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Vernacular Buddhism: Neglected Sources in the Study of Sri Lankan Theravada1)

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Vernacular Buddhism: Neglected Sources in the Study of Sri Lankan Theravada1) 69 ■Research Note■ Vernacular Buddhism: Neglected Sources in the Study of Sri Lankan Theravada1) ● Mahinda Deegalle "We are concerned not with solving problems , but with clarifying feelings." Clifford Geertz (1973: 81) Concentrating on the Pali canon and Sri Lankan Pali chronicles-the Dipavamsa and the Mahlivanisa-scholars have overlooked and completely ignored Sinhala medieval literary mate- rials.2) Existing academic literature demonstrates that many have depended heavily on the Pali canon and its commentaries as the sole authentic documents portraying Theravada Buddhism and Buddhist life in Sri Lanka. Almost all publications published in the last several decades3) have ignored Sinhala literary materials and their role in shaping Sri Lankan Buddhist life. In this paper, my purpose is to examine the way scholars have utilized or ignored medieval Sinhala literature in the portrayal of Sri Lankan Mahinda Deegalle, Research Collaborator, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University Main Articles: "The Moral Significance of Buddhist Nirvana: The Early Buddhist Model of Perfec - tion." In Hoffman, F. J. and D. Mahinda (eds.), Pali Buddhism. London: Curzon Press, 1996, pp. 105-116. "Buddhist Preaching (Bana) in Sri Lanka: Sinhala Religious Rhetoric in the Popularization of Theravada," Sri Lanka Journal of Buddhist Studies, 5 (1996): 30-41. 70 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 9, 1997 Theravada. I see two related problems: on the one hand, while highlighting the importance of Pali literature, scholars have ig- nored the value of studying medieval Sinhala texts; on the other hand, they have underestimated the social role of Sinhala texts in shaping Buddhist life. In order to discuss these two related prob- lems, I will use Dharmasena Thera's Jewels of the Doctrine: Stories of the Saddharma Ratneivaliya (1991) as an example of a medieval Sinhala text which has had enormous influence on Sinhala Bud- dhist practice and the conduct of daily life. Examining modern ethnographic and historical writings, I will demonstrate the way modern scholars have used Sinhala medieval literary materials and to what extent they are successful in portraying Theravada Bud- dhism. I will argue that the majority of Sinhala Buddhists shaped their lives and learned Buddhism not by reading the scriptures of the Pali canon in Pali, but by listening to discourses which edu- cated Buddhist monks and lay people gave quoting stories from medieval Sinhala literary works such as the Saddharmaratnavaliya (Dharmasena Thera 1985-1986), the Butsarana (Vidyacakravarti 1968), the Ameivatura (Gurulugiithi 1972), the Saddharmii - lankaraya (Dharmakirti 1971) and the Jataka Pota (Pratiraja 1969). Even though medieval Sinhala texts have played a crucial social role in shaping Sinhala Buddhist lives, in favoring Pali as the au- thentic tradition, scholars have forgotten and completely ignored the importance of vernacular texts- medieval Sinhala litera- ture')- in their portrayals of Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism. Tracing Steps: Scholarship on Sri Lankan Theravada Western scholarship on Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism is not older than two centuries. The nature of early works and the issues that researchers were interested in can be seen in the works of Edward Upham (1829; 1833), Robert Spence Hardy (1850; 1853; 1866), J. F. Dickson (1884), Reginald Copleston (1892) and T. W. Rhys Davids (1894). It cannot be ignored that most early research- Vernacular Buddhism 71 ers on Sri Lanka were either Christian missionaries or civil ser- vants of the colonial government. In these early writings, one dis- covers that Christian missionaries were energetic to show contra- dictions in Buddhist theories and practices. In terms of research methodology, the entire scholarship of the last two centuries was philological. Though philological studies dominated the field, last two or three decades several influential anthropological works on Sri Lankan Buddhism have been published. The establishment of the Pali Text Society in London in 1881 was an important turning point not only in Sri Lankan studies but also in Theravada Buddhist research. Since the birth of the Pali Text Society, PTS printed editions of the Pali canon have been authoritative sources for the study of Theravada Buddhism. It is not an exaggeration that scholars affiliated with the Pali Text Soci- ety have replaced indigenous voices in Buddhist studies. The methodological tool of most scholars of the Pali Text Society was philological. Employing the philological method, scholars such as T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg opened new grounds in the study of eastern religions. Their far-sighted activities have been very much influential until the modern period. Though Sri Lankan scholars such as Waskaduve Subhati and James de Alwis were helping and supporting European scholarly research in Pali studies, Europeans were leading the field. In the middle of this century, several