Textual Contents of Pāli Samut Khois In Connection with the Buddha’s Abhidhamma Teaching in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the collections of Thai manuscripts in Japan, especially the Royal Manuscripts presented to the Kakuozan Nittaiji temple and other palm-leaf collections kept at Japanese universities and libraries. It also briefly discusses collec­tions of samut khoi (illustrated folding paper manuscripts) of the Phra Malai dating from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century preserved in museums and libraries in Japan.

Samut khoi (สม ุดข่อย, also Samut Thai, สมุด ไทย) is a class of paper book made of khoi (Streblus asper) paper with concertina folds, which was used in Thailand, formerly known as the Kingdom of Siam.² This type of paper manuscript is well known for its beautiful illustrations. Many fine pieces of samut khois are in the possession of Western libraries and museums, and the late Henry Ginsburg’s books on those collections are quite widely recognized.³ On the other hand, the textual contents of the samut khois have been left in obscurity. Even the fact that there are samut khois containing only Pāli texts is not widely known.

In fact, comprehensive research on samut khois and the palm-leaf manuscripts has already been done by a former researcher at l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), Jacqueline Filliozat, that has resulted in a massive catalogue of data with detailed textual analyses.⁴ In addition, the British Library’s Digitized Manuscript website (www.bl.uk/manuscripts) provides high-resolution images of many beautiful samut khois. However, it seems that the bibliographical data kept at EFEO and digital images at the British Library are unfortunately yet to be fully utilized for further research. I hope that this article will help to provide an overview of the textual contents of Pāli samut khois.

Samut Khoi

Generally speaking, samut khois are divided into two groups. Both groups use a script called Khom (อ ักษรขอม), but one group uses a thin character set, and the other a thick and calligraphic character set. These days, both are often referred to as “Khmer script” for the sake of convenience, because their characters are very close to the character sets used in Cambodia. Although Khom means “ancient Khmer/Cambodia” in the Thai vernacular language, I am not sure if the term “Khmer script” is entirely suitable for the name of the script used in samut khois because it is not used in Thailand or Cambodia. In Cambodia today, the thin and oblique character set is called Âksâr chriĕng (អកសរជ ៀង), and the thick character set is called Âksâr mul (អកសរមូល). Thick Khom (also spelled Khâm in Cambodian studies) in samut khois has four slightly different characters (ka, ṅa, ja, va)⁵ than the current Cambodian Âksâr mul. Therefore, although the term Mul or its variations are occasionally used in the context of Thai manuscript studies, we should note that this custom is not very precise. Thin Khom is also used in palm-leaf manuscripts. It is not usually oblique, even if we may occasionally come across oblique characters in samut khois.

Thin Khom, roughly speaking, is generally used in nineteenth-century samut khois, and thick Khom in eighteenth-century samut khois. In the nineteenth century, the chanting of the tale of Phra Malai in the Thai vernacular language—a story of a monk named Māleyya (in Pāli) who travels to hell to help people, and to Tāvatiṃsa Heaven to meet the future Buddha Metteya—was very popular at funeral ceremonies, and many Phra Malai samut khois with beautiful illustrations were produced.⁶ They were produced intensively until the early twentieth century, when the custom of making these paper manuscripts apparently came to an end in Thailand. In the British Library alone, there are about thirty Phra Malai samut khois. Most of the samut khois that are found in other famous libraries and museums have the tale of Phra Malai as their main text. In most cases, extracts from the Pāli Tipiṭaka (the three baskets of Buddhist canon), or occasionally just the Abhidhamma, precede the tale of Phra Malai.

Before the tale of Phra Malai became popular, samut khois contained only Pāli texts written in thick Khom. These are believed to have been produced in the eighteenth century, the Ayutthaya period. The number of eighteenth-century samut khois is rather small compared with the number of Phra Malai samut khois. Their main content, as we will see later, is the Mahābuddhaguṇa, a large, expanded version of the Buddhānusmṛti (also known as Iti-pi-so chanting). The Pāli texts in eighteenth-century samut khois were also used for chanting. However, since both the illustrations and thick Khom characters are excessively decorative, it might almost be suspected that the purpose of eighteenth-century samut khois was merit-making (tham bun) rather than chanting itself, for the act of sponsoring the production of a sacred book and donating it to a temple must have been considered very special merit-making.

