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| Wednesday, 03 November 2004 |
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Saddharmaratnavaliya String of gems of Buddha's doctrine by Somapala Arandara How great scholars in this country began to engage themselves in describing the Buddha's life story can be traced back to the literary movement in Dambadeniya period with the emergence of Amavatura composed by Buddhagosa Thera. He wound his work around one of the nine Great Virtues of the Buddha, namely, Purisadhammasarathi. This tradition was carried forward by other scholars like
Vidyacakrawarti in Buthsarana and the authors of Dahamsarana and
Sangasarana followed suit. Saddharmaratnavaliya comes next which really
seems to occupy the third place of importance, Amavatura and Buthsarana
being the first two. But Martin Wickremasinghe treats Saddharmaratnavaliya
as the second in importance. The effort by the literary circles in translating Buddhist sermons from Pali into Sinhala in Polonnaruwa period reached its climax in Saddharmaratnavaliya composed by Dharmasena Thera in the latter half of Dambadeniya period, according to Punchi Banda Sannasgala (Sinhala Sahitya Vansaya). Saddharmaratnavaliya shows the emergence of stories embodied in a Pali commentary totally translated into Sinhala for the first time. One should not, however, assume that the body of information contained therein was a mere literal translation. Instead, the writer interpreted the substance of the Pali Commentary into Sinhala with adaptations, additions and emendations as he pleased. Collection of stories The title, Saddharmaratnavaliya, means a String of Gems of the Dhamma. It is a collection of 300 stories. Moreover, there are tales from various other stories, like Mangala Sutra Commentaries, Suvisivivarana Katha and Nagasena Katha. Then the number of stories altogether amount to 310 as expressed by Ven. Makuluduwe Piyaratana Thera. This celebrated big volume, however, serves the dual purpose of being a treatise on the doctrine for the benefit of devotees and as a book of literary value for the appreciation of the literary-minded. We find the preaching style of Saddharmaratanavali is made up of short sentences at some places and long elaborate ones at other points bringing out the meaning and music of words by means of similes and metaphors familiar to the common man. The general plot of the story is introduced at the start and a moral suggested at the end of each succeeding episode. The following similes with penetrating wisdom from Mattakundali anecdote, for example, can be cited: "Paya baravayata pitikara behet bandinna se (Just as herbal medicines are applied on a foot affected with filariasis). "Anda yawa tabala walpata gatta se" (Just like locking the stable gates after the horse has scooted away). This anecdote lays bare the overbearing greed of wealth of a certain Brahman called Adinnapubbaka who is rightly called such because he never gave anything for charity. In order to avoid having to pay for a goldsmith for making a jewellery ornament in gold for his son this avid fellow made one in gold himself with no artistic refinement but only the smooth flat surface. Hence the name, Mattakundali, arrogated to his son. Empathy The writer skilfully drives home in the mind of the listener or the reader the ravages of avarice leading to eventual grief. Dharmasena Thera intensifies the pathos and sympathy of the Buddha when he tries to show the right path even to Adinnapubbaka who, engrossed with his reluctance to spend his money even in an emergency of the critical nature of his only son's illness, is awakened on his son's demise to the ill effects of his own greed. The writer's expertly skill in evoking a deep sense of humour fused with pity is strongly projected in the similes as, for example, "Taradiya tibiyadi atin kirannase" (Like trying to weigh with the hand setting aside the scales). Another striking quality of the style of writing in Saddharmaratnavaliya is its empathy. The reader or listener feels as if he is associated with what is happening in various situations and as if he identifies himself with various characters rather than having a distanced feeling of reading or listening. The writer's forte lies in the fact that he recognizes an individual or a situation, studies it well and then he writes the anecdotes to kindle the curiosity of the reader or to sharpen the relish in the listener so cleverly as to keep him spell-bound. How Dharmasena Thera throws light on characterization and development of plot effectively is noticeable in the following extract from the anecdote of Thulatissa Thera. "Oba valit goyam kalamanawaka taba Here, the writer builds up a live figure standing before the reader or listener in this briefly worded but evocatively broad view of an old bhikkhu who was ordained in his dotage skipping his youth suitable for adopting moral principles, which is like cultivation of paddy belatedly neglecting the proper norms of seasons, and leaving aside the difficult task of observing good precepts, indulges in the delicious offerings to the Buddha, grows big and brawny but not brainy in practice. On reading or hearing this passage, one naturally visualizes an old an obese monk with comparatively little wisdom. The parable of Kisagothami is an eye opener to people, particularly the young who think that the sole purpose of life is nothing but merry-making and gratification of the senses. In this tale, a certain millionaire in Savatthi lost all his wealth when a fire reduced all that into cinders as a result of some vicious deed in his former birth. On seeing him lying in utter disgust, a friend of his got to know the reason for his dismay and exclaimed, "Even cinders are a valuable resource now that you are in bad luck, keep all those cinders in your stalls for display. If anyone asks you why you alone among other vendors, keep cinders for sale, you'd better say you are to sell what is available with you. Kisagothami If one inquires about why you are selling gold and silver whereas others trade in textiles etc. you'd better ask that person where the gold and silver was. When that person shows you the gold, you'd better request him or her to put some in your hand. And if the gold in your hand remains intact and if it happens to be a