^{page 184 note 1} In using the word ‘ verse’ I do not mean that the Phe-lung is in poetry. It is not. I employ the word ‘ verse’ in the sense of a short sentence.

^{page 198 note 1} See note to verse 9.

^{page 198 note 2} Phā in this cosmogony is employed in two senses. In one it means ‘ heaven,’ and corresponds to the Shan phā, 5c (compare verse 1 and elsewhere). In the other, it corresponds to the Shan phrāḥ, 4c, and is the general word for ‘ God.’ It is the Pali-Burmese bhu-rāḥ, a Buddha, nowadays pronounced pha-yāḥ.

^{page 198 note 3} Chau, ‘master, owner, king, a dēva,’ is here translated ‘ God.’ I do not know if it is a proper name or not. Compare verse 61, where it means ‘ king.’

^{page 199 note 1} Phrī = Shan phī, lc, a being superior to man and inferior to the Brahmās, and having its dwelling-place in one of the six inferior celestial regions. The word phrī, in Ahom, also means ‘ a ghost.’

^{page 199 note 2} Shang = Shan hsang, lo, a Brahmā, a being superior to men and Nats, and inhabiting the highest celestial region. In the next verse the word is used as the equivalent of Phā himself. Note that shang-bā means ‘ if.’ In verse 23 the traditional interpretation of shang bā is ‘ Shang said,’ not ‘if.’

^{page 199 note 3} This is apparently the traditional interpretation. Kho certainly does mean ‘ neck,’ but it also means ‘ to shine, glitter.’ I am therefore inclined to translate lak-jū-kho by ‘shine-remain-glitter,’ i.e. remain brilliant, instead of ‘shineremain neck.’

^{page 199 note 4} Phā-tüw-chüng is a name of Phā. Chüng means ‘ a god,’ and Chüng-phā is used in verse 49 as another name of Phā. In verses 48 and 50 Shai-chüng-müng, ‘thread-god-country,’ means ‘thread of air,’ and is the name of the air-gods identified with the Vāyus of Hinduism. I do not know the meaning of tüw in Phā-tüw-chüng. The only meanings I know of this syllable are ‘ a dwarf, ignorant, an animal.’

^{page 199 note 5} Khun-thiw-kham is the name of a god. The component parts seem to be khun, ‘ king’; thiw, ‘ a strong, good-looking person’; and kham, ‘ gold.’ In the 38th verse he is called a Daü, or Dēva.

^{page 200 note 1} I.e. Khun-thiw-kham. The word Daü is identified at the present day with the Sanskrit Dēva, God.

^{page 200 note 2} The word plüng means ‘half,’ but it is here and in the following verses apparently used to mean ‘ portion.’

^{page 200 note 3} Lā-kạ, the cosmic serpent. Like the Sēṣa of Sanskrit mythology. It does not appear whether the serpent issued from half Khun-thiw-kham or from half the crab.

^{page 200 note 4} Not certain whether the half was of Khun-thiw-kham or of Lā-kạ.

^{page 200 note 5} The name means ‘mass of white rock,’ and is nowadays identified with the Mount Mēru of Sanskrit mythology.

^{page 200 note 6} It does not appear who it was that was halved. Possibly Kån-phrā-phük.

^{page 201 note 1} Regarding the meaning of chüng, see note to verse 27. Shai-chüng-müng means ‘thread of God-country,’ i.e. ‘thread of air.’ These four are nowadays identified with the Sanskrit Vāyus. It is not certain from half of whom they were created. Possibly the threads.

^{page 201 note 2} Regarding Chüng-Phā, see note to verse 27. The word translated ‘ good’ is kån, which is repeated in the first syllable of Kån-Phā-ñaü. It also occurs in Kån-phrā-phük in verse 44. Ñaü means ‘great, gigantic’; compare verse 54.

^{page 201 note 3} Here it is certain that it is the Shai-chüng-müng that were halved.

^{page 201 note 4} This frequent employment of the word pün, ‘island,’ recalls the dvīpas of the Sanskrit cosmogony.

^{page 202 note 1} See note to verse 13.