THE IMPACT OF SOME HA HA YANA CONCEPTS ON SINHALESE BUDDHISM Wisid>'Spet>i^4r'-fte1^^ Lltrerar^ Soirrees up to t-hc FifiHtsTitli Century By Sangapala Arachchige Hemalatha Goonatilake Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of London ProQuest Number: 11010415 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010415 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 Abstract This study attempts to examine the influence of some specific Mahayana concepts on Sinhalese Buddhism. The first chapter serves as a historical backdrop to the inflow of various non-orthodox movements into Ceylon and records the continuous impact of the Maha­ yana on the Theravada from the earliest times. The second chapter deals with the development of the con­ cept of the threefold bodhi and examines in some detail the way in which the goal of Ceylon Buddhism shifted from the Theravada arahantship to the Mahayana ideal of Buddhahood. Furthermore it suggests that this new ideal was virtually absorbed into Ceylon Buddhism. The next chapter discusses the Mahayana doctrines of trlkaya, vajrakaya . sunyata, karuna and pra.jna as adopted by Sinhalese writers without much concern for the philosophical import which these par excellence Mahayana concepts had for Mahayanists themselves. The fourth chapter is devoted to a discussion of particular emphasis given to the cult of Maitreya which was stimu­ lated by the Mahayana. The growth of the concept of the ten Bodhisattvas and of innumerable Buddhas is also examined. The fifth chapter treats at length the worship of Mahayana Bodhisattvas. It tends to show how certain deities underwent various metamorphoses; local gods began in time to be worshipped as Mahayana gods, and Mahayana gods had lost their identity and merged with local gods. The last chapter deals with the development of the Bodhisattva ideal of kingship in Ceylon and countries in South East Asia. It also compares the nature of this cult in these countries with that which prevailed in ueylon. It contends that the cult first developed in Ceylon and was used as an instrument for the legitimi­ zation of the king’s authority. Thus it rejects the conventional view that the fall of the Khmer empire was the result of the introduction of Sinhalese Buddhism there. Acknowledgem ent s I am grateful to Mr. C.H.B; Reynolds who has kindly supervised this thesis. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Dr. A.V. Kunst who generously gave advice and guidance in the preparation of the manuscript. My thanks are also due to Dr. J.G-. de Casparis for his valuable comments and suggestions. I am indebted to the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the University of Ceylon, Vidyalankara campus, for affording me the faci­ lities and opportunity to undertake this study. I thank Mr. M. Shareef who has typed the manuscript. Abbreviations A. Anguttara Nikaya Abhss. Abhidharmarthasangrahasannaya Anagv. Anagatavamsa ASCAR. Archeological.Survey of Ceylon, Annual Repo^ ASCMem Archeological Survey of Ceylon, Memoir ASIAR. Archeological Survey of India, Annual Report AsP. Astasahasrikaprajnaparamita B3FE0. Bulletin de l'Ecole Erangaise d ’Extreme Ori?nt BRWW. Buddhist Records of the Western World by S#Jeal Bv. Buddhavamsa CCMT. Culture of Ceylon in Mediaeval Times by W.Geiger Oil. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum CJHS. The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies CJSG. Ceylon Journal of Science-Section G CTBC. A Complete Catalogue of the ^ibetan Buddhist Canon, D. Digha Nikaya DAG. Dhampiya Atuva Gatapadaya Das a. Das abhumikasut ra DhpA. Dhammapada Atthakatha Divy. Divyavadana Dv. ^ipavaijisa SB. Encyclopaedia of buddhism EIB. fetudes sur l f iconographie bouddhique de l'li^e ERE. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics EZ. Epignaphia Zeylanica 6 GAP. The God of Adan^s Peak by S.Paranavitana HB. Hinduism and buddhism by Charles Eliot HIL. A History of Indian Literature by W.Winternitz IBI. The Indian Buddhist Iconography by B.Bhattacharyya i k q . The Indian Historical Quarterly J. Jataka JA. Journal Asiatique JHAS. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society JRASCB. