io4

who do so are kept in great honour. In all monaste-
ries the head priests, priests, clerks and temple servants
read and sing during the evening and the morning,
they do not accumulate any treasures, nor are they
eager for any other worldly goods or riches. They live
partly on what the king and the mandarins bestow on
them, also on fruits and profits derived from the
grounds which belong to the church. But most they
receive from the common people who furnish them
with food and other necessities. From each monastery
each morning some priests and clerks are sent out with
a wallet. But they do not collect more than is suffi-
cient for one day. They are not allowed to drink
wine or spirits, but only ordinary water or coconut
water, and they may partake only of common food, and
when the sun has passed the zenith they may only chew
some betel. From all this we may conclude that the
priests have to live in a very modest way'.1

This is the picture of the life of the monks of Siam
in the seventeenth century. Though three centuries
have elapsed, yet there has not been any vital change
in the life of these monks. Besides the monks, the
writer says, there were many old women connected
with the monasteries. They had to shave their heads,
put on white linen. They were present at all sermons,
songs, ceremonies and other occasions connected with

the religion. They were not subjected to any extraor-
dinary rules/

J. S. S. VII, part I (1910) pp. 76-77.
Saunders—Epochs in Buddhist History, p. 115.