the khmer contribution

THESE NOTES reflect a twofold motive. My initial concern in taking up this study was to locate what, if any Brāhmano-sindhu-yogic cultural markers may have existed in early Cambodian society. Secondly, I wanted to know what, if any of these cultural markers might be traced (a) to the process of formation of Siamese-Thai culture in general, and (b) to the highly refined philosophy-based yogic technology of the Siamese-Khmer brāhman saint Guru Chod (1900-1988) in particular, mainly in the sense that the philo-ascetico-yogic components and principles discerned might signify the presence of pertinent self-referential archeological antecedents. I therefore needed to pay academic homage to the ancient Brāhmanical culture of the Khmer, on the supposition that familiarization with this overlooked epic would provide me with a given set of access tools for examining and harvesting the unexplored richness at the interstices of its tropic domains, generically cordoned as Brāhman, Bauddha and Yoga.

The final two decades of Guru Chod's career mark the crowning fulfilment of a long and glorious legacy. His personal restoration of the classical elements of Siamese-Thai-Khmer religious culture is seen to have ushered a virtual Renaissance for Southeast Asian asceticism and philosophy. Comprehending Guru Chod's crucial rediscoveries and his single-handed reindigenization of the Yoga to the region is tantamount to grasping his saintly magnitude.

This article educes a three-tiered presentation. It initially uncombs the foundational strains of its cultural topoi. Seen as products of Ancient India, these achieve a utility only when strung to the trope of Brāhmanism, which is not equivalent to Hinduism. In fact, here might prove the appropriate occasion to once and for all expose "Hinduism" as a meaningless and largely disparaging term created by those outside the tradition to categorize what can only be viewed as a nearly unlimited variety of beliefs and practices that made their appearance on the prehistoric field of the Indian subcontinent (Aslan 2005: 6). I secondly unfurl a kind of homage to the marked Brāhmanic culture of the Ancient Royal Angkorian Khmer: for this gravely overlooked historical epic is key to understanding the yogic teaching of Saint Guru Chod (1900-1988), modern Thailand's premier yoga master, as it was after all the womb of Angkorian culture that bore the child of Guru Chod's teaching. Thirdly, my task is to provide the reader with a subtle array of access tools that would help her to arrive to the unreaped richness that lay within the tangles of obscurity and neglect, and which reveal an amorphous materia prima that thrives in the hybrid fusions and confusions of its Brāhmana, Bauddha and Yogic underpinnings. The uncomplicated braid of this three-tiered mode is strategically apt for the appropriation of Saint Guru Chod's post-classical vernacular.

Now the fundamental topos to the notes at hand reiterates a bassline leitmotif that goes: "All the conceptions, sects and theories averred herein are 'culturally speaking' essentially Brāhmanic, or sindhic if you will." They are, in other words, the products of the Greater South-Asian civilizing milieu having naturally morphed through a course of resignation to the processes of accommodation and infiltration whilst transiting regional cultural screens, and that would then – if only through gradual accretion, adoption and adaptation – exchange themselves and their cultural stores in accordance to local market demands. For a concrete example; whereas certain features of the Tantric Bauddha arrived to Early Thailand directly from Nalanda in Northeast India, other slightly altered Vajrayānic products moved up from the Brāhmaniczed kingdoms of Java. It is furthermore known that certain Vajrayānic trends that established themselves among the twelfth-century Angkorian Khmer actually arrived by separate routes. One infusion appeared overland through the Central Plains and upper Mekong basin while another disembarked having sailed across the sea from the Isthmus of Kra and the coastal kingdom of Nakhon Sri Thammarat.

By the end of this study, though brief it may be, I anticipate the reader will whole heartedly agree that the marvellous variety and blend of civilizations that have existed simultaneously or successively around "Siam," do indeed bring home the essential items that go into the making of a tonic meal.

In Thailand, where I have lived off-and-on for many years, one is continually confronted with that perennial conflict called "Buddhism versus Yoga." I have seen huge temple murals where in the lower portions of the compositions, ascetics – vaguely known as yogins or rishis – are depicted with rigid penises bulging beneath their garments. An old temple mural at Wat Suthat in Bangkok sets this ascetic-type together with a clutch of masturbating rabbits. Needless to say, the higher portions of these stylised works of art are reserved for the venerable Bauddha clergy. I speak of this only as a way to illustrate how over the centuries Indian asceticism – other than "Buddhist" – has been derisively objectified in the Thai collective consciousness. This also accounts for why the citizens of Thailand have been culturally inculcated to presume that anything topically connected with the "y"-word (yoga) is innately corrupt and spiritually depraved, while to the contrary, generically "Buddhist" regimes (of yoga) such as satipatthāna and vipassanā are upheld as inviolable religious observance. Getting at the gist of this, one needs to understand that these fiercely protected cultural convictions are the outcome of centuries-long processes of social formation and manipulation. One needs in addition to appreciate that Thais are above all a very traditional 'Buddhist' people with highly evolved sentiments and distinctive ways of viewing and responding to the world around them. What is more, their views are worthy of respect, and in this way worthy of respectful study.

It is furthermore in all considered respect that we form the following heuristic poser. How to explain the irrational aversion that simmers and censors the collective Thai religious consciousness, vis-à-vis this quasi-historical ascetic indistinctly known in Thai as yokhi (yogi) and ruesi (rishi)? But as clearly not the mandate of the present paper, I shall only hint further that this Hinduphobic cultural affliction – as "given data-set" – is particularly intriguing in light of fact that the earliest extent Bauddha canon refers to the Buddha himself as "the rishi" (Sanskrit rsi)," that is, at least as its Pāli equivalent "isi." But all that waits another occasion.

Buddha as Hindu

Prior to the thirteenth-century arrival of so-called Singhalese 'Theravāda' Buddhism to the area that is known today as Thailand, manifold Hindu, Brāhmanic, Mahāyānic, Vajrayānic and Tantrayānic sects flourished side by side throughout the diverse and overlapping early kingdoms. But the dominant religious force of the region can only be described as Brāhmanism. Brāhmanism, per se, is a product of Ancient India. And the point bears repeating: it is not equivalent to Hinduism. Brahmanism is a cultural child of the Pre-Hindu Vedic period in India. It may also be referred to as Vedic culture. Historian Philip Rawson in The Art of South-East Asia (1990) writes (brackets added):

The culture of India has been one of the world's most powerful civilizing forces. [And] the members of that circle of civilizations beyond Burma scattered around the Gulf of Siam and the Java Sea, virtually owetheir very existence to the creative influence of Indian ideas. No conquest or invasion, no forced conversion [was ever] imposed [on] them. [The ideas] were adopted because the people saw they were good and that they could use them.

