Buddha is the Light of Civilization & Bengali Words In Thai Language by Sona Kanti barua
Posted in Buddhism and Sustainable Development, Buddhist History, Contemporary Buddhism, Natural TruthIntroduction
Is there a Bangla district in Thailand? Bengali Buddhist migrants came to Thailand
and discovered Bangla Mong (or Mukh as a face of Bangladesh) in Siam 1200 years
ago. On the way to Pattaya from Bangkok,
we could find Bangla Mong is a district in Chon buri province of Thailand. When
Hindu and Muslim rulers were confiscated Buddhist Rights and survival then many
Buddhists forced to leave Bangladesh and founded home at abroad including
neighboring Buddhist countries.
Buddhistic Culture of Bangladesh & Thailand
Suvarnabhumi
(it seems Bengali name) is the name of Bangkok International Airport and its
meaning is South East Asia. Indian
Buddhist emperor Asoka -the great introduced
Buddhism to the world including Thailand and Suvarnabhumi (South East
Asia) by the mission of Buddhist Monks
led by great Bengali Bhikkhu Sona
Thera and great Bhikkhu Uttara Thera (of Orissa) 2300 years ago.
There
are Bengali words in Thai language:
Raja, rajini (Rani), manush (Thai
pronunciation is manut), stri (woman as in Thai satri), dan (donation), Pali
(Bali), Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, Vihar (Wat),
sujib, mata (mada), pita (bida), bhgini (sister), namaskar, purush (man
or burut), balika, desh, sundari, karuna, maƮtri, mudita, upekka (ubekkha),
samakam (association or samiti), Lekhadhikarn (secretary; in Bengali sampadak), ratha (car), mulanidhi
(foundation), adhitthan (adhistan), mano (mind), asana (seat), upakara, hetu (cause, in Thai het), rattha
sabha (Rastra sabha), etc. and all words
according to the Pali Dictionary (b. Abhidhan
& T. bachanukrom).
Thai
words are : vibidha bhanda
(museum), Guna (merits, in Bangla
guna), Dhup (incense), Desha (country )
kala (time), Samadhi (meditation) and Buddha Mandal, Visakha Buja (Vaisakhi Puja / Purnima), Sahai
(friend), samagam (Samiti), sangit sala, nayak, pradhan, golap, ratna, mali,
sundar, suchin, guru, mantra, etc.
Bengali and Thai languages were originated from the Pali language and
their alphabets were derived from the Brahmi alphabets. Devanagari (of Sanskrit
language) alphabets are also derived from Brahmi and there are deep relations
among Bengali, Sanskrit and Thai languages. Pali, Bengali and Sanskrit were
spread to Suvarnabhumi (South East Asia) Nakhonpathom (the present Thailand). Relating
to the past Buddhas Lord Gautama Buddha said, “Health is the highest gain,
Nibbana the highest bliss. But Magandiya, this verse was uttered by former
Buddhas, fully self-awakened Ones (Majjhima Nikya Sutta No. 175 – Magandiya
Sutta).
Buddhist Bangladesh had been mirrored in present day Thailand several
times specially while Thai people paid respects to king Ramkamhaeng the
great with 700th hundred years’ anniversary of the Thai
alphabet at Sukhothai (national historical park) Loy Krathong festival in
November 1983. Chakma women’s celebrated dresses (during the kathin ceremony at
Rajaban Vihar, Rangamati) are as like as Thai women dressed in Sukhothai style.
Once upon a time Bangladesh had been a Buddhist kingdom of the Pala Dynasty
like present day Thailand. Ancient great Buddhist king Dharmapala had a very
good relation with Burma, Thailand and other Buddhist countries.
In
Bengali language what do we mean by Mangala (highest blessings) ? Thai great scholar monk of Chiangmai
Venerable Srimangala Achariya wrote his great book entitled “Mangalattha Dipani”
(An exposition of highest blessings) in Pali.
The Buddha taught 38 categories of Life’s
highest blessings (Mangala Sutra) which make up the high road of success and
happiness:
1. To dissociate from the
foolish 2. To associate with the wise
3. To adore those worthy of
Adoration 4. To reside in proper
locality, 5. Merits done formerly, 6. Right self
direction 7. Committed in great learning, 8. Arts, 9. To be well-informed in moral discipline,
10. Well –spoken words, 11. To support
one’s parents, 12. To cherish one’s children, 13. To cherish one’s wife, 14. To avoid entanglements in one’s work,
15. Charity, 16. Observance of Dharma, 17. To help relatives 18. To perform
blameless pursuits 19. Avoidance and Abstinence from evil, 20. To refrain from
intoxicating drinks, 21. Vigilance in the dhamma 22. Reverence, 23. Humility, 24. Contentment, 25. Gratitude, 26. Timely
hearing of the Dhamma, 27. Forbearance 28. Amenable to advise 29.
