The socio-political, economic and cultural
position of Sri Lanka in the 19th and the early 20th century was based on the British
imperialist requirements. At that
period the evil influence of western domination, Buddhism had dropped to its
lowest ebb in Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese Buddhist identity began to lose
ground. However,
there was a considerable amount of religious agitation began among Sinhalese. Srimath
Anagarika Darmapala was one of the great personality who revival against
colonial missionary policies and got various efforts to reestablish the
Buddhism.
Anagarika Dharmapala
was born into a business family on 17th September 1864. In the
colonial tradition, young Dharmapala’s first name was Don David Hewawithrana His father was Don Carolis Hewawithrana and
mother was Mallika Srimathi Dharmagunawardena. Since there were no Buddhist
colleges of any standing at that time, David too, had no option but to study at
missionary schools, around Colombo and Kotte. However, he
was inspired in his youth by the great Buddhist activist monks of the time like
Migettuwatte Gunananda Thero and Hikkaduwe Sumangala Thero. This gave him a great
Buddhist inspiration.
The other great
influence on young David was that of Colonel Henry Steel Olcott an American who
had formed a branch of Theosophical Society in Sri Lanka which he termed the
Buddhist Theosophical Society. This was a huge influence on David, that’s why
it is said; “It was Dharmapala, according to his own admission, ‘a product of
Theosophy’.”[i]
By 1883, Don David
began the revival by changing his own name from ‘David’ to ‘Dharmapala’: ‘the
one who is governed by the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha’. Later, for
many years he was called ‘Anagarika’ meaning ‘the Homeless’, (seeker of truth)
the one who has left household in pursuit of truth. This incident made him a
free person to dedicate his life to the service of humanity.
Dharmapala can identify as a person who provided the conceptual
framework for Buddhist revival movement from his vision and mission. Generally,
His vision was to regain the lost identity of the Sinhalese Buddhists and his
mission was to spread the universal message of the Buddha beyond the land of
His birth, India.[ii]
Since 1886, Theosophy members had collected funds to
establish a Buddhist National Educational scheme, as a wide campaign. They
established Buddhist schools such as Ananda College Colombo, Dharmaraja College
Kandy and Mahinda College Galle etc., under the cluster of Buddhist Theosophical
Society’ schools (BTS). It was a foremost step to regain the lost identity of
Sinhalese Buddhist.
Dharmapala’s visit to
Bodhgaya (in India) in 1991, was an eye-opener. He found that the temple at
Bodhgaya, where Prince Siddhartha attained Enlightenment, was under the control
of the Hindus. He has mentioned as following:
In
January 1891, I visited Bodh Gaya, the holy spot in India where the Buddha
received enlightenment… My heart swelled with emotion as I rode along the bank
of the river and passed pilgrims journeying afoot to the holiest shrine of
Buddhism… Perhaps, no other place in the world has been so venerated for so
long a period by so many people…[iii]
Since there his
mission was to reestablish Buddhism at the place of its birth.
On that day he vowed to
rescue Bodh Gaya for the Buddhists, and made a solemn saththiyakria which he
called a “will prayer” in front of the Bodhi. These circumstances led to the
founding of an organization called ‘the Mahabodhi’ in Colombo with objective of
restoring the sacred Buddhist shrines of India to the Buddhists and to bring
back the Buddhism to India.
To regain the ownership
of Buddhagaya from its Hindu custodians, Dharmapala had to fight a hard battle
in a India, and was able to gain a foothold for the Buddhists there.
The Society’s first
most memorable achievement was the International Buddhist Conference at Buddha Gaya
on 31st October 1891 when, “on a spot facing the sacred Bo-tree, delegates from
different Buddhist countries sat in solemn conclave and discussed the future
programme of Buddhist activity”. With this single achievement, Dharmapala
became a recognized international Buddhist leader.[iv]
Anagarika Dharmapala also
took the message of the Buddha beyond India to the West and the East. He believed
that giving the Dhamma to the West was one of the most important things that
Buddhist countries could do.
