“Regarding the meaning of the word Nat in Pali, I have no Pali dictionary, but I have the ordinary Oordoo Dictionary, which includes all ordinary Sanscrit words. I find there the Sanscrit word ‘Nath,’ and the meaning rendered ‘master, husband, lord.’ There is nothing to show that it refers to any supernatural being, but is only a term of respect. As such it might in Pali be made applicable to Nats. In Burmese, the people who believe in Nats seldom use that word, but some honorific phrase. Some fishermen I knew quarrelled about their shares in a pool of water. In the case they constantly referred to the share of the ‘Ashing-gyee,’ who was no other than the presiding Nat of the said pool.”
FOOTNOTES
[1] The first particular related at length by the compiler of this work is one of peculiar interest. Buddha summons the Rahans to his presence, through the ever faithful and dutiful Ananda, and addresses to them instructions which form the basis of the duties and obligations of all true disciples. He styles them Bickus—that is to say, mendicants—to remind them of the spirit of poverty and of the contempt of worldly things which must ever be dear to them. The epithet “beloved” is always prefixed to the word Bickus, as conveying an idea of the true and pure affection the master bore to his disciples, or rather his spiritual children. Buddha charges them at first to be always diligent in holding assemblies, where religious subjects should be discussed, controversies settled, and unity of faith secured. This obligation has long been held as a binding one by the primitive Buddhists, as mention is always made in their books of the three great assemblies held during the three first centuries of the Buddhistic era, when the sacred writings were carefully revised, amended, and, as it were, purged of all spurious doctrines. It was during the last council that the canon of scriptures was adopted, which has ever since been maintained by orthodox Buddhists. Nothing can be wiser than the desire he so strongly expresses that no one should ever presume to alter the true and genuine nature of the precepts, by making, according to his whim, light what is heavy, or obligatory what is but a matter of counsel. He expresses the strongest wish to see them always united among themselves, and fervent in the observance of the precepts of the law. He establishes as a fundamental principle the obedience to superiors. There is no society of a religious character among heathens where the various steps of the hierarchy are so well marked and defined as in the Buddhistic institution. The whole body of religious has a general superior in each province, exercising a thorough control over all the houses within the limits of the province; he may be looked upon as a regular diocesan. In each house of the order there is a superior, having power and jurisdiction over all the inmates of the place. Under him we find the professed members of the society, then those who may be called novices, and last of all the postulants and disciples allowed to wear the clerical dress, or yellow garb, without any power or authority, and being looked upon merely as students in the way of probation. In his charge to his disciples, Buddha lays much stress upon the necessity of destroying in themselves the principle of passion, and in particular concupiscence. The general tendency of all his preachings is to teach men the means of freeing themselves from the tyrannical yoke of passions. No one, indeed, can obtain the state of perfect quiescence or Neibban unless he has annihilated in himself all passions, and thereby qualified himself for the practice of all virtues. The character of the great body of religious Buddhists is clearly set forth in the exhortations their great master directs to them to love retreat and solitude. The noise, tumult, and bustle necessarily attending the position of a man living in the world are entirely opposed to the acquirement of self-knowledge, self-possession, and self-control, so much required in a religious. As long, concludes Buddha, as you shall remain faithful to your regulations you will prosper, and secure to yourselves and your order the respect and admiration of all. He winds up his speech by exhorting them to act in a manner ever becoming their sacred calling. The greatest moralist, possessing the most consummate and perfect knowledge of human nature, could not lay down wiser regulations for setting on a firm and lasting foundation a great and mighty institution, destined to spread itself far and wide amidst nations and tribes, and subsist during an unlimited period.
[2] A dzeat is a building erected by the piety of Buddhists for the purpose of affording shelter and a place of rest to devotees, travellers, and strangers. These buildings are to be found at the entrance of towns, in villages, and often in the neighbourhood of pagodas. Those of Burmah are erected in the plainest manner. A verandah in front extends to the full length of the building, a spacious hall running parallel to the verandah occupies the remaining place. There is no partition between the hall and the verandah. It happens sometimes that a space at one of the hall’s corners, screened by mats or dry leaves, offers an asylum to him who does not like to mix with the vulgus. The carelessness of Government in all that relates to the comfort of the people is amply compensated by the zeal of pious laymen, who readily undertake the erection of those works of public utility in the hope of securing to themselves the attainment of merits to be enjoyed perhaps in this, but certainly in some future existences.
In Burmah proper some of the dzeats are, for the country, beautiful buildings. The edge of the roof and the front part are covered with a profusion of sculptures and carvings that vie with those that adorn the finest monasteries. This fact, among many, indicates the truly beneficent and philanthropic influence exercised by some tenets of Buddhism over the followers of that creed. Pride and vainglory may have their share in the erection of those monuments of benevolence, but it is not the less certain that those who build them yield first and principally to the strong influence of religious feeling.
