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Dhammapada : The most popular book

by Nemsiri Mutukumara

Many East European countries who regained independence after the disintegration of the dictatorial and repressive rule of the Soviet system have gone back to their original way of life.

They have restored their ancient culture and religion, reopened their ancient monuments and freely participating in religious way of life which sustained them over the years before their countries were annexed to the Soviet Union.

Many countries have begun re-publishing their most popular religious books. Many countries have brought out the most popular Religious Text - the Dhammapada. Besides Pali, the language of the Theravada Tipitaka (Tripitaka in Sanskrit), the Dhammapada "is preserved in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan and some incomplete recensions in several Central Asian dialects ..." (Professor Y. Karunadasa in his foreword to "The Chinese version of the Dharmapada by Bhikkhu Kuda Lumpur Dhammajoti).

In modern times, the Dhammapada Pali Text was translated into German by Professor Max Muller which opened the eyes of the Western world on the sublime teaching of the Sakyamuni Buddha which is wholesome in the beginning, wholesome in the middle and wholesome in the end.

The Venerable Narada Thera writes "Buddhism appeals both to the masses and to the intelligentsia. It offers milk to the babe and meat for the strong. It presents one way of life to the members of the Holy Order and another to the laity. Above all, it expounds a unique Path of Enlightenment".

"All these characteristics are featured in the Dhammapada ..... which contains the quintessence of the Buddha's teachings" (The Dhammapada - a translation: Pg. VII)

Over the last 2,200 years, ever since the oral teaching of the Sakyamuni Buddha were committed to writing by the Sinhala Bhikkhu Sangha in Sinhala characters at the historic Aloka Viharaya - Aluvihara near Matale during the reign of King Vattha Gamani Abhaya or Valagamba (in Sinhala), Dhammapada has magnificently inspired the reader in a manner that no other religious book has done before.

In the Republic of Czech one of the two new Republics that were born out of the Old Marxist Czechoslovakia, has published the Dhammapada in Czech language. The book is translated by K. Werner, a Buddhist scholar.

The Dhammapada is also translated into Serbo-Croat and the title is "Dhammapadam Put ispravnosti". The Serbo-Croat edition is translated by C. Veljacic and published in Zagreb. In Bulgaria where culture is given a pride of place in the government and the administrative systems, two buddhist texts are translated into Bulgarian language. The two books are Nagarjuna's Nitisastra and the other work is Sa-kya Pandita's Treasury of Aphoristic Jewels.

Both these Buddhist texts are translated by a Sanskrit and Pali Scholar A. Fedotov. Two other books - though not strictly confined to doctrine have come out in Bulgarian language.

They are "Cultivating a Daily Meditation written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This book is also translated by Fedotov.

The fourth book, titled, Acta Orientalia Bulgarica Volume I. This volume is brought out by the centre des langues et civilisations orientales of the University of Sofia. Russia, the old home of Marxism and Communism which believed in that "religion is the opium of the masses", has translated a series of books.

One is the Sanskrit work "Vajracchedika prajna paramita sutra" comprising Zaya Pandita's translation from Tibetan into old Kalmyk, A.V. Badmaev's translation into modern Kalmyk and V.P. Androsov's translation from Sanskrit into Russian language.

The second book is the third volume of the Abhidharmakosa. This work is translated by two scholars E.P. Ostravskaya and V.I. Rudoy. Russia has brought out two more books called Buddhism in Translations and published papers of two conferences held in St. Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union. The publication is titled Far Eastern Buddhism translated into Russian by E.A. Tortchinov. France which has the world's best library of books on Buddhism has translated Buddhism Text written by Peter Harvey in English.

The English book is translated into French by Sylvie Carteren and published under the title Le Bouddhisme.

In Nepal, the land of the birth of Bodhisatta Prince Siddhartha Nevari is the foremost indigenous language of the Buddhists. Nevari has a rich traditional literature dating back to well over a thousand years, Nevari is a somewhat District branch of Tibeto-Burman and is spoken in the Kathmandu Valley and major towns of Nepal. Other languages of the Tibeto-Burman family include Tamang, Gurung, Magara and Serpa.

The Dhammapada has now been translated into Nevari, the language spoken by the preponderant majority of Nepali Buddhists.

The new Nevari edition is completed with the accompanying commentary from the Dhammapadatthakatha.

The official language of the Kingdom of Nepal is Nepali. It is an Indo-Aryan language related to Hindi. The Dhammapada is already translated into Nepali and it is also widely available in the Kingdom.

The two important new contributions to Dhammapada literature in general and Buddhist literature in particular are the translations of the Dhammapada into Tharu and Tamang.

Tharu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in rural Terai areas around Lumbini and Kapilavastu. The first major book in Tharu is the Life of the Buddha called Sakyamuni Buddha. The book is compiled and translated by Sri Teja Narayana Panjiyara and published by the Dharmodaya Sabha in Kathmandu. The Tharu edition of the Dhammapada is translated by the retired Attorney General Sri Ramananda Prasada Singh Chandhari Tharu and Sri Subodha Kumara Singha Chandhari Tharu.

