The original text of the law is inscribed in “letters as big as a cow” on the boundary-wall of the universe, from which it is transcribed and transmitted to the human realm by [Manu], who magically retrieved the alien text during the reign of the first king Mahāsammata. In addition to its origins in outer space, accessible only to superhuman cosmonauts, dhamma-sattha texts are engaged in a complex relationship with Buddhist vinaya and sutra texts, which are frequently deployed, although sometimes with substantial changes…

A brief look at the actual legal history of Burma shows that the supposed constitutionality of dhammasattha treatises was always in negotiation with the proclamations of kings, showing how power and rhetorical authority were actually constituted in premodern, mainland Southeast Asia.