Religiosity in action

Premawansa Ranatunga

Oh! It is dawn - Sunday morning
Children get up from your beds, hurry towards
your flower beds, pluck flowers and get back home.

With the flowers already plucked
They hurry down the road along
with Dhamma books
To join friends in beautiful array
Walking up to the temple to worship and pray

Girls clad in white uniform
boys in their white attire
keep their feet in a saintly fashion
to reach the school before it begins

Teachers along with children now in array
They march towards the shrine room
The priests come in the formal manner
and along with pansil, recite the gathas too

Now high time to commence days work
As the bell goes, reading "Jataka" stories
From one corner is heard
At the other corner "Dhammapada" recitals
are heard set to sweet melody

"Buddha Charita" most important and grace ful
Takes the forefront before everything else.
Teachers are very kind and sympathetic towards children
They too show kindness in return
Teachers teach them how to appear in front of monks
and pay obeisance to them in the correct manner.

When children get back to their classes
The school building begins to reverberate
in sweet voice
Reciting gathas and so on.

From one corner gets up a child.
Starts reciting "Nahiverena Verani
Sammantida kudachanam"
Next child comes out with its meaning as
"Hatred never ceases through hatred in this world
Through love alone it ceases
This is an eternal law"

Until one o' clock, runs the school
children go on gathering knowledge
until such time
Knowledge of children rise by leaps and bounds
This is the nature of a Sunday school,

This comes up only once a week
and the time devoted only half a day
more than all it gives the children
a knowledge of dhamma every day

Full many a child of intellect
many a dark remote areas bear
Full many a child is born to blush unseen
and waste his, intellect in the desert air

For parents who really cherish their
children
Dhamma schools are - really a boon
Should they concentrate take on properly
They can raise their children
even to the moon