මෙතේ බෝසතාණන්ගේ මව්පියන් ඇතුළු ඥාතීන්
ඉන්දියාවේ පහළ නොවී හෙළදිව පහළ වුයේ ඇයි ?
ඉන්දියාවේ පහළ නොවී හෙළදිව පහළ වුයේ ඇයි ?
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| King Kawanthissa and Queen Vihara Maha Devi (Parents of King Dutugamunu) - Muhudu Maha Vihara Pothuvil,Sri Lanka |
Some may
say that the objective of writing Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) is to introduce
King Dutugamunu as a hero. But in through analysis it is visible that it
does not have any truth behind it. Pali Mahavmsa (Pāli Mahāvmsa)
had been written with the aim of correcting the faults found in the Seehalatthakatha
Mahavamsa (Seehalatthakathā Mahāvamsa) which was in use in the
ancient times, the Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) records. (Māhavamsa, Paragraph 1. 2, 3, 4
stanzas). Upathissa Thero lived in the Paasaanadeepa was
against the decision of ill treating the Seehalatthakathā Māhavamsa and
writing the songs or chants in Pali language (Pāli). (Māhavamsa, Teekā,
Page 32). Even in the middle of these objections, the Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa)
had been written and many difficulties had come in to being. It can be seen
that there isn’t a conclusion for it. In the view of overcoming this struggle, it may have written the Māhavamsateekā.
But Māhavamsateekā too was biased to Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa). This generated
results the loss of the opportunity of knowing the absolute truth.
One best
example to be quoted is the biography of the King Gaamini Abhaya. His
biography had experienced the most sorrowful destiny. Finding a scholar who had
carefully analyzed his biography too is rear, indeed. From the very beginning,
the author of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) had used many tactics and strategies
in a very subtle way to destroy his due position.
He had
argued with his father for a war against Tamil, the Pali Mahavamsa (Pāli
Māhavamsa) records. As his father showed negative interest in it, the king
had agrued with his father and escaped to Malayarata. (Māhavamsa,
Paragraph 24,stanza 7). From that moment onwards Prince Gaamini Abaya
had been known as Dutugamunu (1) by the
people, the Mahavamsa Teeka (Mahāvamsa Teekā) record. (Māhavamsa Teekā,
Page 365). This is the very first attempt made by the author of Mahavamsa
(Mahāvamsa), who is influenced by the Indian thinking, to introduce the Prince
Gaamini Abaya as someone driven by the war mentality from his young age.
Going against the word of his father is an indirect statement made to denote
that his behavior is something against the values taught in Buddhism.
An incident which is similar to the incident mentioned in Mahavamsa
(Mahāvamsa) can be seen in Dhāthuvamsa
as well, but in terms of the meaning it is totally against the one mentioned in
the Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa).
“…….his father called Prince Dutugamunu closer to him and advised
him to go to Giri Nuwara (2), appointed a
minister called Daavaa as his care taker, named him as his foster father
and sent the Prince to Giri Nuwara. (Dhaathuvamsa, Page 68) Both
these incidents are the same. Puravidya Chakravarthi Ven Ellawala Medhananda
Thero explains this as two different reports of one incident. (Dutugamunu
Rajathumā, Page 32) Doesn’t this say that the author of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa)
had altered the incident and destroyed the character of King Gaamini Abhaya
?
There is
an incident in Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) where Prince Gaamini Abhaya
had attempted to win the war by making use of his mother with a Tamil. (Māhavamsa,
Paragraph 25, stanza 9). Isn’t this incident itself giving a
very clear picture about the author of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa)? In a
period where the motherhood was honored with all due respects, in a period of
Buddha, the attempt made to show this incident as something done by a great
Buddhist king is not totally acceptable. Not only that, the Sathyakriya (3) of the king i.e. the declaration on oaths, stated
in Mahavamsa
(Mahāvamsa) too cannot be a Satyakriya
of the king but it is something of Indian influence bound by war mentality.
This particular Sathyakriya which is totally against the values of Buddha
Dhamma is as follows.
“This
task of mine is not purely for the royal comforts forever. This attempt of mine
is purely for the stability of the Buddha Sasana. On the strength of
this words of truth, let the weapons and other accessories in my army be same
as flames of fire”. He did his Sathyakriya in this manner. (Māhavamsa,Sa.Sin.Sa,
Page 69)
According
to these, Prince Dutugamunu has been presented as a person who is vicious
and traitorous and had worked against his parents, brother and Buddha Dhamma.
It is necessary to find out the reason for building a character of this nature.
King Kawanthissa (Kāwanthissa) and Queen Vihara Mahadevi (Vihāra
Mahādevi),
the parents of King Gaamini Abhaya will be the parents of the Maithriya
Buddha, his brother Prince Sadhāthissa will be the second
disciple, Prince Saaliya will be the son of Maithriya Buddha; the
Mahavamsa
(Mahāvamsa) records. (Māhavamsa,Phragraph 32. Stanza 81, 82, 83).
But the main character, The Maithriya Bosath (Bōsath),
cannot be seen there. Main character is supposed to be given to King
Dutugamunu, but he is given the Agrashravaka (4) (Agrashrāvaka) position. This is the main
objective of above mentioned policy of destruction. Another conspiracy is the attempt
of taking off the Gauthama Buddha who gave ‘Vivarana’ for this group.
Keeping away the period of Buddha from the reign of Gaamini Abhaya is
another conspiracy. Following the information in Mahavamsa Teeka (Māhavamsa
Teekā), we can guess that the author of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) would have at least overcome from his great
suffering in this manner for not having any room for shifting this incident to
India and building a relationship between this incident and the people in
India. If not for Upathissa Thero lived in Paasanadeepa we
wouldn’t have known this. We should greatly appreciate and pass the merits to
him for this act of him.
The
author of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa) was smart enough not to reveal
the fact that Heladiva is going to be the birth place of Meithriya Bosath
(Bōsath).
He may have decided not to go against the commonly accepted theory that Buddhas
are born only in India. Or he may have felt that doing so is a great sin. He
has acted in this manner as he wanted to keep the land where Buddha was born as
a secret. Isn’t it?
1 - The vicious Gaamini.
2- This is the city of mountains. Or the city
situated within the mountains.
3 - The declaration on oath.
4 - The chief disciple of the Buddha.
{The English translation of 'බුද්ධෝත්පත්තිය හෙළදිවයි' (Buddha was born in Heladiva) - Part – 6}
Translated by Amal Meemanage (amalmeemanage@gmail.com)
Translated by Amal Meemanage (amalmeemanage@gmail.com)
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