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Kmv. Karmavibhagaya Lank. Lankavatarasutra M. Majjhima Nikaya MMC. Mahayana Monuments in Ceylon by N. Mudiyanse Mhvu. Mahavastu Mi In. Milindapanha Mv. Mahavamsa • . Ns. Nikayasangrahaya PJv. Pujjavaliya PTSD. Pali Text Society Dictionary PTSJ. Pali Text Society Journal Pug. Puggalapannatti' S. Samyutta Nikaya S.Anagv. Sinhala Anagatavamsaya Sdlk. Saddharmalankaraya Sdmp. Saddharmapundarikasutra Siksa.t 7 Sn* Suttanipata SnA. Suttanipata Atthakatha Srtnk* Saddharmaratnakaraya Srtnv. Saddharmaratnavaliya Ssp. ^atasahasrikaprajnaparamita SUD. The Shrine of Upul^n at Devundara by S.Paranavitana Sutra1• Maha yana sut ra1anka ra Th• Theraga tha ThA* Theragatha Atthakatha Ud• Udana UHC. History of Ceylon, University of Ceylon UCR. University of Ceylon Review Vnu Visuddhimagga CONTENTS page Abstract •. .. • • 2 Acknowledgements .. 4 Abbreviations •• 5 Introduction •• .. 9 Chapter I - - Historical Survey 13 Chapter II - The Ideal of Buddhahood 97 Chapter III - Trikaya » Va.jrakaya, Sunyata. Karuna, and Prajna, Pranidhana and Vyakarana •. •. •• 140 Chapter IV - Maitreya and other Future Buddhas 209 Chapter V - Mahayana Bodhisattvas and Ceylon Gods *. 247 Chapter VI - The Development of the Bodhisattva Cult as an Ideology of Kingship 330 Conclusion - .. .. .. 419 Bibliography ♦♦ .. 424 Introduction The tradition of Buddhism in Ceylon has been con­ sidered by many writers and scholars to be the most orthodox amongst the various schools. It has also been held by Buddhists in Ceylon and even in foreign lands that Sinhalese Buddhism is the most authentic ii that it has fundamentally preserved intact the basic tenets preached by the Buddha himself. The present thesis attempts to examine the oppositt view, namely that Ceylon Buddhism was exposed to many non-Theravada influences (mainly of Mahayanist origin*. The question of the total impact of non-Theravada traditions on Sinhalese Buddhism is vast in scope and complex and remains open to further research. In thit paper we shall limit our concern to some of the specific aspects of Mahayanism which have sufficiently influenced Sinhalese literature. We will deal in some detail with the impact of such Mahayana concepts as the ideal of Buddhahood, the trikaya, vanrakaya, sunyata, karuna, prajna, manoprani- dhana« and the worship of future Buddhas. We have afeo 10 traced the growth of the cult of Mahayana gods in Ceylon as well as the development of the Bodhisattva ideal of kingship. Concepts such as paramita or bhakti which did have a definite impact on the development of Ceylon Buddhism are for reasons of scope not considered here. The pioneer in exploring the Mahayana influence in Ceylon was S. Paranavitana whose essay fMahayanism in Ceylon* published in the Ceylon Journal of Science. 1928 provides a general survey of the field. Paranavi­ tana *s subsequent articles in the History of Ceylon Vol. I,pts. i and ii,sponsored by the University of Ceylon (published Colombo, 1959-60) also contain valuable in­ formation on the subject. Mahayana sculpture has been dealt, with by two writers, namely U.K. Dohanian and N. Mudiyanse in Mahayana Buddhist Sculpture of Ceylon (unpublished Ph.D. Thesis,Harvard University U.S.A. 196b) and Mahayana Monuments in Ceylon ..(published Colombo, 1967)* Walpola Rahula's History of Buddhism in Ceylon» (published Colombo, 1956) and R.A.L.H. Gunawardana*s History of Buddhist Sangha in Ceylon from the time of Sena I to the invasion of Magha, 800-1215 A.D., (unpub­ lished Ph.D. Thesis,University of London, 1965) also 11 deserve mention* Two Sinhalese works of a semi-popular nature, •. namely Lakdiva Mahayana Adahas by Moratuve Sasanaratana (published Colombo, 1952) and Mahayanaya by Attudave Rahula and Bambarande Mahanama (published Colombo,1954) have also briefly treated Mahayana ideas in Ceylon. The Sinhalese literature up to the fifteenth centuiy constitutes the primary source on which this thesis has drawn. The bulk of the material used in this study derives from the following works: Pu.javaliya and Karmavibhagaya of the thirteenth century, Anagatavamsaya of the fourteenth century, Saddharmalankaraya and Saddharmaratnakaraya of the fifteenth century. In our treatment of the Mahayana concepts depicted in Ceylonese works, we have attempted to trace their original rudiments in the Pali canonical, commentatorial and other post- canonical works and the fuller development of these concepts in the Sanskrit literature, mainly that of the Mahayanists. An attempt has also been made to examine the degree to which these concepts were absorbed into Sinhalese Buddhism. Other important sources are the Pali chronicles of 12 Ceylon, i.e* the Mahavamsa and Culavamsa^and the four­ teenth-century Sinhalese work on the history of Buddhism in Ceylon, the Nikayasangrahaya* Inscriptions as well as sculptural remains found in Ceylon provide