the influence of the Mahayana Buddhist moral principles on the establishment of the path of Rãjamaggã of the seventh King Jayavarman

Abstract

This thesis has three objectives: 1) to study the significance of the path of Rãjamaggã, 2) to study the relationship between the iconography of Buddhist art on the path of Rãjamaggã and the Mahayana Buddhist moral principles, and 3) to study the influence of the Mahayana Buddhist moral principles on the establishment of the path of Rãjamaggã of the seventh King Jayavarman. This is a qualitative research done by studying documents and archeological evidences.
In the study, it was found that the path named Rãjamaggã starting from the city of Phimai was anciently used to link the community to community before the reign of the seventh King Jayavarman. In this respect, the significance of community in surrounding areas of Phimai, apart from being the valuable resources, comes to embrace the relationship of relatives and government of ancient Khmer and after that the establishment of path of Rãjamaggã was thereby made by the seventh King Jayavarman which was one out of the five essential paths. Besides this, roadsides hotels or Dhammasãlã were also built alongside the path.
Many sculptures of Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara based on Mahayana Buddhist Tantric principles or Vajrayãna were regarded as the most important worshiping Iconic at Dhammasãlã and Arogayasãlã. Various activities, such as the establishment of Rãjamaggã, performed by the seventh King Jayavarman were to liberate all living beings from suffering according to Mahayana Buddhist moral principles of Bodhisattva.
It is believed that Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara was worshipped by general people in ancient Khmer empire before fourteen century of Buddhism whereby it came to occupy the most popularity of faith in the eighteen century of Buddhism particularly the teaching on Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara in the scripture of Kãraṇḍavayūhasutta to which the great influence on thought, value and belief of the seventh King Jayavarman were obviously created. Based on these, the teaching on loving kindness and compassion given by Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara had been shedding the considerable light on various activities, the establishment of Rãjamaggã and teaching on the special quality of Avalokitesavara, for instance, whereby they provided the different forms of reincarnation in order to teach Dhamma to living beings and thereby reflecting on the iconography of various sculptures; all were the only faces of the seventh King Jayavarman due to projecting him as the Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara.