Lustig, Friedrich V.

Burmese classical
poems

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BURMESE CLASSICAL POEMS

SELECTED
and

TRANSLATED
by

The Most Rev. FRTEDRICH V. LUSTIG

Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia
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BURMESi; CLASSICAL POEMS'

. SfOLECTED
and

translate: I)

by

The Most Rev, FRIEDRICH V. LUSTIG

Bdddiiisi. ArJibishop oj Latvfc

Sole distributors
in the USA 6;. r j
PARAGON BOOK
H EAST 38th GAUER;"!™STREET
'

NEW YORK. N. Y. 10016

No part of this collection of translations may be reproduced
in any form whatsoever (other than in Burma) without
express permission of the Advisory Editor Margaret
M. KardeU.

PL

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Printed and Published by U Khin Pe Gyi, Managing Director,

Rangoon Gazette Limited, Rangoon. (Printer's Registration
No. 0490). (Publisher's Registration No. 0338).
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 CONTENTS (Contd.)
PAGES

My a Man Setkya U Ponnya ... 21

Mae Khwe ... 22

Present of a Cheroot

... 23
A Peasant Wungyi Padethayaza
Author unknown ... 24
Paddy Planting Song
25
I Am Longing Princess Hlaing Teik- ...

Kaung-Tin
27
Love in Secret Maung Thwa ...

Encountered
28
I Would Smile UKyi ...

29
Noble Wisdom Chaturinga Bala and Nemyo
Min Tin Kyaw Khaung

Donations (Dana) Shin Tezothara

Remorse

Painful As Ills...

No Cooling of Anguish

The Nature of Things

(Release from Anger)

Sources & References

Botanical Glossary
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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A youngBurmese Upazin (monk) who was one of the

first pupils inmy American Conversation classes later
introduced my husband and me to his Guru, The Most
Reverend Friedrich V. Lustig, whom we found to be a
most interesting expounder on Burmese culture, the Burmese
way of hfe and Buddhism.

Having Uved midst many different cultures for long

periods of time The Reverend Lustig' s background is such
that he brings to any cultural discussion a broad symphony
of understanding. He was born in Estonia in 1912, studied
Oriental Languages under Professor Sylvain Levi at the
College de France in Paris, and joined the Buddhist order
in Latvia at the age of eighteen. He has traveled exten-
sively in the Far East having spent quite some time in China
and Thailand. For the last seventeen years he has been
Burma, a country in which he is deeply
living in exile in
May of 1962 after the demise of his Guru,
interested. (I) In
The Most Reverend Archbishop Tennisons, The Reverend
Lustig was elevated as Archbishop of Latvia by His
Holiness the Dalai Lama who is now living in exile in
India.

In the course of our discussions with the Reverend

Lustig v/e found that he enjoyed interpreting Burmese
poetry and so we encouraged him to set down a number of
his translations of Burmese classical poems. This he did
in conjunction with Reverend Eindawuntha and other
monks of his acquaintance.

In 1952 the Government of the Union of Burma published a

(1)
—
musical collection entitled "Classical Burmese Music" Prepared For
Piano By the Right Rev. Friedrich W. A. Lustig. After The Piano
Presentation By Saya Myaing Under The Supervision of U Po Lat,
Secretary, Ministry of Union Culture.
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 We shared these interpretations among Burmese and
foreign friends. Much interesting discussion ensued and
many people urged us to share these poems with all and this
we decided to do.

We then set to work in earnest and had to decide on

such issues as strict line and style translation versus interpre-
tation of ideas and opted for this latter approach as we feU
it would prove more interesting to most foreigners. To
Burmese scholars and philologists we leave the more impor-
tant academic tasks of analysis of style, comparison of
various translations, and the presentation of a compilation
of all Burmese poems that lend themselves to translation.
For the "armchair" translators we have included the Bur-
mese Text so that they might have the enjoyment of improv-
ing upon our work.

As any student of a foreign language soon learns,

there aremany ways of expression in his own language
which do not have exact equivalents in other languages due
to differences in climate, culture, philosophy, religion, and
history. These differences are perhaps most difficult to
overcome when moving from a philosophically oriented
Buddhist script language to the theocentrically based
International English language used by most world travelers
today.
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 We are indebted to many Burmese and foreigners who
helped and who gave their time and ideas: particularly
to Mrs. John W. Neave for her assistance in helping us to
achieve a smoother presentation in English, to Professor
UE Maiuig for his helpful suggestions, to U San Maung
for his independent translations which vvq used to check
against The Reverend Lustig's, to Daw Doily Khaing
for the typing of the Burmese sections, to my Burmese
gardener who disagreed with the botany books, and most
of all to those who have read the manuscript and given their
suggestions. Certainly our lesults are a composite effort
and many points strongly argued had to be compromised
and will be disputed.

