A GLIMPSE INTO THE destined to lead to the understanding SPIRITUAL STRUCTURE of a visible form and patte rn of art and culture which is created for social de• 1 OF THAI m and. The ref o re, art and cultu re gee-socialises their form according to Kovit Anakechai time (its period). But for spiritual de• 2 ''Khemananda'' mand, the invisible stmcture ofthe time• less nature of art and culture reall y needs Forward another approach. And the destiny of such spiritualization is not merely to For those who want to examine the spiri• have but to be -- to reali se Suchness. tual depth of , they may be Otherwise our standard of evaluation confused by the fl exibility of the Thai will become alienated from art and cul• character and th e change of values in ture. We may have the majestic form of present Thai society. The flexibility of art and culture for e xhibition and fash• the people on the Indo-C hina peninsula ion but possibly we can never li ve with seems to be mi sperceived by westerners, it as the way. This alienation is, nota• and the changing of values, becoming bly, the cause of the decline of art and more western ized, have alienated the culture. The lack of spiritual wakeful• local people fro m the ir own spiritual ness will formulate the grand and fan• roots. Even those h ighly e ducated tastic expression for gratification of sen• people who are aware of this alienation sualism or poli tics more than for peace and who try to evaluate and preserve and pure wisdom, for authority rather the ir roots are possibl y alienated from than humanity. the spiritual structure of their own cul• ture. The political confli cts and the This is the fact of our age of so-called growth of nationa li sm are someho w modern living, that is, we may possess problems to gaining a purely objective advanced technologies to gratify our and spiritual understanding. In order to sensual demands, but in fact we acquire free our observations from all prejudices muc h less spiritual than we must be aware of our own gratifica• people did in the olden days. Our me• tion at being more westerni zed. chanical thinking leads us to psychologi• cal and philosophical interpretation. If art and cul ture is defined by time (its That is, our approach to art and culture period) which makes it possible for is about the visible forms and behaviour evaluation through scientific analysis, and our conc lusions come therefrom. we will acquire a great deal of under• standing of art and culture psychologi• The epics of the world are among those cally, politially,economically, etc. Our things of art and culture which need approach through such definition is prope r e va luation , not merely as a matter of the intellect or entertainment I This paper is based on the the paper pre• but, notably, as a whole stucture of spiri• sented at the International Conference on tual growth. It is not just about the hero Thai Studies AugusL22-24, 1984, . and heroine, but about any individual 2 Budd hist scholar, Poet, Writer and Painter whose obstacles and victories are sym-

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boli zed by demons and de ities. It is the to Indian people. In the , journey into inner life of the mystical Rama is an ideal man as a character in individual in association to the outer the epic and a historical figure, but spiri• world. The reali zation of our inner be• tually he is Truth (Satya). Hanuman -• in g is symbolized by the enthronement the lord of the monkeys is Bhakti (love of a heroic prince after killing the de• of god), while Sita, Rama's wife -- an mons, having received the bliss of ideal woman as a character, is spiritu• Dharmic god and having brought back a lly Atman. Ravana is Egois m peace to the whole region. Specifically, (Ahamkara), who resides in the myste• such a spritual structure of folklore or rious Island of Sri Lanka, which no man epic are mostly the same because it is can approach, except Hanuman -- the simply the only great journey of man• great in god. However, in praise of ki nd to the Supreme-Being, be it god or god, Rama as a man of god accompa• Bhutathara or Lord Amitabha of the nied by his soldiers must build the Buddha-Realm. Re li giously speaking, Setubandha (B ridge of Testament) by the whole hi story of mankind is this the power of god in order to kill Ravana ultimate journey. and to re-unite with his beloved wife and to establish the total peace to the whole When we examine those epics or other region, which applies literally to the fo rms of art psychologically, it is whole world. That is the spiritual bridge po ible to be misled by those psycho• which links Ramesvaram of south India logical theorems since we are using it with Talaimana of north Ceylon (Sri as a logical basis to explain the spiritual Lanka). function of sy mbolism or personifica• tion. Those characte rs in the e pics are Place, time, distance, beasts, monkeys, not people but spiritua l symbols of the bear (Chambhuvana), divine weapons, formless within. And the journey of the c ities, de mons, rivers, j ungles, heroes or the great war or the setting is mountains, rainfall, wind, battles and ad• not physical form since the onl y way to ventures etc, that is all elements of the visuali ze the invisible is to use symbol• Ramayana are not merely drama; the ir ism or personification. That is the com• spiritual meanings should be understood bination of the invisible and the visible and appreciated. of spiritual expression in art. The Common Ground and The complexity is here: personification Spiritual Structure of Indian is analogy. Let us take an example from Epics the Ramayana. Rama is a historical pe rson, a human who has attained sublime bliss from god. His actions are In the 14-year journey ofRama, Sita and for the Love (Bhakti) of god and for the Lakshman, they killed a numbe r of welfare of the world. Indian people have demons and received divine bliss. The praised him as an ideal king, lover and names of the demons have spiritual prophet. Hi s sayings have become meanings. For example, the first demon, Dharma teachings. Therefore, he is a Parasurama (Ramasura in Thai) who was killed by Rama, which is the com-

