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To prove that Yonakadhammarakkita preached in Tambadlpa as well as in Aparanta, Pahiiasami points out that it is said in the Atthakatha that thousands of persons of the K§atriya clan were converted and entered the the great changes that had come over the religion of the people by the eleventh century, at which time " a debased fonn of Buddhism which was probably introduced from Northern India existed at Pagfi,n. Its teachers, called Aris, were not strict observers of their vow of celibacy, and it is expressly recorded in native histories that they had written records of their doctrines, the basis of which was that sin could be expiated by the recital of certain hymns " (Taw Sein Ko, Ind. Ant., vol. xxiii. p. 258). The writer I quote refers, in another place, to ancient inscrip- tions in Burma as pointing to the influence of the Northern School of Buddhism (Ind. Ant., vol. xxii. p. 165). ^According to the inscription translated by Col. Burney (see above), Tambadlpa includes the districts of Pug^n, Ava, Pany^, and Myenzain. In the British Burma Gazetteer (vol. ii., p. 746) Tambadlpa is described as the upper portion of the Thayet district, on the east bank of the Irawaddy. 2 This King (Samudri, Thamugdarit, Thamudirit or Thamoondirit) established a dynasty at Pugan in 108 a.d. (Phayre, History of Burma, p. 278. Brit. Bur. Gazetteer, Article " History," vol. i. p. 239 ; Burney Notice of Pugan, J. A. S., Bengal, vol. iv. p. 400). DISSERTATION. 28 Order, and, since there were no Ksatriyas in Aparanta, this statement points to a visit of Yonakadhammarakkita to the neighbouring province, Tambatllpa.' But though Arimaddana was destined to be a centre of religion, heresy was rife there from the time of Sammuti himself, and continued to grow and nmltiply till in the time of Anuruddha ' the adherents of the Samana- kuttakas numbered many thousands. The chief and most dangerous heresy of this sect is briefly described ; it lies in the boundless abuse of the Paritta,3 which becomes, with these heretics, a charm to absolve from guilt even the murderer of mother or father. Such doctrines (together with others that raised the acariyas to tyrannical power over the family life of the laity 4) had corrupted the Taw Sein Ko observes : " The finding among the ruins of Tagaung of terracotta tablets bearing Sanskrit legends affords some corroboration of the statement of the native historians that long before Anorat'azo's con- quest of Thaton, in the eleventh century a.d. successive waves of emigration from Gangetic India had passed through Manipor to the upper valley of the Irrawady, and that these emigrants brought with them letters, religion, and other elements of civilisation" {Ind. Atit., voU. XXV. p. 7). For the same opinion see Phajnre, Hist. Bur. (pp. 15, 16), and Forchhammer's Notes on the Early History and Geography of British Burma, p. G. " Anoaraht&, consecrated King in 1010 a.d. He is the great hero of the Burmese. (Phayre, Hist. Bur., p. 22) ; A. Bastian, Geschichte der Indo-Ghinesen, p. 33). 3 Originally hymns, suttas and auspicious texts to ward off danger and evil spirits. (Childers, Pali Dic- tionary, s.v. ; C. Bendall, Catalogue of Sanskrit and Pali Books, in the British Museum, 1892.) 4 Sir Arthur Phayre, writing of this period, says that a change, from some unknown external cause, had corrupted religion in Burma — a change such as had already taken place in the Buddhism of the Punjab in the sixth century. 24 A BUBMESE HISTOEIAN OF BUDDHISM. religion of Tambadlpa, when in the eleventh century a He, too, gives the name " Ari " as that by which the heretics were known. Might not this Aji be a slightly altered form of the Sanskrit arya, the Arya of Buddhist terminology ? A further comparison of the Samanakuttaka heresy (very briefly summed up in the Sasanavamsa) with the North Indian or rather Tibetan Buddhism, is suggested to me by the following sentences in our text : "Sace pi puttadhitanam avahavivahakammaiii kattukamo bhaveyya acariyanam pathamam niyyadetva avahaviva- hakammaiii kattabbam; yo idam carittam atikkameyya bahu apuiiiiam pasaveyya ti," (" If any man be desirous of giving sons or daughters in