Devi Balika stages Yashodara:

Epitome of goodness and virtue

Every year the Senior Sinhala Literary Society of Devi Balika Vidyalaya holds a literary festival. And for every year there is a special theme. This years literary festival coincides with the 2600th Sambuddha Jayanthiya. An event of great magnitude in Buddhism.

“We thought it appropriate that the theme for this literary festival should have something to do with the event. We saw this as an opportunity to honour the Sambuddha Jayanthiya while choosing a female character in Buddhism that can serve as a role model to our young girls,” said Devi Balika Principle Pradeepa Samarasinghe. Consequently this year’s theme is ‘Yashodara’. The entire literary event was a play portraying the numerous births of Yashodara.

At the event veteran Actor Jackson Anthony, in his many faceted speech touched on the place of women in Sri Lanka’s traditional society. “I derived great joy and satisfaction from the play,” said he. Among the ideals familiar to Sri Lankans the story of Yashodara is a venerable example, he explained.

There was a time when Yashodara was glorified in poem and prose entering into discourse as an ideal woman. “Now we no longer hear these tales. The effort taken by Devi Balika to highlight Yashodara’s goodness and virtuosity is commendable,” said Jackson Anthony. 

Anthony’s perspective on the fairer sex was indisputably interesting. “Women’s day has just been commemorated. There has been a big hullaballoo. Women’s liberation has been discussed vociferously but I have not heard of Yashodara being spoken of. The shadow of Western Women’s liberation has been cast over Asia and Sri Lanka” said Anthony. 

Anthony went on to say that the kind of respect and honour bestowed upon women in Sri Lankan literature cannot be seen in a similar fashion in Western Literature. The exceptional place given to Sri Lankan women in the past is gradually disappearing in Sri Lanka.

He went on to say that during the Anuradhapura and Pollonnaruwa periods women were treated with much dignity and respect. By 1815 with Sri Lanka becoming a colony of Britain, women’s place was undermined.

Education Minister, Bandula Gunawardena that he had issued a decree where every school should have a Buddhist society and must be registered with the education ministry. “It is our responsibility to raise a righteous generation who respect their parents and are a blessing to the nation.” He added that the objective of education is to preserve and promote a sense of humanity for the next generation. “The next generation must always be on our minds. What we do today is for the benefit our children” said Minister Gunawardena.

- Ishara