Dhammasattha

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Sanskrit equivalent, see Dharmaśāstra.

Dhammasattha ("treatise on the law") is the

Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Yunnan) principally written in Pali, Burmese, Mon or the Tai languages or in a bilingual nissaya or literal Pali translation (Burmese: နိဿယ). Burmese ဓမ္မသတ် is often transliterated "dhammathat" and the Tai and Mon terms are typically romanized as "thammasāt" or "dhammasāt" (Thai
: ธรรมศาสตร์).

"Dhamma" is the Pali-cognate of the Sanskrit-term "Dharma", meaning "law and justice". "Sattha" is the cognate of "śāstra", which either means instruction, learning, or treatise. Dhammasattha texts are historically related to Hindu dharmaśāstra literature from the Indian subcontinent, although they are very significantly influenced by the Theravada Buddhist traditions and literature of Southeast Asia.

History

The word dhammathat is first mentioned in a Burmese inscription from 13th-century

Konbaung Dynasty.[2] The first dhammathat mentioned in Burmese chronicles is the Duttabaung Dhammathat, during the time of Sri Ksetra Kingdom.[3]

In traditional Burmese law, the order of precedence was mutual arbitration, yazathats, and dhammathat.[3] Burmese dhammathats were supplemented by interpretive guidance in the form of ameindaw (edicts) or pyandan.[3]

There is an extensive tradition of dhammasattha exegesis, particularly in

parabaik (palm-leaf manuscript
) form.

Legal history

Dhammasatths influenced a number of Southeast Asian societies prior to the colonial era in matters concerning marriage, theft, assault, slavery, debt, kingship, property, inheritance as well as other issues. In contemporary

Burma
, although colonial and post-colonial laws predominate, it remains acceptable practice to use dhammathat in law courts in certain areas of family and inheritance law.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1
    .
  2. ^ Myint, Htun. "Challenges Facing "State" Building in Burma: Law and Legal Dimension" (PDF). Indiana University. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^
    doi:10.5281/zenodo.3545254
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dhammasattha&oldid=1161135107"