![Ashin U Pa Gotta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Ashin_U_Pa_Gotta.jpg)
Shin Upagutta ( my, ရှင်ဥပဂုတ္တ or ; also spelt Shin Upagot, Shin Upagote or Shin U Pagoke) is an
arahant
In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...
commonly venerated by Buddhists in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. He is believed to protect worshipers from danger, including floods and storms. He is also venerated in
Northern Thailand
Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailand ...
and
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
, where he is known as Upakhut ( th, อุปคุต; ).
He is commonly depicted sitting cross-legged, dressed in monk's robes and with a hand tilted into an alms bowl called a thabeik, and is associated with
nāga
The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
, water serpents. He is believed to be either
Moggaliputta-Tissa
Moggaliputtatissa (ca. 327–247 BCE), was a Buddhist monk and scholar who was born in Pataliputra, Magadha (now Patna, India) and lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is associated with the Third Buddhist council, the emperor Ashoka and the B ...
, a Buddhist monk who presided the
Third Buddhist council
The Third Buddhist council was convened in about 250 BCE at Asokarama in Pataliputra, under the patronage of Emperor Ashoka.
The traditional reason for convening the Third Buddhist Council is reported to have been to rid the Sangha of corruption ...
,
Upagupta
Upagupta (c. 3rd Century BC) was a Buddhist monk. According to some stories in the Sanskrit text Ashokavadana, he was the spiritual teacher of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. In the Sarvāstivādin tradition he is the fifth patriarch after Mahākaś ...
, a Mahayana arhat, or a creation of
Mahayana Buddhism
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
, because he is not described in the
Pali Canon
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 th ...
and only mentioned in the Burmese historical chronicle ''
Maha Yazawin
The ''Maha Yazawin'', fully the ''Maha Yazawindawgyi'' ( my, မဟာ ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး, ) and formerly romanized as the ,. is the first national chronicle of Burma/Myanmar. Completed in 1724 by U Kala, a historian at ...
''.
Biography
Life before becoming an arhat
He was a monk named Eindagotta (ဣန္ဒာဂုတ္တ, pi, Indāgutta) during
Kassapa Buddha
Kassapa Buddha (Pāli), known as Kāśyapa (काश्यप) in Sanskrit, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 24 of the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', one of the books of the Pali Canon. He was the last Buddha before th ...
's time. He told some fellow monks to leave the monk life and to live a human life again. The Buddha told him that he would become an arhat after 218 years of the death of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
.
In Gautama Buddha's time, he was a non-believer called Sula Thakuladayi (စူဠသကုလဒါယီ, pi, Cūla Sakuladāyi). He was taught by the Buddha about the concept of
saṃsāra
''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Pali/Sanskrit word that means "world". It is also the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the c ...
. However, he could not become a monk because of the prophecy of Kassapa Buddha.
The afterlife
In 265 or 182 BCE, Upagutta was born to his mother Missa Dewi (မစ္ဆဒေဝီ, pi, Macchadevī) and his father Prince Dawtha Kumara (ဒေါသကုမာရ, pi, Dosakumāra). He was told that he would become a noble person in the future.
Upagutta had a rough personality; he was interested in wild animals and he did not like to learn. A
sage
Sage or SAGE may refer to:
Plants
* ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb
** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family
** ''Salvia'', a large ...
named Upa (ဥပ, Upa) taught him about the Buddha's teachings when he was young.
Years later, Upagutta and his mother went back to her father who was king of
Yazaka (ရာဇဂြိုဟ်, pi, Rājagaha). The king wanted Upagutta to become his heir but his mother believed in the prophecy about her son becoming an arhat. Meanwhile, a
deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
carried Prince Upagutta and went across the ocean. Upagutta began to consider the dhamma taught by Bayathe. Later, he suddenly became an arhat and the angel dropped him. As he was falling down, a bronze palace appeared in the ocean and he started to live there.
Some Burmese believe that Shin Upagutta is still living, in a floating brass palace in the southern ocean, and that he can be invoked through a special Pali incantation, and that his mere invisible presence will prevent storms and floods.
Shin Upagutta is commonly venerated by people in the
Irrawaddy Delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the A ...
. A major festival dedicated to Shin Upagutta is in
Shwegyin, near
Bago
Bago may refer to:
Places Myanmar
* Bago, Myanmar, a city and the capital of the Bago Region
* Bago District, a district of the Bago Region
* Bago Region an administrative region
* Bago River, a river
* Bago Yoma or Pegu Range, a mountain rang ...
, during the
Burmese month of Thadingyut.
Another, called the ''Ye Hmyaw Pwe'' (ရေမျှောပွဲ), is held 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 ...
's Chinatown in October and involves a Chinese-style procession and ceremonial dispersal of ashes into the Yangon River.
See also
*
Buddhism in Burma
Buddhism ( my, ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), specifically Theravāda Buddhism ( my, ထေရဝါဒဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), is the State religion of Myanmar since 1961, and practiced by nearly 90% of the population. It is the most re ...
*
Burmese pagoda
Burmese pagodas are stupas that typically house Buddhist relics, including relics associated with Buddha. Pagodas feature prominently in Myanmar's landscape, earning the country the moniker "land of pagodas." According to 2016 statistics compiled ...
*
Shin Thiwali
*
Gadaw
Gadaw ( my, ကန်တော့, ; also spelt kadaw) is a Burmese verb referring to a Burmese tradition in which a person, always of lower social standing, pays respect or homage to a person of higher standing (including Buddhist monks, elders, ...
*
Thadingyut Festival
The Thadingyut Festival ( my, သီတင်းကျွတ်ပွဲတော်), also known as the Lighting Festival of Myanmar, is held on the full moon day of the Burmese lunar month of Thadingyut. As a custom, it is held at the end of th ...
*
Pagoda festival
Pagoda festivals ( my, ဘုရားပွဲ; ''paya pwe'') are regular festivals found throughout Burma (Myanmar) that commemorate major religious events in pagoda's history, including the founding of a pagoda and the crowning of the pagoda's ...
*
Sand pagoda
Sand pagodas ( my, သဲပုံစေတီ; th, พระเจดีย์ทราย, also known as sand stupas), are temporary pagodas or stupas erected from mud or sand as a means of cultivating Buddhist merit. The practice is common to ...
References
{{reflist
Buddhism in Myanmar
Buddhist folklore
Burmese folklore
Arhats
Folk saints