Nāi Còng Takā Kham; Còng Takā Nāng Bo; their family
Catalog reference:
ชม-09-10-167-00
Subject matter:
Didactics
Copyist:
Anonymous
Copying date in native date:
1st (waxing) 10th (lunar) Cūḷasakarāja 1261
Copying date in Gregorian:
1858 March 26
Script:
Shan; Burmese
Writing support:
Mulberry paper – Leporello format
Watermark?:
No
Countermark?:
No
Manuscript cover?:
Yes
Binding?:
No
Manuscript cover dimension:
18 x 40 cm
Manuscript paper dimension:
18 x 40 cm
Text block dimension:
13.5 x 35 cm
Number of pages:
423 pages
Number of blank pages:
42 pages
Rubrication?:
No
Illumination?:
No
Illustration?:
Yes
Manuscript condition:
Poor
Description of manuscript content:
This manuscript defines 113 manners of laypeople. The Buddha taught that laypeople's behaviors could be divided into several categories: gift-giving, precept observance, and behaving well to others. However, objects for donation must be honest and not exploiting. Moral people should not sell the following five things: weapons, humans, animals, intoxicants, and poisons. The Buddha gave an example of Phra Nāratha Thera who travelled to hell and witnessed a hungry ghost (Peta) who lived in a beautiful castle but ate its own body. The hungry ghost told the monk that he received bribes and defamed people in his previous birth as a judge. Then, a wealthy man suggested him that he should listen to the Dhamma. After his death he was born in hell and ate his own body. However, he lived in the beautiful castle because of the merit of listening to the Dhamma.
Colophon:
သၵ်ၵရတ် ပီမိုင်း လႆယဝ်ႉ ႁိင်းႃသွင်ပၵ်သိပ်းၵဝ်တုဝ် မိၺ်မိုဝ်လိုၼ်ႁႃမႂ်ၶိုၼ်သိပ်းပႆသွင်ၶံ ပုၵ်တႁူး ၶိင် ၵင်ဝၼ်းၶိုၼ် ႁဝ်တ်ံ ၵိႁိၸႃရိတ ယဝ်ႉယႃ ၶွတ်ယွတ် ႁွတ်တီ ပုင်ထွႆ ၵွႆတၼ်း ၵံးႃ ၵွၼ်ယဝ်ႉ သူ ႟ သူ ေၼႃ်။
I finished [the writing of] the Khihicārita manuscript in Cūḷasakarāja 1219, on the twelfth day of the waxing moon of the fifth lunar month, Wednesday, at sunrise.
Remark: The date corresponds to 1219 Caitra 2 12.
Other notes:
The front cover and the back cover are not decorated. The manuscript is severely damaged by water and insects.
(The inner flyleaf)
I put my hands with ten fingers and kneel to pay homage to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. May the sponsor [of this manuscript] and I gain physical and mental happiness. May we enjoy merit-making, donation, and precept observance forever. When the future Buddha comes, may we all become his disciples and be released from mud or the Cycle of Rebirths.
This manuscript was copied from the original version written by Nāi Còng Takā Pingyā at a residence of Phrā Takā Mòng, Bān Nā Pong, Müang Pāi in Cūḷasakarāja 1219 (2401 BE), on the twelfth day of the waxing moon of the fifth lunar month, and sponsored by Phrā Takā Mòng and his wife, inhabiting Bān Nā Pong, Müang Pāi.