Inspiring sight of holy person 30.
Timely discussion of the Dhamma (Buddhism)
31. Sincerely try to self
control, 32. Religious and chaste life, 33. Perceiving the noble Truths, 34.
Realization of Nibbana, 35. Mind unshaken by loka dhamma (fail, success
etc.) 36. Mind free from sorrow 37. Mind
free from passion 38. Mind filled with peace. (Study of these blessings is a
boon to all). This is called Mangla Sutra.
The current status of Buddhism in the world
owes itself to the initiatives of Bangladesh to a degree that one could hardly
with a nation of first Bangla book Charyapada and Lord Buddha’s residential
temple in Mahasthangar Bogra. Buddhist
glory relating to the great monk delegate Sona Thera, great hero Bijoy
Singh (who discovered Sri Lanka) and
national sage Atish Dipankar. The statue
of a Bodhisattva (in Bengali and Thai or a saintly king) in the Mohenjodaro described the magnificence
and grandeur of a Bodhisattva king (Universal King) who ruled over the four
quarters of the world. According to the
Mahaparinibbana Sutta and other Buddhist text revealed that hermit king ruled
over his dominations righteously and finally abandoning all attachments and
practicing absorption (Jhana) he passed away and reached the blissful Brahma
realm.
Aryan Vedic King Indra took over Mohenzodaro
and Harappa according to the Rig Veda (10/86/23, 8/6/46 (for money and security
Vedic saints prayed to King Indra 1/105/8 & 10/33/2). King
Indra (1600 B.C.) destroyed Kassapa Buddha’s Pre-historical Buddhism. Former
Buddhas and archaeological evidences are recorded in his famous book entitled “Buddhism: The Religion of Mohenjodaro and
Harappa Cities by Swapan Kumar
Biswas” West Bengal, Calcutta. Brahmanism has rejected the South Asian
Assura civilization before the Ariyan intruders. Emperor Asoka’s rock edicts
were written in Pali of Brahmi alphabets. Thai, Bengali, Burmese, Tibetan, Combodia,
Laos, Nepal, Tamil, Sri Lanka, &
Sanskrit’s Devanagari alphabets (40 languages alphabets) were originated from the Brahmi alphabets.
Emperor Asoka recorded Pre-Vedic Buddhas:
As the Buddha taught, “Seeing the danger
(originating) in sensual pleasures let one wander alone like a rhinoceros.” The
Way of the Buddha (published by the Govt. of India in 1956), reports, “The
Nigliva Pillar inscription of Asoka, recording the enlargement by him of the
Stupa of Buddha Kanakamuni (to double its size), including Vipassi Buddha,
Bharhut, Visvabhu Buddha, Krakucchanda Buddha and Kasyapa Buddha (pages 13 –
16).” Unfortunately, Vedic Hinduism and
its books prescribed only one Buddha Gautama and Mr. Foucher writes in his
French book entitled on Etude sur l’ iconographic Bouddique de l’ inde,
“Buddhistic influences was transmitted to the Prasna and Mundaka Upasanisads of
the Atharva Veda. This shows that Upanasads are not unaffected by outside
influences.”
Relating to tree as we found in the
Mohenzodaro and Harappa, all Buddhas including Lord Buddha were supremely
enlightened under the Bodhi Tree (Asvattha) thereafter he spent the second week
gazing at the bodhi tree with unblinking eyes (animisalocana Puja), thus
displaying his deep gratitude and extreme veneration to the sacred tree which
had given shade and solitude, and stood beside him in his night long struggle
that ended with his attainment of Buddha-hood.
Gautama Buddha is the light of world, father of Indian
languages and Buddhist countries civilization. India emphasizes her mother she
abiding Lord Buddha’s teaching and Great Emperor Asoka’s Buddhist heritage. The wheel in the centre of the Indian
national flag is the wheel of the Law of the Buddha’s Teaching – the Dharma,
and the state emblem of India is an adaptation of the famous Lion Capital was
erected by the Great Emperor Asoka at Saranath, where the Buddha
–Enlightened One first delivered his teaching of compassion and wisdom to the
Gautam Buddha is not the enemy of Hindu society and now Hindu politicians use
the Buddha as the Hindus’ trade mark.
Through the centuries Buddhist civilization
has been the main driving force in the world including the first Bengali book
‘Charyapada of Bangladesh’ and daily life of Sri Lanka including Thailand. The Charyapada book reminds us the monumental
statues of standing Buddhas in the Bamiyan valley of ancient Buddhist
Afghanistan. Asian countries, as it has been for centuries, Buddhist cultural
power and Pali language remain a till death do us part proposition. The Emerald
Buddha came to Thailand from Patna (Pataliputra), India. There is a glorious
mural art heritage at Wat Kong karam (Gangaram) Buddhist Monastery in Bangkok
featuring the ancient city Kapilavaastu, home town of the Lord Buddha.