We know from reading Burm^^se English language

newspapers for the past three years that there is probably
no more interesting subject in Burma than that of the proper
interpretation of Pali and of poetical Burmese into modern
Burmese or into International English. And quite obviously
no interpretation of a poem in any other language of sounds
can give the exact true flavor and meaning as in its own
language of sounds but one can try. And in the trying
perhaps we may encourage others to try and we shall all
gain from our further mutual understanding.

Margaret M. Kardell,
Advisory Editor,

October 31, 1966,

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 FOREWORD

Poetry enpbles a person and elevates him above his

petty environment. It can guide a wavering mind through
the daily rough course of life to a safer position. And,
in a way, it can make our everyday life a tiling of beauty.

Only poetic, elevated emotions, stirring the imagination

of can lay bare the meaning of a culture. For this
all,
reason I am attracted by Burmese lyrical art and find the
poetry of Burma irresistible.

Apart from universal human themes, ever present in

Burmese poetry is an intense expression of a spiritual way
of life and the ethical experience. The profound active
humanism of the common man is verbally outhned in a
form which often turns their poetry into music. That is
why the Burmese lyrical art with centuries-old traditions,
rich and variegated, arouses a wondering and eager interest.

Burmese poetry has for me a quite special significance.

A people of rich and responsive human sympathy, the
Burmese are very gifted as a race. They built Pagan, a
striking testimony to their spiritual insight. A nation
which has such capacity possesses inexhaustible possibilities.
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11
 In translating these Burmese poems J have tried to
catch the correct meaning and to remain scrupulously
faithful to the author's expressions. But to see what a
poet or poetess saw passing before his or her mind's eye
when the original lines v/ere composed, is something
which cannot be solved like a mathematical formula. I
worked patiently and conscientiously, and am grateful
to Rev. Eindawuntha, a Buddhist monk of Bawdigone
Kyaung, Rangoon, who offered counsel to me in analysing
the most perplex metrical lines; and to Maung Aung Khin
for his practical assistance.

The Burmese patterns of intonation and well recognized

melodic phrases of the times obviously governed the original
compositions. Today to decipher such particular words or
groups of words sometimes makes one uncomfortable,
because Burmese word arrangements may often express
more than one meaning. Also during the last two centuries
or so the Burmese language has been greatly enriched
by the accession of new words and nev/ meanings due to
scientific advancement. In the process a large number of
old words and arrangements have become obsolete and the
;

Burmese reader often has a present understood meaning

quite different from the original. Some of the difficuhies
encountered in translating older poems stem directly from
these circumstances.
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 T shallconsider my labor amply rewarded if these
translated Burmese lyrics prove interesting to today's
foreigners and help them share, even in a very small degree,
the innermost thoughts and feelings of the talented Burmese
people.

Friedrich V. Lustig (Ashin Anauda),

Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia,
Sangharaja for Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania,
Great Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon.

April 26, 1966.

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 SHORT PIPE

A pipe... a puff...
short as a finger...
I give you
for smoking.

"If do not take

I it

you will think me crude

If I accept it
you will think I like you.

If you want me
tosmoke it

put it near the bed,

my dear one."

Mae Khwe*

Mae Khwe was the daughter of the Mayor of Sittaung

and she was married to a Maung Swe. When King
Bodopaya (Bodawphaya) ascended the throne in 1782
C.E., Mae Khwe became a Court Poetess.

C.E. means Christian Era.

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 LU-GA-LAY

Oh little boy crying!

I would I could

Catch you a pigeon

White, blue or black

Oh Uttle boy

How hard it is

To catch a pigeon

White, blue or black.

A lullaby.
Author unknown.

Lu-ga-lay may be translated young son or little boy as the

song akhough originally sung by those caring for small
princes is now sung in the same fashion by modern mothers
and fathers.
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 3

MOUNTAINS AND FORESTS

Ah... beautiful...

The mountains

The forests

The quivering buds

The trees caressing one another.

The birds frohcking with

joy!

Author unknown.
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 THE MONTH OF TABAUNG

On mountain tops sweet nwe-kyo creepers

Bloom midst other blooms

And thabye leaves and pet-sut flowers

Are once again pure bright colors.

On the Festival of Tabaung

Tharaphi and gangaw open into flower

And fragrance pervades everywhere

On Mount Popa.

Author unknown.

For more detailed information on flowers and trees

see page 38.

The Festival of Tabaung is on the full moon day of March

which is the last lunar month (February-March) in the
Burmese calendar.
Mount Popa is over 4,000' above sea level and lies in
Central Burma near the ancient city of Pagan.
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 THE GOLDEN-YELLOW PADAUK

Tn themonth of Tagu
From emerald green leaf-chisters
Bloom forth golden-yellow flowers.

Truly what other flowers

Can compare with these in beauty
There in paclauk's cool breezy shade
Where the flow of sweat ceases
At the entrance to Nanda Cave—
Retreat of the Pacceka Buddha.