Tamang language is Tibeto-Burman and spoken in the Kathmandu area and central hills throughout Nepal. Like in the Tharu language, Tamang langauge has almost no published literature. The Tamang edition of the Dhammapada is brought out by Bhikkhu Mahanama Kovida as trilingual editions with Pali Text in Nagari characters and a Nepali translation. The foreward to the book is written by Bhikkhu Sudarsana, the Vice President of the Dharmodaya sabha.

Back home in Sri Lanka, Dhammapada is translated into Sinhala by many scholars. Sinhala poets have rendered into verse Kavi and silo - titled Dhammapada Gita. In 1994, the Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs and Indigenous Medicine, W. J. M. Lokubandara published the Dhammapada in four languages in one volume - Pali - Sinhala, Tamil and English.

The publication board comprised Amara Heva Madduma, Dr. W. G. Weeraratna, Edwin Ariyadasa, Rajalakshmi Kailasanathan, Visvanat Vajirasena, Sinniah Kanagamurti and Dr. K. B. A. Edmund and Edmund Jayasuriya.

The four-in-one Dhammapada has been popular among all the Sinhala and Tamil speaking people here in Lanka and in Tamilnadu as well, it had to be reprinted three times. The Central Cultural Fund supported the publication. This is the most appropriate time for philanthropists, banks and other commercial enterprises to lend their hand for the printing of the four-langauge Dhammapada which would certainly contribute strengthening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood among the Sinhala and Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka.

There is no better way to spend at least a fraction of the multi-million rupee post tax profits made by those business establishments. It will really be a long-time investment.

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Taiwan spreads Buddhism worldwide

by Ven. Hingulwala Piyaratana Thera

It is heartening to observe that Buddhism is being spread worldwide in the printed word and CD recordings by the Corporate Body of the Buddha Dhamma Educational Foundation of Taipei, Taiwan headed by a Sri Lankan, Most Venerable Sangha Nayaka of Taiwan (Republic of China) Bodagama Chandima Thera.

According to the early Buddhist records such as the Sri Lanka's Great Chronicle (Mahavamsa) and the Burma's (Myanmar) chronicle Sasanavamsa Emperor Asoka of India in the third century BC in the wake of the Third Great Buddhist Council held at Patna (Pataliputta) under the chairmanship of his preceptor Maha Moggaliputta Tissa (Upagupta in some records) Maha Thera despatched Dhammadhutas to nine countries of them two are identified as to Cina-Himavanta and Suvanna Bhumi. Cina-Himavanta is China and Hinmalayan countries of Ladakh, Himachal, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim and the missions were led by Arahant Majjhima and five other elder bhikkhus.

Suvannabhumi included Burma (Myanmar) and other South East Asian countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, the mission to these lands was headed by Arahants Sona and Uttara and a group of elder bhikkhus.

With the segmentation of the Maha Sangha to 16 sects or schools, on the conclusion of the Second Great Buddhist Council held at Vaisali, under the leadership of Yasa Thera, one hundred years after the demise of the Buddha, of these sects there arose a sharp bisection of the Maha Sangha to Theravada and Mahayana. Mahayana was mostly Sanskrit oriented and adherents of Buddhisatva concept. Mahayana found its way to China and other northern areas through land routes and having reached China the doctrine of Dhyana (meditative absorption) came to be termed in Chinese as Chan and thereafter crossing over to Japan, Chan became Zen.

However, Sri Lanka's Buddhist connections, through the vessels plying on the Silk Route, with Sri Lankan ports as the ports of call facilitated the zealous bhikkhuni to take the bhikkhuni Sasana to China. In 426 AD eight Sri Lankan bhikkhunis and in 429 AD another three bhikkhunis went over to China and established the Bhikkhuni Sasana in China.

These Chinese bhikkhunis took Buddhism to other countries in the Far East. During this period a Sri Lankan bhikkhu Nanda (Nante in Chinese records) an accomplished sculptor took three statues of the Buddha along with five other bhikkhus to China.

Further Sihala Maha Sangha Fraternity was established in Burma in 1181 AD and in Thailand in 1317 AD.

Thus Most Venerable Sangha Nayaka of Taiwan Bodagama Chandima is following the footsteps of these zealous Buddhist monks and spreading Buddha Dhamma from Taipei.

All publications by the foundations are for free distribution.

The backcover of every publication carries the following request. "As this is a Dhamma text, we request that it be treated with respect. If you have finished with it, please pass it onto others or offer it to a monastery, school or public library".

The books are both in English and Sinhala and on request by Pirivenas, Viharas, school libraries, Buddhist organizations, public libraries, free packages will be provided free of charge. Only Custom duties have to be paid to the Postal Dept., on clearing the packages from the Post Office. Those interested may contact:- The Venerable Director, The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 11F, 55 Hang Chow South Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Fax 886-2-23913415; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http//www.budaedu.org.tw.

(The writer is the pupil of Most Venerable Malagammana Chandajothi Maha Thera, Adikarana Sangha Nayaka of the Udarata Adhikarana Nayaka Thero of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya of Sri Lanka and a fourth year (final year) undergraduate of the University of Peradeniya, following the BA Honours degree in Sanskrit and the Deputy Incumbent of Sri Bodhirajaramaya, of Galewatte, Buwelikade, Kandy.)

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