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Director's Choice Uncut

A Pali Manuscript

Pali manuscript
Myanmar (Burma), undated

This Buddhist text of the Upasampada Kammavaca from Myanmar, formerly Burma, is the ordination service for Buddhist monks. It is one of several Burmese manuscripts housed in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

When one of their sons entered a monastery to become a monk, wealthy Burmese families often commissioned a presentation copy of the Upasampada. Entering a monastery could be for a short period rather than a lifelong commitment. The ordination ceremony is one of the legal acts contained in the Buddhist Monastic Rule or Vinaya. The strict requirement to follow the Rule has meant that the ceremony has remained unchanged for thousands of years, since the time of the Buddha. It is still conducted in Pali, the original language of Buddhism.

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This elaborately lacquered and gilded manuscript comprises two wooden covers and nine leaves. The covers and leaves were originally tied together with string or by thin sticks of bamboo threaded through the hole in the left-hand side. Each strip holds six lines of Pali script, written in the square Burmese style using black magyi zi lacquer made from tamarind seed, between hatched borders. In this instance the leaves are made from plantain but Kammavaca leaves can also be made from palm leaf, ivory, copper and brass sheets, and sometimes from the old robes of a venerated monk.

Shelfmark: TCD MS 1642

Estelle Gittins

Estelle Gittins is an Archivist in the Department of Manuscripts & Archives with a focus on post-medieval historical collections. She works on public and academic engagement with the collections including outreach and exhibitions.

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