During one month in a year

During one day in that month
During that Day for the Buddha
Padauk blooms forth in the forest.

Summertime !

The time of Thingyan has arrived.

And glorious is the golden pollen
Mistily blown from padauk
And spreading its fragrance
Along forest roads.

No one can describe all the marvels

Of this royal flower
Padauk !

U Kyaw.

U Kyaw flourished in the reign of King Mindon

(1853-1878 C.E.)
Tagu is the first Burmese lunar month (part of April
and of May).
Nanda Cave is a mythological name for a cave supposedly
situated somewhere in a jungle and to which no ordinary
being has access. Only super beings Buddha, Pacceka
—
—
Buddhas, and Nat Spirits or the like may stay in this cave.
Pacceka Buddha is a Buddha who has attained enlighten-
ment but who does not preach to the world.
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 CARVED BULLOCK— CART

In his carved bullock-cart

He takes his girl to the pwe

Many are the beautiful girls

In his village district ;

Some are better dressed

Than the girls in town
And as they go to the pwe
Sitting up front in the carts
Attention they attract
With their blue, black
And violet hued kerchiefs
Round their necks
And small satin stoles
On their shoulders.

Each young man and his girl

Snugly sitting side by side.

As the cart from behind

Overtakes the cart in front
Bells of wood and metal ring ;

Young men yell across to each other

Racing with their carts
Moving abreast of one-another
One cart on the road
The other close-by.

A pwe isa stage performance including music, dancing

repartee, singing and
folk opera. Most of the poems inclu-
ded in this book were first heard by the Burmese people at
some pwe.
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 1

To be first at the town's entrance

And to be first at the pwe means praise
And to be first means a better place.
The boy isexcited —he must try hard—
No longer distant is the place.

Proud is he of his bullocks —

Purchased for over a hundred kyats.
And proud are his perfect bullocks
With their white-spotted foreheads.
Restrain them with reins
And bullocks look skyward —
And the pace suffers —
So slacken the reins.

U Ya Kyaw.

U Ya Kyaw gained celebrity in the reign of King Thibaw

(1878-1885 C.E.). U Ya Kyaw was considered a master
of reahsm.

The kyat is the Burmese monetary unit.

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 8

SONG OF THE FOREST

Fragrant and fresh

Are the whole branches
Brimming with new life ;

Brilliant are the leaves

All golden lights.
Pleasant are the forests
At Thmgyaii's festival time.

One delights to see

Lingpya birds building nests ;

To hear cuckoos in pairs

Making heavenly melodies; and
To see a parakeet's lovely airs
Makes a maiden long to
To feed him in a cage .

"Oh darling!
Catch him without delay
He is about to fly away.^

Princess Hlaing-Teik-Khaung-Tin,

Princess Hlaing-Teik-Khaung-Tin (1833- 1 875 C.E.)

was a
as v/ell as one of the most
gifted poetess and musician
beautiful women at the Mandalay Court.
She married the
younger brother of King
Mindon and was therefore the
consort of the Heir Apparent of the Court.
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 SEA SNAILS

If you meet
If you see
You believe.

So quaint to see
On curved sea shores
Clusters of snails
Whites, reds, yellows and blues
Moving and displaying themselves,
Some golden penholders
Others hard iron traps
Still others — fairies' hairpins.

Oh? Hermit crabs!

Coming here or going there
And everywhere
Attention attracting
By borrowing
Empty sea snail shells
To live in them
And move about in them.

Bizarre indeed are these.

U Kyin Uo

U Kyin U wrote poems and enjoyed great renown in the

reigns of King Bagyidaw (1819-1837), King Tharrawaddy
(1837-1846 C.E.) and King Pagan (1846-1853 C.E.).
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 10

THE ROYAL KASON

As the hot season
Revolts against the cold —
In the pattern of contrasts —
The firmament becomes cloudy
And winds are hot again.
It is summer.

Leaves on trees turn yellow,

To fall —to show new leaves —
Stems twist or break, yet
Sprouts on tama trees
Are now soft greens
Like parrot eggs.

While in summer trees thirst

In foothills thazin flowers
Are climbing thabye trees
Effusing fragrance
Mixing with the wafting air.

At sunset crow-pheasants are cooing,

And from afar come the cuckoo's notes.
Now and again thunder is
beating
Through heaven's expanses
Like lambara and deindi drums.

And I...

Oh, think
I
Of the pouring of water
On the Bodhi tree
And of the absent companion
In the Golden Palace of Victory,
And I am mournful.
U Kyaw.

Kason the Burmese second lunar month (May) and its

is

full-moon day is the day on which the Buddha was born,

obtained enUghtenment, and on which he also passed
away.
Bodhi tree is the tree under which Buddha obtained en-
lightenment.
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 IL

JASMINE

When jasmine
Is not in bloom
In palace gardens
Courtiers must
Bedeck thomselves
With kan flowers.

