by J.L. Devananda
4. Mahavamsa Myth and its Implications in today’s context
(February 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mr. Bandu De Silva’s main argument was how Mahavamsa can be connected to the present ethnic issue/debate and how it can be attributed to the present day ultra-nationalist chauvinism in Sri Lanka. Even though I have said enough on this issue (above) and in my article, how the present day Sinhala-Buddhists accrued the Mahavamsa mindset (the fusion between Mahavamsa and the present day Sinhala-Buddhists), let me further elaborate on how the fusion took place.
4.1. Imaginary Buddha
More than thousand years after the Parinibbana (passing away) of Lord Buddha the Mahavamsa has created an imaginary Buddha (Mahavamsa Buddha) who,
1. Made three magical visits to Sri Lanka paving the way for his Dhamma to prevail in the island in the future for a full 5000 years. (Today, the Sinhala-Buddhists believe, Sri Lanka is a ‘chosen land ’and ‘thrice blessed’ by none other than Buddha).
2. Confirmed that Vijaya and his followers (convicted criminals and non-Buddhists), the ancestors of today's Sinhala community, are said to have landed on the island of Lanka (Promised Land), exactly on the day he attains Parinibbana (his passing away).
3. Made arrangements for the safety of Vijaya and his followers. He calls on Sakka (Indra), who in turn calls Vishnu (Upulvan) for divine intervention and help to protect his chosen people (Sinhala Jathiya) and their promised land (Dhammadeepa) and his Dhamma (Buddhism) for a full 5000 years.
Even though Siddharta Gautama was from a Hindu background, the concept of God in Hinduism (Brhama, Vishnu, Siva) is completely different from the (Brhama, Deva) in Buddhism, Buddha never mentioned about any Hindu Gods (Tripitaka). By introducing the above myths and attributing it to Buddha, the Mahavamsa is not only perverting Gautama Buddha’s peerless Dhamma, but also making it an orthodox Theravada Buddhist doctrine of Sinhala-Buddhism in Sri Lanka which ultimately has transformed the Gautama Buddha into a special patron of Sinhala (Mahavamsa) Buddhism, an ethnic religion (political) created in Sri Lanka. The outcome of the above is the Jathika Chinthanaya or Mahavansa-mindset [Rata (Sinhala Country) – Jathiya (Sinhala Nation/Race) – Aagama (Sinhala Buddhist Religion] which has manifested into Sinhala-Buddhist Ultra-nationalist chauvinism today.
4.2. Racial Factor
The fourth important step, Mahavamsa justifies (Non-Buddhist/Tamil killing) by attributing it to a [Buddhist] Arahant who equates the killing of sixty thousand Tamils by DutuGemunu to a mere one and a half human, indicating that it is no crime in killing thousands of Tamils. Mr. Bandu De Silva says, as a frequent reader of Bhagavad Gita, Ven. Mahanama must have adopted this concept from the Gita. Of course, as I mentioned in my article, he has adopted many concepts from the Indian epics but unfortunately the present day Sinhalese do not know the stories in Gita, they only believe the Arahant’s words as the gospel truth that killing sixty thousand Tamils is equal to killing only one-and-a-half human (the reason why others/non-Buddhists think that Sinhala-Buddhism is somewhat of a violent barbaric form of Buddhism where killing Tamils is justified). This demonstrates that there has been substantial anti-Tamil (Saiva) sentiment for centuries and it provides ready fodder for contemporary Sinhalese propagandists. Even the great Buddhist/Pali scholar Dr. Walpola Rahula thero uses this incident without questioning its veracity in his defense of Sinhalese nationalism. If an Arahant can utter such racial statements, it is not rocket science for us to understand why the present day Buddhist monks are engaged in racial politics. Still I do not consider Ven. Mahanama was a racist or his doctrine was racist but it has definitely influenced racism in today’s Sinhalese society.
Here is what we read in the Dipavamsa, (Ch. XVIII, vv. 47-50).
v. 47. “The Damilas, Sena and Guttaka, capturing Sura Tissa, ruled righteously for twenty-two years.”
v. 48. “Prince Asela, son of Mutasiva, killing Sena and Guttaka ruled for ten years.”
v. 49. “The Prince named Elara killing Asela ruled righteously for forty-four years.”
v. 50. “Avoiding the paths of desire, hatred, fear and delusion, he ruled righteously being incomparable.”
