- CHAPTER XIII,
J te lig i^ ijf Ike- Birmans—their LwWs ^-Jurisdiction o f the. Metropolis
M-Jfoawfejss^the Royal J&tablishment^^^MfrofiStaieis±4^ c e r& ^
: Honours not hereditary^—Insignia o f RaKkj^M^^MMesemblame' to
tt :ihedjkinese:-^Marriages—Funerals—Populalioh-^Mmettiie. .I;
A.FTER-what has been written, there can bedifSeCheeeS^ty- to'inform my
readers that the Binfiafis are Hindoos: not rotaries of Brahma,but sectaries'
of Boodh,-width latter is admitted by Hmdobs-TrfvhlPde^cripiibhs^fo-he'
thenrnth Avatar,*-' or descent'of the deity-in his-<^^acttyt®^r®^vfe#«He
reformed ihe-doctrines- contained in the Vedas,-and^Sev^rel^cerfshre'drfSg
sacrifice-of cattle, or depriving any being of life: he is called the-iaufho'^Bf
h^p ih e ss :r-tes-place'of reisfcfence was discovered a t Gayari*f?Be^aT|f by
the iMi^trious Amara,4 Wnownied amongst men;: ‘ ‘ imagt
“~of the supreme Boddh to Jbe made, and he worshipped it :j-j^lreftde- be
i unto'ithee* in the- form of Boodh; reverence be unto-thee,-Lord of the*
‘i Earth ;-reverence bt^unto thee, an incarnation of the deity-; and, eternal
11 one, reverence be-unto thee, O God in-the form of Mercy.” r '
* Sir William Jones, on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India. .
t See the translation of a Shanscrit inscription on a stone found in the temple of Boodh,
at- Gaya, by Mr. Wilkins. Asiat. Research. Vol. I. I am indebted for the annexed representation
of the image of Boodh, at Gaya, to the kindness of Lord Teignmouth. The reader
- will observe th e c lo s e resemblance it bears to. that of the Birman Gaudma.