Lokaniti & Rajaniti: Indian aphorisms borrowed by Burma & Thailand

At the intersection of law, popular conceptions of morality and traditional education in both Burma and Thailand are ancient Sanskrit aphorisms.

Two varieties of these Sanskrit aphorisms known as Lokaniti and Rajaniti are commonly found in Burmese and Thai literature.

The following history of the Burmese Konbaung dynasty has a wonderful explanation of the role of Lokaniti and Rajaniti in premodern Burmese culture that I recorded to MP3 for my personal listening quite some time ago  (listen to MP3 recording of Koenig on Lokaniti and Rajaniti here):

Koenig, William J. (1990). "The Burmese Polity, 1752–1819: Politics, Administration, and Social Organization in the early Kon-baung Period". Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia (1990) (34).

INDIAN APHORISMS FOUND IN BURMESE & THAI LAW CODES 

Rajaniti are also found in indigenous Burmese and Thai law codes known as Dhammathats in Burmese (Thai: ธรรมศาสตร์, Thammasāt):

"Dhammasattha "treatise on the law" is the Pali name of a genre of literature found in the Indianized kingdoms of Western mainland Southeast Asia (modern Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Yunnan) principally written in Pali, Burmese, Mon or the Tai languages or in a bilingual nissaya or literal Pali translation. Dhammasattha texts are historically related to Hindu dharmaśāstra literature, although they are very significantly influenced by the Theravada Buddhist traditions and literature of Southeast Asia." (source here).

Burmalibrary.org has links to actual Dhammathat texts and commentaries here.

SCHOLARLY RESOURCES 

A compilation of Lokaniti and Rajaniti aphorisms from Burmese literature was made in the 19th century and is available for free download online:

Gray, James (1886) Ancient proverbs and maxims from Burmese sources : or, the niti literature of Burma, London : Trubner. (download here).

The definitive scholarly investigation of these Sanskrit aphorisms is:

Sternbach, Ludwik (1974). Subhāṣita, Gnomic and Didactic Literature. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. (see here & here).

ANCIENT SANSKRIT APHORISMS

Ancient Indian aphorisms have been a staple of traditional education in Burma and Thailand for a long time.

Subhashita (Sanskrit: सुभाषित; Thai: สุภาษิต) is the literary genre of aphorisms in ancient Sanskrit literature.

More precisely Subhasita is defined as "a literary genre of Sanskrit epigrammatic poems and their message is an aphorism, maxim, advice, fact, truth, lesson or riddle." (see here).

"Subhashitas are known for their inherent moral and ethical advice, instructions in worldly wisdom and guidance in making righteous deeds... A subhashita is always eloquent in form, structured in a poetical form, complete in itself and concisely depicts a single emotion, idea, dharma, truth or situation."

In the words of Ludwik Sternbach, Sanskrit scholar and Subhasita expert, "subhashitas are drawn from real life and give fruit of philosophy grafted on the stem of experience."

There is an insightful Thai study available through libraries but only described online here.