Such Vedic culture was widely dispersed throughout the greater Southeast Asian region as early as the first century CE. Initially small colonies of Indian traders settled at advantageous points along the sea routes, in commercial harbours and towns along the coasts and on the various islands of Southeast Asia. They naturally imported "their code of living, their conceptions of law and kingship, their rich literature and highly evolved philosophy of life. They intermarried with prominent local families and dynasties evolved capable of organizing extensive kingdoms within which their populations could live ordered and fruitful lives" (Rawson). The earliest Brāhmanic inscriptions discovered in Southeast Asia are those of King Mūlavarman (c. 400) at Kutei, Kalimantan (Borneo), and King Pūrnavarman (c. 450), West Java.

Brāhmanism is therefore seen to have provided both the driving force and the cultural designs for the wide-ranging Indianized kingdoms that blossomed in overseas Kalimantan, Java, Sumatra, Malaya, Cambodia, and the rest. In the case of the Khmer, their Hinduistic kingdom evolved into the powerful Angkorian Empire with its centre at the Great Temple City of Angkor Vat. From there, Khmer culture expanded to control nearly all of what is now known as Thailand. Though obscured by centuries of chauvinistic disinheritance, this fundamental Vedic cultural-matrix continues to sustain Thai national culture. This heritage reveals itself in many unexpected ways. Perhaps the most striking is expressed by the fact that the Thai state religion, generically known as 'Theravāda' Buddhism, is culturally derived from Brāhmanism. This naturally calls into serious question the doctrinal supposition that Gautama crusaded on an anti-caste, anti-Brāhmanist platform. Santosh Desai in his Hinduism in Thai Life (1980: 2-3) addresses this issue squarely:

The Buddhists of ancient India rejected untouchability, brāhman claims to superiority and ritual pollution. But this applied only to monks and monasteries. A lay Buddhist continued to live in the Hindu cultural milieu, as do Jains of present India. Moreover, some of the most well known Buddhist scholars like Aśvaghosha, Nāgārjuna, Asanga and Vasubandhu were brāhmans. Although they adopted and interpreted the teaching of Buddha, culturally they were a part of the Hindu tradition.

The Brāhmanization of the Siamese-Thai Bhikkhu Sangha. With regard to so-called Thai 'Theravādin' Bauddha culture, a feature relevant to our present discussion is its virtual re-installment of high-caste priests in the form of bhikkhus, or Bauddha clergy, but with one considerable differentiation. In vivid contrast to the divinely sanctioned caste of brāhmans, the exalted class-status conferred on the bhikkhu is perpetuated not by ancestral purity but by a state-sanctioned system of monastic ordination. This was largely the work of the energetic Thai prince Mongkut who had joined the bhikkhu sangha (order of monk) in 1824, only to disrobe 26 years later and be crowned as King Rama IV.

Mongkut was a reformist monk who studied classical Bauddha texts. He became the head of an influential reformist monastery in Bangkok and established a new orthodox-reformist sect called the Dhammayut-nikāya or "those who stick to the dhamma" (Bauddha doctrine). He then divided the entire monastic population of gāmavāsī or "city dwelling monks" into two distinct groups within the sangha. Ranked first was his own Dhammayut-nikāya, which was very small and elitist in nature. The remaining vast majority of monks were subsequently dubbed Mahā-nikāya or "The Great Majority sect." Sponsored by Mongkut's own royal family, the Dhammayut-nikāya, gained instant prestige among the lay population as the more austere and orthodox group of city monks.

During this period, however, the Bangkok religious authorities largely ignored another major segment of the Thai bhikkhu sangha or monastic order. This group was known as the araññavāsī, or monks that dwelled in austere conditions in the depth of the forest (arañña) in order to concentrate on yogic-asceticism. This mainly self-regulated sector of the sangha was greatly ignored but certainly not forgotten. After the turn of the twentieth century all "unauthorized" wandering ascetics became increasingly marginalized and systematically discredited as aberrant, ill-disciplined and heretical elements within the government-regulated bhikkhu sangha (Heikkilä-Horn 1996: 93-111). Exactly what this spelled for the widespread traditions of non-Bauddha tantrics, yogins and gurus is anybody's guess. Already by this time the centuries-long campaign of Indian cultural disinheritance and historically constructed chauvinism had profoundly shaped the collective Thai consciousness into forcefully repudiating and/or maligning every perceived vestige of its Brāhmanical legacy. Such perceptions weighed heavy in the crucial process of fashioning the modern Thai nation-state too.

As sovereign, Mongkut was careful to cultivate contacts with the various foreign emissaries and to follow the rise of colonialism in the region. While the neighboring countries of Burma and Cambodia were warring against their colonial masters, Mongkut preserved a semblance of diplomatic relations and a nominal independence for the Kingdom of Siam. The Bangkok elite took advantage this period to strengthen its political authority in the new emerging frontier areas, and begin to engineer the modern Thai nation-state. Here we see the blatant use of Pāli ('Theravāda') Bauddha as a legitimizing force in state formation. This was not without its historical precedence.

Since the early thirteenth-century kingdom of Sukhothai, it was known that 'Pāli' Buddhism played an important manipulative role in legitimising political power and shaping the emerging "Thai" nation-state. Yet, actually not "nation" so much as "family," "caste" or "race." Chart Thai is the concept. Chart is derived from the Sanskrit root jāt meaning "birth." All the same, in the sociological sense chart means "caste." Originally the Thai (or actually "Tai") were a Mongolian tribe generally believed to be ethnically related to the Chinese. Large groups of the Tai migrated south and settled into two regions known today as Tonkin and Yunan. Later in the early centuries of the Common Era, a steady flow of Yunan Tai began to settle in what was then referred to as Siam. But before the Tai-speaking people gained dominance in the ninth and tenth centuries, Khmer-speaking people and Khmer civilization controlled much of the area that is known today as Thailand. In the eighteenth century significant numbers of new Khmer migrated into the area (Smalley 1994: 137).

