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John holt’s groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vis.n.u within the contexts h of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. Holt argues that o political agendas and social forces, as much as doctrinal concerns, have shaped l the shifting patterns of the veneration of Vis.n.u in Sri Lanka. t Holt begins with a comparative look at the assimilation of the Buddha in Hinduism. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Vis.n.u into Sinhala Buddhism. Offering analyses of texts, many of which have never before been translated into English, Holt considers the development of Vis.n.u in Buddhist literature and the changing practices of t deity veneration. Shifting to the present, Holt describes the efforts of contem- h porary Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka to discourage the veneration of Vis.n.u, suggesting that many are motivated by a reactionary fear that their culture e and society will soon be overrun by the influences and practices of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. B u “ A convincing and timely study of how, outside of monotheistic traditions, d religious rejection often follows from religious tolerance and how empathy easily breeds antipathy. . . . In its South Asian focus, the book offers a sophis- d ticated analysis of the impact of Hinduism on Buddhism (and vice versa). h And for anyone interested in the interplay between religion and politics, Holt lays bare the nationalist and ethnic subtexts to the continuing debate over the i s worship of Vis.n.u and other gods in Sri Lanka. As an anthropologist, Holt is honest about the personal conflicts he experienced in his fieldwork; writing as t a historian, he never flinches from the complexity and difficulty of his sources. V The book is a mature and insightful contribution to many fields of study.” —Stephen F. Teiser, D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies, Princeton University i s · john holt is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the Humanities in n · Religion and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College. He is the author of several u books, including Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Tradi- tion of Sri Lanka, winner of an American Academy of Religion Book Award for Excellence, and The Religious World of Kirti Sri: Buddhism, Art and Politics the Buddhist Visnu in Late Medieval Sri Lanka, and is the editor of Constituting Communities: · · Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia. columbia university press new york Religious Transformation, Politics, and Culture www.columbia.edu/cu/cup 9!BME=H<:PRRQRS! ISBN 0-231-13323-5 John Clifford holt cover design: chang jae lee printed in the u.s.a. ColumBia The Buddhist Visnu The Buddhist Visnu Religious Transformation, Politics, and Culture JOHN CLIFFORD HOLT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester,West Sussex Copyright © 2004 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Holt,John,1948– The Buddhist Visnu :religious transformation,politics,and culture / John Clifford Holt. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–231–13322–7 (cloth) — ISBN 0–231–13323–5 (pbk.) 1.Buddhism—Sri Lanka—History.2.Vishnu (Hindu deity)—Cult—Sri Lanka.3.Buddhism— Relations—Hinduism.4.Hinduism—Relations—Buddhism.5.Buddhism and politics— Sri Lanka. I.Title. BQ372.H62 2004 294.3′095493—dc22 2003064634 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States ofAmerica c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Sree Padma Contents PREFACE ix PART I INTRODUCTION The Historical and Theoretical Problems 3 CHAPTER 1 The “Hindu Buddha”and the “Buddhist Visnu” 8 CHAPTER 2 “Unceasing Waves”: Brahmanical and Hindu Influences on Medieval Sinhala Buddhist Culture in Sri Lanka 32 CHAPTER 3 The Sandalwood Image: Upulvan Deviyo and the Origins ofthe Visnu Cult in Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lanka 62 CHAPTER 4 Transformed Deity: The “Buddhist Visnu”in Sinhala Literature and Liturgy 102 PART II INTRODUCTION The Cult ofVisnu in Buddhist Sri Lanka 157 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER 5 Seeking Protection: Cultic Life at the Udarata Visnu Devalayas 160 CHAPTER 6 The Valiyak Mangalya: The Curative Powers ofthe Mala Raja 225 CHAPTER 7 Legacies ofthe “Buddhist Visnu”: Myth and Cult at the Alutnuvara Devalaya 247 CHAPTER 8 Minister ofDefense? The Politics ofDeification in Contemporary Sri Lanka 331 CONCLUSION 351 NOTES 371 BIBLIOGRAPHY 411 INDEX OF PLACE NAMES 421 INDEX OF TEXTS (TRANSLATED OR CITED) 423 SUBJECT INDEX 425 MAP 442 Preface The religious traditions we study are not boxes of texts, commentaries, and interpretations passed from hand to hand through generations,but dynamic traditions, more like rivers, gushing, rolling, converging, and branching out to water and transforming new lands,or sometimes dying out completely in the desert sands.These traditions have always changed, sometimes gradually and sometimes in ways that would be considered quite revolutionary.(Eck 2000:137) Indeed,religions do change sporadically or dramatically over the course of history,but not always in the same manner as the natural ebb and flow of water.The trajectories of religious change,more precisely,often stand in re- flexive relation to dominant social and political forces in play.Moreover,religious change may be carefully engineered or even consciously contrived,in a manner that may serve the political interests of the state.At other times,religious change may be an unintended consequence of other types of evolving social dynamics, such as shifts in demography or reorientations of political economies. This study demonstrates how the transformation ofVisnu,one ofthe most important deities of Hindu tradition,became manifest within medieval and modern Sri Lankan Buddhist culture and society,and how a transplanted and integrated Visnu came to be understood within emergent Sinhala Buddhist literature and ritual.It illustrates,moreover,how Visnu’s assimilation engendered periodic expressions ofresistance.While this resistance may have been a consequence ofintermonastic disputes,at least in the contemporary era,such resistance may have been politically inspired.Historically,it is sometimes impos- sible to separate religion from politics in Sri Lanka.To understand the current controversy in Sri Lanka about whether Buddhists should worship deities,es- pecially deities ofHindu origins,it is important to remember the sometimes in- cestuous relationship that obtains between religion and politics in this society.