Be that as it may, the great day of the general assembly of the nobles came and I was brought in to their presence, with ropes tightly bound, to hear the verdict.
The king asked only one question after hearing the accusation from his son; what have I to say in my defense? What could I say? I cannot deny my love for her and whatever I said would be falsified by the Prince and his spies. Silence was all I could offer.
The king made his judgment then. He picked up his inseparable spear-the Areindamma-(which was supposed to be a gift from the king of Dewatas, the heavenly beings, and hence never to err) and threw it straight at me.
Straight and true as the aim, the spear sped with the speed of light and-wonder of wonders, cut the ropes that bind me, without touching my skin.
I was thunderstruck with awe and, by reflex, picked up my father’s most prized possession and quickly made haste to disappear from the palace.
On the way, I thought of my luck but remembered that the Great Spear never made a mistake. It must have decided to let me live, and decided now to serve a new master-me.
I stayed in an area outside the reaches of the imperial army and after some years, heard that the founding father of the nation had passed away.
The ministers came looking for me to succeed to the throne, saying that I was the rightful heir. I demurred, saying that his son was alive and will inherit the king’s place and that I will not betray the trust even after my father’s death.
The son, who was not a good ruler, wasted his time in gambling and wining. The vassal kingdom of Bago, started a rebellion. Bago was since ruled by one of the new king’s drinking and gambling cohort. The rebel troops defeated the forces of the king of Bagan and even took the king prisoner.
I was again approached by the ministers who wanted me to take the throne as it was now vacant. Again I refused, giving the same reason. I offered to rescue the king by invading the rebel troop’s camp.
I took with me the same centurions that were loyal to me and slipped into the enemy’s camp. I subdued the sentries surrounding the prisoner’s camp and tried to rescue my rival and jealous foster brother. I carried him on my back and rushed out. I nearly succeeded but the King let out a yell saying, “Help, help. Kyansittha is stealing me.” I had to let him go and escape with my life. He must have thought that since I was his rival all the time and that since the King of Bago was, once upon a time, his drinking and gambling partner, the latter would spare his life. His decision was misguided and unfortunate for the enemy executed him soon and marched north to seize my land.
The ministers came to me again and begged me to defend the kingdom from the rebels.
I led a force of my loyal campaigners, some of whom had followed me since the early days, and defeated the forces of the Bago, after I managed to kill the leader.
As soon as I returned, the crown was offered and I had to take it this time.
After a time, I retired from my earthly duties and refused to come out of my retreat from the bowels of a chedi, during a ceremony.
The noble Saint Shin Arahan came to my retreat, at the insistence of the people and my Queen, and asked me to continue with the unification of the First Kingdom of Burma.
So here I am writing these memoirs with the opening stanza, “With my right hand, will I give thee my people so many handfuls of rice, and with my left …”.