Bad company leads anyone in the wrong path
regardless of his or her position, gender, and age. It is common both to an
ordinary man and even to a king. If it was a king who was led astray, it
endangers a whole community. This is not something peculiar for Sri Lanka, even
king Ajasath of India caused patricide following the instructions and guidance of Devadaththa, who despite being a bhikkhu
had a growing hostility for king Bimbisara.
Similarly, this is what occurred during the reign of king Mahasen of ancient Anuradhapura
kingdom, who was preceded by king Detuthis
and was succeeded by his son Sirimevan.
His name was added to the history as a king who caused an immense demerit to the
Mahavihara monastery representing Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, by following
the road shown by a bhikkhu named Sanghamithra.
But his specialty lies in the fact that Mahasen
was not noted only for his demerits. On the contrary, the Mahavamsa mentions in reference to Mahasen that the intelligence ones eradicate the bad company as a
poisonous snake and proceed with what he feels to do. As evident by the above
account, Mahasen was a king who did
both meritorious and de meritorious actions. Strangely, both king Ajasath of India and Mahasen of
ancient Anuradhapura kingdom was
provoked to move in the wrong path by a bhikkhu. In the case of Ajasath it was Devadaththa while in the case of Mahasen it was Sanghamithra.
The reign of king Mahasen lasted for 27 years. Saghamithra
moved to Sri Lanka to see to the succession of Mahasen who from the very initiation of his rule manipulated the thoughts
of Mahasen against the Mahavihara monastery. As a result, the
reign of Mahasen quickly grew in to
a threat to the Mahavihara. Sanghamithra
succeeded in provoking the king against the monastery by virtue of his
influence over the king. The unfortunate fate that befall the monastery is best
brought out by a line in the Mahavamsa
demonstrating that Sanghamithra made
the king prohibit alms giving to the bhikkhus in Mahavihara enacting that anyone who is found offering alms to the
bhikkhus should be subjected to a fine of hundred. This caused the bhikkhus abandon
Mahavihara and to take refuge in
territories such as Malaya rata and Ruhuna. As a consequent, Mahavihara remained empty for nine
months due to the absence of the bhikkhus.
The ill conduct of the king which was
completely undesirable for the continuity of Mahavihara is no doubt a result of the influence of Sanghamithra who being an adherent of
Mahayana Buddhism in India made an attempt to promote Mahayana Buddhism over Theravada
which was the main intention behind attacking Mahavihara. The Mahavamsa describes
Sanghamithra as a bhikkhu with a
wicked mind. His intention was a success since Mahasen had granted him permission to destroy Mahavihara. By taking advantage of this call Sanghamithra demanded to enclose the monastery. It is
understandable that the tactic followed by Sanghamithra
was to first covert the king to Mahayana
so that he can grab a chance to get his intentions fulfilled. A minister named Sona, the servant of Sanghamithra destroyed Lovamahapaya and other Buddhist
premises.
When looking in to the time preceding Mahasen, the period of king Gotabaya, his father, was marked as a
dark period for Vithulya bhikkhus. In
order to clean out the Buddha Sasana, he gathered the bhikkhus residing in Abayagiri, who were exiled by the king
after having disgraced them. It was the instance Sanghamithra the Chola bhikkhu
with aroused anger for the Mahavihara,
moved to Sri Lanka. He, by strategy became intimate with king Gotabaya who as intended by Sanghamithra, assigned his sons, Detuthis and Mahasen to him thus making the latter’s goal much easier. The Mahavamsa mentions that king Detuthis hated Sanghamithra while the latter was able to befriend Mahasen, the result being Mahasen’s
reign becoming the dark age of Mahavihara
which he could not have accomplished during the reign of king Detuthis. For instance, the Mahavamsa mentions that Sanghamithra in fear of king Detuthis left the country when Detuthis succeeded to the throne, after
having discussed with Mahasen. The Mahavamsa description proves that Sanghamithra waited for the reign of Mahasen to see to the destruction of Mahavihara, with which he was preoccupied.
The Lovamahapaya which was put to
ground by Sanghamithra was built by Detuthis whose reign was much favorable
to Mahavihara which was absent
during the reign of his successor. For instance, during Mahasen’s reign Jethawanaya was built within Mahavihara premises.
It was owing to the conduct of a minister
of the king named Megawarnabaya that
Mahavihara saw the light again. He
murdered Sanghamithra in his attempt
to put down Thuparamaya and even
murdered his servant minister called Sona.
Afterwards, having acquired the materials, Megawarnabaya
constructed a number of Buddhist premises such as piriven and Vihara. It
was when he put an end to the fear caused by the hostile conduct of Sanghamithra that the bhikkhus returned
to Mahavihara premises.
After coming to light from the darkness
the king was kept by Sanghamithra
for a long time, Mahasen proved to
be a king whose beneficial activities for Buddha Sasana and his economic work
overshadowed the harm formerly done by him. For instance, he constructed Minneri Vihara, Gokanna vihara, Magamma
vihara, Kalanthaka vihara etc. Further
he constructed 16 tanks namely, Minneri,
Jalluru, bahu, Maminiwa, Kokawatha, Monara, Paraka, Kumbalaka, Wahaka, Rathmalkada, Thihawa, Welanviti, Magal, Siru, Mahadaragallaka, and Kalupahan
wewa. However, despite the darkness he put the kingdom in the earlier stage
of his reign, his beneficial work was held in high honor as a result of which
he is still being called and worshipped as "the god of Minneri"
(Minneri Deviyo) by people of Sri Lanka.
Mrs. Karunarathne,
University of Peradeniya,
Sri Lanka
Reference
Wimalajothi, Ven., (ed.), Mahavamsa,
Buddhist cultural center, Boralasgamuwa, 2003.
Dhammathilaka., Ven., Mahavihara Vansaya,
S. Godage and brothers, Colombo, 2014
0 comments:
Post a Comment