History of Buddhism in Ceylon: The Anuraghapura Period (3rd Century BC - 10th Century AC)

412 Pages·25.482 MB·English

by  Rahula Walpola.

HISTORY OF
BUDDHISM
IN CEYLON
HISTORY O'F
BUDDHISM
IN CEYLON
THE ANURADHAPURA PERIOD
3rd Century Be -10th Century AC
REV. WA IJPOLA RAHULA
COLOMB()
M. D. GUNASENA & CO. LTD.
M. D. GUNASENA & Co., LTD.
217, Olcott l\Iawatha, Colomho.
Branche,;;
K,lndy, Galle, Negornb " AI1'lrad',.lpura. MatMa, Jaffna & Kurunegala.
First /';dilion Aft!} 1956
S,efITlI! Erlili"n fWi/]
© Walpola Riihula 1956
This book is copyright. No portion
or extract of it may be reproduced
in any lllannrr without the written
consen t of t he Au thor.
Printed and Published by M. D. G,masena & Co., Ltd. Colornb~-O-Rl09-116'
'to
MY PAHENTS
.................M atiipitaro
Pu.bUii.rariyii"ti 1)1U'rare."
(A nyuUara )
amI
TO
M. PAUL HEMIE VILLE
Member of the In. • tilutc of France,
Prof'.8sOT at the College of Prane_,
Diru:tor of lJuddki.t mudi• .• at tke
Sclwol of /ligl,p.T .'·Iudi. < (.sorbonneJ.
CONTENTS
PAOli
PRlIl'PACli XI
AJlBR1I:VlA.1'IONS XV
I NTBODUCTJON XIX
CHAPTER 1. TIm INlllAN BACKGROUNll 1
II. PRF.-BUlll)1U!<T CEYLON I: SOCIAL CONDITIONS 14
Ill. l'R~:-BrDI1UIST C};YLOlil II: REUGHlUS CONDITIONS 34
1Y, THE ESTABI,I:mMENT OF BUIIDJIlSM 48
V. BUDDHISM. AS S'rATE RELIGION 62
VI. YEARS OJ!' DE\·EJ.oP~ENT-I 78
VII. l'EARS UF DEVELOPKEN'l'-II 92
VIII. THE l\IuNASTEIW I: ITS STRUCTURII: 112
IX. THE MON MI'l'ERY II: 1'1'8 ADJlINJRTltATION 135
X. THE MONASTIC LUI: 1: ITS J.)'EV'ELOnIENTS 153
XI. THE ]\10NASTIC Lll'1': II: h's Am'IvITIES ... 173
Xll. THE MONUTIC LUE Ill: ITs ASCETIC IDEAL 199
XIrl. AR.4HANTS IN CEYLON 217
Xl\'. 'l'HI;: LA Y LI]I'I~ J: :';01"1.\ L 230
X\'. Tut: LAY LlYN II: R1<:l.WlOl'S 251
XVI. CERE~ONI.ES AND FES1'IYAL:> 266
XVII. }:»tTCATION 287
,\pnalDlx I, WJlAT WAS Tin: MAHAVlHARA? 303
11. CURONOLOGY 305
III. I,IST 0)' KINGS 308
BIBLIOGRAPHY 312
IlID1:lt 317
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Ancient Anuradhapura }'ronti8piUI$
Map of Ancient Ceylon .At end of book
l<'acillg page
J. Buddhaghosa submit:! the Yi.uddhimagga xxiv
lIe The a.pproa.ch to the ])u!uda -'liligiiva, Kandy xxv
III. Buddha Statue, Outer Circular Road. Anuriid~apura
IV. (I) Some of tho cave" at l\1ihinta]i:' 62
(2) Refectory, l\1ihiDtalt' 62
V. Cetiyagiri. (Sauchi) 63
VI. The Saered Bo-Tree (imprl'HSiun in 1866) 66
VII. The Sacred Bo-Tl'ce lih it is t.oday 67
VIII. VesBllgiriyn caves 68
IX. Tbe thiipa of Thiipiiramu 69
X. Maricnvlttli thiiPIl 80
Xl. The Mahiithiip. . 81
XII. ,AhbaYllgiri thiipa 82
XIII. Lohapasada, stone pillar, 83
XIV. Jctavana thiipa (17th ('Cllt. drawilJg) 94-
XV. .TetavaDa thiipa as it, if toduy 95
XVI. Ambatthala thiipll (17th cent. drawing) 98
XVII. Amhatthala th"p'" as it is today 99
XVIII. The Bo-callcd TlliiIJiiriima VihiiJ'l\. !'O!OIIll&rUV& Il4
XIX. Ancient Vihiira (in ruin). Anuriidhapura 115
XX. Cittalapabbata vi. . ws 130
XXI. Rice canoe 131
XXII. Pilgrims at Kij.JaJ;li 190
XXIU. Tiuamahirirna thiipo. 191
l'RE,FACE,
The eminent pmutJOlL Sri b~"lkii occupim; Il.llLOJlg t,he Blld
dhillt, COWltri(l~\ in the worl,1 cnluJ.JI('e:-; tlw need of a comprehensive
hist.ory of Buddhism in Ceyloll. Rut the whole period from the
beginning to tho Ilrellcllt ,lay is t.oo wide a fieM for one volume.