In addition to these eighteenth-and nineteenth-century groups, there are further categories of samut khois within them: nineteenth-century samut khois with Pāli texts in thin readable Khom characters (although the number of existing examples of this category is limited) make up the third group. Further, as classified by Ginsburg, the Buddhist cosmological text (Traiphum) and a variety of minor works, such as elephant treatises, cat manuals, and fortune tellings with short Thai vernacular texts, form different groups.⁷ They usually do not contain Pāli texts.

In the next section, we shall look at the details of the textual contents of Pāli samut khois in the second and third groups.

Textual Contents of the Pāli Samut Khois

To my knowledge, the standard thick Khom samut khois of the eighteenth century contain extracts (saṅkhepa) from the Pāli Tipiṭaka (Vinaya, Sutta, and excerpts from the seven books of the Abhidhamma—often called the Abhidhamma Chet Gambhira), and then the Mahābuddhaguṇa(-vaṇṇā) as its main text. The specific texts they are drawn from are noted below. Usually two-thirds of the folds are used for this main text. A few non-canonical chanting texts are usually also included. Among them, Sahassanaya (also called Lokuttarajjhāna), a kind of meditation manual, is included in most cases. A verse text called Uṇhissavijaya also often appears. Beautiful illustrations in the samut khois are placed at the beginning and end of the texts, which serve as markers of the changing points of the textual contents.⁸

Here are examples of the textual contents of the thick Khom samut khois of the eighteenth century:⁹

1. MS. Pali a. 27 (R), The Bodleian Library, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom. 20 pairs of illustrations: The Ten Jātakas and the Buddha’s Life, no colophon:

A03 Vinaya extract, A06 Sutta extract, A11 Abhidhamma extract, A19 Sahassanaya, A25 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, B10 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B27 Uṇ hissavijaya, B35 end of the texts

2. Manuscript from Wat Hua Krabu, Bangkok, Thailand. 19 pairs of illustrations: pairs of worshipping figures etc., 1743:

A03 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, A25 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B6 Vinaya extract, B11 Sutta extract, B16 Abhidhamma extract, B30 Sahassanaya, B33 end of the texts (figure 1)

Figure 1.

Worshipping Brahmā and a deity. Manuscript from Wat Hua Krabu, Bangkok, Th ailand. A24. Photograph courtesy of Matsune Nakamura and Yohei Shimizu.

3. Thai MS 1341, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland. 26 pairs of illustrations: Vessantara Jātaka, no colophon:

A02 Abhidhamma extracts, A15 Sahassanaya, A22 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, B9 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B26 Uṇ hissavijaya, B36 Dibbamanta, B37 end of the texts in thick Khom, B37 additional Pāli texts in thick Khom (Vinaya and Sutta extracts), B38 end of the texts

4. EFEO 40, L’École française d’Extrême-Orient, Paris, France. 16 pairs of illustrations: Animals, flowers, and worshipping deities, etc., no colophon:

A02 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, A24 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B05 Vinaya and Sutta extract, B8 Abhidhamma extract, B21 Sahassanaya, B25 Uṇ hissavijaya, B34 two Bojjhaṅgas (Mahākassapatherabojjhaṅga, Mahāmoggallānatherabojjhaṅga), B37 end of the texts

5. NYPL Thai MS.6, New York Public Library, New York, New York, United States. 14 pairs of illustrations: Ten Jātakas, etc., no colophon:

A02 Vinaya extract, A04 Sutta extract, A5 Abhidhamma extract, A32 Sahassanaya (Mahānaya), B2 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, B24 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B39 end of the texts