Sukhothai's founder, king Ram Khamhaeng, was also alleged to have left behind stone inscriptions praising himself, his Bauddha virtues and his close relations to the Bauddha monastic order. However, the authenticity of these "stone inscriptions have recently aroused some controversy" (Tiyavanich 1997: 302, n. 9) Nonetheless, the inscriptions still stand as "an important piece of real or 'invented' history," and as such remain an important early "document of state formation and state building which was legitimated by Buddhist concepts and by the Buddhist monastic community" (302, n. 9). In the later Ayudha period (1350-1767), too, the state gave protection to the established sangha against religious competition. In return, the monks lent legitimacy to the state by ritually accepting material support and attending state ceremonies (302, n. 9). This trend continues to the present day.

The Sangha Act of 1902

A characteristic element, then, of Modern Thai Bauddha is that it is under virtual state control. With the passing of the Sangha Act in 1902 by Mongkut's son King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), the position of the sangha within the Thai state was legally defined for the first time. This legislation remains valid today, and clearly demonstrates the mentality of the state in conveying the idea that the administration of religious affairs is as important as the administration of the state. 'If systematically administered, religious affairs shall be sure to attract more people to the study and practice of religion under the guidance of Bauddha doctrine, thereby leading them to the correct mode of living, in accordance with Buddha's teaching' (Bunnag 1984, my paraphrase) Accordingly, the state passed many additional religious reforms "in order to consolidate state power over the whole kingdom" (Bunnag).

Beyond these purely legislative acts, the new reformist Dhammayut-nikāya provided an added and sustained guarantee to the "functioning sangha-state relationship, as members of the sect have ever since [occupied] leading positions in the state sangha hierarchy," or Council of Elders (Bunnag; brackets added). It was also after the passing of the 1902 Sangha Act that the Siamese monarch fashioned what some have called the new Bangkok "court-style" Bauddha. Due to such changes Thai religious faith became deeply infused with the sentiment of royalty, and monks got turned into sacrosanct princes. This furthermore acted to increase the separation between the ascetic few and the masses of laity, as the stature of the latter was reduced to approximate the rank of social untouchability, and whose pre-eminent life-duty was to serve the two highest "castes," vis-à-vis rulers and priests. It is also worth noting that this 'court-style' Bauddha was actually based on the Royal Khmer custom.

We may now begin to see how Brāhmanical culture continues to exert tremendous influence at every level of Thai social life.

Guru Chod: A Conceptual Mandala-shift

Amidst these freshly emerging details we find ourselves presiding over a conceptual mandala-shift as the epicentre of tantric conventionalism – so vaguely construed in the popular mind – begins to reappear upon the Southeast Asian stage. After more than a century of hyper-attention on the Indian and Tibetan archetypes, this natural progression should be heartily welcomed.

It was the Guru Chod himself who seeded my brain just a few weeks before his decorporealization. Hence the present collection of notes may be seen to have commenced upon a narrow trail of hinted directives and clues that emerged one lovely day from a private conversation with the saint after lunch. "In the ancient times," he casually spoke, holding a cup of jasmine tea, "Cambodia was considered to be a part of India." He then disclosed the meaning of his family name, Harshavarman, which is not of Thai origin, but Royal Khmer. "It means the servant of Indra," he added with a smile. "Indra was the king of the gods. "In fact Harshavarman is a Sanskrit name. Harsha meaning literally, "that which causes the hairs on the backs to stand up." It signifies the Vedic god Indra, the king of the gods. Varman (lit. "coat of mail"), is a suffix found often attached to the names of Khmer kings implying "protector" or "protégé." The name debuted in Cambodian history with the ascendancy of the first Harshavarman king in the ninth century. This is proven by a terse stone inscription dated 834 that records the "donation of the king Harshavarman to Śiva." Nothing more is known of this early Khmer monarch beyond the fact that his posthumous name was Rudraloka, an epithet denoting "the abode of Śiva." There were later Harshavarman kings as well.

Chod also spoke of the priestly brāhman families that actually still live in Thailand today, and whose community is centred at the well known Bot Phram or "brāhman chapel" in Bangkok's old city. He explained its location being very near Sao Ching-Cha, or "The Giant Swing," the famous city landmark where spectacular festivals in honor of the Vedic god Śiva once took place annually. "I went there many times and talked to the priests," he said. "But we found that our families were not related. We could tell by examining the names. They frankly admitted that they were not Khmer at all, but had migrated up from the old southern kingdom around the beginning of the century."

Three hundred years before the Common Era Indian kings already knew about the far-off region called Suvarnabhūmi. That almost mythical "Land of Gold" was distinguished quite literally for its immense reserves of gold and other natural resources. Thus Cambodia achieved near-epical acclaim, as an Indo-Chinese El Dorado and became an overseas Hindu colony called Kambuja-deśa (Majumdar 1944). The highly fertile and well-watered region corresponded roughly to the broad geographical basin that stretches today from southern Burma eastward to the Mekong Delta. Indeed, there are ancient Sanskrit treatises that classify Cambodia as one of the great sixteen states of India.

Early Kingdoms

The first Cambodian realm began no later than the first century CE, coinciding with a prosperous Indianized state known by its Chinese name, Funan. Most of what we know this early kingdom comes from Chinese dynastic annals (Shawcross 1991). From the second to the sixth century, this Funanese dominion spread across what is today the southern part of Cambodia and the Mekong Delta. Its wealth came mainly from maritime trade, being favourably positioned at the crossroads of the ancient world's major sea routes that linked the Mediterranean with the China Sea. Commercial exchanges with Rome are certain, and by implication Egypt too. Eight centuries after the founding of Funan the great Angkorian Empire emerged with its center at Angkor Vat. The complete historical movement of the Khmer kings would extend a thousand years and more until its eventual decline in the thirteenth century.

Still, in its heyday, Khmer Civilization spread throughout the Indo-Chinese peninsula from the Bay of Bengal to the China Sea. Its rulers bore Vedic names such as Harshavarman, Jayavarman, Yaśovarman and Sūryavarman. They learned the elements of classical Sanskrit and introduced many of its forms into their own High Khmer language. These facts reflect an intense assimilation of Brāhmanical culture. Yet the thoroughness in which this culture was imported and absorbed into the fields of literature, science, art and religion cannot be explained by Cambodia's intimate connection with Motherland India alone. Such marked propagation was also due to the flourishing numbers of cultural institutions, conservatories, and diverse ascetic āśramas or hermitages that were established across the country. Cambodian rulers themselves were responsible for maintaining these citadels of Indian civilization.

