mitra took a branch of the Bodhi tree from Buddha
Gaya to the island of Ceylon, where it was planted :n
Anuradhapura. From Ceylon now a branch of the
Bodhi tree was taken to Siam. It is true also in the
case of Buddhism. Ceylon received the law of
Buddha from India, and Ceylon helped greatly in the
propagation of Buddhism in Siam.
With the sacred relic (perhaps bought from
Patna), the king made a siupa to enshrine the sacred
cuttirg of the Bodhi-tree. Besides the mention of
this holy ceremony, we have in this inscription a
series of prophecies on the progressive steps which
would lead to the extinction of Buddhism and in-
cidentally speaks of the dharmajaiakas and the traits
of abhidharma, patlhana and yamaka. It may be
mentioned, en passant^ that many incidents oijatakas
have been found sculptuied in Sukhodaya belonging
to this period, as we find in the Bharhut gates in India
and Borobudur temple in Java. The writer of the
inscription also predicts that men in this age would
not have more than ninety-nine years of existence.
This Thaie inscription of the king Sri Surya
vamsa Rama maha Dharma Rajfidhiraja, is now pre-
served in the Bangkok Museum. The character of
this inscription is the same as that of the inscription
of the king Rama Komheng. The translation and
transcription of this inscription are gi^en in Explora-
tion en Indo Chine of M. Pavie and also in Le Siam
Ancien of M. Fournereau (Vol. II, p. ic).