Source:
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/10/tamil-buddhists-of-past-and-futu
re.html
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by J.L. Devananda
(October 05, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In his keynote address at the
2554th Vesak (Vaishakha Purnim) celebrations at the Mahabodhi Society
in Chennai, Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, University of Sri Jayawardenapura
said, “As we are nearing 2600 Buddha Jayanthi, as a Sinhala
Buddhist, this is my humble dream for the future: Tamil Buddhist
temples should come up in Sri Lanka; Tamil children should embrace
Buddhist monkhood; Buddhism must be taught in Tamil; preaching and
worshipping Buddhism in Tamil; Tamil Bikkus should have Sinhala
followers and Tamil Bhikkus must visit Sinhala homes. That togetherness
should be there.”
This sounds somewhat similar to the famous speech “I have a
Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr in 1963 from the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial during the march for freedom at Washington. The only
difference is Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne’s dream of Tamil Buddhism in
Sri Lanka in the future had already existed in the past.
Ancient Buddhist links between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka
Today, the Palk Strait which lies between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan land
masses, is seen as a divider, separating two different distinct
ethnicities, religions, cultures and political entities but there was a
phase in history when Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka enjoyed very close ties,
thanks to a shared interest in Buddhism. During the early period, the
Palk Strait was not seen as a divider but it was a unifier. At that time
Buddhism was a bridge between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. The fascinating
story of the historical links – Golden threads between Buddhism in
Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was narrated by Dr. Shu Hikosake, Director and
Professor of Buddhism, Institute of Asian Studies in Madras in his book
1989 Buddhism in Tamil Nadu: a New Perspective. Dr. Hikosaka’s study is
based on his doctoral dissertation.
The earliest inscriptions in Tamil Nadu written in the Brahmi character
of the time, on the walls of the natural caves in the Tamil districts of
Madura, Ramnad and Tirnnelveli belongs to the third century BC. They
are of considerable interest to students of South Indian Buddhism. It is
learnt from these Brahmi inscriptions, that Buddhism had come into
Tamil Nadu even then. However, the epigraphical evidence seems to
confirm that, it was to King Asoka and the missionary monk Mahinda
(believed to be his son) that the introduction of Buddhism into Tamil
Nadu may be attributed. In his Rock-Edict No. III, King Asoka says that
his Dharma Vijaya prevailed in the kingdoms of the Colas, Pandyans and
at Tambapanni (Sri Lanka). Particularly the edict number XIII found near
Peshawar, there is reference to the Buddhist missions of Asoka. Among
the countries referred to are Cola, Pandya, and Tambapanni. This
inscription was written in 258 B.C. and is direct evidence of the
Buddhist missions of Asoka to the Tamil country and Sri Lanka even
though it does not mention about his son Mahinda. As Buddhist missions
to Sri Lanka had to come by way of South India, the spread of Buddhism
in Sri Lanka and South India in the 2nd century AD should be considered
contemporary events, but it was King Asoka’s son Mahinda who was
responsible for the introduction of Buddhism in Tamil Nadu and Sri
Lanka. Mahinda is said to have erected seven viharas at Kaveripattinum,
the capital of Cola while he was on his way to Sri Lanka. According to
Dr. Hikosaka, contrary to the general impression, Buddhism might have
gone to Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu by sea-route, a route by which one can
reach Sri Lanka easily. Since there existed very close cultural
affinities between Sri Lanka and the Tamil country from time immemorial,
the Buddhist activities in India could have easily influenced in some
way or other the Buddhism of Sri Lanka, says Dr. Hikosaka.
Even though it is believed that Buddha had visited this region, South
India (Andhra) and Sri Lanka, according to historians, Buddhism began to
make a strong impact on Tamil Nadu only in the 3rd century AD. During
that period Buddhism had spread widely in Tamil Nadu and won the
patronage of the rulers. The remains of a Buddhist monastery excavated
at Kaveripattinum which could be assigned to the fourth century are
believed to be the earliest archaeological relics of Buddhism in Tamil
Nadu. The major urban centers of Kanchipuram, Kaveripattinam, Uragapura
(Uraiyur), and Madurai were not only centers of Buddhism, but these were
also important centers of Pali learning. The other minor towns of
Tamil country where Buddhism was active were Buddhamangalam,
Sanghamangalam, Kumbakonam, Mayurapattanam, Alamkudipatti, Kuvam,
Sanghamangai, Tiruppadirippuliyur, and so on.