Yaśovarman ascended the throne in 889. He was a highly educated monarch with liberal religious views. Although a devotee of Śiva, he lavishly patronized Vaishnava cults, as well as the full range of Buddha cults as well. He is said to have founded one hundred ashrams (āśramas) around the realm where ascetics engaged in piety and study were provided with their daily necessities. Other things granted to these institutions were "pearls, gold, silver, cows, horses, buffaloes, elephants, men, women, and gardens" (Majumdar: 110). All the varied sects were free to live in accordance to their own particular customs.

Khmer Yoga

The favor that yoga and asceticism enjoyed in the ancient religious life of the Khmer is an area of its culture that deserves due notice (Bhattacharya 1997: 52). After all, Śiva, the national god of Cambodia, was considered first among ascetics. Bhattacharya, an authority in the field of Khmer epigraphy and religion, remarks, "[T]here is often mention of grottoes where asceticism was practiced. The temple of Vat Phu was also a special place for asceticism. Speculations on the syllable O× occupy a large place in the Sanskrit inscriptions of Cambodia" (52). Indeed, the practice of yoga is specifically documented. A Sanskrit inscription by Jayavarman V at Vat Sithor, dated 968, lends a vivid illustration of the practices current among tenth to thirteenth-century Vajrayānic Bauddha schools. In this important record, the king bestows praise to Kīrtipandita for practicing and propagating the teachings of yoga throughout the land (Lobo 1997: 72-73).

Nothing more passionately expresses the depth of "the yoga legacy" among the Khmer than the famous image of Buddha Protected by a Nāga. This may also be referred to as Kundalinī Buddha. The Khmer have shown enormous passion in expressing the trance-like nature of this motif with extraordinary sculptural genius. Elegantly adorned with diadem, earrings and necklace, the Buddha sits splendidly with his hands folded calmly in his lap in the posture of Dhyāna-yoga. Three thick coils of the nāga's body form the Buddha's throne while the serpent's dilated seven-headed hood rears up behind the Buddha's head in a protective, almost cocooning manner. It was clearly the background of Khmer Tantra-yoga that imbued this image with its far-reaching esoteric significance. Nowhere in India or throughout the Indianized states of Southeast Asia did this quintessentially yogic product become as popular as among the Khmer. However, the symbolic importance of the Buddha with Nāga theme lays not in its obvious reference to the well-known legendary incident in Gautama Buddha's early career, but rather in its esoteric association with the arousal of an inner primordial energy transculturally known as kundalinī śakti. Though generally unacknowledged in Bauddha traditions, this Universal symbolism nonetheless emerges in the well-known legend of the Mucalinda Buddha. I relate the episode as follows. In the sixth week after his illumination, Gautama the Buddha, dwelled in resplendent bliss beneath the Mucalinda Tree near Gaya as a violent storm broke out. So fully absorbed in meditation he did not realize that the nearby waters of Lake Mucalinda were about to swallow him up. But the nāga of the lake, called also Mucalinda, coiled his giant body protectively around the Buddha and shielded him with his seven heads.

Now an esoteric reading of the ancient legend reveals two interesting points. Firstly, it implies that the "Buddha" was not yet finished with his psychic metamorphosis even six weeks after his grand illumination. Secondly, it reveals that 'the rising serpent/cobra' is unquestionably related to the yoga technique of arousing the cosmic energy, later known is baroque yogic terms as kundalinī. We are not alone in this interpretation. Writing with regard to Khmer religious culture, Wibke Lobo (273) has also considered how (brackets added),

Given the great significance that yoga must have had for the initiates, it would be strange if the image of the erect serpent had not been brought into association with the awakening of cosmic energy. In this connection it would also be possible to recognize a system of mystical numbers in the seven heads and three coils [of the nāga], for they can be linked to the set of seven centres of energy (cakras) in the human body and to the three highest of these in the throat and head, where Enlightenment takes place.

With its dilated neck taking shape as a hood, the cobra has always been a royal emblem, feminine, majestic, and deeply mysterious. The cobra is therefore an archetypal symbol for the transfigurative power of primordial nature. It was in this sense that Buddha with Nāga became a main cult icon among the Khmer and was placed in the central shrine of the Bayon (late 12th century). The temple's builder, King Jayavarman VIII, identified his person with the Buddha with Nāga icon.

Caste System

The Indian system of caste-division or Varnāśrama-dharma was also introduced to Khmer society. In its purely sociological sense, Varnāśrama-dharma organizes society into four occupational and four spiritual divisions (varnas and āśramas) that theoretically function in accordance with dharma or "natural law." Varna means among other things, "color" and refers to the four-fold division of society along the lines of "caste" [from Portuguese, 'race,' 'breed,' from Latin castus, 'pure,' 'chaste'], as traditionally laid down in the ancient Indian legal text Laws of Manu. Āśrama, literally "stage" or "station," refers to the four basic periods of life that affect male Hindu of the three higher castes. These are student, householder, renunciate and liberated stages.

Since remotely ancient times the institution of caste has been a major governing force in India society, jealously guarded down through the ages with implicit adherence to strict social prohibitions regarding, in particular, inter-caste marriage and commensality (Guruge 1991: 124). But the system has naturally left itself open to attack by modern social theorists who are prone to become indignant over its perceived stratification along lines of racial exclusiveness. Marxist appraisal also bears scrutiny, as the system appears based on "division of labour."

Khmer society did not adhere to this classical Varnāśrama-dharma system, but made significant adaptations to it. In India, for example, we know that the priestly brāhman-caste gained early domination over the other three castes. They did this largely through maintaining a monopoly on intellectual and spiritual knowledge, and in this way they made themselves to be considered indispensable to the political kshatriya-caste (Wales 1931: 57-58). This was not the case among the Ancient Khmer. According George Cœdès in his The Indianized States of Southeast Asia (1975: 120), 'the government of the Khmer was controlled by an aristocratic oligarchy and the great offices were held by members of the royal family. But the offices of chaplain of the king, officiating priest of the Devarāja, and royal tutor were reserved for members of the highest priestly families, and furthermore transmitted through the female line.' Here we get a glimpse of the important roles that were played by brāhman priests and gurus, as conductors of tantric rites and sacrifices, and as thaumaturgic advisors and royal teachers. It was furthermore the intimacy of this brāhman-kshatriya caste alliance among the Khmer that ultimately fostered the new state religion called Devarāja at the beginning of the ninth century.

