A marvellous birth
Title : The Marvellous Birth of the Buddha
Author : Veronica Damayanthi Jayakody
Genre : Buddhist literature
Publisher : Dayawansa Jayakody. 2012.
The Buddha's birth is regarded as the greatest bliss for the mankind.
Sukho Buddhanam uppado (blissful is the birth of the Buddha) is the key
phrase that denotes this belief. The Buddhists all over the world
celebrate this blissful day not only in terms of spiritual rituals
connected with the religious doctrines, but also in various other forms
like creating an awareness, making the others know about the
blissfulness in terms of information and knowledge, imparting them via
stories, parables and legends and other forms of creative documents as
media messages. The story of the Buddha's birth is written and uttered
in terms of many forms. Over the years the readers may have found
hundreds of such books.
But the capacity to write more and more and the necessity to do so
remains unabated. The book titled as 'The Marvellous Birth of the
Buddha' authored by Veronica Damayanthi Jayakody is one such example
that attempts to trace the birth of the Buddha. It marks most salient
factors connected to the life story of the Buddha to help the reader,
especially the young reader.
Literary sources
The main sources of information happen to be Pali and the Sinhala
literature selected from the historical and religious documents. In
ancient Sinhala texts one comes across such terms as 'Buddha Vamsa',
'Buddha Rasmi' and 'Buddhotpada'. In the Pali Canons, the term is used
as 'apadana' or the biographies.
 In 'Buddhapadanaya', the life story of the Buddha is narrated perhaps
to create the birth of the Buddha descending from a cycle of births over
aeons of lives culminating in the best human birth visualising the right
place of birth, the right mother who so conceives and gives birth, and
the right time where the right kind of noble humans live. This is termed
as bhuddhapadanaya.
In this manner this book is basically a short biography, the first
part of a series which will be continued later into many other stages in
the life of the Buddha. The intention of the author Jayakody is to write
the biography of the greatest human being who lived in the world. The
story depends on the facts as narrated over the years. The profile
cannot be compared with that of another human being.
This is the underlying factor of the writer. The layer of a faith of
goodwill remains as the basic guideline of the intention. The intention
of writing itself had paved the way for happiness and the author expects
a degree of happiness be brought to the minds of the reader as well. The
concept of the would-be Buddha or the Bodhisattava is explained at the
outset.
In each of his past births, the perfections or paramitas fulfilled
are aimed to reach pious deeds such as self sacrifice spreading loving
kindness and cultivating the inner bliss. Then the writer traces the
examples of such magnitude in the lives of other Buddhas. The greatness
in the life of a Buddha is exemplified in terms of examples of dana,
sila and bhavana, which culminates in the highest bliss that could be
encountered as against the material happiness. The facts leading to the
birth and the development of the matured mind of a prince are traced
with several known stories said to have happened in the Buddhistic era
in India. They are brought to the forefront in the form of simple
narratives fused in dialogues and monologues.
Future buddha
The would be Buddha is shown as preparing himself to the achievement
of the material wealth but soon to be given up This is forecast on the
part of the devas and sages in the form of a fantasy where symbolic
representations could be alluded. The culmination of the fantasy is the
revelation of the omniscient Buddha who will lead the path to human
beings to gauge themselves.
A short profile of the mother and the father of the would-be Buddha
is presented. They are known as queen Mahamaya and king Suddhodana and
the place where the would-be Buddha will be born is denoted as
Kapilavasthu. The reader will come to grips with such places as the
heaven known as Tusita and the devatas who abound these places as
related in the ancient texts. From this point of view the textual
material embedded are mostly rediscoveries for the modern reader.
A panoramic vision of the celebration of a nation where the would-be
Buddha will be born too is presented. It is the month of asalha the
month known for festivals. Followed by this background the reader is
made to know of the dream of the queen Mahamaya. The dream she saw is
presented in a poetic manner and paves the way for the reader to
interpret in modern terms. This psychological dream had been interpreted
by creative writers of the calibre of Luis Borges and psychiatrists like
Carl Jung.
The rituals linked to the childbirth as followed in ancient India are
traced supplementing an additional knowledge on the subject. The miracle
of the birth is then followed where the well known utterance of the
newly born has been a subject of much discussion. The well known primary
Pali stanza that goes as 'aggohamasmi lokassa' and the translation of
the same is included.
'I am the most superior in the world,
I am the greatest in the world,
I am supreme in the world,
This is my last birth,
There is no more rebirth for me.'
Miracles happen
These words spoken by the newborn who is said to be the future Buddha
are regarded by the Buddhists all over the world as the most sacred
utterance and the most miraculous event in the world. These events and
the interpretations should not be regarded merely as realistic forms,
but reinterpreted from a symbolic layer of meanings which attempt to
penetrate and analyse the great birth of a supra human being as against
the commonest general human being born anywhere.
On reading this text a reader will enter into two fold structures of
human existence. Primarily, is there any reason for us to write once
again the glory of the birth of the would-be Buddha which has been
already laid down in ancient texts? Secondly, what new interpretation
could we attribute to the understanding of the most ancient way of
seeing and believing the birth of a noble human being?
It is up to the discerning reader to investigate whether these
utterances and events are presented out of sheer faith on a great human
being.
Miracles may happen from time to time. Unbelievable events may
happen. The response to these questions and the insights that ensue may
pave the way for the learning of the teachings of the Buddha.
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