one thing definite is that they were not missionaries. Then who brought these important stanza from Buddhist scriptures. Somehow or other we have no direct evidence except guess. We have among us the rulers who wanted to show that they were far superior to the common people who were, to then, all slaves. Further more they were much impressed y the Brahmanical thoughts and believes. Some famous Brahaman sages were invited to come and live among them to teach their way of life which was far auperior to their native culture. Thus Pyu and Mon royalty adopted Brahmanism. Mostly the people of Rakhine on the western coastline of Myanma were, according to a Sanskrit inscription dating to the early 8th century AD, their kings were Shavites and the Pyus and Mons on the deltaic regions on the south of the country were mostly Visnavites. It sounds odd that Brahmanism was brought to Myanma land through the Monland in the present day Thailand. Similarly Mahayanism reached them from Funnan which is identified as Kampucha t-day. There is however, one exception. The Pyus of northern Myanma received Mahayanism form probably northeastern India. And these people could not have been devoted Buddhists. Their previous pre Buddhist believes like animism would prevail and by ambivalence they would live between two opposing believes. Even today, they claim that they are Theravadins though they observe knowingly or unknowingly many Hindu or Mahayana rituals.
Now I come to the most important question. When does the Pitaka( all the Three Baskets ), reached Myanma? Some attributed it to Buddhaghosa or to Arahan and Aniruddha. But there are no substantial evidence in their support except the word of mouth. And that too was not reduced to writing until AD 1480 at the time of Tamadhipati popularly known as Dhammaceti. There are, however, epigraphic evidences that the entire Pitaka reached Bagan only in the time of King Htilaing or Kyansittha(1084-1113). He put his son Rajakuma in charge of editing the Pitaka texts obviously with the help of local learned monks and imported sages from abroad, largely from Srilanka. We all assume that the Sasana- the Teachings or the Buddha, might last for five thousand years and that two has no evidence to say that how such a belie became current. There is also a belief that there were no more Bhikkhunis after the lapse of the 1,000 years fo the Sasana. On the other hand Kyansittha became king in the Sasana Year of 1682 (AD 1084). And the Bagan epigraphic evidence give infallible support that there were Bhikkhunis even towards the end of the Bagan dynasty in AD 1287.
By
Dr. Than Tun

ဒါေတြလည္းေရးထားေသးတယ္ဗ်ာ။