Khmer Religion: Śiva and Vishu

The predominant religion among the ancient Khmer was clearly based on the worship of the Vedic god Śiva. Śiva was described as "a great ascetic with many names." Śiva's many epithets also identify him with The Sacred Mountain. He was therefore worshipped variously as Giriśa, "He who reclines on the mountain," Girīśa "Lord of the mountain" and Giritra, "Protector of the mountain" (Bhattacharya: 38). The early importance of this yogic deity has been clearly demonstrated by the Thai historian Dawee Daweewarn. "So great was the influence of this god" he writes, "that in the early seventh century…the king renamed the capital…Īśānapura…City of Śiva" (1982: 30).

It is important to note that the Vaishnava religion, which is devoted to Vishnu and his incarnations, also flourished in its various forms from the very early fourth-century pre-Khmer Funan period. Khmer dedication to the cult of Vishu is manifestly shown by the piety of King Sūryavarman II, the monarch responsible for Angkor Vat during first half of twelfth century. Angkor Vat is unquestionably the greatest Vaiśnava temple ever known to the world. What is more, the innovative incarnation concept of the Devarāja is also thought by some to be "a purely Vaiśnavite belief" (Daweewarn: 34). Let us furthermore mention here that the closely allied Bhāgavata School or "devotees of Krisna," also flourished from the earliest period, and that Krsna was the favorite of certain Khmer queens and princesses. What is more, an inscription dated from the pre-Angkorian reign of Jayavarman I espouses the central Vaiśnava credo that 'a man may progressively purify himself in the course of his numerous existences and thereby free himself from successive rebirths, be they good or bad, resulting from his self-centered actions (karman)' (Bhattacharya: 41). Vishnu makes his best know appearance in Khmer iconography as reposing on the primordial multi-headed serpent Anantaśesha ("the eternal one") in a stunningly unique Khmer stylistic mode of temple bas-relief. We speak of the decorative eastern lintel of the mandapa (central shrine) at Phnom Rung Temple in present-day northeast Thailand. This extraordinary carving illustrates the Puranic creation myth of Vishnu reclining with the Anantaśesh, in the primordial ocean of eternal bliss. Stemming upwards from Vishnu's navel (symbolic of the cosmic axis) is a lotus blossom, upon which the tiny Lord Brahmā ('creator of the world') sits in the posture of yoga. To be noted is the uniquely Khmer innovation where the time-honored serpent is replaced by a dragon, which supports the entire ensemble.

Still it must be said, and boldly underscored, that the worship of Vishnu found far less acceptance than that of Śiva among the Khmer. Many stone inscriptions bear vivid testimony to the predominance of Śaivism and the great popularity of the śivalinga, the stone-sculpted phallic symbol through which the god was mainly worshipped. He was even honored through the quintessential Vedic sacrament of smoking a chilum or ritual clay pipe that is filled with the offering typically comprised cannabis-derived substances.

Śaiva Philosophy

There were varied forms of Śiva-based worship and philosophical speculation among the Khmer. Śaiva Monism, with its "multiple bodies" philosophy, was especially influential there. This was doubly inspired by Ādi Śankarācārya's Advaita Vedānta School and by the South-Indian Śaiva Āgama School (āgama,' tantric texts'). In the seventh and late ninth centuries, there were also appearances of the Pāśupata School the sectarian followers of Śiva in the name of Pāśupati (pati, "chief" of the pāśu, "beasts" within).

In a remarkable epigraph dated 1100, Bhattacharya (46) has identified the most characteristic aspect of Indian Āgamic Śaivism, that is, the feature of dīkśā or "initiation mentioned" often in Cambodian inscriptions.

Assuming two different aspects, Śiva's energy (śakti) first strengthens the bonds of the soul then frees the soul from them. The strengthening or 'maturing' of the bonds, which have existed for all eternity, is intended solely to help beings bring their intrinsic capabilities to full fruition. When the bonds are ripe, the Energy of Grace comes down to break them. Śiva himself takes on the form of a guru to perform the initiations (dīkśā), which induce different states in individuals, proportional to their capacities.

Syncretic Tendencies: Harihara and Śiva-Buddha

Syncretic tendencies are marked in Khmer culture. They reflect a spirit of great religious tolerance. It was the compelling Indian notion of the "unity of self" that provided the theoretic underpinning for these stunning developments. Thus the syncretic image of Harihara, half-Vishnu half-Śiva, emerged as early as the pre-Angkorian period. The seventh-century royal pre-Angkorian town of Hariharālaya amply shows the deity's early importance. Founded by King Jayavarman I as the capital of his Aninitapura Kingdom, Hariharālaya means "Abode of Harihara."

Well before the seventh-century founding of Aninitapura theological speculation revolved mainly around the worship of Śiva. It is also apparent that at a deeper level there existed among the ancient Khmer an intrinsic proclivity for fusing, confusing and conflating various religious notions of the Supreme, as was just demonstrated by the syncretic innovation of Harihara. An even more compelling case in point is observed in the fusion of Śiva and Buddha. In a Sanskrit inscription dated 1041, Śiva and Buddha are invoked in a way that reveals their concepts merging very close. In another inscription, dated twenty-six years later, we witness an enlargement of the classic Vedic-trinity (trimūrti) in order to incorporate the historical Buddha in a Śaiva tetralogy called śaivī caturmūrti, or "Śiva in four-forms." The inscription relates the rising of a śivalinga together with the images of Vishnu Brahmā and Buddha (Bhattacharya: 46-47). The context here is that of Indian Monism, which Cambodian Śaiva and Bauddha both took part in. And we see that at their highest metaphysical levels there is hardly any difference in the two respective outlooks (46-47). Therefore Śiva as the Absolute and "one in his essence," takes on a multiplicity of forms. Yet in spite of being multiple, Śiva is "empty" of any empirical determination. Similarly, Buddha, though in himself beyond the distinctions inherent in our thinking, assumes four "bodies" (46-47), presumably being, dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, nirmānakāya, and śivakāya. In this way it comes as no surprise that in a later inscription dated 1129, a consummate fusion of Buddha with Śiva is finally achieved (47). Though one would need to be reminded that the Indian texts have never grown wearing of repeating the adage that "Truth is One," only worshipped by the followers of different religions under different names and forms (51).

