HtetYeeThitsar

Myanmar chronicles gave guidelines to the king, by pointing out the mistakes made by the earlier kings. King Narathihapate’s (Tarokpyay Min) Chief Queen Saw also admonished the king by pointing out his mistakes in riddles.

Bore not thy country’s belly
Abuse not thy country’s forehead
Fell not thy country’s banners
Pluck not thy country’s eyes
Break not thy country’s tusk
Sully not thy country’s face
Cut not thy country’s feet and hands

In this riddle, belly means the rich people who represents the wealth of the country, forehead means the able officers in the king’s service, the banner means pious man of the kingdom, eyes mean the wise men who could advise the king, tusk means princes of the royal family, face means unmarried daughters of the land, feet and hand means soldiers who guard the land from all dangers.

A king who committed these mistakes would meet defeat and death. In the words of Queen Saw the chronicles stated that “Not even the Universal monarch, King sovereign ruler of four great island and two thousand lesser islands surrounding them is not free from rise and fall, separations and death. Thus the kings were warned that nobody could escape the law of impermanence, decay and death, according to the teaching of Buddha.