From this list, especially numbers 1 and 5, we can understand the typical structure mentioned previously, that is, the extracts from the Pāli Tipiṭaka (often not identified) and the main text Mahābuddhaguṇ a, with the non-canonical chanting texts, the Sahassanaya and/or Uṇhissavijaya. Taking thick Khom samut khois not listed above also into consideration, we can recognize that most of them have extracts from the Tipiṭaka first. In the third one on the list, however, the Abhidhamma comes first and the Vinaya and Sutta additionally appear next, in thin Khom script. Some have extracts from only the Abhidhamma. It seems that the importance of the Abhidhamma gradually exceeded the other two over the course of time.

Next are examples of thin Khom samut khois in Pali from the nineteenth century:¹⁰

6. OR. 13703, The British Library, London, United Kingdom. 20 pairs of illustrations: scenes of meditation, teaching, illness, and death, etc., no colophon:

A02 Vinaya extract, A05 Sutta extract, A07 Abhidhamma extracts, A14 Sahassanaya, A23 Three Bojjhaṅgas (Mahākassapatherabojjhaṅga, Mahāmoggallānatherabojjhaṅga, and Mahācundatherabojjhaṅga), A35 Girimānandasutta, B9 Iti-pi-so and Gāthā Buddhaguṇa, B14 Uṇhissavijaya, B28 Mahāsāra, etc., B40 end of the texts (figure 2)

7. Manuscript from Wat Lat, Petchaburi, Thailand. 10 pairs of illustrations: Paṭācārā therī, asubha, animals, etc., no colophon:¹¹

A02 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, A? Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2 (end at B1), B2 Abhidhamma extract, B9 Sahassanaya, B15 end of the texts

8. Thai MS 1343, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland. 40 illustrations: Flowers and a narrative scene in B19, no colophon:

A02 Abhidhamma extracts, A05 Sahassanaya, A09 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, B02 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B18 end of the texts

Both thin and thick Khom are used. The latter script is used for Mahā buddhaguṇ a and miscellaneous fragmental texts written in A01

Figure 2.

Uṇhissavijaya: Supatiṭṭhita askes for guidance from Sakka in fear of misfortunate lives. London, BL OR. 13703, B18: Photograph courtesy of the British Library.

9. EFEO 39, L’École française d’Extrême-Orient, Paris, France. 14 pairs of illustrations: Phra Malai and the Ten Jātakas, 1814:

A02 Homage (namo tassa …) and table of contents (braḥ Vinaya, braḥ Sūta, braḥ Abbhidhamma, braḥ Sata-bojjhaṅga), A03 Vinaya extract, A07 Sutta extract, A08 Abhidhamma extracts, A11 Sahassanaya, A16 Uṇhissavijaya, A23 three Bojjhaṅgas (Mahākassapatherabojjhaṅga, Mahāmog gallānatherabojjhaṅga, and Mahācundatherabojjhaṅga), A30 Girimānandasutta, B05 Mahāsāra, B20 Paritta, etc., B32 end of the texts, B33 colophon (figure 3)¹²

10. Or. 16552, The British Library, London, United Kingdom. 18 pairs of illustrations: The Ten Jātakas, no colophon:

A01 Abhidhamma extracts, A04 Vinaya extract, A09 Sutta extract, A14 Abhidhamma extracts (reprise), A28 Sahassanaya, A32 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 1, B18 Mahā buddhaguṇ a part 2, B38 end of the texts

Figure 3.

Tale of Phra Malai: Phra Malai and Sakka in the Tāvatiṃsa Heaven. Paris, L’École française d’Extrême-Orient, EFEO 39, A03.

Numbers 8 and 10 have somehow maintained the basic structure of eighteenth-century samut khois. However, the Vinaya and Sutta are not included in the former, and the latter repeats the set of extracts of seven books of the Abhidhamma twice. Among the three baskets, the prominence of the Abhidhamma becomes evident.