When jasmine
Is in full bloom
In Mandalay's
Palace gardens
Courtiers never
Adorn themselves
With kan flowers.

Then kan flowers

Find favor only
Among villagers.

U Ponnya.

U Ponnya was known as the best of the poets in the

reign of King Mindon (1853-1878 C.E.). The King gave
U Ponnya a noble title and some land as a fief.
Jasmine has a sweet odor and is beautiful whereas kan
flowers although beautiful have no odor.
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 12

DELIVERANCE CANNOT BE FAR DISTANT

Listening, thinking, questioning, answering

Examining, writing, praciicing, and memorizing —
Daily these eight disciplines need wearing
As one wears flower garlands.

Constantly, with a spirit of competition and

With diligence the beginner in fandanicntal lore
Must practice recitation... and
If he tries as hard as ever he can
He will become a famous learned man.

If one does not try with the eagerness

Of a daring eagle that firmly catches a hen;
If one does not study and ponder.
Does not question and does not discuss, and
If one cannot give a discourse —
Knowing only how to read palm leaves —
How can one become a well-known man of letters ?

Like a cat eating a shrimp with special enjoyment

—
A learner must study all texts omitting none —
And he must learn all by heart.
He must become sharp as teeth of a saw
Penetrating deeply into all discussed matters.
Thus reaching comprehension
Indelible as a stone inscription.

Then when perfect in understanding

He be ready to say all by heart.
will
Then on any matter at any public concourse
He will be ready to give a perfect discourse,
To unravel the subject from beginning to end,
Without fear— like a lion —
To stand in the midst of the crowd,
Like a pillar of stone unshaken,
Going over into every detail
And replying to all without fail.
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 13

He must be familiar with verses in Pali,

Various forms of address and old difficult words,
He must know the meanings and formations
Of elements, use of metaphors and versificaiion.
Grammatical method and annotation,
And how to reason forwards and backwards.
Then if he knows all this he will have recognition.
He will be celebrated in this hfe as a man of erudition.
In future rebirths in this Samsara
He will come near Buddha Arya Maitreya.
Then for him not too far distant will be Nirvana,

Shin Maharattathara.

Shin Maharattathara (1468-1529 C.E.) was a famous

Buddhist monk.
Written in the sixteenth century, this poem reflects the
spirit of scholasticism. However, laying stress on thorough-
ness as it does, it has a message for our age as well. (F.L.)
Samsara is the phenomenal world, the repeating round of
births and deaths.
Buddha Arya Maitreya is the expected Buddha of the future.
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 14

MILITARY MARCH

We are not afraid of anything!

We are daring and brave
Ready to sacrifice our lives
With Parpahein marcliing to the royal city
On this day fixed as the "day of victory.
At our camp in the forest
Verdant are the branches
Full of small flower buds ;

Sweet are the sounds

Of the military drums and gongs
In the soft evening's twihght.

and clouds are dispersed

Just as mists
So too must we destroy our enemy
The elder brother Zeyathein.

U Kyin U.

Zeyathein is an imaginary prince, an heir apparent, and one

U
of the chief characters of Kyin U's play entitled "Parpahein
Pyazat". In the denouement of the drama Zeyathein is
being attacked by Parpahein, Zeyathein's younger brother,
and in the fighting loses his throne to his younger brother.
The above excerpt is of course only a small part of the whole
play. (F.L.)
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 1*

FOREST FLOWERS

Budding branches sway daintily in the winds

Blooming forth into abundance.
Red-dappled white flowers of nan- 1 ha
And blooms of sandalwood
Sweetly scent the foothills.
Summertime ends
But it is not yet the season of rains.

From the ground below

Rises khatta's overwhelming perfume
While from above
Jasmine's small swinging branches
Send down their fragrance.

Climbing the forest trees

Khabaung flowers sway in the wind
Like rain-soaked silver strands.
Later in the rains their stems too
Will be all a silver hue.

And in the valleys

Surprisingly charming too
Are the strange flowers
Called by the villagers
Crocodile flowers.

U Kyaw.
>6

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 16

DEARLY LOVED SON

With the army

She has entrusted him,
Her dearly beloved son,
She must not pity him.

On the way to Thailand

Many are the rising rivers and streams
Violent are the rains and strong is the storm.
But his own mother has agreed,
"Let him die... (if need be)..."

"In my heart too.

No distress lingers."

Historical song.

Author unknown.
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 17

RAIN

When soft breezes blow

Rare fragrance spreads
From the saga flowers
Growing on the not far-off
Mountain of the Giant's Palace.

Dark becomes the horizon

Enveloping us from the south in gloom.
Melancholy assails my heart.

Oh, Rain God, do not cause us sorrow!

Do not cause us sorrow, Rain down and
All the eight directions vAll look gloomy.
And the rain will sadden us in many ways.

Myavati Mingyi U Sa.