maiden, get her married to your son and transfer all your possessions to her. And if the party be a young man, give your daughter in marriage to him and hand over all your wealth to him. You can live on whatever they offer you. So, when he was keeping his stock of cinders at his stall, a young girl called Kisagothami so named as she was very lean in body but was full of merit, approached him and made the inquiry. "Why are you keeping gold for sale while others are dealing in textiles?" "Dear daughter, where is the gold?" the millionaire asked her/ She replied, "Your stock of cinders here is gold. Your query is like asking for your way while taking the right path yourself". Then the shopkeeper said, "Daughter, if it is so, please put some in my hand." When she did so, the gold remained intact by virtue of her merits. Then the millionaire came to know her whereabouts and her state of being single, got her married to his son and bequeathed all his wealth to them. The whole heap of cinders had become a stack of gold. After some time, she gave birth to a son who died prematurely in his childhood. Disallowing others to bury him, and out of ignorance of the meaning of death, she carried his dead body over her shoulder and walked from house to house, asking for a medicine to heal him. One wise person understood her plight and directed her to Lord Buddha. Questioned whether he would treat her son,the Compassionate Come soothed her saying, "Being a healer of birth, decay and disease with immortal drugs, I'm quite qualified to treat your son. Only thing you have to supply me with a fistful of mustard seeds". Then she inquired if it was possible to find and if so, from where. On seeing her intelligence from that query, the Buddha asked her to bring some from a house where no son or daughter had ever died. She began to trudge from road to road only to realize the futility of her effort. So she got her son buried and came back to the Buddha. The Compassionate One then uttered a stanza enabling her to attain Sotapatti and later on Arahatship. Vision of life In analysing a writer's vision of life, it is worth studying the angle from which he treats human nature. A non ridiculous but predominantly humorous attitude is adopted to focus attention on bright cases of wisdom not only among men but also among women. Kundalakeshi is one such example. Born to wealthy parents, a very charming maiden was kept in a sort of house - arrest to save her from probable clutches of immoral conduct out of brimming passions. So she naturally, longed for sweet company with the opposite sex. One day, looking through the window, she espied a robber sentenced to death being led to the gallows. At once, she took pity on him and began a fast demanding him for her husband. Having had to give in to her, her father managed to have the robber released secretly by bribing the executioner, and got him to marry her. But the robber could not be reformed and his evil nature re-appeared in him. So he contrived a ruse to kill her and sell her jewellery. Under the pretext of fulfilling a vow, he took her to the top of a rock and there he disclosed his ill intend to her. She did not succeed in trying to convince him that all her wealth including jewellery was his. Realizing the futility of her pleadings and more, she outsmarted him in trickery by pushing him down the precipice to his destruction. Wits of argument Unable to face her parents again, she chucked away her jewellery into the jungle and traversing the jungle, met a mendicant who trained her in a thousand wits of argument. Thus equipped she began to roam the country defeating anybody in debate. At last, she encountered Sariputta Thera who outwitted her in debate and enlightened her on the tenets of meditation after having ordained her. Then she attained Arahatship. Thus the author derides the vanity of describing the beauty of women which does not prove profitable in one's next birth. And if people perceive the reality of life, only such deeds as showing the ultimate Truth can be reckoned as good. This story throws redeeming light on the young sensuous minds not to act on impulse and bring about their disaster. This anecdote has a striking similarity to William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, as in both episodes, the writers try to muster the might of passionate love acting on impulse culminating in their own downfall. Dharmasena Thera's poignant humour coupled with mild satire manifests in the character of Cittahattha Thera who entered the Order with the sole purpose of feeding on delicacies offered to the Buddha. He used to ordain and disordain himself as he pleased for six times. Whenever, he was overpowered by sensual passions he would go back to his wife, after disrobing himself. On one occasion on his return home, he saw his wife mature in pregnancy and in similar disappointing postures as portrayed by Gurulugomi in Amavatura concerning Prince Siddhartha's view of the dancing notches, instrumental in his Renunciation. So did Cittahatha Thera after disrobing for the sixth time, turned away from home never to come back. His mother-in-law blamed her daughter for frustrating her husband with her untoward postures. In reply, she tells her mother, "Please, don't shout mother. He has no errand to carry. He'll come back soon. Don't I sense his motive?" The so-called motive arouses the reader's curiosity and imagination. How admirable is the writer's skill! Martin Wickremesinghe fondly praises Dharmasena Thera's marvellous capacity based on his innate poesy in rejuvenating the Jataka stories and his effective choice of material drawn from the day-to-day life of the yokels known to him. The writer shows the omni-potency of pleasant words accounting for the theme of Nandivisala Jatakaya. Where the Bodhisathva born as a Brahman's favourite bull taught its master how hash words deny one's imminent gains whereas sweet speech produces prosperity. This is good advice for emulation. But people with uncultivated or little understanding ought to be forewarned of cunning and scheming politicians of our day whose aim is to deceive the masses with pep talk couched in charming words and thrive in personal gain and glory by openly plundering the poor people. **** Back **** |
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