In addition to the Sahassanaya and Uṇhissavijaya, which are found in the older samut khois, particular Suttas from the Tipiṭaka that seem to have been popular as protective chanting texts can be found. Three Bojjhaṅgas (Mahākassapathera-bojjhaṅga, Mahāmoggallānathera-bojjhaṅga, and Mahācundathera-bojjhaṅga) from the Saṃyutta Nikāya V (2 6 4–6) are often found in this group of samut khois. In the Nikāya, they are called Gilānasuttas, namely, the Suttas on sickness, in which the chanting of seven bojjhaṅgas (factors of enlightenment) is used as a remedy. The Girimānandasutta from the Aṅguttara Nikāya (Dasaka Nipāta 6.60) narrates that the monk Girimānanda recovered from sickness when he listened to the teaching of the “ten contemplations” (dasa saññā), one of which is the asubha-saññā (contemplation on impurity), as a remedy. These texts therefore seem to have served as protective chants against sickness.

Other minor texts such as Mahāsāra also seem to be paritta-like protective chanting texts (and a list of the twenty-eight past Buddhas), although they are not major parittas based on Nikāya texts. The term paritta is generally used for this genre of texts; however, in the example at number 9 they are called bojjhaṅgas (sata-bojjhaṅga: one hundred factors of enlightenment) in the opening part of the manuscript, where it shows a simple table of contents. It is possible that such protective chanting texts used to be called collectively “bojjhaṅga” in central Thailand. They would have occasionally been the main contents of thin Khom samut khois, as in numbers 6 and 9, instead of the Mahābuddhaguṇa in thick Khom samut khois.

The Mahābuddhaguṇa, the Sahassanaya, and the Uṇhissavijaya

Here I discuss a little more detail of the main contents of samut khois, that is, the Mahābuddhaguṇa, the Sahassanaya, and the Uṇhissavijaya.¹³

The Mahābuddhaguṇa

The Mahābuddhaguṇa is a kind of commentarial text that explains the nine virtues (buddhaguṇa) of the Buddha, or rather, nine epithets of the Buddha.¹⁴ The main text is the well-known Iti-pi-so formula that is found in various portions of the Tipiṭaka. Since the Iti-pi-so is nothing other than a very short list of the sublime qualities of the Buddha, the chanting of buddhaguṇa is also called Buddhānussati (recollection of the Buddha). It reads as follows:

Iti pi so Bhagavā Arahaṃ Sammāsambuddho, Vijjācaraṇasampanno Sugato Lokavidū, Anuttaro Purisadammasārathī, Satthā devamanussānaṁ Buddho Bhagavā.

[Thus the Blessed One is a Worthy One, a Perfectly Awakened One, Consummate in knowledge & conduct, One who has gone the good way, Knower of the worlds, Unexcelled one, Trainer of those who can be taught, Teacher of human & divine beings; Awakened; Blessed.]

The Mahābuddhaguṇa rephrases each epithet from Arahaṃ to Bhagavā with a great number of various short descriptions.

For example, Sammāsambuddha (a Perfectly Awakened One) is paraphrased more than a hundred ways—for example, “[he is] perfectly awakened to all the Dhammas” (sabbadhamme sammāsambuddho). The longest section, the explanation of the Lokavidu (Knower of the Worlds), contains more than two hundred and fifty explanations of Lokavidu, such as “One who knows the material world is Lokavidu” (saṃkhāralokaṃ jānātīti lokavidū). As a result, the Mahābuddhaguṇa presents a collection of views on that to which one should be perfectly awakened, a list of various cosmological views, and so on, like the Abhidhamma treatises do.

As discussed in the previous section, the text is divided into two parts. The former is titled Mahābuddhaguṇa and the latter Mahābuddhaguṇavaṇṇanā. However, they are not a main text and its commentary, although the titles give such an impression. They are in fact a series of texts. In the middle of the longest section, the explanation of the Lokavidu mentioned above, the text rather suddenly stops with a concluding remark. It then starts again with an opening verse¹⁵ and the new title, Mahābuddhaguṇavaṇṇanā. Further research is needed to understand this peculiar custom.

