THE THAT PHANOM CHRONICLE A SHRINE HISTORY AND ITS INTERPRETATION ·
THE CORNELL.UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM . The Southeast Asia Program was organized at Cornell Univers.ity in the Department of Far Eastern Studies in 1950. It is a teaching and research program of interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, social sciences, and some natural sciences. It deals with Southeast Asia as a region, and with the individual countries of the area: Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea (Cambodia), Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The activities of the Program are carried on both at Cornell and in Southeast Asia. They include an undergraduate and graduate curriculum at Cornell which provides instruction by specialists in Southeast Asian cultural history and present-day affairs and offers intensive training in each of the major languages of the area. The Program sponsors group research projects on Thailand, on Indonesia, on the Philippines, and on linguistic studies of the languages of the area. At the same time, individual staff and students of the Program have done field research in every Southeast Asian country. A list of publications relating to Southeast Asia which may be obtained on prepaid order directly from the Program is given at the end of this volume. Information on Program staff, fellowships, requirements for degrees, and current course offerin�s will be found in an Announcement of the Department of Asian Studies, obtainable from the Director, Southeast Asia Program, 120 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. J,J,
17 In those chapters which follow the \"indigenous text, \"-two monks are depicted as representatives of Buddhist moral order. Phra Khru Phon Samek, incurring the jealousy of a \"bad king,\" flees a potentially disruptive sit�ation, makes merit at the That Phanom shrine, becomes a source.of merit for a variety of peoples during his journey, and re-establishes order at the kingdom of Champai3sak u,ntil t he - risk to h5i-7s monastic vocation compels him to pass the reins to a \"good\" Buddhist -king (VI : restores the dilapidated ). 2 1 . Phra Khru Virocana, the resourceful architect, shrine, removes the disorder of its neglected compound, and wins the assistance of a fearful and indifferent local populace (VII: 1-8). Furthermore, he dissuades the local people from becoming overly involved in a millenarian movement (with its over turning of the categories of nature) , and takes advantage of the movement's immediate consequences for the completion of his meritorious task (VII : 6). These actions in the moral-religious realm parallel similar actions in the political realm: the restoration of order to the strife-ridden Lao principalities t hrough their incorpora tion into the Siamese nation-state. This observation brings us once again to the symbols of socio-political order expressed in the two themes of the chronicle : the righteous Buddhist ruler and the sacred Buddhist shrine. While the world-renouncing monks may perform important tasks in restoring equilibrium to a system that is momentarily shaken by human events, the righteous king provides material sustenance for the monastic community and adminis ters the society of which both monks and laity form a part. The sacred relic, the \"representative\" of Buddhism enshrined at a sacred place, is associated with the prosperity of a society and the legitimation of its ruler's authority, if this ruler observes the Buddhist precepts and exhibits the kingly virtues in the exercise of his power. In addition, the sacred shrine locally is the cosmological center of a Buddhist universe, as conceived by adherents of the Lao Theravada Buddhist tradition: a center for the devotions and attentions of guardian spirits, laity, clergy, kings, and heavenly deities. In drawing upon myth and legend rather than empirically-verifiable past events, those responsible for shrine chronicles show their concern for the legitimacy of the society to which t hey belong, and their efforts to give meaning to the ambivalent nature of human experience. These concerns, transcending an account of the origins of a particular shrine, are presented in terms of the interrelationships between the Buddha, his relics, deities, kings, and monks. Many of the incidents and motifs in the That Phanom chronicle (e.g., the Buddha's visits, the \"miracles\" of Buddha relics, the decoration of shrines by heavenly deities, etc. ) can be found· in other representatives of the \"shrine chronicle\" genre, and simila; examples of \"Buddhist nationalist\" literature such as the Sinhalese Maha:vainsa and Thupavainsa. There is no space here for a comparison between the That Phanom chronicle and its Sinhalese predecessors. However, these latter works and others of the genre may perhaps be usefully analyzed in terms of the themes and messages communicated in the That Phanom chronicle. The tradition of Theravada Buddhist historiography (relying upon myth more than history) from which these works spring may be viewed in terms of the reduc tion of chaotic social experience into orderly and comprehensible terms. 2 1 Phra Khru Phon Samek became an interim ruler because of an \"unnatural\" occur rence: Nang Phao, the queen who �ounded the principality of Champassak, gave birth to a child out of wedlock, thus incurring the displeasure of the local deities. C. Archaimbault, The New Year Ceremony at Basak (South Laos) (Ithaca, 1971), pp. 1-2, 25..
THE CHRONICLE OF THE THAT PHANOM RELIC CHAPTERt·tONE IN THE TIME OF THE BUDDHA Once upon a t ime, when the Buddha was living in contentment at the Jetavana monastery , [his disciple ] Ananda brought him water and \"teeth-cleaning sticks\" 1 shortly after daybreak . When the Buddha had completed his ablutions, he reflected upon the three Buddhas 2 who had achieved nibbana, and whose relics had been enshrined at the hill of Kapa�agiri in the principality of Sri Gotapurat. He put on a robe whose bright color resembled the rays of early morning sunlight . . t. and, with alms bowl in hand , turned his face to the eastt. Ananda followed the Buddha on his air borne j ourney. 1. A Stop at N9ng Khan Thae Sila Nam (Vient iane)t3 Nam. ATthePyhofnirC.s_htiksetViadnowgnNagutatD, 9nsoKut9hn Nao4 and came to the edge of N9ng Khan Thae Sua of the mouth of Ku Kham creek, the Buddha ob- served a small crocodile stick out it s tonguet. The Buddha opened his mouth as if to reveal his thought s . Ananda asked the Buddha what circumstance prompted him to speak. The Buddha replied with a prophecy concerning a future principality [to be establitshed at this site]. This principality would [alternately ] decline and pros per , with both elites and common folk enduring various conditions, according to the omen of the small crocodile which stuck out its tongue.t5 2. The Origins of the Phang Ph9n Reliquary and the Footprint at Phon Chan The Buddha then proceeded from Nong Khan Thae Sua Nam to Phon CVhik Viang Ngua. Bra0ya Pabbharanaga6 was trantsformed into a white-robed elder [ta pha khaoJ who ca.me 1Mai si fan : probably slender _roots of cinnamon, bete l , or similar plants, pieces of which are used for polishing teeth, removing food particles, etct. The translator has observed elderly monks in northeastern Thailand cleaning their teeth with these objectst. 2Although there were twenty-four Buddhas who preceded the Buddha Gota.ma of the present era (cf. Khuddaka-Nikaya: Buddhavamsa ) , Theravada Buddhist myths concerning sacred objects most often refer to Gota.ma ' s three immediate precedessors: Kakusandha, Konaka.manat, and Kassapat. 3 \"Nong\" refers to a marshy lake or pondt. This one supposedly i s located north of .Vient iane, Laos . For the meaning of its name, see Chapter Four , section eight. 4 \"Don\" refers to high ground which is not subject to inundation during floods. In most Thai and Lao myths about the Buddha ' s airborne journeys to various places, the Buddha first lands upon mountain s , hills, or plots of high groun d . 5According t o the account in KN (p . 6 ) , this omen signifies that the inhabi tants of the future (also unnamed ) principality, because of their violent and quar relsome behavior , will experience a decline in their fortunes which will continue for five thousand years. 6The name of a local naga ( serpent ) deity. Serpent deities inhabit lakes, pond s , and streams, and are territorial guard ians which guarantee the fertility of 18
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