Tamil Buddhists contribute to Buddhist scriptures
It was at this time that Tamil Nadu gave some of its greatest scholars
(both Theravada and Mahayana) to the Buddhist world. Tamil Nadu boasted
of outstanding Buddhist monks, who had made remarkable contributions to
Buddhist thought and learning. Three of the greatest Pali scholars of
this period were Buddhaghosa, Buddhadatta, and Dhammapala and all three
of them were associated with Buddhist establishments in the Tamil
kingdoms.
Buddhadatta or Thera Buddhaatta as he is called lived during the time of
Accyutarikkanta, the Kalabra ruler of the Cola-Nadu; was a senior
contemporary of Buddhaghosa. He was born in the Cola kingdom and lived
in the 5th Century AD. Under the patronage of this ruler, Buddhadatta
wrote many books. Among his best known Pali writings are the
Vinaya-Vinicchaya, the Uttara-Vinicchaya and the Jinalankara-Kavya.
Among the commentaries written by him are the Madhurattha-Vilasini and
the Abhidhammavatara. In the Abhidhammaratara he gives a glowing account
at Kaveripattinum, Uragapuram, Bhutamangalam and Kanchipuram and the
Mahavihara at Anuradapura, (Sri Lanka). While he was at Sri Lanka, he
composed many Buddhist works such as Uttara-viniccaya Ruparupa Vibhaga
Jinalankara etc. Buddhaghosha, contemporary of Buddhadatta also composed
many Buddhist commentaries.
Buddhaghosha is a Tamil monk, who made a remarkable contribution to
Buddhism in Sri Lanka. He stayed and studied Buddhist precepts at
Mahavihara in Anuradhapura. The Visuddhimagga was the first work of
Buddhaghosha which was written while he was in Sri Lanka.
After Buddhaghosha, the important Theravada monk from the Tamil country
was Dhammapala. Dhammapala lived in the Mahavihara at Anuradhapura. He
composed paramathadipani which was a commentary on Buddhaghosha’s
work on Khuddaka Nikaya and Paramathamanjusa, which was a commentary on
Buddhaghosha’s Visuddhimagga. A close study of the three Buddhist monks
viz Buddhadatta, Buddhaghosha and Dhammapala shows that Tamil Buddhists
were closely associated with the Sri Lankan Buddhists around the 5th
century AD.
The author of Nettipakarana is another Dhammapala who was a resident of
a monastery in Nagapattinam, another important Buddhist centre from
ancient times. One more example is the Cola monk Kassapa, in his Pali
work, Vimatti-Vinodani, this Tamil monk provides interesting information
about the rise of heretical views in the Cola Sangha and the consequent
purification that took place. There are so many other Tamil monks who
are attributed to the Pali works some of them were resident at
Mayura-rupa-pattana (Mylapore, Madras) along with Buddhagosha.
The Tamil Buddhist monks used Pali languages in preference to Tamil in
their writings. This is because the Buddha spoke in Magadi Prakrit
(Pali). Sanskrit is the sacred language of the Hindus, and similarly
Pali is considered as the sacred language of the Buddhists. The well
known Tamil Buddhist epics found were Manimekalai, Silappadhikaram,
Valaiyapathi, Kundalakesi, and Jivaka Cintamani. Manimekalai, a purely
Buddhist work of the 3rd Sangam period in Tamil literature is the most
supreme and famous among the Buddhist work done in Tamil Nadu. It is a
work expounding the doctrines and propagating the values of Buddhism.
The interaction between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan monks finds mention in
Manimekalai, which is set in the Tamil towns of Kaveipumpattinam,
Kanchi, and Vanchi. There is mention about the presence of wondering
monks of Sri Lanka in Vanchi, which was the capital of the Chera Kings
of Tamil Nadu. The Chinese traveller, Tsuan Tsang, wrote that there were
around 300 Sri Lankan monks in the monastery at the Southern sector of
Kanchipuram. Ancient Kanchipuram, the capital of Tondaimandalam, ruled
by the Tamil Pallava dynasty, an offshoot of Chola rulers was the major
seat of Tamil learning and is also known as the city of thousand
temples. Even Thirukkural, the ancient Tamil couplets/aphorisms
celebrated by Tamils is based on Buddhist principals. Although Buddhism
has become almost extinct from Tamil Nadu, it has contributed a great
deal to the enrichment of Tamil culture and has exerted a significant
influence, both directly and indirectly, on the Tamil religious and
spiritual consciousness, present as well as past.