Myavati Mingyi USa (1766-1853 C.li.) was not only a

great poet but also one of the most remarkable creators
and preservers of Burmese music. He is the composer of
the celebrated Htiimachana Thachingan.

The eight directions are N.,E.,S.,V/., and NE., NW., SE.,

and SW.
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 18

TAKE TO HEART

(A Father's Admonition to His Son )

Witfi this poem

Let megive you, my son,
A parent's admonition —
A true garland of emerald flowers—
As useful to you
As your right hand.

The love in my heart

For you my son
Is like a mountain of
gold-
So listen carefully ^
To the not to be lost
heritage
Which is Good Conduct.

Traditional knowledge.
My dear son, you must master.
For if you do not acquire
knowledge
You will be hke spilt water —
Not a whole man —
And you will feel
shame.
Repenting ten times over
You will grow pale of face
And in the world lack good place.
Like monkeys in the forest,
Who have hands and feet too
You will be a wasted ragged fellow
A useless purposeless man.
,

—
As a man of no solid substance—
By others held in contempt —
Ashamed you will be, dear boy.
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 i9

Therefore from childhood.

My dear son, it is
To learii about all necessary
human matters :

To stay in school firmly and to study*

To read as told,
To write as told.
To ask as told.
To reply as told,
To sit as told,
To rise as told,
To stoop as told,
To use what told,
To change as told,
To partake of food and drink as told,
To address persons as told
To behave as told,
To approach persons as told,
And to honor lovingly
Your teacher as directed.

Beloved son,
Do not forget all this -

Your Father's message

Mentally note it^
Carefully heed it,
Keep it deep in your heart.

Let me say more )

So it willbe indelibly
Written in your heart.
Listen gladly!

Do not make friendships with drifters,

Pleasure-seeking low-thinking men.
Or vapid men seeking only evil.
When sometimes these types come near you
Seeming to befriend you or in
play
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 20

Keep away from tliem,

At a distance stay,
Then your welfare
Perfect will be
Dearest son!

Without fail
Try to do everything
Just as instructed.
Do not push aside
Your Father's speech.
Take it gladly
And live by it.

This is cognizance^
My son.

Sahton Sayadaw.
(Buddhist monk, probably 18th, Cent. C.E.)
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 21
MYA MAN SETKYA
The royal steamer Man Mya Setkya
Now proudly flying for the King
Hisown Golden Peacock flag
Makes her way to Mandalay
Carrying durian fruits
To {hQ King.
To accompanying echoes
Of whistles and trumpets
Steadily Oii steams Mya Man Setkya
Days beyond Hanthawaddy
Until finally at dusk
Samalauk village is seen.
From Samalauk village on upstream
—
To the mainstream Irrawaddy —
She continues making her way.
On through the night she steams
Her captain and crew, oblivious
To beautiful passing scenes,
Thinking only of reaching
Their next stop on the stream.
Even at the secret time near dawn
She moves on. And from the river
Rebounds to villages sounds of her
Revving engines rending the skies.
Justbelow Kanaung town at dusk
The anchor is dropped at last
And now the captain and crew
May sleep and rest.
U Ponnya.
U Ponnya is understood to have written this poem while
traveling upstream on the Mya Man Setkya a steam vessel
—
that had been presented to King Mindon (reign 1853-1878
C.E.) by the British then in control of Lower Burma. The
U
Burmese historian Tin Ohn, the author of the "Biography
of Yo Atwin Wun U Po Hlaing", claims that the plan of
the British was to kidnap King Mindon while the King
was inspecting the imposing interior of the first-class ship
given to him as a present. However, King Mindon fearing
the danger (he was forewarned by Minister U
Po Hlaing*)
refused to go on board the Mya Man Setkya. (F.L.)
Hanthawaddy is the name of the district in which Rangoon
is and was located.
JJ

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 22

PRESENT OF A CHEROOT

The cheroot leaves

I do not buy, but pluck myself.

I do not dry them on the fire

I do not spread them in the sun.
But for your smoking —
I dry them under my
bedclothing.
And with my teeth I trim
These aromatic leaves.

The cheroot I do not bind with silk

But with common cotton thread
To give it truly to you 5
My youthful lover in Ava.

Mae Khwe.

*'Youthful lover" can also be translated sweetheart from

childhood,
Ava was the capital of the Burmese Kingdom of Ava.
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 23

A PEASANT
Rainy season it is !

And wiien it rains

Happily husband and wife —
In red cotton turbans.
And tattered pasohs and aingyis —
Carry along their children
Rain- wet and without clothes
Body warm in their arms.
A short pipe between his teeth—
The peasant ploughs his field ;

And in his rice fields

Are water-filled holes
Homes ofmany small crabs.
Tossing these into his shoulder basket
Together with frogs, snails,
Su-pou kazoon and kin-bon leaves,
—
plants,
And pilo all for his curry —
Stoopingly he goes back home.