Sri Lankan Buddhist scholars such as 0. H. de Wijesekere (1909-1990), Gunapala Malalasekera (1899-1973), and K. N. Jayatilleke (1920-1970) have taken a leading role in Pali studies with emphasis on the philosophical aspects of Sri Lankan Theravada. In Sri Lankan studies, the preoccupation with the Pali canon as opposed to medieval Sinhala literature seems to be a direct result of the view created by the pioneers of the Pali Text Society such as T. W. Rhys Davids who looked for a `primitive,' `original,' or ‘ur-'form of Buddhism(see also Hoffman and Deegalle 1996:1一 7). In the Journal of the Pali Text Society, Rhys Davids wrote: "In 72 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 9, 1997 the history of Indian literature there is nothing older than these works, excepting only the Vedic writing" (1882: viii). In his Bud- dhism, Rhys Davids further maintained that "This Pali Canon must always remain our most reliable authority" (1894: 10-11). In a later publication, Rhys Davids slightly modified his view of an original canon: There is no such thing as a Pali Buddhism, much less a San- skrit Buddhism •c It is in the Sutta-nipiita and the Samyutta-nikaya that we have the oldest form of the [Mara] legend. The Mahaparinibbana-sutta account is later, and the account in the Sanskrit books, as a whole, later still. But these last have, in many details, preserved reminiscences of a form of the tradition even older than that of the Pali books, and are invaluable for a right understanding of the whole question (Rhys Davids 1896: 379-81). On the one hand, Pali scholars' obsession with pure teachings and authentic canon has led to controversies with scholars who worked on non-Pali based Buddhist traditions, for example, Sanskrit based Mahayana Buddhism; on the other hand, excessive emphasis on Pali has led to a systematic ignoring of the value of indigenous medieval Sinhala literary materials in portraying Theravada Bud- dhist life in Sri Lanka. Robert Knox's (1640-1720) ethnographic account of Sinhala beliefs, customs and rituals is the earliest native or European evi- dence which can be used with certainty to know the nature of Buddhism in late medieval Sri Lanka. During his stay as a prisoner in the Kandyan kingdom, he recorded in his travel documents what he learned about the Sri Lankan people. His writings dealt with folk-religion, Buddhism and the Sri Lankan people. Describ- ing his experiences as a captive for nearly twenty years in the Kandyan kingdom under the reign of Rajasinha II (1635-1687), Knox wrote An Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon (Knox 1681). Knox's seventeenth century ethonographic description of Vernacular Buddhism 73 Buddhism and its practices in the Kandyan kingdom, though inad- equate in some respects, is very useful in corroborating the exis- tence and growth of Buddhist rituals such as preaching in Sri Lanka. Knox's account is often quoted in ethnographic writings as an authority on matters relating to seventeenth century. Although his understanding of Buddhism was minimal, scholars have widely used his unprejudiced descriptions of Buddhist practices as re- sources in constructing the image of Sri Lankan society and reli- gious life. Since World War II, ethnographic studies of Sri Lankan Bud- dhism have become more and more prominent. In the last several decades, both Sri Lankan and Western anthropologists have made a significant contribution to the study of Sri Lankan Buddhism. Their anthropological works not only examined the Sinhala village (Leach 1960; Obeyesekere 1963; Ryan 1958; Yalman 1967) but also analyzed Buddhism in daily practice (Gombrich 1971; Southwold 1983), life of Buddhist monks (Carrithers 1983; Yalman 1962), Buddhist rituals (Seneviratne 1978), Buddhist re- vival (Bechert 1966; Bond 1988; Malalgoda 1976), Bodhisattva cult (Holt 1991), religious syncretism (Bechert 1978a) and Buddhist involvement in violence (Tambiah 1992). Modern anthropological writings are quite advantageous. Such studies have given not only alternative sources for the early de- scriptions based on Pali but also have made available ethnographic data on intricate relationships in Sinhala society which Pali texts themselves as sources could not reveal. For example, the caste system that prevails in modern Sri Lanka cannot be explained through Pali texts. Its origin and adoption in Sri Lanka lie in Hindu influences. Anthropological writings have brought some hidden aspects of Sinhala culture into the forefront. One obvious weakness of Pali scholarship and anthropological studies, however, is that they have neglected and forgotten Sinhala literature which represents an intermediate period between mod- ern times and the time of Pali commentaries. 74 Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies, 9, 1997 Though scholars are apparently aware of the existence of medie- val Sinhala texts, studies carried out on the basis of the vernacular texts seem to be rather limited. However, there are a few studies which have expanded scholars' understanding of Sinhala Bud- dhism. First, Robert Spence Hardy (1803-1868) who spent over twenty years as a Wesleyan missionary in Sri Lanka, wrote A Manual of Buddhism: In Its Modern Development (1853).
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