The Influence of Brahmanism Beliefs on the Initiation of Thai Literature

Abstract

Brahmanism beliefs have a significant influence on Thai people’s ways of life. The backgrounds of Thai literature have been relevant to Brahmanism beliefs from the past to the present. The author considered Thai literature from Sukhothai period to the early Rattanakosin period in order to point out that the poets elaborately incorporated the beliefs of Brahmanism in their poems by the following approaches: 1) presenting Indian mythology by listing the names and the roles of gods 2) interpolating Indian literature into the content 3) adpating the contents of the interpolated literature to suit Thai tastes 4) presenting the rituals of Brahmanism. The four mentioned approaches are significant to the initiation of Thai literature. This reveals the thoughts of Thai poets on the relation people’s beliefs in gods on their ways of life, their ability to adapt the Indian literature to suit Thai tastes, and on the performance of Brahmin rituals as anchor and blessings.