Tamil Buddhism in Sri Lanka
As Buddhism was one of the dominant religions in both Tamil Nadu and Sri
Lanka, naturally there were very close relations between the two
regions. The monks from Sri Lanka, too, went across to the Tamil kingdom
and stayed in the monasteries. As Dr. Leslie Gunawardana says, `The
co-operation between the Buddhist Sangha of South India and Sri Lanka
produced important results which are evident in the Pali works of this
period`. He also says that the Tamil Buddhist monks were more orthodox
than their counterparts in Sri Lanka. Indeed, the relations between the
Tamil and Sinhala Buddhist monks were so close that the latter sought
the assistance of the former in political turmoil.
In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Buddhists who followed Theravada Buddhism shared
the common places of worship with the Sinhalese, but there were also
Tamil Buddhists who were following the Mahayana Buddhism and they had
their own Mahayana temples. There are still some Tamil Mahayana Buddhist
establishments (Palli) in the east and possibly in the Jaffna
peninsula. The best known was Velgam Vehera (see details below), which
was renamed Rajaraja-perumpalli after the Cola emperor. Another was the
Vikkirama-calamekan-perumpalli.
Some ten miles northwest of Trincomalee off the Trincomalee –
Horowupothana road is an ancient Buddhist shrine with origins dating
back to the years before the second century. It is a historical fact
that among the many ancient Buddhist shrines in Sri Lanka Velgam Vehera
which was renamed Rajaraja-perumpalli, also called Natanar Kovil by the
present day Tamils stands out as the only known example of a `Tamil
Vihare or Buddhist Palli` or as the late Dr. Senerath Paranavithana
described it in his book `Glimpses of Ceylon`s Past` as an `Ancient
Buddhist shrine of the Tamil people`. Some of the Tamil inscriptions
found at the site record donations to this shrine and are dated in the
reigns of the Chola Kings, Rajaraja and Rajendradeva. It was his view
that the date of the original foundation of the vihare was no doubt
considerably earlier than the reign of King Bhatika Tissa II.
The situation in Tamil Nadu, however, began to change towards the
beginning of the 7th Century AD when the rise of Vaishnavism and Saivism
posed a serious challenge to Buddhism and Jainism. There was a
significant increase in Hindu/Brahmanical influence and soon the worship
of Siva and Visnu began to gain prominence. The Buddhist and Jaina
institutions in Tamil Nadu came under attack when they began to lose
popular support and the patronage from the rulers. One result of this
was the migration of Buddhist and Jaina monks and devoted lay members to
kingdoms where they could find refuge. While the Jainas and Buddhists
(mostly Mahayana) were able to go to Kannada and Andhra/Telugu regions,
a large part of the Buddhists (Theravada) turned to Sri Lanka and
assimilated with the local Buddhist population.
Mahavihara monks of Anuradapura and the Pali chronicles
Although Buddhism flourished in South India in ancient times, the 5th
century AD Pali chronicles such as the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa written
by the Mahavihara monks of Anuradapura (Sri Lanka) remained silent about
the introduction of Buddhism to South India. This is because, when
Hindu/Brahmanism started reappearing in India and posed a threat to
Buddhism, the Mahavihara monks of Anuradapura (Sri Lanka) due to their
strong devotion to Buddhism and desire to consolidate and protect this
religion in Sri Lanka wrote the Pali chronicles Deepavamsa/Mahavamsa
just to glorify Buddhism and the Buddhist kings of Sri Lanka and not to
record objectively what happened. The `Lion Ancestry` and the myths
about the origin of the Sinhala race as pre-destined, true custodians of
the island of Sri Lanka and guardians of Buddhism is a myth of the
creative authors to protect Buddhism and is not the common true history.
The ancient Sri Lankan Kingdom (Anuradapura) was ruled by both Buddhist
and Hindu kings. There is no evidence what so ever to prove that they
were Sinhala. An analysis of the Pali chronicles (Deepavamsa/Mahavamsa)
makes it very clear that the Mahavihara monks who authored them in the
5th century AD have created the ethnic identity Sinhala, yoked it with
Buddhism and created a new ethno-religious identity in Sri Lanka known
as Sinhala-Buddhist to sustain the religion in the country for 5000
years.
The ancient Brahmi inscriptions (before 7th century AD) in Tamil Nadu
are in old Tamil where the Tamil names did not end with an `N’
or an `M’, but were very similar to those Sanskrit/Pali names.