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bination of Parasu and Rama suggests god could fly to meet Sita on Lanka Is• Rama the beast. It means the animal in• land, but he had no rights to take Sita stinct in man which, if we can subdue back to Rama unless the created it, will enable us to receive divine power. the divine bridge (Setubandha) for Ram a Herein, Rama, after killing Parasurama, and Ravana was defeated. Here, in The received the divine arrow of Brahman, Monkey God (Sei-Eew-Ki, Journey to which he could call for from god wher• the West, the Chinese Epic of the Ming ever and whenever he should need it. Dynasty), the Monkey God could fly to Another example is Marica, (Marish in the "Thus-come" (Chinese- Yulai), but Thai) it has the same root as the Latin he could not stay unless he was accom• word for Mirage. (the name of the panied by his group? younger brother of the great Demon, Ravana;) Ravana ent hi m in disguise All demons, therefore, were obstacles as a golden deer to attract Sita and de• for Rama, but after Ram a subdued them, ceive Rama and Lakshman. Illusion they manifested themselves as the divine arose then, and Truth (Rama) and Atman signs to guide Rama to reunion w ith (Sita) were separated. Sita. As for Ravana, the Master of de• mons and the King of the ideal c ity The most interesting symbol is when Lanka, the author made Rama kneel Rama, lamentating for thr loss of Sita, down to the dying Demon Ravana in ent his generals everywhere in hope to order to learn policy and administration find his beloved wife. Only Hanuman, from him. Ravana whispered to Rama the great Bhakta, can go down to Patala that from the beginning, he had adored -- the deepest Realm of our being. Rama. We have a glimpse as to how one Hanuman saw the endless tunnel, and who attains bliss from God can learn to he entered the shining underworld city use demoniac arts for the benefit of the called "Svayam Prabhu" which means country. 'The Realm of Spontaneity' where he received news of Sita's whereabout. The summary of Ramayana is herein: as a human being but with the power of By and faith or Bhakti in god, after more than 14 years of devo• god, one will reach the realm of Spon• tion by great austerities and , taneity, and attain wi dom to realise one can re-unite with oneself (Atman) Atman, understanding li fe as a whole, and attain the bliss from God. both the external and the inner. Here on the H induistic basis, of which the ulti• mate aim of li fe is to attain Eternity, the Arman or the pure self is liberated and united with the Supreme Being -• Paramatman. 2 The Monkey God is the Chinese Epic by By absorbing into oneself, one enters the Wu Chen En which had imitated the spiri• state of pure being by power of trance tual structure of Ramayana. but cannot maintain it permanently. Only Hanuman, with the power of the

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In Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers This is not hi storical or archaeological had to roam in the wilderness for 12 fact but a glimpse of spiritual structure. year . F inally, by the help of Lord The depth of Indian epics is linked to Krishna, Arjuna, the hero prince, Thai folklore. It is undeniable that In• howed sublime faith in Atman by 'kill• dia is the mother of the culture of Thai• ing' his own relatives and teachers. It land and other countries in the penin• sounds terrible for dharmic people who sula oflndo-China. cling to the precept of 'no killing' and me rely understa nd Mahabharata as The Socializing Effect of Thai re li gious poetry. But since such action, Original Folklore and its Mis• ' killing', is 'to ki ll a ll defil ements which understanding one loves as if they were close relatives and gurus, the killing in Bhagavadgita was the great acti on guided by God Ramayana, Ramakirti and the Journey (Lord Krishna) not the historical battle to the West at Kuruksetra fi e ld (near Indapath or present Delhi). It was the great battle The Thai Ramakirti came from within the human heart. Thereby, the Ramayana which has been adopted Bhagavadgica is the most sacred text andadapted. Thai kings, who, being dear to the hearts of the Hindus and is Buddhists, traditionally led and ruled the appreciated by the whole world. The au• country by Dharma, both of Brahman• thor, Vyasa, had taken the outer war to ism and , created the Thai symbolise the inner war, external rider Ramakirti, which is more Buddhistic. of the chariot for god within. The pro• But this adaptati on in the form of po• found teaching of Lord Krishna for etry has bereft its spiritual essence. Wu Arjuna is the heart of this great Epic as Cheng En (1500-1582 A. D. Ming dy• its whole structure is the spiritual jour• nasty), the author of The Journey to the ney undertaken to unite with god. West, was more successful in keeping Buddhistic as well as poetic After victory, Atjuna, with his brothers values. The three beasts: Ngo-Kong, the and wife, led an austere way of life. monkey, Poi-Kai, the pig, and Sua-Jeng, Later, Yudhishthira alone roamed into the water demons respectively represent the timeless jungle, the great darkness prajna (Ngo-kong is Chinese for without stars, called Kanaka, and finall y wisdom and emptiness), Sila (Poi-kai, entered heaven. Standing in front of the is Chinese for eig ht precepts) and supreme god, He saw Durayodhana, his Samadhi (Sua-jeng is Chinese for the antagonist standing near god, next to mountain of sand which is underdevel• himself. For one who knows god sees oped). The monkey is not Bhakta (faith) everything as the manifestation of god as Hanuman in Ramayana but wisdom, and in god from the beginning. And to and instead of defeating Ravana in attain the sublime knowledge of the per• Lanka, the destination of the journey to fect man, Yudhishthira was to see his the west is to receive the Tripitaka from enemy Durayodhana perfected in god the Buddha in India. We may be con• as well. fused about the sense of time in the epic; Hieun-Tsang was a historical person some 1000 years after the Buddha's 27

