Sa held no further public office after his release from prison, but continued to write songs and plays for kings Tharrawaddy and Pagan.
Maung Sa was born 28 October 1766 (10th waning of Thadingyut 1128 ME) at Migyaungtet Chaung village, near Sagaing to a family line of courtiers more than two hundred years old.
His father Pauk Kyaw was a son of the Royal Household Guards, and his mother Nyein Tha was a granddaughter of Binnya Gyandaw, a minister in the court of King Thalun.
Sa quickly gained recognition as an accomplished musician, and was noticed by Crown Prince Thado Minsaw who was bringing together a circle of innovative young artists in his private court.
[2] In 1789, the 23-year-old Sa was placed in a Royal Commission consisted of princes and ministers, charged with translating Siamese and Javanese dramas from Thai to Burmese.
He wrote many "Yodaya" (Burmese for Ayutthaya) style songs: "htat-tunts", "ngu-ngits", "khameins", "frantins", "keet-muns", "htanauks", ale-mes, "phyinchars", "bayet-le-swes", and "phyin-chins;" some are for oboes and others for brass-gongs.
[4] In 1808, Sa was named Herald and Commander of Warboat Pye Lon Yu, and later atwinwun (secretary) to the new Crown Prince Bagyidaw.
In February 1814, Commander Sa with the title Ne Myo Zeya Thura led a Burmese army of 1500 soldiers and 150 cavalry into Manipur to place Marjit Singh on the Manipuri throne.
When war broke out with the British in March 1824, Sa was assigned as a general under Supreme Commander Maha Bandula in the Arakan theater.
In May 1824, Sa led a column (about 4000)[9] into Bengal, and defeated British troops in the Battle of Ramu, 10 miles east of Cox's Bazar on 17 May 1824.
On 1 February 1825, an invasion force of 11,000 soldiers supported by a flotilla of gun boats and armed cruisers along the coast and a squadron of cavalry under the command of Gen. Morrison attacked Burmese positions in Arakan.
Sa's fiefdom covered all the land at the confluence of the Made and Irrawaddy Rivers, including 14 villages and a town, in present-day Magwe Division.
Sa was released from prison in 1839 after he composed songs for a royal marionette show and for he had long been a favorite of Tharrawaddy's daughter Princess Supayagyi.