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KPI Congress 15 th 7

From Southeast Asia, there is an assertion of the concept of dharmarãja in
the episode of King Kyanzittha (1084-1113 CE). King Kyanzittha was the third ruler of
the Pagan dynasty (1044-1287). King Kyanzittha unified Burma (Tambiah 1976: 81).
In his inscriptions, King Kyanzittha identified himself as the “Blessed Just Ruler, Sun
of the Three Worlds” ( rĩ trĩbhuvanãdhitya dharmarãj). It is noteworthy that King
Kyanzittha used the epithet dharmarãj to identify himself. He also conceived his
lordship as expanding over the three worlds of human, divine and brahma.

In an inscription in 1098, King Kyanzittha presented himself again as
intending and perfecting himself as a bodhisattva in order to become a fully
awakened Buddha to save all living beings:

[T]he king of kings, the lord supreme (paramisvar), the mighty universal
monarch (balacakkrawar), who makes his vehicle the White Elephant, the
omniscient Bodhisatta, who verily shall be a Buddha and save from misery all
living creatures.

In the case of King Kyanzittha, thus there is an increasing desire from his
part to combine his temporal lordship as the king with spiritual superiority achieved by
becoming a perfectly awakened Buddha.

(ii)
King
Rama
VII
as
Dharmarãja

Thailand, known as Siam in the past, had adopted Buddhism in the Sukhothai
period (1238-1438). Since the adoption of Buddhism, the dharmarãja concept had
drawn attention of the public and served as the principle of royal governance.

King Rama VII, known by several other names such as Phra Bat Somdet,
Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok and Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua, was the last
absolute monarch in Thailand (1925–35). He was born on 8 November 1893 and died
on 30 May 1941. Under the House of Chakri, he was the seventh monarch of Siam.
The 120th anniversary of King Prajadhipok’s birthday falls on 8 November 2013.

Rama VII became the first monarch of Siam to preside over the
establishment of a constitutional monarchy following the Thai revolution of 1932.
Rather than fighting with the People’s Party that was the major power behind the
revolution, he chose to grant a constitution. He cared for the interest of the majority
of his subjects. Throughout his reign, King Rama VII attempted to adhere to the rules
of governance of a dharmarãja. As a result, King Prajadhipok became the model for
kingship in a democratic regime. International panel discussion

(iii)
A
Dharmarãja
in
Contemporary
Thailand

The notion of dharmarãja (Just Ruler) is still an influential historical and
religious concept in Theravãda Buddhist societies in South and Southeast Asia. This
notion of dharmarãja has become quite popular, in particular, in the context of royalty
in contemporary Thailand where King Bhumipol Adulyadej (Rama IX, b. 1927),