BEGINNING OF THE WORLD IN ONGKAN CHAENG NAM

Abstract

Ongkan Chaeng Nam is one of the most important pieces of literature referencing the Chao Phraya Basin. The first part situates scenes of the beginning of the world; many scholars assume that this is taken from the Agabbasutta, including the Commentary of A gabba¬sutta, however, the scene is also mentioned in the Saratthadipani (Sub – commentary of Vinaya) and various cosmology literature composed after 1700 B.E. Another section from Onngkan Chaeng Nam, from ขุนแผนแรกเอาดินดูที่, details the “oil from the seven great fish which ignited and turned into a holocaust on doomsday” and refers to the scene from theMahakappalokasanthana where Brahma came down to see Sisapathavi, composed around 1550 to 1650 B.E. The way Ongkan Chaeng Nam relates to the Mahakappalokasanthana can be used to date Ongkan Chaeng Nam to a period before the Ayutthaya Kingdom, thus no older than 1750 B.E. This dating connects well with historical records of the King of Lopburi, a son of Jayavarman VII, (1724 – 1764 B.E.). The scene of the beginning of the world in Ongkan Chaeng Nam is not intended to refer to the beginning of the world itself, but rather to propagate the cult of the “God-King”, a concept taken from the Dipavajsa. Moreover, the use of Ongkan Chaeng Namin the oath of allegiance, as a device to inculcate society about royalty, can be considered as a vehicle to the Taikadai speaking people’s rise to power in the Central Thai basin sometime after 1750 B.E.