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time, but since the Buddha here is Bud• Thai Folklore dha Nature in man, in all of us, and Hieun-Tsang is the devout mind accom• Thai folklore, whic h contains spiritual panied by wisdom, precepts and medi• meaning, whether they were Buddhist tation, the end of the journey means the tales or were created locally in Siam is mind has realised Buddha Nature that more or less influenced by Ramayana, resides within. This i how Hieun-Tsang and its spiritual stru cture educated the and his disciples could approach the people generation after generation in the Buddha. gloriou s past. But thi s aspect of the Thai folkl ore disappeared in the Ratanakosin ln the T hai Ramakirti, Hanuman peri od which turned pure art into ma• sy mbolises both wisdom and faith. The jestic decoration, diminishing its spiri• additi on of some characteristics and ac• tual depth and vitality. Pannasjaraka ti on of Hanuman makes the Buddhis• (The 50 Birth Stories of the Buddha) tic expression perfect. For example, the which contains several stories of spiri• episode of the burning of Lanka: in tual concerns needs concentration to un• Ramayana, Hanuman extinguished the derstand, for its structure originally was fire burning his tail at Ganga River not just concerned with dramatic poetry which flowed from Heaven. In the Thai which is an inadequate adaptation, con• Ramakirti, Hanuman put his burning tail centrating on inte ll ectual not spiritual in hi mouth, fo llowing the suggestion aspects of the stori es. The greatest loss of a rishi who gave him a riddle: "Water is particularly the changing and the di s• in a small well can extin guish a great tortion of the names or terms that carry fire" This might be inte rpreted that one sy mbolic meaning, which are the keys can perform a great act but somehow to understanding the spiritual implica• cannot free oneself from petty problems. tion of the content.The natural growth of the origin mind or Bod hi citta (often To get rid of the big ego is a real diffi• symbolised in the form of the miracu• culty for mankind. Rama's arrows shot lous child, born to be a hero with divine down a number of the heads ofRavana, weapons in hand) suggested by the but they always multipl ied. In the Indian works, thus,is left out. Ramayana, the fall of Ravana (ego) was brought about by the divine arrow, but T hose folklore well-known among the in the Thai Ramakirti, Ravana had no Siamese in the olden days (or even to• heart within himself for he left it with d ay amo ng older T hais), a re hi master rishi , so he was seemingly Suvarnasangkha Jataka (Sangthong), immortal. Hanuman went to the rishi 's Rathasena Jataka (Pra Roth-Meree), ashra m to take the box containing Sudhan Jataka (Pra Sudhon -- Nang Ravana's heart whic h enabled Rama to Manohara), and Samudraghosa Jataka, bring the ki ng of demons down with his Bahalagavi Jataka (Gavi). D ivine arrow. To destroy the Ego, ac• In this paper, three epics are discussed cording to Buddhism, is to see into to illuminate the depth of Thai spiritu• Sunnata (empti ness) of things·-- the five ality with regards to Buddhism. They Skhandhas are empty. are:

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I. Sudhan Jataka or Pra A pictograph was provided in order to Sudhon--Nang Manohara guide Sudhan along the pathless jour• 2. Suvarnasanakha Jataka or ney to Kai las a Mountain for the reunion. Sangthong The great journey to be reunited with 3. Rathasena Jataka or Pra his beloved wife took seven years, seven Roth-Meree months and seven days. (The length of time necessary in practice satipatthana I. The Sudhan ]ataka or Pra --a kind of meditation-- to finalise the Sudhon--Manohara goal -- liberation). Facing several ob• stacles which were foretold by The youngest daughter of Dumaraja, the Manohara, he overcame them all with Vijadhara king (one who possesses the use of the three treasures (symbols knowledge) who resided at Kailasa of Sila, Samadhi, Panna). Having Mountain, named Manohara accompa• reached the dark jungle and countering nied by her six Kinnari (half-human I the great demon (Avijja or ignorance), half-bird) sister to bathe in a pond Sudhan shot him down and walked over amidst the jungle. A hunter stole her the demon's head. He crossed the river wing , di abling her from flying away of acid by the python bridge and hid with her sisters. After capturing her, the among the feathers of the great bird king. hunter offered her to the crown prince, He came across a jungle of thorny cane Sudhan, as hi s wife. They fell deeply in where he felt himself in great aloneness love with each other. Later the king, and passivity. Suddenly, Sudhan heard Sudhan's father, sent him to battle with news of Manohara from a conversation a neighbouring country. On hi s return among enormous birds nestling on the he found that hi s beloved wife had fled giant banyan tree. By hiding in the feath• because a jealous minister had attempted ers of the bird he reached Suvarnagar to burn her as a to god, in or• (Golden City) of Kailasa Mountain. der to get rid of her. Manohara was able There he put the diamond ring into the to regain her wi ngs and tail and flew pot of sacred water for Manohara's bath. back to Kailasa Mountain. She left three With great joy she realized the coming treasures behind-- a shawl, a diamond of her beloved Sudhan. ring and magic medical powder-- with a hermit, instructing him to hand them After the King of Knowledge had tested over to Sudhan in order that he might Sudhan's power in various ways, follow her. She also gave an instruction Sudhan was set to the last test to deter• about the difficult and privilous journey mine whether hi s recognition of in which Sudhan would have to sacri• Manohara was perfect. By the help of fice his being. But with the guidance of Indra, who was in the form of a golden a 'small monkey (sati or mindfullness) fly moving around Manohara's head, who was to guide him to the ends of the Sudhan recognised his beloved wife, human realm and by the right use of the using hi s magic power to discern her three treasures, he would successfully from her sisters, a ll of whom looked overcome all obstacles on the way. alike.