E"en the early poriod of Buddhi:-;m ill Ceylon has Hot. yot lmoll
crit,jeallyexamillod or sufficieJlt.ly studied. Dr. E. W. Adikaram':-;
work OIl the "Stute of BuJdhiM'II. £11 Ceylon a,s Re'l'crtled by t},e Piili
CutlttnnUarie.s oft},c [ltlt C,:nt1UY A.ll." is pel'haps the only BchollloTly
iJ.ttempt. so far in this fidd. Rut his is the attitude, as re\'caled
ill his book, of a devot.ee lament.ing over tho "dt·gollcration" alld
"corruption" of the F:i.it,h. The attitude amI Itpproach t.o thH
subject here ar.) i'lomewhat diifert'Jlt. .
Dr. Adikaralll's hook eOI'erl' the p(!riod up t·o the 5t.h cl:'lltury
A.C. onl~', and he elt'pend:-; for his information on the Pa.li COlll
Inllllt.lI.rieR. The prt~:-;e.llt work coyers a wilior 1'I:'riod and draws
lluJ.oerial from iJ.lmoRt, ..I I ayallable sources.
The Introduction reviews ill brit·f the sonre"s mIlo' Ie use of ill
this work. tiince most of tlwm have oft;en bet'll examined ill
detail by earli~r scholars, Than· t.oucllcd (Illly <111 u ft'w poillt.s
reillvant to the presollt. purpO>lc. But two lOIlW'T arLicllls on t.he
Salwssavatthu amI tho Rf£s(J,,(illin-i were Jl(\CeS8ary because these
two works havc not been seriously studied alld examined by earlier
scholars-particularly t,he yet ullpublished 8ahaN.~(J1JattJtu. *
Thc first three chapters d(\,Pict the background t.o the Rtory :
Asoka's India witmlce Buddhism eame ami prc-Bl1ddhi~t Ceylon
into which it was introdueed. The next elllJ.pt.cr rt>latt'B how
* Since published (in Sinhalese characters), cd. A. 1'. Buddhadatta
(1959).
Xl
xii HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CEYLON
Buddhism was established in Ceylon, a!lll Chapter v discusses
how it immediately became the state religion of Lmika. Chap
ters VI and VlI take the reader quickly through the ups and
downs of Buddhism in Ceylon during the period under review.
In chapters VIII and IX the monastery, the seat of Buddhist
culture, is disctlssed in its Yariolls aspects: itll strllctural features
as well all itR j,cmporalitics al1d administration. 1'ho monastic
life, round which the lll~torr of Buddhism ~~Id Buddhist culture
de\yelol,ed, is dh'ided i!lto three aspects: Chapter x examines
its developmel1t under variolls social alld economic influOllces
t.hrough the centuri('!;; ChuptElr Xl rcyiew8 its routillO activities,
while Ch<Ll't,er xu discusses how i LR lat(~ ahcetic idea) came into
lJeing. All att{ntlpt is made iJl Ohal,ter XIII to discon~r the role
of saint.ly monks, generally reft'rreel to as arahantfl, jll ancient
Ceylon. Char,ter XIY depict,:; t.lw life of t,he hlityin it:; economic
and social sl't1>ing as lL 1,ackgrOUl!U t.o t,heir religious life which is
discussed ill ehaptt~r XY. Hites, cert~monjNI and festivals
which form an illlpo:r1.aJlt part, of tn(l poplllllr religion occupy
Chapt.er xV!. Yt.~rr litt.h~ is kllOWJl amI hlmUy lOlly thing has
been wriMell O;l etlucatioll in aucieut, (\·,yloll. An attempt is
made ill the last cllapt,t'r t.o discn~s th(~ syst.em of ellncation in old
Ceylon, hoth religious and !locular. A short article il:l illserted as
an Appendix to clarify the term l\lahavihiira, whirh }lIays such
an illlporj'l~Jlt. part. in t,he histury (If Buddhism in Ceylo:1.
