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The outflow of nectar

by Somapala Arandara

"For the purpose of entertaining the urge of or to create such a longing for, listening to stories of the Buddha, prevalent in the common masses, writing of various Buddhist stories began in the Polonnaruwa period (1058 A.C.-1234) heralded by the beacon light of Amavatura.

The succeeding Dambadeniya period saw the emergence of a host of such volumes as Buthsarana, Dahamsarana, Sangasarana, Pujavaliya and Saddharmaratnavaliya. Recording of Buddha's sermons enriched Sinhala literature in the medieval period, particularly that of Dambadeniya.

The tradition of interpretation of abstruse texts by means of parables though started in Amavatura flourished in Buthsarana and Saddharmaratnavaliya. Pujavaliya too, emulated this practice. That is why Buthsarana, Pujavaliya and Saddharmaratnavaliya have become tough tomes. (P. B. Sannasgala, Sinhala Sahitya Vamsaya).

Dr. C. E. Godakumbura introduces Buthsarana as follows:

"In contrast to the Amavatura of gurulugomi which was a narrative of incidents from the life of the Buddha in the form of a commentary the Buthsarana is a recital in praise and adoration of the Buddha, relating the virtues he practised and the superhuman qualities he exhibited during his existence.

The influence of Gurulugomi's work, however, can be seen in the exposition of the doctrine, the style of narrative and the method of exhortation adopted by Vidyacakravarti in his work (i.e. Buthsarana)."

Homage to Buddha

Buthsarana begins with the author's homage to the Buddha: "I take refuge in the Buddha." And it goes on to unfold diverse virtues and powers of the Buddha with a representative selection of episodes from his former births.

Prominent among them are the conversion of Angulimala, the taming of the elephant Nalagiri and the cobra, Nandopananda, the humiliation of Mahabrahma, the predicament of the Licchavis, Patacaras salvation and the Buddha's visit to Javatimsa heaven.

Buthsarana is made up of sixty eight Jataka stories most of which are given in brief, several of medium length and the Vessantara Jataka recounted in its entirety. Furthermore, there is an analysis of the thirty two great signs and the one hundred and eight noble features of the Buddha.

Every incident treated here ends with the admonition or injunction that one should seek refuge in the Buddha. So, the whole work takes on the nature of a sermon.

Sirisena Vithanage analyses the layout of Buthsarana containing 16 chapters in a different angle of exploring the writer's intention of projecting the nine noble virtues and a few other details. According to his opinion, the first chapter generates devotion by explaining the meaning of the virtue, 'Bhagava', the second illustrates 'Araham'; the third 'Sammasambuddha'; the fifth, 'Sugata'; the sixth, 'Vijjacarana'; the seventh, 'Purisadhammasarathi'; the ninth, 'Sattha'; the tenth, 'Buddha'; the eleventh, 'Bhagava'; the Buddha's pattern of preaching and his life-story from the time of Deepankara upto the discourse on Dhammacakkappawattana, the thirty two major signs and around eighty to ninety minor characteristics in the thirteenth; the body of the Doctrine in the fourteenth'; the definition of manifold qualities of the Buddha, the Vessantara Jataka in the last Chapter.

Taming of Angulimala, the murderer, is one of the longer episodes of larger scope. Once there was a dedicated, innocent and brilliant student tutored by the famous teacher, Disapamok. This pupil was known as Ahinsaka (the Innocent) and was envied by his fellow mates who fabricated an unfounded lie that Ahinsaka was carrying on a clandestine affair with the wife of the guru.

Ahimsaka

The enraged Disapamok laid out a strategy to get him killed by instructing Ahimsaka to offer him as a token of gratitude for his services a garland of a thousand human fingers taking one from each individual killed. The unsuspecting and obedient Ahimsaka managed to glean the thousand but one finger and was on the look-out for one more person traversing the jungle where he was lying in wait.

He would have murdered even his mother, had she come that way who had in fact left her home in search of him. In order to show him his salvation, the Buddha went in that direction.

Being a fast runner, Angulimala (so called as he was wearing a garland of fingers round his neck) started to rush towards the Buddha, intending to complete the thousand. However much he tried to reach the Buddha who was walking in his composed manner, his effort was in vain. The writer dramatizes his futile endeavour to capture the Buddha vividly in the following words:

"Diva vidava kata viyali gos nahava gena vagirena dahadiyakandin temi gos vismaya pat va." (Having got thirsty, mouth dried up and body wet with sweat pouring all over and being taken by surprise).

Thereupon the Buddha tamed the hideous Angulimala by sweet, coaxing but convincing words.

The description of the thundering arrival of the infuriated elephant, Nalagiri seems to identify Vidyacakravartic rather as a commentator creating a magnificent sound effect by means of alliteration and producing a marvellous scene set with a fitting environment of sound and fury projected by the mortifying manner of the elephant's menacing approach as against the soothing and pleasing composure of the Buddha. This passage is full of a wide range of contrasts.

The terrific aspect of the brutal beast is judiciously juxtaposed with the pacific feature of the Buddha. The tension of the situation is gradually and effectively heightened:

"Ata dhulin wasi giya atrajaya mata sawanak ghana budurasin sadi giya budurajanoya ..." (Yonder is the elephant covered with dust. Hither is the Buddha exuding his hexahued halo; over there is the elephant with eyes like red-hot iron. Here is the Buddha having eyes like blue-lilies, committed to compassion; yonder is rushing the elephant thudding along the road. And here is treading the Buddha softly).

