LITERATURE OF THE BURMAS. 2I3 



'* fue them in their flight. The AJJ'ura having failed, 

 " touched a drum made of the claws of Cancer, and 

 " then retired to their own abode. In thefe battles no 

 *' one was killed : the Nat only tore one another. Now, 

 " however, the Affura remain quiet at home: nor do 

 " they any more engage in warlike enterprizes*. 



*' According to what Godama taught, whoever 

 honours his parents t, and old age; whoever refpe6ls 

 the three excellent things, namely, God, the law, and 

 the Rdhdns ; whoever abhors wrangling, and difputes; 

 whoever is charitable, particularly to the Rahdns : 

 all fuch perfons fhall after death tranfmigrate into 

 TavateinzaJ' 



" XX. Concerning the happinefs enjoyed in the 

 higher abodes of Nat, and by the Rupa, and Arupa, 

 the Burma writings are filent: they only in general 

 ftate, that the happinefs of each habitation is double 

 of that in the one immediately below. It is alfo 

 ftated, that the lives of the inhabitants of each bon, 

 endure four times as long as thofe of the next infe- 

 riour fpecies. According to this ratio, the duration 

 of the life of all the beings above Tavateinza in- 

 creafes: fo that the higheft rank of Nat, called P^?-(^- 

 neiniinatavajjanti live 576 millions of years. The 

 prince of thefe Nat, whofe name is Mannatmen, 

 has dominion over all the Nat of the other inferiour 

 habitations, and declares war again ft any new god 

 on his firft appearance. All his fubjeQs being drawn 

 out in battle array, occupy a fquare of eighteen 



P 3 juzana: 



* Thefe Nat are evidently the Ajfura Loka, or demons of the Brahmens, 

 who place them at the fouth pole, while the north is occupied by the Devas 

 or Deities. 



+ Filial refpeft feems to be almoft equally ftrong among the Burmas as 

 among the Chinefe. No Burma is permitted to fit on a feat equally honour- 

 able with that of his father : if the father is on a chair, he miift fit on the 

 ground ; if the father is on the ground, the fon muft fit behind. The fon 

 does not eat in- his father's prefence. and rarely fpeaks, except to anfwer a 

 quedion. 