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Sud han and Manohara accompanied the the continuity of objectless contempla• king of Great K nowledge back to the tion. The giant bird symbolizes the path• city of Sudhan's father. The enthrone• less way, the spontaneous, transcenden• ment ceremony for Sudhan as the new tal way to Kailasa, the final goal of ki ng was held. After the great celebra• knowledge. The di amond ring message ti on, peace re igned over the who le is the wisdom of seeing into the pure region thereafter. essence of being. Kailasa symbolizes the goal of great knowledge. The approach Summary of Spiritual Glimpse of Sudhan to Kail asa is the attainment of intuition. Sudhan is the Bodhi mind; Manohara is pi ri tual happiness or pure joy or bliss The ma rriage be tween Sudhan a nd of peace. The Bodhi mind reali zes the Manohara is the re-union of Knowing absence of bl i of peace. The three trea• Mind and bliss. Enthrone ment and the sures -- the shawl, the powdered medi• festival are analogous to Great Enlight• cine and the diamond ring -- are Sila (a enment and joy of li ving. shawl covers and protects the body), Samadhi (the powdered medic ine which It should be noted that Sud han 1ataka is Sudhan used constantly along the way gene ra ll y known as Pra to Kaila a mean continuous application Suthon-Manohara. Possibly it is the of samadhi in every activity, particularly favourite folklore of the people of in solving problems), Panna (the dia• Southern . It has been trans• mond ring is kn own among Buddhists, formed into a dra mati c dance called both Mahayani ts and Theravadians, as Nora. Although southern scholars have the symbol of wisdom). been trying to obliterate the link between Nora and Manohara in order to estab• The small monkey who guided Sudhan lish a pure Southe rn culture, it still along the path of the human realm is sati seems an attachment to the epilogue (mindfulness) at the mandane level. The without the consideration of its art form encounter with a number of obstacles is and spiritual structure. Nora is the short• the establishment of Ariyamagga (the ened sound of Manohara (Mano means Noble Path). The deep pond surrounded mind and hara means to bring back). She by unta ins is probably Samma is a kinnari , half-bird I half-human. That Samadhi (Ri ght Contemplation), which is the reason the actor playing her role is the final obstacle along the path. is dressed in wings at the waist and in the first scene of the performance, an• The fall of the giant demon after the other actor wears the mask of the hunter deep pond means that the great obstacles (though today it is very rare to see thi s). -- ~he 5 nivarana (5 hindrances) are over• The dramatic dance, Manohara is tradi• come, though one still has other subtle tionally and spiritually focused on the fetters, name ly Mana (self-importance), gestures of Manohara when she regains whi ch is more dangerous. Here it is symbolised by the Ri ver of Acid. To cross such a ri ver (fetter) one needs the 'python bridge', whi ch probably means