Primordial Śakti and Human Sacrifice

Extreme forms of Śiva worship were also known in Cambodia. Such tantric religious forms are best understood as the outgrowth of the worship of Śiva's consort Śakti, the personification of the divine primordial feminine power. Such perspectives are known specifically as Śaktism. She is mainly associated with fecundity and with the life-giving energy of earth. As Śiva's bride, Śakti is also strongly connected to The Sacred Mountain and variously worshipped as Pārvatī, "She of the mountains," Umā Haimavatī, "The Golden Goddess," and Śikharavāsinī, "She who lives on the summits." Thus, Śaktism is mainly distinguished by its adoration of the female energy of the godhead known variously as Devi, the Goddess, the Divine Mother, et al. Other key features of Śaktism are the use of mantras (formulas), sorcery and the propitiation of the Goddess Herself with blood and wine offerings.

With her husband Śiva they represent the paradigmatically divine family. The Goddess is eternally at Śiva's side. She gazes on admiringly whether he is dancing the dance of cosmic bliss or decimating his foes. Their love is deep and abiding. In a common iconic depiction we observe their family serenely engaged in religious activity. Pārvatī holds their first son Kārtikeya in her lap while their second son, the elephant headed Ganapati, helps his father string together garlands of severed human heads. However, it is only in the most excessive forms of Śaktism do we see the incorporation of human sacrifice. Where did such practices originate?

In India human sacrificial cults have left an indelible mark on its history. They are thought to have begun around the seventh century in Kāmarūpa (present day Assam), a marginal border zone between Vedic and primordial (savage) cultures. Mircea Eliade (1964) regarded Kāmarūpa as the "Tantric country par excellence." Gorakhnāth the twelfth-century yogī-saint and legendary inventor of the Ha ha-yoga is believed to have come from Kāmarūpa. So is the Aghorī Yogī sect, famous for its "outrageous cruelties and licentiousness." It was due to the terrifying lives of such ascetics that the appellation "yogī" came to insinuate the most fearsome and extreme of tantric practitioners. E.A. Gait in his A History of Assam (1926) tells of the infamous Tantric temple called Kāmākhya (or Kāmākśyā), near present-day Guwahati in Assam. It was worshipped by sacrifice and eroticism, and became a great pīha or centre of pilgrimage in honor of the Great Goddess. But Kāmākhya Temple was also renowned for its performances of human sacrifice. The cult interpreted the Vedic injunction svarga kāmo yajeta, or "the heaven-desiring must sacrifice," to its most distressing end. In 1565, 140 victims were decapitated during a single sacrificial ceremony. Eliade (305-6) offers gripping details of the human sacrifices performed in Assam. 'Those who volunteered were called bhogīs ("enjoyers"), and from the moment they announced their intention of allowing themselves to be sacrificed they became almost sacred and everything was put at their disposal; in particular, they were allowed as many women as they wished.' Other narratives relate how the "voluntary" victims who were offered to the Goddess on huge copper trays. The last known human sacrifices at Kāmākhya temple occurred in 1832, after which the British government put an end to all the fun.

Still, the practice of human sacrifice was known among the Khmer as early as the sixth century CE, well before its recorded appearance in Indian. To the limited extent of the present writer's knowledge this important information has until now never been made explicit. In referring to a time before 589 CE, the Chinese text titled History of the Sui holds records of a Khmer Tantric temple that in fact still survives: "Near the Capital is a mountain called Ling-kia-po-p'o, at the summit of which is a temple always guarded by a thousand soldiers and consecrated to a spirit named P'o-to-li, to which they sacrifice men. Each year the king himself goes into the temple to make a human sacrifice during the night" (cited in Majumdar). Today this temple is known as Vat Phu. It is located at the summit of Lingaparvata (Ling-kai-po-p'o), a sacred mountain in southern Laos. In his study of early religion and kingship, Wales (1953: 168-70) remarks how Vat Phu had "always remained a holy place of the utmost sanctity and received the constant gifts and homage of kings."

Mountain, Menhir: Linga and Sacrifice

If examined together, the rite of human sacrifice, the worship of the mountain, and the worship of the linga can all be traced to primordial cults that were prevalent throughout the whole of ancient "monsoon Asia" (Bhattacharya: 39) Initially these 'proto-tantric' forms of supplication were performed for the promotion of agricultural and feminine fecundity. In this regard, the culturally sophisticated śivaling as the symbol of the fertilizing energy of Śiva, was originally a primitive phallic symbol "descended from the uncarved stones of earth cults" (Mus 1934: 367-410; cited in Bhattacharya: 40) And indeed, the rite of setting up large long stones in the soil (vis-à-vis the menhir), and then conducting human sacrifice before them, was a widespread feature of primordial cultures throughout the Neolithic world.

According to Wales in his Mountain of God (1953: 43-45), the earliest stage of "simple animism" was founded on the notion of the sacredness of the earth. Later this evolved into a "religion of sacrifice" where a people were compelled to spill human blood before their vastly amorphous divinity-as-nature. Next came the need to establish sacred sites where the sacrifice secured a means of transmission with divinities living in alternate cosmic zones; and one would choose a certain place to raise a mound of earth in which to concentrate all the latent energies of the periphery.

Concerning the linga itself, however, there are varied opinions regarding its meaning and function, particularly as it pertains to Khmer religion and the cult of the Devarāja. Laterally speaking the linga signifies the axis mundi or cosmic pole. It is sometimes called a "navel spot" and considered to be a sacred space around which the universe revolves, as well as the pole that links the earth to the dome of the heavens. Horizontally it serves as the "spatial locus" or hub of the periphery. The linga thus determines the "primal locus" of its specific locale. Once it is plotted and formally set, the linga functions as the cardinal reference point to which each subsequent centre is aligned. Viewed as a menhir (lit. "long stone"), the linga may is connected to the primative or animistic "substitute body" concept, and to the chief's recognition of "the consubstantial presence in the stone as in himself of the sacred forces of the soil, and therefore, the domain" (Schnitger 1939: 78-84; cited in Wales; emphasis added).