The Sahassanaya

The next text, Sahassanaya, which describes “a thousand methods” or a thousand states of mind associated with meditation, seems still to be current in Thailand.¹⁶ Modern chanting books often include it under the title Lokuttarajjhāna (supra-mundane state of mind). It used to be, and still is, occasionally chanted at funerals following extracts from the Abhidhamma (saṅkhepa). The text itself is based on sections¹⁷ of the Dhammasaṅganī, the first book of the Abhidhamma. Indeed, modern chanting books that are common in Thailand draw much of the content from these manuscripts, and so they are important to study to understand the origins of modern liturgical practice.¹⁸

The text of Sahassanaya starts as follows. We can observe that it presents combinations of several sets of classifying factors.

Katame dhammā kusalā? Yasmiṃ samaye lokuttaraṃ jhā naṃ bhā veti niyyā nikaṃ apacayagā miṃ diṭ ṭ hi-gatā naṃ pahā nā ya paṭ hamā ya bhū miyā pattiyā vivicc’ eva kāmehi paṭ hamaṃ jhānaṃ upasaṃ pajja viharati dukkhā-paṭ ipadaṃ dandhābhiññaṃ, tasmiṃ samaye phasso hoti, avikkhepo hoti. Ime dhammā kusalā.

[Which are the states that are good? When he cultivates the Supra mundane (lokuttara) jhāna, whereby there is a leading out (niyyā nika) and undoing of rebirth (apacayagā min), and when he enters into the (X) the first jhāna that is in (Y) slow and unpleasant mode of progress (paṭipadā) putting away wrong views, attaining to the First Stage, and being aloof from sensuous appetites, he has a contact (to salvation) and calmness. These are the states that are good.]

Similar passages with several variations are repeated many times in the Sahassanaya. Underlined are variables X and Y, which work as classifying factors. First, there are two sets of jhāna as variable X, (1) catukkanayajhāna and (2) pañcakanayajhāna (four-to five-step Jhāna). Then, in variable Y, the combination of (1) dukkhā paṭ ipadā and (2) sukhā paṭ ipadā (unpleasant/pleasant) and dandhā bhiññā and (2) khippā bhiññā (slow/quick) are put in order, to classify paṭipadā (mode of progress). Further, for this pure (suddhika) paṭipadā, again two classifying factors, namely, suññata (emptiness) and appaṇihita (aimless), are later added; the combinations will therefore be (1) suddhika paṭipadā, (2) suddhika-suññata, (3) suññata-paṭipadā, (4) viriyādhipateyya (influenced by effort), (4) suddhika-appaṇihita, and (5) appaṇihita-paṭipadā. As a result, the nayas are multiplied by five at this point. Lastly, in the final section (not apparent from the above citation), another set of classifying factors is introduced: (1) influenced by no adhipati (predominant factor), (2) chandādhipateyya (influenced by desire), (3)cittādhipateyya (influenced by mind), and (5) vimaṃsādhipateyya (influenced by investigation). At this last point, the nayas are multiplied by five. Now the number will be 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 = 200. This number apparently falls short of the one thousand it is meant to describe. Since the actual length of various Sahassanaya texts in samut khois as well as in modern chanting manuals varies, they do not seem to enumerate the thousand methods in any case.¹⁹

The Uṇhissavijaya

In this context, we can also understand the next text, Uṇhissavijaya. The Uṇhissavijaya is an extracanonical text that is believed to have been preached to a devaputta (son of god) named Supatitthita in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven to help him to prolong his life and avoid bad rebirths. Like the Sahassanaya, it used to be chanted at ceremonies to celebrate one’s long life and wish him an even longer life. A modern chanting manual (Mon bidhī) for monks contains a shorter version of the Uṇhissavijaya. The text consists of five out of (about) seventy-seven verses found in the samut khois. According to Phra Suthithammanuwat (Ven. Thiab Malai) at Wat Pho temple, the Uṇhissavijaya is no longer chanted in authentic temples in big city areas, like Bangkok. However, it seems still to be popular in the provinces. He said that when he was a child, his mother told him to learn it by heart in order to prevent bad fortunes, such as traffic accidents.²⁰