His choice of words and the technique of elaboration is masterly. The tension thus built up is further heightened by the touching sight of a panicked mother running away for life having dropped her baby between the Buddha and the elephant. When the elephant turns to the baby, the reader or listener is gripped with horror.

Then the Buddha allays this fear with his magnanimous and self-sacrificing attitude by distracting the attention of the elephant from the baby to himself. He addresses Nalagiri in a soothing and over-awing tone: "Thou comest to charge me not this babe. Therefore, do turn this way!" On hearing the Buddha's hypnotic voice, the furious elephant knelt down before the Buddha shunning away its evil thoughts.

There is hardly any other passage like this one except "The Period" which is the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens' celebrated novel, "A Tale of Two Cities". The Dickensian passage is quoted in the introduction to that novel thus: "The opening scene with the beautiful description of the passage of the mail coach from London to Dover is one of the most impressive in English literature." And that passage runs like this:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

The only difference between these two great passages is that the reader experiences an alienated (distanced) feeling in reading the Dickensian passage whilst the reading of the Cakravartian passage evokes an emotional excitement (a sense of immediacy) in the mind of the reader.

Heretic views

With the taming of the cobra-king, Nandopananda, Vidyacakravarti shows now the Buddha manages to change the heretic views of Nandopananda into those guided by right thinking. The writer does this in a charming way.

During the Buddha's lifetime, there lived a powerful cobra called Nandopananda. As he started a boozing party on one occasion, the Buddha went past him to the celestial abodes. Nandopananda was too proud of his power to venerate the Buddha.

So Nandopananda disguised himself by his psychic powers as a huge cobra, surrounded the Mahameru Rock with seven spirals of his coiling body, lay its hood over the top of the rock so as to cover the whole of Tavatimsa Heaven.

So one of the disciples, Ratthapala Thera inquired of the Buddha as to why the Mahameru Rock and the Javatimsa Heaven were not to be seen. Thereupon the Buddha disclosed to him the cobra's trick. Then many Theras came forward to vanquish the cobra. But the Buddha did not approve.

Nevertheless when his left-hand Deputy, Mugalan Thera offered to bring the cobra under control, the Buddha, well aware of Mugalan Thera's capacity for immediately getting harnessed with his psychic powers, gave him his consent. On seeing Mugalan Thera's advance, the cobra employed several strategies to kill him by appearing in various guises.

Mugalan Thera was smart enough to outdo the cobra's guises by assuming stronger forms of the same guises and finally the cobra was subdued and caused to seek refuge in the Threefold Refuges after appearing before the Buddha.

Diverse techniques

The author's genius can be reckoned with his exploitation of diverse techniques in the treatment of different characters in separate situations. The episode of the Licchavis is one such. There lived in the city of Vishala, a Board of Governors called the Licchavis numbering 7707 with separate mansions for each of them who administered the country justly by shifts.

In the words of the countrymen themselves, those kings were "impartial, not given to nepotism, grateful, equipped with both ruling out the evil and adopting the good methods of governance, veracious, generous, etc." The city of Wishala abounded in men and women of genuine love, of youthful spirit, etc. equally well prosperous was their city with revellers all over.

Such a blessed city was taken by a sudden sweeping epidemic. Consequently there was famine followed by afflictions by spirits. The writer's talent in dramatizing it is invigorating:

(English version) Food crops were ruined. A famine followed and people became poor. Then they began to die of starvation one after another. Sensing the stinking smell of the dead bodies, came the horrible yaksas. So the people died of famine and the fear of yaksas. Ensuing all this havoc, there spread an epidemic called 'Athivataka'!

The writer makes magic by repeating the same word or words serving to lay emphasis:

"Dora dora miniya. Geyi geyi walama.

Asa asa Kanduluya. Sita sita shokaya."

There are corpses door after door. Weeping at house after house. Eye after eye besmeared with tears. Mind after mind stricken with grief.) Such a fallen city was relieved of all its deceases and disturbances when, on the direction of the Buddha, Ananda Thera chanted the Ratana Sutra throughout the night inside the city.

Vidyacakravarti profusely praises an act of greatness by the Buddha in extending a helping hand to a woman driven to despair by the sudden loss of her husband, her two sons and her parents in quick succession ending up in lunacy.

Patacara is that woman who, born to a millionaire family, left her parents with all their wealth and high standing to elope with her fiance who had been her slave, and was relentlessly pursued by her fate of endless suffering. Finally, the Buddha brought about her emancipation and appointed her the chief whip in the Order of Therinis.

The author plans out the plot of this great work in ascending order of the intensity of pathos culminating in the vivid and evocative narrating of Vessantara Jataka in full. This final episode is the formidable aspect of the writer's craftsmanship. The emotions of pity roused by the touching style of expression here at times causes the reader to burst out in tears.

The writer's dexterity in bringing out the innermost violent feelings of conflict in the emotions of Vessantara, the Bodhisathva himself fighting against his own charitable nature in offering the two children to the despicable brat, Jiyaka supersedes all other lamentations. Immediately after the offer, Vessantara feels as if to beat the old villain and recover the children from him, thus:

"Bamuna banda hovapiya daruvan geneva manawayi sita...

(I feel like mauling the rascal and snatch my children from his clutch...)

The portrait of the old brigand, Jujaka provoking even a well restrained generous giver like Vessantara who is none other than the Aspirant Buddha, is ample proof of the writer's skill in characterization.

This is the secret behind the success of perennial popularity of the Vessantara Jataka which has, for generations, been used as a sacred script for recital at funerals particularly at night.

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