It was only after the 7th century AD, that the Tamil language adopted
some changes to its Grammar, script, etc. and evolved into the present
form. This might have happened after the Tamils developing what is
commonly called as the pulli (dot) system which is peculiar to Tamils
in particular among the Indian languages and due to this dot system the
words/names ending with `A’ ends up with `N’ and
`M’. This is the reason why, in the Pali chronicles and in the
Brahmi stone inscriptions the names of the Tamil Kings of Anuradhapura
were referred to as Sena, Guttika, Elara, Pulahatha, Bahiya,
Panayamara, Parinda, Dathiya, etc and not as Senan, Guttikan, Ellalan,
etc. Similarly in Tamil Nadu, the names of the ancient kings were
referred to as Kulothunga Chola, Vikrma Chola, Aditya Chola, Kulasekara
Pandya, Vira Wickrama Pandya, Parakrama Pandya, Sundara Pandya, etc.
It is believed that most of the Tamil Buddhist literary work has been
destroyed during religious controversies. The loss of Tamil Buddhist
literature was a death blow to Tamil Buddhism. Apart from the Brahmi
inscriptions and other archeological evidence found in Tamil Nadu and
the available Tamil literary works, the Rock-Edicts of King Asoka also
sheds much light on this subject. Even though the Pali chronicles did
not mention the ethnic background of the ancient Sri Lankan Buddhists
and the Buddhist kings right from Devanampiya Tissa, the Mahavamsa
referred to the Non-Buddhist kings as Tamils (invaders). The above facts
and the non-existence of Tamil Buddhists during the colonial period
(due to the 10th century Chola invasion) led the 19th century European
Pali scholars who translated the Pali chronicles to assume and
subsequently the present day Sri Lankans to believe that the ancient
Buddhists and the Buddhists Kings of Sri Lanka were Sinhalese.
Unfortunately, today there are no Tamil Buddhists in Sri Lanka but the
majority of the early Tamils of Sri Lanka (before the 10th century Chola
invasion) were Buddhists. The ancient Buddhist remains in the North and
East of Sri Lanka are the remnants left by the Tamil Buddhists and not
anybody else. They are part of the heritage of Sri Lankan Tamils. Only
the Buddhist temples, statues and structures build in the recent past
and present in the North and East remain as Sinhala-Buddhist.
Important Questions
The questions still remain, why are the Sri Lankans ignorant of their
past or rather, why is the Sri Lanka’s past hidden from its own
people? Why does the Sri Lankans believe that the Buddhist sites in Sri
Lanka belong only to the Sinhalese (Sinhala heritage) and not to the
Tamils? Why are the Sri Lankans ignorant about the early Tamil
Buddhists of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu? Why do the Sri Lankans think, in
Sri Lanka a Buddhist should be a Sinhalese and a Hindu should be a
Tamil while the Sinhalese worship most of the Hindu/Brahmanical Gods?
Not only the Indians but even the Sri Lankan Tamils gave up Buddhism and
accepted Hinduism. For them to go back to Buddhism, has 2500 years of
Buddhism in Sri Lanka (the so called Dhammadveepa) influenced any major
changes in the Sinhala society (the so called guardians of Buddhism
chosen by none other than the Buddha) in terms of attitude, character,
behavior, morality and so on or has it failed miserably? Are the
Buddhist monks practicing Ahimsa (non-violence), Karuna (compassion),
Metta (affection), and Maithriya (loving-kindness) towards fellow humans
(irrespective of race/religion) or are they in the name of Buddhism
promoting ethno-religious chauvinism and hatred?
Buddhism in Sri Lanka is monopolized by the Sinhalese and they call it
Sinhala-Buddhism which is Theravada Buddhism (Tripitaka) mixed up with
the Mahavamsa. Will the Sinhala-Buddhist Maha Sangha accept any Tamil
Buddhist monks? Will the Tamils accept Mahavamsa as a part of Buddhism
or Buddhist history knowing very well that it is a Sinhala-Buddhist
mythology?
Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne’s dream of future Tamil Buddhists is very
genuine and apt during this period. As he says, it may recreate the
togetherness, the common bond that once existed between the Sinhalese
and Tamils. It will not be a surprise if Nanda Malini sings about the
Damila Buddhayo of the past and the future but can his dream
materialize? Of course, miracles do happen; Martin Luther King
Junior’s dream came true so let us have some hope.
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