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he r wings and ta il.' She sings brilliant Sangthong with her. Sangthong lamentingly for her beloved husband, revealed himself to his mother saying, Sudhan, and moves her wings upward "The golden conch with the treasures toward Kailasa. within is a divine be ing. Without it where could I reside harmlessly?" Archaeologicall y, on the stone wall of Canda said, "You are the Supreme Be• the great stupa Borobodur, this story was ina the most beautiful one. Nobody can carved in bas reli ef. Hence, the story win"'' over you; nobody can subdue you. dates back to the Sailendra dynasty of Nothing can harm you"4 Srivijaya, the south sea kingdom. The structure is nearly the same as The king, Sangthong's father, heard the Ramayana. The presentation is possibly news of his grace and received him and ; Manohara is the equivalent Canda back to the Royal palace again. of Sakti or Tara, and Vijjadhara is pos• Soon the jealous queen incited the king sibly Vajaradhara. against Sangthong and his mother, and deviced various plans to get rid of them 2. The Suvarnasangkha ]ataka but to no avail. Finally, they were aban• or Sangthong doned on a raft drawn out to the deep sea. A big storm broke the raft into Canda Devi, the pregnant queen was pieces. Canda reached Madras safely sent away from the city by the king, her a nd lived as a hou se maid in husband, who was under the evil influ• Dhananjaya's family. 5 Sangthong, ence of the second queen and his minis• however, sank deep down into the sea, ter. Canda went to reside in a forest hut to Patala, Realm of the Serpant King with a good-hearted but aged couple. 6 (Nagaraya) , where he received bliss The Bodhisattva Sangthong, from when and a golden junk. By the power of bliss, he was in her womb, intended to take Sanathona came to a hermit's ashram on the form of a golden conch contain• 0 0 on an island. Tell ing him the way to in a the divine treasures within, in or- o Varanasi, the hermit instructed him, "If der to help care for his mother. you really want to go, you must follow After giving birth to the Bodhisattva in the tide at the beginning, and arriving at the form of a golde n conch, Canda the female-demon's c ity, you must ob erved that things were always well allow them to capture you, though there 7 managed in the hut. One day, pretend• shall be no harm to you ."

in 0a to 0ao to the forest, she hid herself to watch he r son come out of the conch to help her with the housework so she re• alized the truth about her be loved son. She destroyed the conch to keep the 4 Pannasa Jataka, Thai translation, S ilpabannagar ed. 1956. 5 Ibid. 3 Avadana: the gem, that enableher to 6 Folklore fl yin Manohara Cindamani (Cindama• 7 Op.cit. ni means gem)

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The widowed queen of demons loved Sangthong, in the titan mask, arrived Sangthong as her own son. So much so at Varanasi 10 in time for the youngest that she tried to prevent his escape. She princess of Varanasi to choose her hus• forbade him to visit the garden, where band. The six princesses were married she left the bones and skulls of humans to six princes from various countries. she had consumed, and also the upper Gandha11 vowed to gods that if she was portion of the castle, where the trea• the right bride for Sangthong, she should sures were kept. The five divine trea• see Sangthong's inner self. And by the sures were: help of the gods she saw the golden self within the titan form, so her gar• I. a well of sil ver water land of love was dropped into Sang• 2. a well of gold water thong's hand. Angered, the king sent 3. a pair of golden shoes, allow• them to the very border of the country. ing the wearer to fly 4. a divine sword, enabling the The king, planning to kill Sangthong, possessor of which to defeat all ordered him to compete with his six 12 enemies sons-in-law in hunting and fishing. 5. a mask of titanK (Ngoa-pa in Sangthong called all beasts and fish by Thai and davana in ) the power of hi s divine mantra. He gave some of those beasts and fish in ex• When Sangthong realized that the de• change for the cut-off ears and noses of mon queen was a man-eater, he planned those six competitors, who found no his escape. He bathed himself in the sil• beast in the forest and no fish in the ver and gold wells, put on the mask and water. flew away in the golden shoes with the sword. With the help of God Indra, Sangthong could prove his talent and intelligence The queen of de mons followed in saving Varanasi from its enemies by Sangthong to the e nd of her realm. playing the game of head of the army as Finding herself unable to cross the river his real and golden self riding on a royal which separated the demon's realm from horse, he won the game. After marriage the realm of human beings, in great sor• with Gandha, he met his beloved mother. row she taught the di vine mantra to He was enthroned as the new king and Sangthong, which would give him the thereafter the whole kingdom was in power to call and attract the hearts of peace because of his dharmic adminis• beasts and fishes. Manoharacindamani• tration.13 mahamantra. a w is hing-fulfilling jewel.·9 was a great mantra, which en• abled the possessor to understand the 1° Folklore: Samala way of all hearts. 11 Folklore: Rocana 12 Hunting wild and fishes in Pannasa

X Ibid. Jataka 13 9 Folklore Pannasa Jataka has other episodes after the enthronement.

