Historical Bagan King Anawrahta and Shin Arahan

Historical Bagan King Anawrahta and Shin Arahan

Historical Bagan King Anawrahta and Shin Arahan – King Anawrahta also known as Anawrahtaminsaw, Anoratha, or Aniruddha reigned between 1044 – 1077 AD., he was the first of a succession of kings who ruled the northern part of Burma from the 1st century AD. and the first to unify upper and lower Burma.

Historical records relating to the beginnings of Buddhism in Myanmar are scant, and for this reason, it has presented a challenge to many scholars on the subject. Some scholars, mostly those of Myanmar ethnicity think that Buddhism was known in Myanmar since the time of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Western scholars however regarding the introduction of Buddhism into Myanmar have formed other opinions, based on archaeological evidence dating to the Pyu Period between the 1st and 10th centuries.

According to the Burmese version regarding the introduction of the Pali Tipitaka (Tripitaka), it has been recorded that during the reign of the seventh king of Bagan, King Thinligyaung (344 AD – 387 AD), there was an Indian philosopher known as Maha Thera Ashin Buddhaghosa, who after his encounter with a Buddhist monk named Maha Thera Revata travelled throughout India debating and discussing the Buddhist Vedic doctrine and eventually became a Buddhist monk.

Maha Thera Ashin Buddhaghosa, on invitation by his guru Maha Thera Revata, travelled to Sri Lanka where he resided and studied the Tipitaka in Sri Lanka’s second monastery Maha Viharaya, located in the city of Anuradhapura in the capital of Sri Lanka.

Whilst there he translated the Tripitaka from the Sri Lankan language into the Magahi language, also referred to as Magadhi, a language spoken in Bihar, West Bengal, East India, and Jharkhand. Buddhaghosa also visited the South Indian Buddhist centres of Kanciipura and Uragapuram which had close connections with Thato and Prome (R. Bischoff, 1995)

Whilst Buddhism in India became less popular, it flourished in Sri Lanka, eventually spreading throughout other parts of S. E. Asia, China, and Japan by Buddhist missionaries. Whilst the root of Buddhism started in India it would be fair to say that Sri Lanka became the epicentre of its survival and up until Buddhism took hold in China and Asia was the guardian of the true teachings of the Lord Buddha.

It is not clear the exact date or year of Maha Thera Ashin Buddhaghosa’s visit to Myanmar, or his presentation of the Tipitaka to a barely mentioned Thaton King, but considering the history of Thaton and its early contacts with Buddhists from India before and up until 1st century, it would make sense for Buddhaghosa to visit the stronghold of Buddhism at that time.

Some historical records state that this visit took place in the fourth century and others state it in the fifth century. As with most historical accounts related to Burmese Buddhist history, give or take a century seems to be the norm, so regardless of the actual date, somewhere between the 4th and 5th century.

During Buddhaghosa’s visit to Thaton, he presented to the Thaton King Dhammapala his translation of the Pali Tripitaka, which was recorded as the fifth arrival of the Buddha Sasana to Myanmar in the form of a written Tipitaka.

Before King Anawrahta – Samahti Ari Monks of Burma

From the reign of King Thaik Taing (516  – 523 AD.), up until the reign of King Anawrahta, the Vinaya, a set of rules and regulations relating to the teachings of the Buddha set down for monks became lax and was not strictly adhered to. Throughout this period grew a sect known as the Samahti Aris, a lawless sect of several thousand monks who rejected the teachings of the Buddha and instead adopted a combination of Nat, Tantric, and spirit worship, rarely mentioning the Buddhist teachings.

Many of King Anawrahta’s predecessors since the 4th Century adhered to the doctrines adopted by the Ari monks. Between 931 -964 AD during the reign of King Nyaung U Sawrahan, the 38th king of the Bagan dynasty, built under the guidance of the Ari monk, five stupas were erected. Inside these stupas, a combination of images was placed which were neither Buddhist nor Nat, these images were worshipped by the kings and the people with offerings of food and liquor.

The headquarters of the Ari monks was located just a few miles southeast of Bagan. The monks resembled nothing to the monks in present-day Myanmar. The Ari monk’s garments were blue, black, or brown, their heads were unshaven, their hair was about three inches long and they wore long moustaches with beards.

They were an exuberant lot who rode elephants, went into battle, played games, killed, and drank liquor. According to the chronicles, there were around thirty Ari priests and sixty thousand followers.

King Anawrahta disenchanted with the debased practices of the Ari monks longed to bring change to his people by denouncing their practices and adopting the true Buddhist religious doctrine of earlier times. Anawrahta on hearing about a pious monk called Shin Arahan living in a cave nearby, who practised the pure doctrine introduced in the 4th century by the monk Buddhaghosa from Sri Lanka asked for his help in the reformation.

With the help of Royal patronage, Shin Arahan requested 36 sets of the Tipitaka to be brought from Thaton along with several monks who adhered to the pure doctrine of the Buddha. Over time Buddhism eventually spread into the countryside and weakened the powers of the Aris.

Anawrahta banished the leading Aris who refused to comply with the Buddha’s teachings and their followers were forced into the service of the king as labourers and soldiers. The Ari was eventually eradicated but not in the lifetime of King Anarwrahta.

Shin Arahan continued his missionary work throughout the reigns of four successive Kings and died at the age of 81 years.

Since this commitment between a King and a monk to restore the teachings of the Buddha to the people of Burma, Theravada Buddhism flourished. Today it is considered to be the purest form of Theravada Buddhism practiced in Asia.

Statues abound throughout Myanmar of this famous monk, Maha Thera Shin Arahan, the most famous is housed in the Ananda Temple in Bagan.

Information sourced from various articles on this subject we found to be contradictory to each other, and the subject matter is just as diverse, this article is merely a brief overview. The “Glass Palace Chronicles of the Kings of Burma” is one of the recommended books on this subject, although that can be daunting.