Myanmar in the Fifteenth Century by Aung-Thwin Michael A.;

Author:Aung-Thwin, Michael A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Apart from such fine examples of Pali verse, Pali scholarship per se was also at an advanced stage at Pagan, with at least several dozen works written in the language that received high acclaim at the time. Most of the subject matter was religious, including treatises on Buddhist philosophy, the Vinaya (text on monastic rules), and the Abhidhamma (commentaries on Buddhist philosophy). One particular treatise that stood out, written approximately around 1154 AD, was the Saddaniti, a Pali grammar that was acclaimed even by scholars from Sri Lanka, considered the supreme center for Pali scholarship at the time. The work is still considered a valuable contribution to Pali studies in general.

How fine works in Pali translate into fine works in Old Burmese literature is, of course, debatable. And when it comes to secular, vernacular Burmese verse, Ava seems to have eclipsed Pagan. Some of the most important literary figures at Ava include Ariyavamsa, Shin Uttamagyaw, Shin Thilawuntha, Shin Rattathara, Saddhammakitti, Shin Aggathamadhi, and Lady Yaweshinhtwe, not to mention two poetesses, Mi Nyo and Mi Phyu (Miss Brown and Miss White). This subject has seen very little scholarship in English, particularly research that has been derived from the primary sources. It could easily be a book-length monograph in itself, so what little is described here should be taken only as a very preliminary summary of what still needs to be done. My synopsis here is gleaned from both the primary sources, mainly the Ava inscriptions, in which verse abounds, as well as from secondary sources written by scholars on the subject, particularly the works of Mabel Bode, Anna Allott, John Okell, Dr. Hla Pe, Pe Maung Tin, U Kyaw Dun, and U Saw Tun.6

Shin Ariyavamsa was from Pagan and lived at Ava during the reign of Narapati the Great. He had studied at Sagaing earlier, showing how, even during times of military chaos, there were oases of peace, quiet, and learning. His training resulted in the writing of a treatise called the Manisaramanjusa, a commentary on the Abhidhammatthavibhavani. He wrote and taught at Sagaing, but moved to Ava, as it had become the kingdom’s center of scholarship. According to Mabel Bode, one of his most important later works was the Manidipa, a treatise on the Atthasalini (a commentary) of Buddhaghosa, perhaps the most celebrated of all Buddhist monks in the Sinhalese tradition. Ariyavamsa also composed a grammatical treatise called the Gandhabharana and a study of the Jatakas called the Jatakavisodhana. He wrote mostly in Pali but also showed his talents in the vernacular, composing the first metaphysical work in Burmese, an atthayojana (interpretation) of a commentary, called the Anutika, on the Abhidhamma.

The next Buddhist scholar at Ava able to fill his shoes was Shin Thilawuntha. He and Shin Uttamagyaw were contemporaries, as monks who had entered the same monastery at Taungdwingyi, a provincial governorship under Ava (northwest of Naypyidaw, the present capital). The former wrote religious works in verse, such as of the Sumedhakatha (the story of the ascetic Sumedha, which

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