I hare dilicassetl l\'lahi:i,riini:-J1U in Ceylon only as n /'Iide issue
whenever it; came in my wa~' : but I have deliberat.dr omitted to
incltldc a /'Il'parate ehapttlr 011 t!1(~t Sll hjt'et, heelluse t;here is already
an exccllEmt article 011 M(llalyaui.~1'II, in Ceylon writt.en l.y Dr. S.
Paranavitu.!l.8. in the C.J.Se., fo\ectioll G, Vol. II.
No l:Iep:~rate chapter::; are dm'oted here to literature and art.
~fuch liaR already been writt,ell 011 these I<ulJjects ; for example,
Dr. l\falalasekera.·s l'iili Lit('miuTe of Ceylon. Bllt certmn things
that shoilltl be said about literary de,-elopmellts in the period are
mentioned in hrief ill the discussion of lIomceR, and lliso in the
chapters on Monastic Life and Education. Similarly art is not
treat.ed S6Imrat,ely, but. referenc('s 1.0 it will befoWld in relevant
places.
PREFACE
Xlii
I have often gi \-en the J'"f.~r('llCcs allll eXlulll,lt,s as briefly as
possible for fl~ar of making this monograph too long. But ,,1·
certain points I 1111\'0 related a fllw storieR at HonlC length with ttl)
specific purpoRe of creating in the reader's lUi.lld the atmosphere
necessary for Ullde1'Htallding alld appreciating the life of a l,eopl<!
who lived ill a {iiff'erent civilization many cellturi!'A ago.
Often I llllYC Hsed ill this work Sinhalese words like Vfwak (Pali
V.~sakha), vas (P. vassn), poya (P. upo.mtha), ata-sil (1'. at{hailg((
sila), Bo (P. Bodl!i-) tree, pirit (P. pariUa). dtlgiiba (P. cetiya), for
they have ]lOW rOllle to stay afl intematiollally known Rpecific
Buddhist terms. H. Kern llimsclf used the word dagob for c,etiya
alld stupa (Man'u.al of Indian Buddltism., Pl'. 91-92). J. I,egge,
who translated Fa Hien's 'friwelfl, use~ the simple Sil1halcflo wonl
Mugalan instead of the high-SOlUldillg Maha-Maudgalyiiyana awl
says : "Mugalrul, the Sinhalese J!anle of this discil'ln, is lUOr(~
pronounceahle" (1" 44, ll. ,J), So are most of the Sinhalefle
Buddhist terms "more proI10lII!c(ll1bl.)" than l'iili or Sallskrit
terms.
Except for fi \'e 01' six rTf::; editiollH, all t.he Piili texts usetl in
this work are SillitaitlRo editioJl".
It is diffi~llJt. It(kquat<'.ly to ('xpret;s my seuse ()f gratitude to
my teacher Dr. ri. 1'. MalallOlinkera, Prof(!dsor of Piili in the
University of C"yloll,* for all tlw help JJ(l has gh·(lJl 11l(~. NJ l)oint
in this monograph ha, ORr:al)4"l his c:1reful attlmtion. It ha~
been both a pleasant and profitahle ditlcipline to work with all
iir:iirya of Dr. Malalnsekera't> ae;tclm€ ic experiell(;o and litorary
maturity.
lowe a dell!; of gra.titude to t,llreo of my vOllcrabJe frimulil: to
the late 'fri pitakacarya Hiigil'alUlala Pannilloka. Thora, Vice
Prin(}ipal of the Vid.valalikii.ra PiriYena, for IJeJpillg me with
valuable diwm\siollS on seveml Vinaya prol,lnllls; to Y;~kkl1.(~lly(i
Siri Panniiriima Tlwra, Vice-Principal a~1I1 l>irector of tb,)
Vidyiilankiira. Pirivilna, *for putting at my disposa.l ali bis wid.]
kllowbdge of Pali languago nnd iiteratllrc-partieularly the
Conmlentarial literature; to Tripit,tkiicarya Kota.hClJc Pa.fiiiiikitt,j
Thera., a Vice-Principal of th,~ sumo Piriyem~,'" for giving nj(~ tlw
opportunity to discuss ". . ith him SOIlHl problems of diverse na.tur(l.
• Please see foot-note on next page.