has been raised for unknown reasons to 37.[174] They are spirits of deceased heroes, and there is nothing unbuddhist in this conception, for the Pitakas frequently represent deserving persons as being reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty Three.  The chief is Thagya, the Sakra or Indra of Hindu mythology,[175] but the others are heroes, connected with five cycles of legends based on a popular and often inaccurate version of Burmese history.[176]

Besides Thagya Nat we find other Indian figures such as Man Nat (Mara) and Byamma Nat (Brahma).  In diagrams illustrating the Buddhist cosmology of the Burmans[177] a series of heavens is depicted, ascending from those of the Four Kings and Thirty Three Gods up to the Brahma worlds, and each inhabited by Nats according to their degree.  Here the spirits of Burma are marshalled and classified according to Buddhist system just as were the spirits of India some centuries before.  But neither in ancient India nor in modern Burma have the devas or Nats anything to do with the serious business of religion.  They have their place in temples as guardian genii and the whole band may be seen in a shrine adjoining the Shwe-zi-gon Pagoda at Pagan, but this interferes no more with the supremacy of the Buddha than did the deputations of spirits who according to the scriptures waited on him.

4

Buddhism is a real force in Burmese life and the pride of the Burmese people.  Every male Burman enters a monastery when he is about 15 for a short stay.  Devout parents send their sons for the four months of Was (or even for this season during three successive years), but by the majority a period of from one month to one week is considered sufficient.  To omit this stay in a monastery altogether would not be respectable:  it is in common esteem the only way to become a human being, for without it a boy is a mere animal.  The praises of the Buddha and vows to lead a good life are commonly recited by the laity[178] every morning and evening.  It is the greatest ambition of most Burmans to build a pagoda and those who are able to do so (a large percentage of the population to judge from the number of buildings) are not only sure of their reward in another birth but even now enjoy respect and receive the title of pagoda-builder.  Another proof of devotion is the existence of thousands of monasteries—­[179]perhaps on an average more than two for each large village and town—­built and supported by voluntary contributions.  The provision of food and domicile for their numerous inmates is no small charge on the nation, but observers are agreed that it is cheerfully paid and that the monks are worthy of what they receive.  In energy and morality they seem, as a class, superior to their brethren in Ceylon and Siam, and their services to education and learning have been considerable.  Every monastery is also a school, where instruction is given to both day boys and boarders.  The vast majority of Burmans enter such a school at the age