162 



TRANSLATION OF A BURMESE 



court of the convent of Sanydsis, mentioned in tlie 2d edition of Hamil- 

 ton's East India Gazetteer, under the article Buddha Gay a. That building 

 is called on the spot Guru Math, and Captain Burney was informed, that 

 this inscription was discovered near the large Buddhist temple about forty 

 years ago, whilst some labourers were excavating the earth for bricks with 

 which to construct the convent, in the upper part of which lives the chief 

 Sanyasi or Mahant who now has charge of all the religious edifices and 

 monumental relics of Gaudama to be seen at Buddha Gaya, and who 

 receives presents and almost royal attentions from all Buddhist pilgrims. 



The character in this inscription is styled by the Burmese, Kyouk-tsa* 

 or stone letter, and it bears something of the same resemblance to the 

 Burmese character in common use, as our own print does to our hand writ- 

 ing. The letters are square, whilst those of the common alphabet are 

 round, and most of the inscriptions among the ruins of the thousands of 

 temples in the old Burmese capital Pagan, as well as a remarkable in- 

 scription 183 years old, to be seen near the great pagoda of Koung M,hoo- 

 dau-gyee opposite the city of Ava, which were supposed by former English 

 travellers to be in the Pali character and language, are now known to be 

 in the common Burmese language, but in this square alphabet. The fol- 

 lowing is a specimen of the difference between the two characters : — 

 cogCJOoc^, ^«!-^/o^^/^,aman,inthecommonBurmese writing,is □nCLUin^t 

 in the square character. It does not appear, that this kind of writing was 

 ever in general use in Burmah, but there is one work now always written 

 in a square character, slightly differing from that in this inscription. It is 

 the Kammua-tsa (^), or rules for inducting a Burmese into the order of priest- 



*The lettei" here expressed by ts should, on analogy with the Devandgari, be written c/i ; In 

 thesame way the ^Ashould bes; the s should bej; the y frequently r ; and the d, t. The author 

 prefers the English rendering which gives the pronunciation nearest to the original, and his 

 orthography has accordingly been preserved throughout the present paper. Sec. 



f The 4th line of the inscription contains this word. 



(') Sanscrit. Karmma-vachya, 