Uṇhissa (uṇhīsa) or uṣṇīṣa in Sanskrit is the protuberance at the top of the head of the Buddha. The dhāraṇī named Uṣṇīṣavijayā has been one of the prevailing protective chants in northern Buddhist countries like China and Japan. Uṣṇīṣavijayā as a female deity, symbolizing the wisdom of the Buddha, is worshipped in modern times in northern Mahāyāna countries like Nepal and Tibet. Based on Japanese manuscripts and inscriptions, the Sanskrit dhāraṇī text was first edited and published by Max Müller and Nanjio Bunyiu at Oxford University in 1884.

In that edition, the editors have remarked that the dhāraṇī has two kinds of introductions (nidāna) or narratives relating the circumstances that led the Buddha to teach the dhā raṇ ī.²¹ Taking into account the results of recent studies, too, we can roughly say that older Chinese translations from the seventh to eighth centuries, an older Tibetan translation from the ninth century, and the only existing Sanskrit manuscript from Gilgit-Bamiyan from the seventh century feature a devaputra, Supratiṣṭhita, Śakra (Indra) who is the king of the gods, and the Buddha Śākyamuni.²² Upon Indra’s request, the Buddha teaches a dhāraṇī called Uṣṇīṣavijayā. On the other hand, a Chinese translation from the eleventh century, later Tibetan translations, and all Sanskrit manuscripts so far found in Nepal narrate that the Buddha Amitāyus in the Sukhāvatī teaches the dhāraṇī to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. On the Indian continent, it seems that the change to the preacher of the dhāraṇī occurred in the tenth to the eleventh centuries. The story of Supratiṣṭhita was apparently lost in northern Buddhist countries on the Indian subcontinent. Nevertheless, the samut khois in Thailand in the eighteenth century narrate the story, sharing the core with the former. Although they do not contain dhāraṇī, and never tell what the Uṇhissavijayā really is, they tell the story of the Buddha teaching Uṇhissavijayā upon the request of Sakka (Inda) for a devaputta, Supatiṭṭhita.

One day, Supatiṭṭhita, who is enjoying his life in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven, hears a voice saying that he will die and go to Avīci Hell, and then will be reborn seven times into misfortunate lives, such as that of a pig. When he asks for guidance from the king of heaven, Sakka, he tells Supatiṭṭhita that it is not he but the Buddha, who is now in heaven to teach Abhidhamma to his mother and other deities, who is his compassionate protector (nātha). They then go to see the Buddha, and he teaches the Uṇhissavijaya to them.

While the Sanskrit text of the introduction to the dhāraṇī is written in prose, the Pāli Uṇhissavijaya is written in verse. As stated earlier, five out of seventy-seven verses (below) were used as protective chants like the Sanskrit dhāraṇī, and they are recognized as the Uṇhissavijaya in modern chanting manuals.

There is the unsurpassed dhamma in this world, Uṇhissavijaya. For the benefit of all beings, god, you receive this! (1)

One can avoid tyrannical punishments and fire by in-humans. Why can’t one [avoid] tigers, serpents, poisons, goblins, and accidental death? (2)

Except for death in proper time, one can be free from all kinds of death. With the supernatural power of it, may you be a happy god always! (3)

Keep the pure Sīla, practice the good Dhamma. With the supernatural power of it, may you be a happy god always! (4)

As either of written, contemplated, worshipped, remembered, or spoken out text, when one listens to it as the respectable teaching for others, his life will be prolonged. (5)

How did this come to be one of the main texts of samut khois in Thailand? What is the relation between northern Buddhist versions and this one? The difficulty of answering such questions has been previously expressed by Peter Skilling. As he clarified, “It is hard to imagine a late date, given that the Buddhism of India had already waned by the mid-Ayutthaya period.”²³ In the case of Uṇhissavijaya, it is even more impossible to import the story in the eighteenth century from India, because, as we have seen, the common story of the devaputra Supratiṣṭhita seemed to be lost, most likely in the tenth to eleventh centuries.

