There was a Buddhist monk in Myanmar who performed three functions to a superlative degree namely preaching, teaching and writing. Well-known far and wide as Ledi Sayadaw at home and abroad, he was of common origin from a remote village called Saingpyin in the township of Depeiyin in the Shwebo District of Upper Myanmar. Born in 1826 of farmer parents U Htun and Daw Kyone he was the second of five sons. Though rather late in schooling for he was already ten years old when he joined the monastic school of his village, he began to show signs of a super brain. Under the mentorship of the Abbot U Nanda he learnt very fast and very much. At 15 he became a novice monk named Shin Nyana Daza and he mastered all texts and treatises prescribed for novices. Upon reaching the ordinable age of 20, he became a fullfledged monk. Since he had completed all learning available at the local monastery, he came to Mandalay the capital of the last Myanmar kings as well as the seat of higher Buddhist learning. Under the guidance of the Abbot of Sankyaung Monastery in the Manizawtikayon Kyaung Taik, he continued his studies.
During the 16 Lents, 16 years at that place U Nyana Daza was both teacher and student for he lectured the junior monks while he learnt from his seniors. In 1882 he left Mandalay with his monk pupils for Monywa where he founded the Ledi Monastery in 1886, and spent nine Lents there teachig Pariyatti (Buddhist scriptures). It was there that he came to be known widely as Ledi Sayadaw (the great monk teacher of Ledi). In February 1895 Ledi Sayadaw went abroad by sea to India. On board the ship he composed a long Linka verse on Padeisa-thamoupa (Law of Cause and Effect expounded by the Buddha). After his return from India he went into the forests of Dalla in the Hanthawaddy District where he lived the life of a forest monk practicing austerities.
Later he returned to the Ledi Monastery. Next he spent one Lent at each of the three forest retreats, Maha Myaing Forest in 1900, the Stone Cave at the Shweta U Hill on the west bank of the Chindwin River in 1901 and Mt.Letpan Taung, about 3 miles west of Monywa in 1903. At the invitation of Minister Kin Wun Mingyi, Ledi Sayadaw went to Mandalay and resided there. From there he went on a preaching tour to Pyinmana, Myingyan, Meiktila, Taung Tha, Pakokku, Yangon, Mawlamyine and many other towns imparting the teachings of the Buddha to both laity and clergy and founding the Ledi Pariyati Sarthin Taiks (Ledi Centres of Buddhist Teaching). On the Full Moon Day of Wazo (July) in 1923 at the early old age of 77, he passed away peacefully at the Ledi Sankyaung Monastery in Pyinmana.
During his 57 Vassaa (years of ordained monkhood) Ledi Sayadaw worked assiduously and unswervingly. He studied studiously, he learnt earnestly, he taught diligently, he preached clearly, he practised arduously and he wrote prolificly. He could expound in clear and precise words the Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha) and rendered them into verse forms for easy memorisation. A versatile monk was he, for he penned not only on religious and philosophical themes but also on a variety of literary subjects such as grammar, orthography, verse composition, etc. He answered satisfactorily questions raised by the Buddhists and scholars of Pali and Buddhist philosophy from England and France urging them to respect nature and to be kind to animals by not eating them.
Because of his abundant contributions to the teaching, preaching, writing moral instruction and general knowledge, the Government conferred on him the religious title Agga Maha Pandita. Also "the first Convocation of the first University in the province of Burma (Yangon University) held on the 28th of November 1921 conferred the Doctor of Letters honoris causa upon the Ledi Sayadaw, the head of the leading monastery near Monywa, who has long been acknolwedged as one of the foremost Pali scholars of Burma and is the author of many learned works of high value."
Ledi Sayadaw was well known beyond the national boundary especially in Sri Lanka and Europe partly due to his learnedness in Pariyatti (learning, education in the Buddhist doctrines) and Paripatti (practice of Buddhism), literature and general knowledge and partly due to the English translation of his works Ledi Dipani. In 1913 Ledi Sayadaw headed the Burma Buddhist Foreign Mission which was founded in Mandalay in 1913. The Vice-Patron of the Mission Monk U Nyanna of Mandalay Masoyein Taik Monastery first translated into English, Ledi Sayadaw’s treatise Vipassana Dipani and entitled his translation as Manual of Insight which was published in 1915 by the Society for Promoting Buddhism in Foreign Countries, Mandalay. In 1912 Secretary of Pali Society, London, Mrs Rhys David sent to Ledi Sayadaw five questions on the Yamaka of Abhidhamma pitaka, which the latter answered in Pali as the questioner was a learned Pali scholar, whom Ledi Sayadaw admiringly called Pali Devi. These answers were published in the Journal of Pali Text Society 1913-14 entitled A Pali Dissertation on the Yamaka by Ledi Sayadaw. U Pe Maung Tin, Professor of Pali, Yangon University wrote an appreciation of Ledi Szayadaw’s answers in the Journal of Burma Research Society Vol.5 Pt.1 1915, remarking that Ledi Sayadaw was a first class learned scholar of Buddhist Abhidhamma (Philosophy). In 1920-21 U Pe Maung Tin himself translated into English two of Ledi Sayadaw’s treatises -- Atthasalini Kyan under the titleThe Expositor in 1920-21 and Visuddhi Magga under the title The Path of Purity in 1923-31, for which he earned international fame. U Shwe Zan Aung Inspector of Excise, translated into English Ledi Sayadaw’s explanation of Pathana under the title A Buddhist Philosophy of Relations or mutually conditioned Phenomena with the pen name Mr.Aung. It was published in the Journal of London Pali Society 1915-16. Another of Ledi Sayadaw’s treatise Niyama Dipani was translated into English by Dr.Beni M.Barua. Some vague points in this translation were clearly expounded by Monk U Nyana. Later Barua’s translation and U Nyana’s clarification were published in book form entitled Niyama Dipani (Laws of Cosmic Order). In 1935 U Nyana translated into English Ledi Sayadaw’s Pathanuddesa Dipani with the title Buddhist Philosophy of Relations.
In a brief hagiography of Ledi Sayadaw compiled by U Tun Myint and published in the Encyclopadea Birmannica vol.13, a list of Ledi Sayadaw’s major works was attached. It contains 68 treatises.
To assess and appreciate the superlative brain of Ledi Sayadaw, one must visit Ledi Kyaung Taik (Ledi Monastery) in Monywa, a thriving trading town on the east bank of the Chindwin River in Upper Myanmar. There in the spacious precinct of the monastery he founded and resided in, are set up in alphabetical order Sagyin marble slabs, each 6 feet by 5 feet bearing on both faces inscribed copies of his literary output. Now the inscribed slabs number 581. Possibly more will be added when his minor works are collected. Scholars of Pali, Myanmar, Buddhism and Philosophy from far and near frequent this library of book in stone to gain knowledge and to get data for their research.