Sweet and juicy is the curry

Cooked on arrival and laid out quickly
With kyan-hing and kywet-na vegetables.
The rice is hot
And the curry is hot
With pungent Shan chilUes
That make one suck tht, tht, tht.

Scooping sizable handfuls,

Bending he eats
—
Surrounded on all sides
By robust sons and grandsons
Of these happy parents.
Wungyi Padethayaza.
in Ava in 1672 and died in
Wungyi Padethayaza was born
Syrian! in 1752. He flourished at the Court of Ava in the
reign of King Sane (1698-1714 C.E.) during
whose reign
he was a Minister. He later lived in exile in Lower Burma.
His tomb stands on the northern slopes of Kyaikkhauk
Pagoda in Syriam.
Pasoh another word for longyi which is the tubular skirt
is
worn by both men and women in Burma.
Aingyis are the blouse like jackets
worn by the Burmese.
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 PADDY PLANTING SONG

No need to pay the goldsmith!

From the palm tree comes our
gold !

Rolled palm leaves are our earrings

Chains of flowers are our necklaces.

Pleasant to look at are we—

The well-mannered rural folk
From the village of Aung Pin Lay
Near golden Mandalay.

Rather shortish are our skirts

And our cotton jackets
Are dyed from bark of trees.
Yet fine and tidy are our seams.

Our cheeks are smartly thanaka'd. And

As we move swaying from left to right
Our braids shine like buffalo- horns'!
Our beauty is all from nature. And
Even our hair we adorn only
With white mayo flowers.

Author unknown.

Thanaka is a pounded power made from thanaka tree bark

and even smaller branches. This dust is then used as a
powder or a paste, as a cosmetic, an astringent, a medicinal
application, and/or as a decoration and sun screen for the
face.
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 25

I AM LONGING

Gilt glass filtered moon rays

Light my stately diamond-studded couch
Where alone hear the drum's sweet sound
I

Announce the third watch of the night.

Dawn is no longer far-off.

On my scented couch
tJiazin
Alone I await your coming.
Hands to my forehead
1cannot but muse
Over all that has passed
And [ am filled with pensive sadness.

On oath you promised never to shun me

Always to be loyal to me
Solemnly you swore, "If I become King
I shallmake you my Queen.
Even if a Goddess tried to seduce me.
Never would I surrender to her."
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 26
a
In coronation's splendid display
I shall give to you the place of chief Queen
With eight Brahmins and many pages attending you
And at the time of libation's ceremonial
I shall cause all men to worship you."

I believed you and gave you my love.

Nov/... how different is your manner.
Oh, Prince of Kanaung how stern is your face.
Where is the former brightness of your face?
Where are the loving caresses
You so fondly showered on me?
Oh, Pnnce of Kanaung.

Princess Hlaing-Teik-Khaung-Tin.

(1833-1857 C.E.)

Thi s is only part of a very long song sung originally by

. _ncess HIaing-Teik~Khaung-Tin supposedly while waiting
Princess
for her husband to return to her chamber. Ihe sequel is
that he finally hears her sweet voice, remembers her and
comes back again to her from an adjoining chamber.
J1

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 27

LOVE IN SECRET ENCOUiNTERED

By chance
Secretly I fell in love
With a lovely girl,
Emerald fresh,
And of gentle birth.
As a consequence
I had to grapple with
Grief vaster than the sea.

My life is unbearable.

First pretending to love me

This maiden was like a cock
Courting round a hen;
Then suddenly she flaunted ojff.
In many ways she broke the trust
So naively placed in her.
How wrongly I believed in her.
It wasn't true love, just pretense.

She loves me not, all is in vain.

But for this lovely garland

Containing many sweet smeUing flowers,
Not long shall I v/ait
To be decorated with it.

I am a man of sufficient worth.

Soon the time will come
As comes floresence of all plants
And T shall have a true love.

Ah no !
My
dear young lady
You made of jewels.
are not
You vain and conceited girl
I have not long to wait.

Maung Thwa.
(Date unavailable,
probably second Konbaung
period 1818-1885).
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«0 (—© JJ

U Kyi rose to fame at the Court of King Tharrawadd]

(1837-46 C.E.) who for tlie second time in Burmese history
moved the capital to Amarapura. Kyi was a poe U
with a great command of imagery, he speaks of the thing:
on which the world is forever pivoted. (F.L.)
Sit'sali are whistling teal and Mauklin are Uke coot.
 28

I WOULD SMILE
Roiind our village
How pleasing
To see
Growing in profusion
Lai'ka-nyo creepers
Living among
The paddy rows
With blue k ha tank
Its fragrance
Filling the air.

Surrounded here
By such beauty
I cannot help
Missing my lover.

Oh, how lovely

The beautiful
Kazoon creepers
Rocking gently
On the water;
And in the fields
Blue v/ater hens
Mauklin, and
Sit-sali birds
Are billing
And cooing.