marriage, he must first hand over (one of his offspring) to the acariyas before (any) giving in marriage. Whosoever transgresses this rule commits great sin (lit. produces great demerit).") If my interpretation is correct (making niyyadetva refer to a direct object, understood from the puttadhitanam preceding) the passage recalls a trait of Tibetan Buddhism. " It would appear that compulsion is also exercised by the despotic priestly government in the shape of a recognised tax of children, to be made lamas, named htsun-gral. Every family thus affords at least one of its sons to the church. The first born or favourite son is usually so dedicated in Tibet. The other son marries in order to continue the family name and inheritance. ..." (L. A. Waddell's Buddhism of Tibet, p. 70). I ought to add, however, that there is no mention in the Sasanavamsa of Naga-worship, as a practice of the Samanakuttakas, but Phayre's authority describes the Aris (the priests of this corrupt cult), living in monasteries like Buddhist monks. They were expelled and stripped of their robes (like the Samanakuttakas) when Anuruddha had come under the influence of "Arahan" from Thahtun (Hist. Bur., p. 33). With regard to the name Samanakuttaka : from the DISSERTATION. 25 new era opened with the arrival of the great thera Arahanta, from Thatdn.' Arahanta's coming to Arimaddana, and the sweeping reforms that King Anuruddha forthwith carried out at his instance, are related with a fulness that shows how momentous this episode is in the eyes of the historian, [The story is first told in the words of the Rajavamsa, but two other versions follow, drawn from the Pabit- analogy with Kuttima = artificial (derived by Childers from Skt. Krtrma), kuttaka seems to be the Skt. A' r^fl^-a = false, artificial, simulated. Samanakuttaka would therefore simply mean : simulating (the life of) the Samanas. It is expressly said that the outward show of a monastic life like the Buddhist monks was kept up by this sect, and that the kings who patron- ised them believed them to be disciples of Gotama. Professor E. Miiller has kindly pointed out to me an instance of the use of this adjective in the passage, " kuttakan ti solasannam natakitthinam thatva nacca- nayoggan minamayattharanain " {Sumangalavildsini, I. p. 87). Here an artificial carpet is meant, affording room to sixteen dancing girls. Discussing the term Qramanakrtakah, Prof. Bendall writes : " There are plenty of mentions of ' false Samanas ' . . ." For a modem use of a similar phrase, I may also refer to a passage in Mr. Bird's valuable work, Wanderings in Burma, where he speaks of the modern clergy in the Eastern Shan States as " less orthodox than those in the Western States and Burma," who call them "Htu" or "Imitation priests." (See p. 23 of Wanderings in Burma. George Bird, Education Depart- ment, Burma, London, 1897.) ^ The capital of Pegu, mentioned, in the text, by its classical Pali name Sudhammapura (see Taw Sein Ko, Preliminary Study of the Kalydni Inscriptions, Ind. Ant., vol. xxii. p. 17 ; Phayre, Hist. Bur., p. 34). 26 A BURMESE HISTORIAN OF BUDDHISM. TANIDANA and Sasanapaveni ^] The Samanakuttakas' heresy was, in fact, annihilated and their communities were relentlessly broken up, but Arahanta warned the king that there was danger for the future of religion, since no relics of the Master's body were treasured in the capital, and the sacred Texts were wanting. He therefore urged Anuruddha to send an embassy to Sudhammapura where there was a wealth of relics and books. This was done, but MANOHAiii,^ king of Pegu (jealous, as it is said — perhaps envying Anuruddha the honour of Arahanta's intimacy), refused the request, with a contempt that roused the Burmese king to fury. 3 He descended on Sudham- mapura with a huge land force and a number of ships, and laid siege to the city. For a while the army was miracu- * I have not come across the titles of these two works in any catalogue of Pali books or MSS. that I have been able to consult. They may be Burmese works, mentioned here by a classical instead of their vernacular name (according to Pariiiasami's usual custom). I may note that the difference between the three versions is cha- racteristic.