Then was it based on, say, a Chinese or Japanese source that has been transmitted until this day? This possibility is also unlikely. The Pāli Uṇhissavijaya refers to five withering marks of Supatiṭṭhita and the importance of worshipping the triple gem (Ratanattaya: Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha). These are not featured in the various versions of the nidāna of the Sanskrit/Chinese/Tibetan Uṣṇīṣavijayā. However, an episode in the Divyāvadāna, the fourteenth chapter, “Sūkarikā-avadāna,”²⁴ refers to these two elements: It narrates the story of a devaputra (son of god), who, like Supatiṭthita, is destined to die after seven days and be reborn into the womb of a female pig (sūkarikā). In this story, Śakra tells the devaputta just to worship the triple gem (Ratnatraya). The narrative setting of this episode is apparently common to both the Uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī and Uṇhissavijaya, but the reference to the two elements, the five withering marks, and the worship of the triple gem are not common with northern versions of Uṣṇīṣavijayā, but the Pāli Uṇhissavijaya only. It shows that the Pāli Uṇhissavijaya did not simply originate from the Sanskrit Uṣnīṣavijayā (or Chinese translations of it) but from an even bigger corpus of Indian narratives.

Conclusion

In this article, we have investigated the textual contents of the illustrated samut khois in Thailand. The chief text of eighteenth-century samut khois, the Mahābuddhaguṇa, shows what great importance Thai Buddhists attached to the Buddha-anussati, the recollection of the Buddha. The main text, the so-called Iti-pi-so, is here expanded with an Abhidhamma-like knowledge base, until it becomes like another Abhidhamma treatise.

The other major texts, that is, the Abhidhamma-saṅkhepa, Sahassanaya, and Uṇhissavijaya, share one common element: they are related to Tāvatiṃsa Heaven. The Abhidhamma is believed to be preached in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven to the Buddha’s mother Mahāmāyā and other deities. The Sahassanaya or Lokuttara-jhāna is based on the Abhidhamma, and for this reason, it is considered to be a teaching for a deceased person, like the Buddha’s mother. The Uṇhissavijaya is also believed to be preached in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven.

The importance of the Tāvatiṃsa teaching for Thai Buddhists is quite evident, as I have shown elsewhere.²⁵ It is likely that the teaching in Tā vatiṃ sa Heaven provided the basic concept for plans of the Uposatha hall as a whole. The Paṭhamasambodhi, a biography of the Buddha that is popular in both Pāli and the vernacular in Thailand and Southeast Asian countries, devotes one whole chapter to the Tā vatiṃ sa teaching. It also serves as the climax of the events of the Buddha’s life as depicted in the Bodleian Library MS Pali a.27.²⁶ Usually, the illustrations in eighteenth-century samut khois are not related to the text written in the same fold. Among forty illustrations in the Bodleian samut khoi, only in this fold (B27) does the visual content correspond to the textual content. In this fold, the text of the Uṇhissavijaya narrates the Tā vatiṃ sa teaching of the Buddha, and in the left column the illustrations depict the scene.

Even the main text of nineteenth-century samut khois, the tale of Phra Malai, shares this feature, because it narrates the monk Māleyya’s meeting with the future Buddha Metteya in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven.

I hope it has now been clarified why the Mahābuddhaguṇa, the Sahassanaya, and the Uṇhissavijaya were used for funeral chanting or at long-life ceremonies. They are all somehow related to the Buddha’s Abhidhamma teaching in Tāvatiṃsa Heaven. The former two derived from Abhidhamma, and the last one shares the narrative setting. As they are believed to be originally told for Mahāmāyā or Supatiṭṭhita, these texts are chanted for those who have passed away or who wish for a long life and no misfortunate rebirths.