Poor me!
Here alone
Midst this beauty
With my lover away
T am overcome
With sadness.
Now too,
The sky isovercast
Thunder heralds rain.
Yet if my lover
Were here
I would smile.
U Kyi.
J8

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 9 i

NOBLE WISDOM

To the Three Noble Jewels! And

To Molhcr, Father and Teacher!
To these Six with pure faith
Respectfully having paid homage,
I shallcompose into easy verses,
So we may learn orally
The text Lokaniti, so full of lore,
Yet so difficult in Pali.
From Lokanit'Cs maxims
Much wisdom will all receive.
It will be like admonition
From one ripe in years,
A parent, a teacher and a good friend .

Then vastly learned one will become ;

Full of knowledge and insight

Harvesting benefits untold,
One's name will shine as the purest gold.

(contd.)

The Three Noble Jewels mean the Buddha

(the Enlightened
one), the of the Buddha, Doctrine,
Dhamma(the Teachings
Truth, Law, Norm), and the Sangha (the Buddhist Order,
Community, Ecclcsia).
Lokaniti or "The Ways of the World"— and the right conduct
relating to them
—
is a collection of excerpts from various
Pali treatises. The collection consists of seven chapters
and its maxims are piercing and enthraUing. "The Noble
Wisdom" is only a small part of the Lokaniti. Chaturinga
Bala and later Nemyo Min Tin Kyaw Khaung rendered into
Burmese verse the whole text of this celebrated work.
Pali is the language used in Buddhist sacred writings.
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 Study and acquire recorded knov/ledee
So full of treasured benefits.
Be lazy and where will be
knowledge?
Without knowledge where is wealth?
And for one without wealth
There will be no loving friends.
When there are no friends
Where is happiness?
When there is unhappiness
How will you do good deeds?
Again, when there are no good deeds,
How will you get to Nirvana?
In this world tiie best friend
Is knowledge firmly acquired.
That, no thief can steal away.
And in your next existence too
Knowledge will follow you
And happiness bring you.
Ail mankind note ihis way
(Follow it each day.)

Chaturinga Bala and

Nemyo Min Tin Kyaw K ha una.

Chaturinga Bala lived in the 14th, century C.E. and Nemyo

Min Tin Kyaw Khaung in the 19th. century. The former
wrote his "Lokaniti'' in Pali verses and the latter later
rendered it into melodious Burmese poetical language.
Born in Prome district, Chaturinga Bala distinguished
himself in the reign of King Ngah Sih Shin Kyawswa of
Pinya (1342-1350 C.E.) and after that served as Home
Minister to King Leh Sin Shin (also known as Thihathu)
who reigned 1350-1359 C.E.)
Nemyo Min Tin Kyaw Khaung rose to fame in the reign of
King Thibaw (1878-1885 C.E.) as a significant contributor
to Burmese aesthetic thought.
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 31

DONATIONS

(Dana)

'*Unsimiiar is human
destiny.
At the time true rehgion is no more
Some will still be full of faith
And desirous of giving in charity;
Though they will see no worthy
recipients
Yet with genuine devotion
They will give gifts
To those they do not Hke
And the result will be poor."
Thus spoke Buddha to Angura Deva,

He who does not urge other men

To do meritorious deeds,
But practices his largess alone,
Will in future rebirths
Have many possessions
But no attendants at all.

He who gives and urges others

To give things in charity
Will be reborn rich
Surrounded by numerous attendants
And holding vast possessions.
He will be a shining moon
In the assembly of men.

He who earnestly exhorts others

To give donations freely,
While himself offering nothing,
In future rebirths will be
Deficient in material belongings
Yet many attendants and relatives
Sons and grandsons will be
In his entourage.
PJ

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 Whosoever
Neither himself is iiiuniiiceat
Nor urges others to be
Will encounter e^'il fate
After his body's dissolution;

Never feehng satiated,

Scarcely finding eating plants,
Shovving hunger day and night.
He will become a hungry spirit-
Meeting all kinds of miserv.

Shin Tezolhara.
(Dale unavailable)

The Buddhists beheve that munificence (the giving of gifts)

is one of the highest and most noble virtues. Charily
(in Pali Dana) always leads to happy rebirths on earth
or in a heaven of the Dcvas (Gods). In the practice o\^
giving the Burmese excel other nationalities. (F.L.)
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 33

REMORSE

To gain the prize of Illuminaiion

I have made up my mind.
Then I shall have liberation
From the bondage of craving {Tanha)
The all consuming darkness
Of ignorance (Avijja-asava).

Seeking a womb for rebirth

In other after-death conditions
Many times I have experienced
Different forms.
But in whatever sphere
Never can it be pure.

Thus no longer do I seek a consort.

Satiated with a layman's Hfe,
I renounce it all and go
To muse in the Dhamma cave.

U Khains.

The Dhamma cave is a cave for meditation.

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 34

PAINFUL AS IT IS

Painful as it is...
Let me state my trouble.