Of course, Prince Duttugemunu killed Elara and ruled after him. Curiously enough the Dipavamsa, the earlier of the two old Pali Chronicles, makes no mention of a war between Elara and Duttugemunu, (a tale apparently fabricated to counteract the Saiva revival that was fast spreading through the Tamil country during this period). The graphically and romantically described campaigns occupying a large section of the Mahavamsa were written a century later than the Dipavamsa, and about 900 years after the time of Elara. It was evidently invented for the edification of the pious in Sri Lanka and to protect the faith from Saiva (Tamil) revivalists. Unfortunately today, it is considered as a Sinhala-Tamil war. Neither the Pali chronicles nor does the epigraphy say Duttugemunu was a Sinhala. Why abuse the good old Tamil Kings when our Sinhalese brethren, who lay exclusive claim to this Island, have a feeble case to support their make-belief?
If we turn to the later chronicles the Pujavali (13th century A.D.), the Rajaratnakara (16th century A.D.), and the Rajavali (18th century A.D.), it is not likely that these writers had read either the Dipavamsa or the Mahavamsa. The names of the kings of Sri Lanka, the order and the details of their activities in these Chronicles do not always agree with those found in the earlier Pali Chronicles. The writers of these chronicles had probably heard by word of mouth of a war between the Tamil Saivite king Elara and Duttugemunu whom the Buddhist priesthood had traditionally held to be an early champion of Buddhism. These chroniclers, themselves priests, give a totally different picture of Elara. They represent him as a desecrator of Buddhist monuments and a destroyer of Buddhist temples. The author of the Mahavamsa, without doing any harm to the character of Elara as represented in the earlier Chronicle, the Dipavamsa, guilds his hero Duttugemunu with a fabulous account of a long and glorious campaign (religious war of liberation) against the Tamil king, a campaign about which the Dipavamsa was totally unaware.
4.3. Sinhala-Buddhist Only
As I have explained in my article, the concept ‘Rata (Sinhala-Buddhist Country) – Jathiya (Sinhala-Buddhist Nation/Race) – Aagama (Sinhala Buddhist Religion)’, the three are attributed to Sri Lanka with an inseparable fusion (trinity) derived from Mahavamsa as I have listed above (Jathika Chinthanaya/Mahavamsa mindset) and its primary outcome is the Sinhala-Only, Buddhist-Only, unitary state. All others are secondary, considered as from outside (migrants, invaders, etc) who are allowed to stay but they should not demand anything.
From a very young age, the innocent Sinhala Buddhist children are brainwashed by their parents/grandparents, teachers, Buddhist priests (some members of the Maha Sangha), media personnel, text book writers, and some of the Daham Paasela (Sunday school) teachers in the Buddhist temples by engraving the Sinhala-Buddhist Mahavansa mindset and Sinhala Buddhist racism into their sub-conscious minds. They are taught to believe that the non-Sinhala Buddhists (Tamils) are invaders who do not belong to Sri Lanka. All the Tamils should be chased away to Tamil Nadu (where they belong) just the way their ancient Kings like Dutugemunu did. The country (Sri Lanka), Sinhala race and Buddhism should be protected from the Tamils. Now, from recently, they have also included the Christians in those needing to be thrown out. Due to the above conditioning, the Sinhala-Buddhist majority believes that the entire Sri Lanka belongs to them and the minorities are aliens.
When the Mahavamsa author Ven. Mahanama Thero created the above myth during the early period when there was a threat to Buddhism (mainly from South India), he would have never imagined that after 15 centuries, his myth would (misinterpreted in a political context) influence an ultra-nationalist/chauvinist mindset in the group of people (Sinhalese) that he created to protect Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and that he will become an unfortunate victim for the ethnic crisis that manifested from his creation. To be precise, a mythical mindset to establish a Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic (unitary) state that in turn influenced/created another mindset among the Tamils to create a separate Tamil state. For those who have misunderstood my article, I repeat that, by considering the era in which Mahavamsa was written (turbulent period), Ven. Mahanama cannot be blamed because his only motive was to protect Buddhism.
For the Sinhala Buddhists nationalists, who have become myopic over the years of misinformation or lack of information, the Mahavamsa constitutes a sacred unquestionably legitimate proof of their original Sinhala Buddhist heritage and ownership of the island. According to the Sinhala nationalism the Mahavamsa mythology provides proof beyond doubt that the Sinhala race was the chosen people, the predestined custodian of the island and the guardian of Buddhism.
The entire body of claims of Sinhala chauvinism, and the Sinhalese and their entire historical perception, all their inflated claims are based on this cooked up and concocted historical work called Mahavamsa.
To be continued....
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