Burmese mythology (Burmese: ရှေးမြန်မာ့ဒဏ္ဍာရီ) is a collection of myths, folklore, legends, and beliefs traditionally told by the Burmese people of Myanmar. These stories have been passed down orally and have only rarely appeared in written form. Burmese mythology is largely associated with and influenced by Buddhist mythology, Hinduism, and several other ethnic traditions. Most myths and legends concern the ancient Pyu era; the lives and activities of gods, Bodhisattvas, heroes, kings, mystics, and mythological creatures. Burmese mythology is the cornerstone of modern Burmese culture and explains the origins and significance of Burmese rituals.[2][3]
The most influential account for Burmese cosmogony is the Book of Adikalpa (Burmese: အာဒိကပ္ပကျမ်း၊ lit.'Genesis') which is apocryphal in Buddhism but supported by the canonical statement in Aggañña Sutta.[3]
In the beginning, there was apparently nothing left after an old cosmos was destroyed by the great cataclysm. Soon, a new cosmos (Kalpa) was born out of the expansion.
The four Highest Ones (Brahmas; Burmese: ဗြဟ္မာ) descended from the Coruscant Heavens (Abhasvara) and were reborn on the primordial world as the 'Luminous Ones'. At this time, the Luminous Ones were glorious celestial beings who just feed on their own delight, flying over the primeval ocean. Since the Sun and the Moon didn't exist yet, these Luminous Ones were the only light source in the darkness.[3]
Sometime later, the creamy soil emerged on the ocean, and the Luminous Ones became curious and ate this newly delicious food. Because of their greediness and gluttony, they lost their self-luminous nature and fell from their grace. At this time, the Sun (Surya; သူရိယ), the Moon(Chandra; စန္ဒ) and the Stars (Nakshas-Tara; နက္ခတ်တာရာ) were born from the darkness to replace as the primary light sources of the world.[3]
They became corporeal beings after eating all the creamy soil until it was gone. Then, several other super-vegetated plants emerged for the sake of their hunger. After a long period of serial gluttony, all the supernatural resources went extinct and the beings became known as full humans.
The Rise of Civilization
People have different views on how to solve a hard life, thus creating the Caste system (အမျိုးဇာတ်စနစ်). Later, they elected a wise man called Manu and appointed him as their first and foremost ruler. He is known as Mahasamrat (မဟာသမ္မတမင်း; lit.'He who is designated by the multitude'), the first king of the earth. As a king, he constituted the order of the city-state, the code of the Laws, the various duties and offices defined for the state and the boundaries of armies of their defense. He will be often referred to as a Standard MonarchArchtype by many Burmese writers.[4]
^Aung (U.), Htin (1978). Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism. Oxford University Press.
^ abcdAung (U.), Htin; Aung, U. Htin (1976). Folk Tales of Burma. Sterling Publishers.
^Victorino, Terrence James (15 June 2011). Mythical Creatures in Burmese Folklore. Log Press. ISBN978-613-6-67801-6.
March 01, 2023
burmese, mythology, burmese, ဒဏ, collection, myths, folklore, legends, beliefs, traditionally, told, burmese, people, myanmar, these, stories, have, been, passed, down, orally, have, only, rarely, appeared, written, form, largely, associated, with, influenced,. Burmese mythology Burmese ရ မ န မ ဒဏ ဍ ရ is a collection of myths folklore legends and beliefs traditionally told by the Burmese people of Myanmar These stories have been passed down orally and have only rarely appeared in written form Burmese mythology is largely associated with and influenced by Buddhist mythology Hinduism and several other ethnic traditions Most myths and legends concern the ancient Pyu era the lives and activities of gods Bodhisattvas heroes kings mystics and mythological creatures Burmese mythology is the cornerstone of modern Burmese culture and explains the origins and significance of Burmese rituals 2 3 Mythical creatures from Burmese Mythology Burmese adaptation of Ramayana 1 A Burmese parabaik depicting Buddhist mythology Contents 1 Overview of mythic history 1 1 Cosmogony 1 2 The Rise of Civilization 2 See also 3 ReferencesOverview of mythic history EditCosmogony Edit The four Brahmas hovering over the primordial waters The most influential account for Burmese cosmogony is the Book of Adikalpa Burmese အ ဒ ကပ ပက မ lit Genesis which is apocryphal in Buddhism but supported by the canonical statement in Agganna Sutta 3 In the beginning there was apparently nothing left after an old cosmos was destroyed by the great cataclysm Soon a new cosmos Kalpa was born out of the expansion The four Highest Ones Brahmas Burmese ဗ ဟ မ descended from the Coruscant Heavens Abhasvara and were reborn on the primordial world as the Luminous Ones At this time the Luminous Ones were glorious celestial beings who just feed on their own delight flying over the primeval ocean Since the Sun and the Moon didn t exist yet these Luminous Ones were the only light source in the darkness 3 Sometime later the creamy soil emerged on the ocean and the Luminous Ones became curious and ate this newly delicious food Because of their greediness and gluttony they lost their self luminous nature and fell from their grace At this time the Sun Surya သ ရ ယ the Moon Chandra စန ဒ and the Stars Nakshas Tara နက ခတ တ ရ were born from the darkness to replace as the primary light sources of the world 3 They became corporeal beings after eating all the creamy soil until it was gone Then several other super vegetated plants emerged for the sake of their hunger After a long period of serial gluttony all the supernatural resources went extinct and the beings became known as full humans The Rise of Civilization Edit People have different views on how to solve a hard life thus creating the Caste system အမ ဇ တ စနစ Later they elected a wise man called Manu and appointed him as their first and foremost ruler He is known as Mahasamrat မဟ သမ မတမင lit He who is designated by the multitude the first king of the earth As a king he constituted the order of the city state the code of the Laws the various duties and offices defined for the state and the boundaries of armies of their defense He will be often referred to as a Standard Monarch Archtype by many Burmese writers 4 See also Edit Myanmar portalReferences Edit Ramayana www wdl org 1870 Retrieved 2021 05 16 Aung U Htin 1978 Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism Oxford University Press a b c d Aung U Htin Aung U Htin 1976 Folk Tales of Burma Sterling Publishers Victorino Terrence James 15 June 2011 Mythical Creatures in Burmese Folklore Log Press ISBN 978 613 6 67801 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Burmese mythology amp oldid 1135739192, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
