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Shwedagon (introduction)

The Digha Nikaya records the following words of the Buddha, spoken to Ananda, his cousin and closest attendant;

As they treat the remains of a King of Kings, so Ananda, should they treat the remains of the Tathagata. At the four crossroads a cairn should be erected to the Tathagata. And whosoever shall there place garlands, or perfumes, or paints, or make salutation there, or become in its presence calm in heart, that shall be long to them a profit and a Joy.

The men, Ananda, worthy of a cairn, are four in number. Which are the four? A King of Kings is worthy of a cairn. A Tathagata, an Able Awakened One, is worthy of a cairn. One awakened for himself alone ( Paccekabuddha ) is worthy of a cairn, and a true hearer of the Tathagata is worthy of a cairn. And on account of what circumstance, Ananda, is a Thathagata, an Able Awakened One, or a Paccekabuddha, or a true hearer of the Thathagata worthy of a cairn?

At the thought, Ananda,' This is the cairn of that "Able Awakened One," or This is the cairn of that Paccekabuddha,' or ' This is the cairn of that true hearer of the Tathagata, the hearts of many shall be made calm and happy, and since they had calmed and satisfied their hearts, they will be reborn after death, when the body has dissolved, in the happy realms of heaven. It is on account of this circumstance, Ananda, that a Tathagata, an Able Awakened One, or a Paccekabuddha, or a true hearer of the Tathagata is worthy of a cairn. After the Parinibbana (Final Release, Decease) of the Buddha, his relics were divided into eight equal parts and enshrined in eight Great Stupas (Sanskrit stupa, Pali thupa - mound, tumulus, monument erected over sacred relics). Later, Asoka, King of Magadha (273-232 BC), one of the earliest and greatest patrons of Buddhism, recovered one of the eight parts, and, building 84,000 stupas-equivalent in number to the sections of the Dhamma (the Law or Teaching of the Buddha)-he distributed the relics among them.

In essence, then, a pagoda is a cairn in which the relics of the Buddha are enshrined and which serves as a reminder of the Buddha. In Myanmar, the function of the pagoda as a reminder of the Buddha is enhanced by linguistic usage-the same word, hpaya, serves to denote both the Buddha and the pagodas. And, as a shrine containing the relics of the Buddha, the Shwedagon often referred to by the epithet 'The Pagoda of the Sacred Living Hairs" is preeminent in its sanctity because it enshrines the sacred hairs of the Buddha, obtained, not after the Parinibbana, but during his lifetime.

The prominence of the Shwedagon derives not only from its special sanctity but also from its physical presence. Located on top of a hill 190 feet (58 metres) high, its great golden mass rises up a further 326 feet (99 metres). From afar it attracts the eye and the mind to its effulgent presence. As Somerset Maugham noted when he visited the pagoda in the late 1920's: The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write, glistening against the fog and smoke of the thriving city.

But city and pagoda go together and the pagoda takes its name from the city. The city was renamed Yangon, "The End of Enemies," in 1756 by Alaungpaya 1752-1760), founder of the Konbaung dynasty, the last Myanmar dynasty, after he had captured it in the course of unifying the country. But its original name was Dagon, derived from the Pali Tikhumba, meaning "Three Pots," and signifying that the city was situated in a locality of three pot-shaped hills. The prefix "Shwe" means "golden" in Myanmar and forms part of the name of such other pagodas as the Shwezigon in Bagan, the Shwemawdaw in Bago, and the Shwesandaw in Pyay.