Ashin Abhijātābhivaṃsa ( my, အရှင်အဘိဇာတာဘိဝံသ, ; 29 September 1968 – 7 February 2022), also known as Sagaing Tipiṭaka Sayadaw ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိပိဋကဆရာတော်, ), was a Burmese Buddhist monk. He was chief abbot of Saddhamma Mānitāyon Monastery in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and abbot of Saddhamma Jotaka Subodhāyon Monastery in Monywa. Being awarded the titles of Tipiṭakadhara and Tipiṭakakovida in 2007 and 2010 respectively, Ashin was the 12th recipient of the title of

Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika ( my, တိပိဋကဓရ ဓမ္မဘဏ္ဍာဂါရိက) is an honorific Burmese Buddhist title conferred by the government of Myanmar to the Buddhist monks who have passed five years sin ...

Early life and education

Abhijātābhivaṃsa, the third of seven siblings, was born on 29 September 1968 (8th waxing day of

Thadingyut Thadingyut ( my, သီတင်းကျွတ်) is the seventh month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Myanmar term "thadin" (သီတင်း) means the Buddhist Lent (Vassa), which spans the three preceding lunar months and is the tradi ...

, 1330 M.E.) in Hsinnin Village,

Wetlet Township Wetlet Township is a township of Shwebo District in the Sagaing Division of Burma (Myanmar). It is located on the plains between the Mu River and the Irrawaddy. Its administrative seat is the town of Wetlet. Hanlin City, one of the ancient ...

, to Tin Ya and Nyunt Khin. He was ordained as a novice on 29 November 1979 (11th waxing day of

Nadaw Nadaw ( my, နတ်တော်; also spelt Natdaw) is the ninth month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Festivals and observances *Mahagiri Nat Festival, Mount Popa *Literature and Arts Festival () *Pagoda festivals **Botahtaung Pagoda Fest ...

, 1341 ME), under the presiding ''

sayadaw A sayadaw ( my, ဆရာတော်, ; , and alternatively spelled ''hsayadaw'', ''sayado'', ''sayāḍo'' or ''sayāḍaw'') is a Burmese Buddhist title used to reference the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. Some distinguished sayadaws wo ...

'' of Zabumingala Shweyattha ''

Kyaung A ''kyaung'' (, ) is a monastery ( vihara), comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Buddhist monks. Burmese ''kyaungs'' are sometimes also occupied by novice monks (samanera), lay attendants (''kappiya''), nuns (''thilashin''), and you ...

'', and sent to Mahā Subodhāyon Monastery in

Sagaing Sagaing (, ) is the former capital of the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located in the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and ...

on 14 December. Ashin received the titles of Sāsanālaṅkāra Thamanegyaw and Sāsanadhaja Dhammācariya since he was a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has ...

Monkhood career

On 4 January 1988 (1st waning day of

Pyatho Pyatho ( my, ပြာသို) is the tenth month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Festivals and observances * Karen New Year (first day of Pyatho) *Royal equestrian festivals () *Pagoda festivals ** Ananda Pagoda Festival, Bagan Pyatho sy ...

, 1349 ME), Ashin was ordained as a monk under the patronage of Ashin Nārada, chief abbot of Mahā Subodhāyon. Ashin passed all five-level 8026 recitation contents for the Tipiṭakadhara Tipiṭakakovida Selection Examinations, in which he had to show his memory of

Tipiṭaka The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During t ...

by reciting the Canon without being prompted more than five times in a day, in 2007 and was awarded the title of Tipiṭakadhara (). After completing all five levels of ideology written exam, he became the holder of the title of Tipiṭakakovida (), in 2010. In 2016, Ashin was offered the title of Tipiṭakadhara Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika by the

Burmese government Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests. ...

, and was thereafter known as its 12th recipient in history. In 2012, Ashin was appointed by Ashin Nandamālābhivaṃsa as presiding abbot of Saddhamma Jotaka Subodhāyon Monastery, a monastery, in Monywa, under the governance of Mahā Subodhāyon. Ashin died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

at Bumrungrad Hospital in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, on 7 February 2022, at the age of 53. During his years of monkhood, Ashin won a total of 47 achievements, including 10 ''Dhammācariya'' and 3 ''Pali Pāragū'' degrees.

References

{{reflist 1968 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Buddhist monks 21st-century Buddhist monks Buddhist abbots Burmese Buddhist monks People from Sagaing Region Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Thailand