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The Ideal of Kingly Virtues
(06/09/2005)
Source: The Government Public Relations Department

A valuable book from the Sukhothai period is Traiphum Phra Ruang, or Traiphumkatha, believed to be the work of King Lithai, or Maha Dhammaraja Lithai, an elder brother of King Ramkhamhaeng. The book dealt with Buddhist cosmology, based on Hinduism.

It told of the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. The part dealing with the world of the living gives an insight into the system prevailing at that time, and the lifestyle of the people in Sukhothai, more than eight centuries ago.

Scholars of the present day were pleasantly surprised to learn of the governing principles for rulers and administrators of those days, as carefully and systematically listed in Traiphum Phra Ruang. There are ten kingly virtues, called Thossaphit Raja Dhamma, which are giving, keeping the precepts, sacrifice, honesty, humility, dutifulness, lack of anger, non-harassment, perseverance, and selflessness.

There are also 12 principles listed as the code of conduct for a great monarch:
1. looking after all subjects, ensuring them a happy life and prosperity;
2. establishing friendly relations with other states;
3. taking good care of relatives;
4. giving support to the ordained and to devout laymen and merchants;
5. helping people in remote areas;
6. giving support to monks and the learned;
7. preserving flora and fauna;
8. guiding the subjects onto the right path in life;
9. feeding the poor, so as to keep them from a life of crime; 10. keeping close to the learned, scholars and monks, to learn of the facts of life;
11. keeping clear of improper places;
12. subduing desires for illegitimate claims.

Such a patriarchal family with the king at the helm existed in the Sukhothai period, with the king called “pho khun” – the great father. The idea of a Dhammaraja, taken from Buddhism, lives on to the present day. It explains the intricate links between the reigning monarch and his people, exemplified by the beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose reign has spanned well over half a century.