The character of the cult is further indicated by the soul's special propensity for human sacrifices…. The custom of offering human sacrifices, or rather severed heads, in the case of head-hunting tribes, probably comes from the magical belief that the soul force of enemies can thus be used to strengthen the accumulation of fertility-producing energy of the local god, for the benefit of the community (Schnitger).

The underpinning animistic, or primordial notion here is that every territorial unit has its own particular earth divinity corresponding to the group of people living there. Originally a naturally occurring stone outcrop – svāyambhūlinga in the Sanskrit tradition – was chosen as the site to represent the great earth divinity, and around this, the town grew up. Not only a mound, but a tree as well was required to represent the spirit of the soil, as animistic people believe that the place where a well-grown tree has survived is the point where the fecundating energies of the earth are well concentrated.

But sacred mounds symbolize more than just the concentrations of nature's mysterious potencies. They are also seen as magical centres or "macrocosmic focal points." Thus the axis mundi as cosmic pillar is symbolic of the means by which a people's sacrifice is ably transmitted to divinities abiding in alternate cosmic zones. Such mounds are viewed to as prototypical mandalas that function simultaneously as manifestations of the divinity as well as mirrors of the universe.

The Khmer Cult of the Devarāja

During the ninth-century reign of Jayavarman II, the religion based mainly on fecundity and the life-giving energy of nature, known as Śaktism, was replaced by a politicized form of Śaivism founded on rites of the Devarāja (lit. "divine ruler"). Through the rites of Devarāja the king sought empowerment as a cakravartin, or Lord of the World. This implied nothing less than a king's personal deification by merging his soul with the essence of Śiva's subtle being. From this time forward the rites of Devarāja and the consecration of the king's royal linga became the chief sources of royal legitimacy. Popular worship of the royal linga also became supreme.

Accordingly, sculpted stone phallic representations of Śiva were placed throughout the Khmer Empire. They were typically installed at the summits of pyramidal temple-mountains representing Mount Kailāsa, the navel of the universe. Śiva's association with "The Sacred Mountain" was mentioned above. But now we have Śiva in the symbolic form of a linga placed in the central shrine of a temple that is itself symbolic of the "sacred mountain." The compound effect can do nothing but swell the ramifications of the primordial concept. As the cosmic pillar or axis mundi, the royal edifice that enshrined the linga symbolized the sacred mountain Kailāsa, "the abode of the gods." In this way the linga assumed increased purpose by sanctioning the "essential center" of the imperial "dominion" (Sanskrit cakra)."

Cambodian monarchs prepared exacting calculations to determine the kingdom's essential power point, and there they erected the royal temple. This mysterious "point zero" naturally functioned as the fundamental reference to which all subsequent centers were aligned. Thus the linga of the king became the "mystical axis" of not only the immediate geographic locale but by extension the entire universe. By erecting temple-mountains to enshrine the royal linga, each succeeding king was essentially constructing a personal quincunx or "four-cornered force-field" in the form of a religio-architectural mandala of universal alignment, power and protection. But mandalas, let us note, are more than just "microcosmic mirrors of the universe." Indeed, mandalas are also "receptacles" of the gods. And as Eliade (220) vividly reminds us, in Vedic India the gods "descended into the altar." This conception was apparently extremely widespread and existed even far beyond the frontiers of Asia.… "[T]he symbolism of royal cities, temples, towns, and, by extension, every human habitation was based upon such a valorization of the sacred place as the center of the world and hence the site of communication with heaven and hell" (220).

Finally, as by way of a personal observation: one can hardly help reflecting when visiting the ruins of the Greater Angkor Archeological Complex, that while thieves and archeologists have divested the place of nearly every linga that ever stood, there remains an abundance of abandoned yonis.

The Sdok Kak Thom Inscription

It was Cambodian king Jayavarman II (770-850) who vowed that the Royal Chaplain would be chosen solely and matrilineally from the family of his guru Śivakaivālya. Thanks to the history-yielding Sdok Kak Thom stone inscription dated 1052 (from the temple of the same name in Prachinburi province, Thailand), we know that the king led an extremely nomadic court life. During his approximately fifty-year rule, he moved the capital no less than five times. The arguable reasons for his peripatetic reign are due in part to pressures exerted by the rival southern empire of Java. But to our interest here, the royal inscription also illustrates the intimate relations that existed between the ruling k·atriya and priestly brāhman castes, stating, "Whenever His Majesty King Jayavarman II and his family settled, so did his esteemed guru Śivakaivālya and his family settle."

Next, a character of novelty and color is vividly introduced into the stone-hewn text. He is Hiranyadāma, a brāhman priest of "presumed Indian birth." At the king's request, in the year 802, Hiranyadāma accompanies His Majesty, and His Majesty's guru, into the depths of the moss-laden forests of Mahendraparvata (present-day Mt. Kulen). And there the brāhman satisfies the king by performing the rites of the Devarāja "so the king may become the cakravartin, or universal ruler." Afterwards he turns to the king's own guru and reveals the secrets of the tantric rites, even teaching him the pertinent tantric texts.

P.C. Bagchi in his essays "On Some Tantrik Texts Studied in Ancient Kambuja" (1929, 1930) tried to show that the Sdok Kak Thom Inscription was based on a group of four Śaiva texts named Vinaśāika, Sammoha, Nayottara and Śirascheda. Known in India in the seventh and eighth centuries, they have also been described as "The Four Faces of Tumburu": Tumburu being identified as an emanation of Śiva Himself who, according to a tradition mentioned above, was depicted as śaivī caturmūrti, "Śiva in four-forms."

In sum, the importance of the Sdok Kak Thom Inscription – with regard to our present thematic development – is that it (1) records the debut of the Khmer Devarāja, (2) verifies the intimate relations that persisted between the priestly brāhman and ruling kshatriya castes for a period of two and a half centuries, and (3) that it ascribes its very own authorship to a blue-blooded brāhman named Sādaśiva, a direct descendant of Śivakaivālya, exactly 250 years after the great political event.

