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| Thursday, 1 January 2004 |
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Greatest public gathering for a funeral by Dr. Wimal Wickramasinghe It is no exaggeration to say that the funeral procession of rather the cremation of the remains of the Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thera took place with the greatest public gathering ever seen on the Sri Lankan scene, in terms of both members of the Buddhist clergy and devotees, numbering more than a million.
Most of the banners that adorned across the roads all over the island, be it urban, suburb or countryside, did not, quite surprisingly, acknowledge the names of the donors as in political functions by which those making the contribution capitalise on the event. To my mind, there were great funerals of political supremos such as D. S. Senanayake, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Dudley Senanayake, Ranasinghe Premadasa and J. R. Jayewardene but the numbers that paid homage to the Venerable Soma Thera surpassed many, many times more than those who took part in such funeral functions, in terms of the length and size of the processions that led to or went along with the pyre of the Ven. Soma and congregation of masses at the Independent Square where the ceremony of cremation took place, active public participation in the matter of decorating the roads, putting up yellow flags in their own abodes, getting his sermons being relayed in almost every town or junction, filing up by the sides of the road that extended from Sri Vajiragnana Dharmayathana at Maharagama to the Independent Square. The same remark, though not said in derogation, is not applicable to the funerals of the renowned Buddhist priests, including Maha Nayaka Theras - and other renowned members of the clergy of other denominations. Even the print and electronic media, while devoting more time than they would have ever done for the funeral of any other statesman or Maha Nayaka Thera of any sector, did a splendid job of work by narrating Ven. Soma Thera's Buddhist utterances and admonitions, some being based on the Buddha's discourse and others made out by the Thera on his own interpretation or genuine intelligence, organising various forms of discussions, together with renowned Buddhist monks, some noble clergy men and Buddhist participants, and beaming new songs (one by Dayan Vitharana is to be particularly mentioned) that depict the admiration of the human qualities of the priest. Not surprisingly many television channels, covered the funeral procession as well as the funeral proceedings at Independent Square in full, an event that never took place in any of the former funerals. How did all this happen in respect of the Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thera? He was neither a Mahanayaka nor Anunayaka. The answer is quite simple: down-to-earth attitude which he displayed in delivering sermons, simplicity of the language he used accompanied by specific and pertinent examples from various discourses of the Buddha - to drive his point of view home - lucidity of his explanations, sarcastic admonitions or rather warnings he gave to Buddhist miscreants or their misdemeanours, his pleasing personality, etc. Though Ven. Soma did not get academic qualifications in terms of university degrees, his discipline of learning Buddhist Doctrine at the Maharagama Dharmayathanaya, which does not encourage its disciples to enter universities and follow courses leading to degrees, made him a knowledgeable and erudite priest well versed in various aspects of the Buddhist Doctrine, not to mention about other religions and subjects. One solid thing he proved in the process. that is, oratory discourses, coupled with the vast knowledge of the subjects deal with, sincerity, pleasing voice, commitment and human touch, would alone be sufficient for anybody to rise to higher echelons of the society that evince admiration, veneration, respect and popularity, disregarding other factors such as the place of birth, family status, the Nikaya to which someone belongs and the ranking which he held in the Buddhist world. To be more specific about the subject per se, he was a moral crusader against all types of crimes and sins, denouncing wrong doings in the society, be they perpetrated against the human kind in general and the society in particular, keeping the Buddhist values in view. No doubt, he was a champion of the Buddhist cause and showed utmost interest in the well-being of the Sinhala Buddhists, criticising vehemently their misgivings and superstitions. He always tried to inculcate moral values, especially in terms of the Buddhist doctrine, into the minds of the Buddhists, most of them being on the wrong track due to either ignorance or non-practice of the tenets of Buddhism. His sermons were not complex and complicated, leaving the listeners perplexed and nonplussed. His art of delivery was something that attracted everybody, be he an appreciator or foe. What mattered most was that he appealed to both the young and the old. His creative skill in the art of writing had been amazing. And, he, when confronted with a thorny problem, was able to analyse and pulvarise it with a view to giving a simple solution in the end. He was totally against birth controls by Buddhists, hinting that their numbers are on the decline and, as a result, the Sinhala race would eventually face extinction. He wished to create a society without sins as depicted by Buddhist pancha seela: avoidance of evils such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. He did not expect anything more from the Buddhist devotees. He was also totally against unethical conversion of Buddhists into other religions. It was true that he was an ardent nationalist but never posed as a racialist. Were there any exterior reasons that made him exceedingly popular? There were: his untimely death, death at young age, inability to continue with the course of action he proposed to practice due to his sudden demise, suspicion of the cause of death, etc. When the news of his untimely death at St. Petersburg in Russia was announced over the radio on the 12th of December 2003, people could hardly believe it and since then they went into voluntary mourning and it continued not only up to his cremation on the 24th but also afterwards. Apart from a minor incident or commotion that had taken place immediately after the cremation of the Ven. Soma Thera, the people who took part in the procession and in the congregation at the Independence Square stood splendidly calm and quiet as a mark of respect to the Thera. It would no doubt a result of the influence of the sanctity of his Buddhist discourses. He was a person to be emulated by everyone, a priest who had the greatest sympathy for the poor and also for the country that was threatened by divisive politics, disharmony, breakdown of the law and order and vulgarism. The general wish of the people is that before he attains Nibbana, he would come back to the country by way of rebirth and attends to his unfinished business of creating a country with religious harmony, peace and prosperity, protection of Buddhism and the Sinhala nation with due respect and integrity. |
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To utter satisfaction of the people at large, even other devotees,
including those in the religious hierarchy, such as Hindus, Christians and
Muslims paid last respects to this renowned priest. Above all, there was
no compulsion whatsoever, either religiously, socially or politically, to
mourn the sudden demise of the Thera, people taking part in various
activities such as putting up Buddhist or rather yellow flags, banners and
pandols, a sign hitherto unseen or unheard in the length and breadth of
the whole country.