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Summary of Spiritual Glimpse In the state of absorption (Jhan), whic h is an extraordinary experience, the Suvarnasangkha or Sangthong possibly Bodhi mind cannot see things (five symbolizes Bodhi mind (Bodhi citta -• skhandas) as they are. One must leave the knowing nature which wi ll finally the norma l state a nd gain ins ight allow one to reach enlighte nment). The (vipassana) into the Four Noble Truths w hi te conc h sy mbo lizes inte llect (mainly suffering and the extinction of (Sahajatipanna), the worldly wisdom suffering); that is why Sangthong left processed by the mind, that assures se• the realm of demons for the human curity in li ving. To break the conch is realm (Varanasi). to face insecuri ty, without which one will never reali ze the essence of Bodhi The six princesses and her six husbands mind. The nature of mind is the most are symbols of the six senses (indriyas) beautiful and is supreme within itself. and their objects (aramana) . Gandha, When one is aware of such a nature, one the seventh princess, is the Dharmic Eye has reali zed the truth of suffering and (Dharmacaksu or Dharmayatana), its cause. Such experiences will awake which is able to see through all forms oneself to the path (magga), beginning of suffering (titan form and inner golden the journey into the depth of life, as form), reali zi ng the true Self which is Sangthong had roamed alone in the deep the golden Sangthong within the titan sea. The golden junk symboli zes pure form. The Dharmic Eye sees the essence and shining knowledge, born from ex• of pure being. periencing the truth of suffering, though till imperfect. The island ashram of the The royal horse symbolizes the proper hermit is the state of being in which technique for the individual in Dharma one has nearly attained absorption practice (kammatthana). The game of (Jhan). The c ity of the queen of demons kings to win the region means the inner is the realm of trance. The castle is the victory of the inner region, which is lit• state of mind in trance. The five trea- erally the realization of Dharma through ures are the five factor of Rupa Jhana: the wisdom of the pure nature of mind with the help of divine beings. Vitaka is the divine sword. 14 It should be noted that Sangthong is Vicarana is the pair of gold more Budd hi stic tha n Sudhan• shoes.15 Manohara, which has the same struc• Piti is the well of sil ver water. ture as Ramayana. Sangthong Sukha is the well of gold water. emphasises the combination of the es• sence of mind and experiences of suf• Ekakhata is the titan mask fering, which develops into pure aware• which transforms the whole ness, accompanie d by the supra • body. mandane power of the practitioner who attains absorption.

14 Diamond sword in folklore 15 Gem-studded shoes in folklore.

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The name Gandha means "fragrant". unbreakable jar sent the twelve sisters T he non-academic term for into fits of laughter. The hunch-backed Dhammayatana is the seventh ayatan woman realized her misperception and for the theists.The forty war-horses in reported their beauty to the king. The the royal stable a re the forty king in vited them to his palace and made kammar rhanas. them his queens. Learning about the whereabout of the twelve sisterts, Sangth.ong is perhaps the favourite tale Sandhamara transformed herself into a of th e people in the North. Wall paint• most beautiful woman. So the king, in• ings from this folklore in the Ubosoth toxicated with her beauty, made her the of Wat Bhumin in an province are first queen. Pre te nding to be ill, notably the most beautiful example of Sandhamara made it known to the king the northern style. that the eyes of those twelve queens was the only medic ine for her illness. With 3. Rathasena ]ataka or Pra Roth• the king's permission, Sandhamara took Meree or Nang Sib-Song out the eyes of the twelve queens, leav• ing only the youngest queen one eye. Nanda, the rich father of twelve Sandhamara sent a ll the eyes with the daugthers, became suddenly penniless, conditioning wind to Kangree (Meree), so he had to leave hi s daughters in the her daughter who was residing at jungle. The twelve sisters, unable to find Gajapuranagar. their way home, approached the garden of Sandhamara Yakkhini, who adopted King Rathasiddhi could not bear to see them as her own sisters. Realizing later the blinded queens. 16 He was in great that the Yakkhini was a man-eater, the suffering. Under the influence of the first twelve sisters escaped by hiding in the queen, he sent the twe lve queens to li ve bell y of an , a horse and a cow. in a dark cave. Since there was no food, Hence, they were freed from they were forced to eat their new born Sandhamara. children as their daily food. Only the one-eyed sister could save her son - The twelve sisters arrived at Kutanagar, Rathasena. The young Bodhisattva had King Rathasiddhi's kingdom, and re• earlier inquired from his mother about sided at a big banyan tree near a deep pond. A hunch-backed woman with her gold jar came to fetch pure water for the king. Seein g the golden reflection of the twe lve sisters in the water, she mi sun• derstood it to be that of her own self. A feeling of self-importance arose, and the hunc h-backed woman destroyed the gold jar and went back to the king 1 ~ According to Pannasa Jataka, this strange without water. The king sent her again sentence suggests the deep meaning concern• w ith a s il ver jar, w hic h she also ing dharma practice that the lack of seeing destroyed. F in all y, the king sent her with paticcasamuppada is the cause of suffering. a leather jar. Her crazy manner with the

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the true circumstances. With his real• Facing innumberable demons at the ization of the situati on by the power of ma in entrance of Kangree's c ity, Buddha Nature, the cave was alight Rathasena experienced fear and hesita• and opened. Rathasena spoke an epi• tion. Baji (the gu ide of the practitioner), gram to his mother: "We are not two." his brotherly horse, provided him with He then left the cave to seek for food equme power. for his mother and aunts. The transformed epistle made Kangree Gambling with othe r young boys, to marry Rathasena with great joy, and Rathasena always won and took only wedding festivities followed. She made twelve packs of and curry for his Rathasena the king of Gajapuranagar. mother and aunts. Fame in gambling Rathasena indulged himself with enabled him to come into contact with Kangree for a couple of months, then his father, Rathasiddhi. the 'guide of practitioner' warned him of his responsibility to his mother and Again, Sandhamara prete nded to be ill. aunts. Rathasena pretended to be ill and She planned to kill Rathasena by incit• asked to take rest in the heart of in g the king against him and sending him Kangree's garden. It was a most beauti• to Kangree, her daugther, for medicine ful garden, with a gate that required one with a secret epi stle. thousand giants to open. This was opened for Rathasena. Riding on horse• Rathasena c hose one eccentric horse back he looked around and saw a tree from the twe nty-two g reat horses. call ed 'Buddha-punnago' . 18 He ex• Testing the power of his horse, he rode c laimed loudly to himself, with the fruit through the air for uncountable miles of the tree already in hand, saying '0! w ithin a few minutes. He named his mountain punnago tree of Buddha.' 19 horse 'Baji' . 17 With Rathasena's power, Kangree went On the way to the city of the Demon's into entrancement and told him of the daughter, Rathasena visited a hermit fire place where she kept the eyes of hi s who knew the message in the secret mother and aunts, also of medicine for letter: curing the eyes and seven other pack• ages of magic powder. "Whenever Ratha ena arrives, be it day or night, kil l him."