On this occasion Buddha preached to the crowd, when we see a line of distinction well drawn between the assembly of the disciples of Buddha and those we may merely style hearers. The latter are addressed by the name of darakas, meaning laymen that hear the preaching. A daraka is not as yet a perfect convert, and therefore not a member of the assembly of the perfect. The daraka differs from the Upasaka. The latter is not only a mere hearer of the law; he is a firm believer, and fervently practises the precepts: he is among laymen a pious Buddhist; the former is not so forward: he begins to hear and believe the doctrines preached to him. He has already some faith in Buddha; he is under instruction, but he cannot be called a professed disciple. The rewards of faith are both of a natural and supernatural order. Riches, happiness, an honourable reputation, are promised to the faithful observer of the law. He is to be ever free from doubts, since faith makes him adhere firmly to all the instructions of Buddha; and after his death he is to migrate to some of the seats of Nats. The trespassing of the law is to be attended with poverty, shame, and misery, doubts in an unsettled mind, and at last punishment in hell. That place of suffering is minutely described in Buddhistic works. Such a description appears, in the opinion of the writer, of no importance to those who desire to understand not the superficial portion of Buddhism, but its fundamental and constitutive parts. Hell is a place of punishment and torment, as the Nats’ seats are places of reward and happiness. There is no eternity of sufferings; the unfortunate inhabitant of those dark regions is doomed to remain there, until the sum of his offences has been fully atoned for by sufferings. When the evil influence created by sin is exhausted, punishment ceases too, and the wretched sufferer is allowed to migrate to the seat of man in order to acquire merits and prepare himself for happier future existences.
In recording the account of the conversion of a courtesan named Apapalika, her liberality and gifts to Buddha and his disciples, and the preference designedly given to her over princes and nobles, who, humanly speaking, seemed in every respect better entitled to attentions, one is almost reminded of the conversion of the woman that was a sinner mentioned in the Gospel.
[3] The duties performed by Thariputra on this occasion exhibit more fully than language can express the profound veneration he entertained for Buddha. He was with Maukalan the most distinguished member of the assembly; he occupied the first rank among the disciples; in point of intellectual and spiritual attainments and transcendent qualifications, he stood second to none but to Buddha. Notwithstanding his exalted position, he did not hesitate to render to his superior the lowest services. The high opinion he had of Buddha’s supereminent excellencies prompted him to overlook his own merit, and to admire without reserve that matchless pattern of wisdom and knowledge. Hence the inward satisfaction he sweetly enjoyed in serving as an humble disciple him whose unutterable perfections cast in the shade his far-famed and much-praised acquirements. The unaffected humility of the disciple does the greatest credit to the sterling worth of his inward dispositions, and conveys the highest idea of the respect and veneration entertained for the master’s person.
In the houses where Buddhist monks are living it is a fixed rule that the superior and elders of the institution should be attended in the minutest services by the youngest members wearing the canonical dress. The framer of the disciplinary regulations, intending, on the one hand, to confer dignity on the assembly, and, on the other, to oppose a strong barrier to covetousness and to all inordinate worldly affections, wisely laid down a stringent order to all the members of the society never to touch or make use of any article of food, dress, &c., unless it had previously been presented to them by some attendant, layman or clerical. Hence when water is needed for washing the head, hands, and feet, or for rinsing the mouth, when meals are served up, when offerings are made, a young postulant, holding a vessel of water on the board whereupon are placed the dishes, or the articles intended to be offered, respectfully approaches the elder, kneels before him, squatting on his heels, lays before him the object to be presented, bows down with the joined hands raised to the forehead, resumes then the article with his two hands, presents it, with the upper part of the body bent in token of respect. Before accepting it the elder asks, Is it lawful? The answer, It is lawful, having been duly returned, the article is either taken from the hand of the offerer, or he is directed to place it within the reach of the elder. Any infraction of this ceremonial is considered as a sin. In the presence of the people the monks never fail to submit to that somewhat annoying etiquette. Their countenance on such occasions assumes a dignified and grave appearance, that has always much amused the writer whenever he had the opportunity of witnessing this ceremony, which is called Akat. There is no doubt but this custom is a very ancient one. We find it blended to a certain extent with the manners of the nations inhabiting eastern Asia. It is minutely described in the Wini, and carefully observed by the inmates of the Buddhistic monasteries. It agrees remarkably well with the spirit that has originated, promulgated, and sanctioned the disciplinary regulations. He who in this instance would look at the mere skeleton of the rule without any reference to the object aimed at by the legislator would show himself in the light of a very superficial observer. This, unfortunately, is too often the case when we scorn and laugh at customs, the demerit of which consists simply in not being similar to ours, whereas the commonest sense tells us that we ought to judge them in connection with the institutions they have sprung from, and the end aimed at by him who has established them.