#Mettavalokanaya_International_Buddhist_Magazine_May_2021

Buddhism in
Myanmar….
Purifying
Buddhism
02 - The Second Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana - It was in the Maha Sakarit
year 111, in the 8th Vasa of Buddha,
Arahat Maha Thera Shin Gavonpati
requested humbly the Buddha to
visit Thaton (Suvannabhumi) in the
kingdom of Ramannadesa. (Present
in Mon State, Southeast of Myanmar)
So people of that place became
Buddhists after hearing the Dhamma.
03 - The Third Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana - In the Maha Sakarit year
123 in the 20th Vasa of Buddha
again, Maha Punna requested to visit
Sunaparanta Vaniccagama, therefore,
Buddha came to that place with 500
disciples; and monastery was built by
sandal wood was offered to Buddha
came to Suvannabhumi (Thaton) in
Ramannadesa (Mon State) to carry
out missionary works.
05 - The Fifth Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana - The fifth arrival of Buddha
Sāsana was in the Buddhist era 930
or 386 AD, during the reign of King
Mahā Nama of Sri Lanka, Mahā Thera
Buddhaghosa brought the Tipitaka
written in Sri Lanka language brought
to King Dhammapala of Thaton in
Ramannadesa his translated work.
This is the arrival of the Buddha
Sāsana in Myanmar in the form of
written Tipitaka.
Arrival of written Tipitaka in
Tampadipa (Bagan) - Buddha Sāsanā
flourished in the Pyu City Kingdoms
Dr. Saw Htut Sandar
Assistant Director, Associate
Prof. Department of Buddhist
Studies, Swami Vivekanand
Subharti University,
Meerut, India.
Myanmar is mostly practice
by the Theravada tradition
or Southern School or Pali
Tradition. There are nearly
87.9%, its according to the Census of
2014 of Myanmar population practice
Theravada Buddhism and over 500
thousand are monks in population
known as Sangha.
The Sāsanavamsa mentions
that, several visits of the Buddha to
Myanmar and one other important
event is the arrival of the hair relics
in Ukkala (Yangon) after the Buddha’s
enlightenment by the two merchants.
Theravāda Buddhism flourishes
in Myanmar with many references
as stone inscriptions, palm leaf
inscriptions and court chronicles tell
us that Buddhism arrived to Myanmar
not once but many times. According to
these records, Buddhism was arriving
to Myanmar total five times. Following
are the brief explanation of arrival of
Buddhism to Myanmar.
01 - The First Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana - The First Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana was associated the legend of
the Shwedagon Pagoda, in accordance
with that legend, Buddhism
arrived Myanmar in the lifetime of
Buddha, very soon after Buddha’s
Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree
at Bodhgaya.
to reside. There, Namanta Naga and
his friend hermit came to pay homage
and requested to leave some kinds of
representative for worshiping, thus,
the Buddha left two foot prints; one at
the foot of the Minbu hill and another
on the top.
04 - The Fourth Arrival of Buddha
Sāsana - The fourth arrival was in
the year of 235, BC, Emperor King
Asoka patronized the Third Buddhist
Council at Pātaliputra, foreseeing
that the Sāsana would spread too
far off places. Buddhist missionaries
were dispatched to nine countries
nine places, Mahā Thera Sona &
Uttara accompanied by three Arahats
(2nd Cent. BC to 11th Cent. AD) by
virtue of the artifacts excavated
from archaeological sites such as Sri
Kestra, Beikthano, and Hanlin show
that at that time Mahayana Buddhism
co-existed with Theravada Buddhism
in ancient Myanmar.
Other places where Buddha
Sāsana flourished were Rakhine
(Rakhine State) and Ramannadesa
(Mon State). When Anawrahta became
a king in AD 1044, he was intent
upon purifying Buddhism which was
prevalent in Bagan. After that he
met with Shin Arahan and achieved
Tipitaka from Thaton Theravada
Buddhism flourished in Myanmar.
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