The hermit changed it to:

1 "Whenever Rathasena arrives, g Folklore: the tree named 'the never• be it day or night, marry him." yawning mango and the never-shouting lemon' in some other parts of Thailand 17 Pannasa Jataka: Baji is the name of a are 'the ever yawning mango and the horse but here the author uses this term ever-shouting lemon' . in the Thai sense, meaning a guide to 19 Pannasa Jataka: pali - Buddhagiri• one who is ordained. (Ba-ji) punnago

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On horseback Rathasena escaped from they realize that sensual pleasure is ac• hi s beloved wife. Kangree followed him tually a 'graveyard' or 'man-eater'. and tried to get him back with her great They take refuge in the Triple Gems powers. Rathasena threw the packages (Buddha is symbolized by the elephant, of the magic powder one by one suc• Dhamma by the horse, Sangha by the cessively to stop her. They became cow) to be free from ignorance. mountain, forest, wind, fire, rain, cloud and lastly ocean, which separated hus• But one must realize the Four Noble band and wife completely. Tmths to attain final bliss. Accordingly, one must educate and train oneself in In g reat sorrow, Kangree entreated Tri-sikkha (Sil a is symbolized by the Rathasena till her last breath, while the gold jar, Samadhi by the sil ver jar, Panna heart of Sandramara also broke. by the leather jar). The hunch-backed woman symbolizes dissatisfaction. Hav• Rathasena gave the eyes back to his ing only Sila and Samadhi is not suffi• aunts and hi s mother and applied the cient. Even panna, or intellectualization medicine to cure them. Their eyes hence of paticcasamu.ppada, is merely think• became divi ne. ing, which is just a shadow or reflec• tion. One needs to have direct experi• Rathasiddhi made him the new king and ence in dharma practice to attain tran• the whole country was again in peace. scendental wisdom.

Summary of Spiritual Glimpse Sandhamara is the symbol of desires (tanha) and Kangree, her daughter, is the The first thing needed to appreciate this fetter of passionate delight (nandi). story is the understanding of the Law of When one loses insight into the Law of Cau ation (Paticca amup-pada). The Causation, the breathing (wind) is twelve sisters symbolize the twelve links accompanied with nandi, indulging in of cause and effect or the Law of Cau• illusion created by the mind. (The de• sation. As the heart of Bud• mon took out the eyes of the twelve sis• dhism, the realization of the Law is de• ters sending them with the wind to fined as seeing Tathagata. Here is the Kangree). sequence of PaTiccasamu.ppada: Avija In the truth of suffering there is inher• - Samkhara - Vinnana - namarupa - ent light of wisdom (the youngest sister Salayatana - phassa - vedana - tanha - was left single-eyed to see things and to upadana- bhava- jati - jaramarana. take care of her son -- Rathasena).

The twelve sisters losing their way in Rathasena is Bodhi mind, w hic h the jungle, the n entering the realm of naturally develops into Enlightened demons and resid ing in the beautiful Mind. Rathasena's epigram to his garden symbolizes sentient beings that mother: "we are not two" means dark• have lost their way in the darkness of ness and light are not a duality; they are ignorance (Av ijja), so they remain in not one, yet not two (Advaita o r the captivity of sensualism till the day non-duality).

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Though the be ing is in darkness, suffer• 1. Sati (mindfulness) is the ing in Samsa ra, the light of pure mountain wall protecting knowingne s makes it possible for life the mind from fetters. to go on. (Rathasena gambled with the 2. Dhammavicaya (in vestiga• children in order to provide food for his tion) is the vari ous trees in mother and aunts.) the forest. 3. Viriya (effort) is the wind, The warhorses are objects of Dharma formless yet blowing con• practice. The horse Baji is Satinpatthana tinuously. -- the base for development of aware• 4. Piti (rapture) as a dire blast. ness, which is the only way to attain 5. Passaddhi (tranquility) is enlightenment. rainfall. 6. Samadhi (contemplation) is The transformation of Sandhamara's a cloud floating in the sky. epistl e is the art of nonresistance. In 7. Upekkha (equanamity) is the Dharma practice, if one strongly tries to ocean. get rid of defilements and with resis• tance, one may fall into turmoil. To The Bodhi mind (knowing nature) is strongly try to de tach oneself is yet completely free from all forms of at• anothe r fo rm of attachment. T he tachme nt. There are no more fetters. deceptive ego itself is to be seen. That is the fall of Kangree. Her mother, Non-resistance and non-duality is more which symbolizes desire (tanha), simul• appropriate. taneously came to an end.