How full of anguish most dire

Is one tormented by Universal Fire.
As if seven suns blazed
fiercely
Equally burning is pain the world-round.
Nowhere can a cool spot be found.
My heart's trouble seems a death agony.
But presently beautiful maidens appear.
you want to alleviate my pain.
''If

Sprinkle me with rose scented rain."

U Kvaw Thamee.

Poetess U Kyaw Thamee was a daughter of the poet U Kyaw

who King Mindon (1853-1878 C.E.)
lived in the reign of
and who had received unanimous acclaim as a poet of
extraordinary talent.

By Universal Fire is meant the catastrophic fire which

will destroy and consume our universe at the end of the
Kalpa according to Buddhist behefs.
Kalpa is the "World Age" or "World Cycle" extending to
millions of years.
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 35

NO COOLING OF ANGUISH

In human life
We meet constant renewal.
Slowly like tree-cotton
Burning without ceasing
Day after tomorrow and the next
One day after another day
Descends upon us
But there is no cooHng of anguish.

Though the sun and the moon

Will not change in the future
Always shall I seek succor
And seeking it I shall fret.
My anguish I try to forget.
But no!
Day after day anguish Hngers;
My tears run in a steady flow.

"Oh, softly dry them one by one

With the best cloth of Bassein."

U Kyaw Thamee.
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 36

THE xNATLRE OF THINGS

(Release from Anger)

Often a man suffers destruction

In order that another man
Might enjoy well-being.
Such is the nature of things!

A courtier's satisfaction
In enjoying kingly confidences
In golden palaces
And a King's own good fortune
Are merely bubbles
On the surface of a vast ocean
Momentary and evanescent.
If dictated by commiseration
t were to be released
And freed from execution
I would not escape Death.
Inseparable am I from Karma
All sentient beings
Being subject to dissolution.

Respectfully I salute His Majesty.

Should I again meet my Lord the King
In one of my future rebirths
In the cycle of Samsara
Begrudging him nothing
Iwould lovingly forgive him=
Impermanent is my body of blood.
Anantasuriya,

Anantasuriya was a chief minister in the Kingdom of Pagan

under King Naratheinka (C.E. 1 1 70- 1 1 73). When as a resuli
of a palace revolution Naratheinka's brother Narapatisithu
seized the throne, Anantasuriya was ordered to be executed.
On the eve of his death he wrote this classical poem entitled
^'Dhammata" (The Nature of Things), which is one of the
literary treasures of the world. (F.L.)
Karma can loosely be translated as destiny as ordained by
the ethical consequences of one's acts in previous existences.
Samsara is as explained before the cycle of deaths and
rebirths until Nirvana is reached.
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 37

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

(Titles of Works in Burmese)

1. Thi-khying padetha.

2. Kabya pan-kon Professor U E Maung

3 .
Kabya pan-kon a-phye zon Hanthawaddy U Ba Yin

4. Kabya pan-kon a-pliye thit Editor Saya Magha

5. Khan hman Myan ma za U E Maung

6. Tan myin kabyil phve nyi kyam U Pho Ngve

7. Kabya pan-myaing U Thein Naing (B.A.)

8. Khet-thit kabya mya U Wun and U Thein Han

9. Zasodaw mya atthuppatti Bo-gyi Ba Thaung

38
BOTANICAL GLOSSARY
 39

Mayo
(Ma-yo)
.40

Su-pou
Subok 23 Accacia pinnata
Subok'gyi
30S00
It L

Tama 10 The Persian lilac-Pride of

C090 China, India.
Azadirachta indica-A Juss

Thabye 4, 10 Eugenia spp.

Tharaphi Laurel- Alexandrian

Tharapi Callophyllum amvenum-VVall
Q
COSjCS
„ kunstlevi-King
»> parkavi-Fischer

Thazin 10, 25 Orchid

c
COCC Bulbophyllum spp.

Burmese words for and flowers, often differ

trees, shrubs,
in different sections of the country. Naturally a single
Burmese name will often apply to a great number of different
latin botanical names and at this late date it is a little difficult
to be positive just v/hich specific latin-named plant a poet
was seeing mind's eye. The above Ust was compiled
in his
whh the help of some Burmese botanists and from the
following:

List of Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, and Principal Climbers, Etc.

Third, Revised and Enlarged Edition, by H.G. Hundley,
B.Sc. (For. Rgn.) Silviculturist, Burma, and U Chit Ko Ko,
Herbarium Curator 1961, Superintendent, Government
Printing and Staty., Union of Burma, Rangoon.

Burma Research Society Vol XXXIll Part IT,

Journal ofthe
A Key To The Trees and Shrubs of the University Estate,
Rangoon by Nant Gladys Kwa.

A Check List of someCommon Roadside and Garden

Plants of Rangoon E.G. Dickason (unpublished pamphlet).
r
PL Lustig, Friedrich V,.
3984- Burmese classical poems
L87

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