His participation at
the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 was a landmark in the
history of Buddhism in the West. His presence there, made an impact on the
non-Buddhist audience that Prof. Barrows who chaired the sessions is reported
to have said that Dharmapala looked “like Christ in a saffron robe”[v]
To establish Buddhism
in Britain, he went to London a couple of times. His visit in 1925, when he was
60 years old, was to open a Buddhist vihara in London. As he sailed the
Atlantic Ocean his diary entry for New Year’s Day (January 1st 1926) is as
follows:
‘May
the Sasana be established in England. Thirteen hundred years ago, the Roman
clergy established the Catholic Church in England. In the 16th century, Henry
VIII established the Protestant Church. Why should not England also have the
Aryan Religion of the Shakya Prince?”[vi]
Anagarika Dharmapala also inspired Buddhists in other Asian counties
such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Myanmar to revive their Buddhism to
keep up with modern trends. He visited all these lands where he was given a
warm welcome.
Dharmapala
also led a campaign for the protection of the sacred sites in the ancient
capitals of Sri Lanka such as, Anuradhapura.
The
Buddhist Temperance Movement was an outcome of the religious revival, for one
of the main precepts of the Buddhist religion is abstinence from alcohol.
Dharmapala was a remarkable leader of this movement.
Dharmapala have
printed some slogans on his wagon to promote the Temperance Movement and
anti-British ideas. Such as, “He who drinks liquor is an outcaste”, he also
used to some slogans to denounce the Europeans as “beef-eating pariahs,”[vii]
and tried to condemn Government officials, and the Christianized Ceylonese.
In “A Message to the Young Men of Ceylon” in 1922
Dharmapala stated:
No nation in the world has had a more brilliant history than ourselves …
The Sinhalese have for nearly a hundred years followed the path of stagnation…
We are blindly following the white man who has come here to demoralize us for
his own gain…Avoid alcohol, avoid beef, and go back to the traditions of our
successful forefathers who immortalized themselves by their wonderful
achievements, whose vestiges we se today at Anuradhaoura, Polonnaruva, and
admired by those who see them.[viii]
Dharmapala, In his
last years, he entered monkhood and called himself ‘Devamitta Dhammapala’,
after his teacher, Ven.Heyyantuduve Devamitta and spent the last years of his
life in Saranath and died on April 29th 1933 at the age of sixty nine, with the
hope that he would be born at least twenty five times more to reestablish the
Buddha Sasana by taking the universal the message of the Buddha to the world,
for “the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for
the world”.[ix]
All these contributions
that Anagarika Dharmapala had done towards Buddhism proves his vision was to
regain the lost identity of the Sinhalese Buddhist. He also achieved two
missions: reestablished Buddhism at the place of its birth, after that he tried
to spread the universal message of the Buddha beyond the land of His birth. Such
contributions led to rise the character of Anagarika Dharmapala as an internationally
recognized figure.
W. Suwani Sithara,
University of Peradeniya,
Sri Lanka
References
[i]
P. V. J. Jayasekera, Confrontations with
Colonialism: Resistance, Revivalism and Reform under British Rule in Sri Lanka,
1796-1929, Volume one, Vijitha Yapa Publication, 2017, p.407.
[ii]
J. B. Dissanayaka, ‘Anagarika Dharmapala: His vision and Mission’, Anagariaka Dharmapala and India-Sri Lanka
Relation: 150th Birth anniversary Commemorative Volume, Center for
Contemporary Indian Studies (CCIS), University of Colombo, 2015, p.35.
[iii]
Ananda W. P. Guruge, The Maha Bodhi Society: The Embodiment of Anagarika
Dharmapal’s Hopes and Aspiration, Maha Bodhi Century Volume: 1891-1991,
Government Press, Colombo, cited in, Anagariaka
Dharmapala and India-Sri Lanka Relation: 150th Birth anniversary
Commemorative Volume, Center for Contemporary Indian Studies (CCIS), University
of Colombo, 2015, p.25.
[iv]
Guruge, op.cit., 2015, p.26.
[v]
Dissanayaka, op.cit.,2015, p.38.
[vi] Anagarika Dharmapala and Spread of Buddhism, London
Buddhist Vihara, 2014, cited in Dissanayaka, op.cit.,2015, p.38.
[vii]
Kumari Jayawardena, The Rise of Labor Movement in
Ceylon, Duke University Press, Durham, 1972, p.115.
[viii]
K. N. O. Dharmadasa, Language, Religion
and Ethnic Assertiveness; The Growth of Sinhalese Nationalism in Sri Lanka,
University of Michigan Press, 1995, p.113-114.
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