Marri age between Rathasena a nd Complete enlightenment is brought to Kangree symboli zes non-duality. It is the life by insight into the Law of Causa• art in D harma practi ce in order to real• tion. The divine eye is the spiritual sy m• ize the essence of pure being. bol of transcendental wisdom. The en• thronement and great festival symbol• But the practitioner may fall into the trap ize the great virtue and the great joy re• of pure joy and ignore further practice. alized after enlightenment. One needs the power of mindfulness in order to maintain progressive practice. It should be noted that Rathasena Jataka The Baji horse warning Rathasena is or Pra Roth-Meree is the only folktale thus symbolic. containing various themes of Dharma: Paticcasamuppada (Dependent origina• The fruit of the Buddhagiripunnago tion), Sattabhoji-hanga (seven factors tree, which is in the hand of Rathasena, of e nlightenment), Tisarana(the three symbo li ze the attainment of the final Refuges), Trisikkha (three trainings), goal (arahatphala). etc. The e ntra ncement of Kangree is the fadin g away of fetter (Nandi). The seven packages of powders are the seven factors of enl ightenment, namely:

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Note on Differences and Unity Epilogue of the Three Epics To have a glimpse into the spiritual depth of Thai epics or folklore, it is nec• The three stori es were c hosen as ex• essary to understand Buddhism, because amples for study because their spiritual it influences both the social conscious• structure, personification and symboli• ness of the Thai people and their inner cal presentation and the relation of this being, from the past to the present time. e le me nts are diffe re nt. Sudhan• Epics or folklore both in written form Manohara ha the same structure and and in verbal form reflect symbolicall y symbolical presentation as Ramayana. the way of Thai living.Thai folklore, like For example, Kailasa is the equivalent folklore of other countries, has spiritual of Lanka, Rathase na is li ke Rama, essence as the goal but also provides en• Manohara is li ke Sita. The journey into tertainment. This spiritual essence is the jungle, the kil ling of the demons, the presented by the use of personification monkeys, the big bird (as Jataya and and symbolism,.through the behaviour Samvadi). have the same symbolical of heroes and heroins, animals, demons, meaning. It is possibly influenced by etc. If the key to this spiritual depth is Ramayana. The relation between the lost, it would be a considerable loss.( to tructure and symbolism is characterized the total meaning of those epics and by Buddhism, which is pos• folklore.) sibly why thi tory was carved on the stone walls of the great stupa of This article does not aim to establish an Borobodur. encyclopedia of sy mbols but to give a glimpse of the spiritual aspects of Thai Sangthong is more The ravadian than folklore. We may understand its essence Sudhan-Manohara. The symbolism is by interpretation; otherwise we may be more Buddhi tic in meaning. Besides confused by the details which have been the c ities, the setting of Sudhan• socialized as time goes by. Flexibility is Manohara is the jungle and the moun• often found in Thai character, both in tains while Sangthong took place at sea, artistic expression and in behaviour. The on an island and in the forest. glimpse of spiritual meaning in folklore Roth -Meree i possibly the most is merely attainable probability by other Theravadi an in nature. As Manohara of means than meditation. Also other ki nds Sudhan Jataka and Gandha (Rocana) of of art, particularly poetry, are concerned Sang thong represent Sakti (potentiality) with thinkable or imaginable forms, o r Tara, Vasundra, the consort of hence it cannot represent what is beyond Avalokitesvara B odhisattva of thoughts and imagination. A deep un• derstanding and appreciation of spiritual M a hayana Buddh is m , M e ree of folklore may come to light only by medi• Rathasena Ja.taka, is the fetter - the obstacle of the mind in Theravadian tation, to realize the formless, the abstract forms, the extinction of forms, Buddhism. and finally detachment. Such realizati on is the basis of understanding and appre• ciation Thai epics and folklore, since

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all inner happenings are symbolized by various e lements in the story like inci• dents, setting or c haracters such as Kailasa Mountain, gods, demons, mask of a titan.

It is q uestio nable w he the r in our modern times there is any epic or folk• lore of the same depth as those in the glori ous past. Our responsibility is not mere ly to evaluate folklore at psycho• logical and philosophicallevelaaJI inner happenings are symbolized by elements in story like incidents, setting or char• acters such as Kai lasa Mountain, gods, demons, titans nor Kailasa.

It is questionable whether in our modern time there i any epic or fo lk• lore of the same depth as those in the glorious past. Our responsibility is not merely to evaluate at a psychological and phil osophical levels but to put Dharma into practice, in order to know oneself, and understand the spiritual meaning of the folklore which illumi• nates a new means of liv ing by wisdom, in peace and love.

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