The thirteenth century saw the rapid decline of the greatly expanded Cambodian Empire. Overseas this corresponded to the Mogul invasions of Motherland India and the severed connections with her distant offspring. Regionally, the waning Khmer supremacy invited incursions from its western neighbours. This was also the time that Ram Khamhaeng began to consolidate his Sukhothai kingdom and construct a new "super-tribe" Tai identity. To emphasize its recent liberation from Cambodia, the Sukhothai rulers gave new definition to their ethnic appellation – and in on fell swoop the Tai became "Thai," which was said to mean, "free." Along with the Siamese-Thai invasions, a new religion also took root in Cambodia. We speak of the so-called "Theravāda" Bauddha cult that, according to Bhattacharya (50), "made Cambodia what it is today."

The Sack of Angkor Vat and the Rise of Ayudhya

With the steady decline of Cambodian court life many brāhman families shifted their allegiance to the upstart courts of neighbouring Siam. For despite the great prevalence of a populist Buddha-cult, and having turned that faith into a state decreed religion, the pomp-thirsty rulers of Siam strove hard to surround themselves with all of the appurtenances of Vedic culture. And to bolster the façade of theocratic eminence, the Siamese recruited court brāhmans from Cambodia (Wales 1931: 60). But these émigré priests must have suffered greatly as grossly over-qualified foreign relics in a land deficient in Vedic culture.

Unrestrained adoption of Vedic customs was a well-established rule by the fourteenth century in Siam. In 1350, the new Thai kingdom of Ayudhya was founded by U Thong. It was named after the ancient Indian city of Ayodhyā, the legendary birthplace of the Hindu god Rām, from the great Indian epic poem Rāmāyana, so widely appreciated through the entirety of Southeast Asia courts. And as noted by Desai (2-3, n ), in a royal inscription dated 1361, the Ayudhyan sovereign Boromarāja I proclaimed that it was "most essential for kings to possess a knowledge of the Vedās and astronomy." It may also be worth noting here the linguist morphing in the king's own name, Boromarāja, as derived from the Sanskrit pāramarāja, "supreme-king."

From the very inception of this new Thai/Siamese kingdom its rulers demonstrated two clear ambitions: the comprehensive absorption of extra-Bauddha culture and the military conquest of neighbouring Cambodia. Ayudhyan troops moved steadily east and successfully annexed province after province. In 1431, Cambodia suffered unremitting attacks from the Siamese forces and Angkor Vat was finally sacked. They curiously chose not to occupy the city. They were nonetheless wary of its intricate waterways and had them destroyed. The Great Temple City was thus abandoned and Cambodia became a vassal of Siam, "unnoticed and almost unmentioned" in history (Shawcross: 41).

The devastation of Angkor Vat resulted in the dispersion Khmer brāhman families. Employment opportunities led many west where suitable positions as astrologers, artists, doctors, scientists, political advisors, and conductors of the sacred Hindu rites were waiting to be filled at Ayudhya and other lesser courts. (It is a tragedy that most of the historical data pertaining to the migration of Cambodian Brāhmans to Siam was destroyed along with the city of Ayudhya in 1767 by Burmese troops.) Still the most treasured gurus and brāhman priests must have surely been the offspring of Śivakaivālya: for legends still told of the famed tantric family that alone held the keys to the rites of consecration for the awesome cult of the Devarāja, which could elevate a king to the stature of a god.

Ayudhya to Bangkok

Angkorian influence on the early-Thai sense of kingship is clearly observed from the fourteenth-century Ayudhya Court onward. Firstly noticed is a marked departure from the earlier patriarchal tribal leader concept that was prevalent in thirteenth-century Sukhothai. The Central-Siamese Ayudhyan kings were more attracted to the Khmer conception of kingly divinity explicit in the rites of the Devarāja. They did not, however, enshrine the royal linga, as 'divinity was rather imparted to the kings through their occupancy of the sacred palace, and through undergoing abhisheka (ritual bathing) and the rites of coronation, both of which were conducted by Khmer brāhman priests. I therefore note the clear example of the role played by brāhmans in conferring state legitimacy in Early-Thailand, while even to this day the Royal Thai Sovereign is officially identified with the Hindu deities Śiva and Vishnu (through the rites of coronation), while in turn the two gods are believed to transfer their celestial power or śakti to the King' (Desai: 46-48).

Of course the sangha, or Bauddha ascetic order, also underwent important changes during the long four-hundred-year Ayudhyan Dynasty. The Thai Buddha sangha was administratively very well organized. Its clerics were divided into two broad groups along the lines of araññavāsī and gāmavāsī, but the divisions were more complex than this (Skilling 2004: 14-15). Simply stated, the araññavasi or "forests-dwelling" monks practiced tapas and other forms of yogic-asceticism outside the city walls. The gāmavāsī or "city-dwelling" monks stayed in the urban monasteries where 'they studied, taught the laity, and took on social and administrative duties. These city monasteries were under state control in a profitable symbiosis with the state hierarchy' (14-15).

Cakkri Court Quarrels

Four hundred years after the founding of Ayudhya, a new dynastic line was established in Bangkok. It assumed the Sanskrit name of Cakkri, a magical disk-like instrument of war that was used by the Vedic god Harsha, king of the gods. Yet not to depart from established custom, the great House of Cakkri acquiesced to precedence and sought to resuscitate Khmer Majesté. Interestingly enough this largely accounts for the present day survival of a vast Sanskritic nomenclature pertaining to all things regal in Thailand. The imperative Thai raja-sap (lit. "king's language") has essentially derived from the Sanskritic court language of the Royal Khmer.

With time, however, the great prestige that Cambodian brāhman priests once enjoyed showed marked depreciation and their courtly status grew increasingly subservient. Then around the turn of the twentieth century a certain outstanding Cambodian family left the royal service altogether. They carried off with them sacred manuscripts with instructions for conducting important state ceremonies. In the attempt to recover these sacred texts, the head of the priestly family's mother was imprisoned. To secure her release some of the manuscripts were handed over. According to Wales, the government actually feared the commotion that a forceful attempt to obtain the remaining documents might have caused, and pursued the matter no further (Wales 1931: 55).

By way of conclusion I should only like to state that with the heightened sophistication of Siamese society accompanying the enlightened rule of King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910), Cambodian brāhmans were once again called upon to fill the expanding governmental posts. It was a brāhman family much like this to which Guru Chod was born on the Sagittarian full-moon night of 1900. This family bore the royal name of Harshavarman that had spanned a thousand-year line of monarchs, a Khmer brāhman chaplain named Śivakaivālya, and a wandering guru Hiranyadāma.

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