Poson celebrations
 

Who was Mahinda Thera?

Mahinda Thera was the son of Emperor Asoka, also known as Dharmasoka, who came to the throne of the Maura kingdom in 268 BC. His mother was Devi, a princess living in Vidisa. Emperor Asoka had five wives, and six children. Mahinda and Sanghamitta were the children of Devi.

Asoka was anointed king 218 years after the parinibbana of the Buddha and in these two centuries, the Sangha

had split into various sects, each sect claiming what they followed and preached was the true Dhamma.

Conditions had got so bad that a council of learned and pious bhikkhus was held, presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa Thera and under the king's patronage.

At the conclusion of this council, the third since Buddha's passing away, those bhikkhus who held views that the Buddha didn't preach and followed practices that the Buddha disapproved, were expelled and the order (saasana) cleansed.

Something else also happened after this third council. It was a landmark in the history of Buddhism. Emperor Asoka decided to send missionaries to nine other countries to spread the Dhamma. Some of those countries were, Swarna Bhoomi (Myanmar), Kashmir, Gandara (part of Punjab, Pakistan), Himalaya and Yona (Greece). The king's own son Mahinda, was picked to go to Lanka. He was a bhikkhu and an arahanth by then.

Mutasiva was the ruler of Lanka at that time. He was very old and it was the view of both Moggaliputta Tissa Thera and Emperor Asoka, that it was not the best time to spread the Dhamma in Lanka. So Mahinda Thera went to Vidisa where his mother lives, and bided his time until King Mutasiva passed away.

Mahinda Thera didn't have to wait long. When news reached Vidisa that King Mutasiva had passed away and his son Tissa was on the throne, Mahinda Thera decided the time was ripe and collected six other bhikkhus to go with him to Lanka. He also had with him an Upasaka named Bhanduka, perhaps to minister to their needs. Legend says that this party left Vidisa and appeared on the cliff on Missaka hill in Lanka.

This is one of the miraculous powers acquired on becoming an arahant. Bhanduka Upasaka and the samanera (novice) Sumana would have been transported through the miraculous powers Mahinda Thera and the other four bhikkhus-Uttiya, Ittiya, Sambala and Bhaddasaala - had.

The meeting with the king on the grassy plain at the foot of the cliff has been explained in the next pages in this issue. Mahinda Thera and his companions went to Anuradhapura the next day and had a meal at the palace, and preached to the men and women of the palace, the Peta Vatthu and Vimana Vatthu which explained how one's good deeds and bad deeds determined one's next birth, as a peta or as a deva.

The Thera was in Anuradhapura for about three weeks, preaching to the crowds that came to listen to him and returned to Missaka hill to spend the Vas, the three-month retreat during the rainy season.

This hillock was Mahinda Thera's home for many, many years, so the hillock got the name Mihintale - the plain of Mahinda. But before that, Mihintale was known as Cetiya pabbata/cetiya giri. Pabbata and giri mean rock or hill. This was because many shrines (ceti) were built on this hill. The cave used by Mahinda is known as Mihindu

 Guhava - cave of Mahinda.

It is customary for a bhikkhu to receive the Upasampada at age 20. If Mahinda had received the Upasampada - higher ordination at age 20, scholars say he must have been about 32 when he came to Lanka. He was 80 years when he passed away.

So, he had spent half a century, less two years, serving the people of Lanka. By then, King Devanampiya Tissa had passed away and his brother Uttiya was on the throne. It was in the eighth year of Uttiya's reign that Mahinda Thera passed away and his body was cremated with all religious rites with the king taking the lead.

Poson is the season when the Buddhists pay him their respect. Next to Vesak, Poson is the most important full-moon day, in the Buddhist calendar. It is on this full-moon day that devotees flock to Mihintale to pay their respects to this great man, whose coming to Sri Lanka, was the spiritual conquest of the island. It was what Mahinda brought to Lanka and did, that gave our country an identity as a Theravaada Buddhist country.

Many Mihindu peraheras are held in various parts of the country in his honour, some villages and small towns put up pandals at Poson-depicting the events connected with his arrival and meeting with the king.

Among the many boys' schools named after him, the most famous, of course is the college in Galle, at which port, Col. Olcott landed. As you may be knowing, it was Col. Olcott who gave the lead and the push to start Buddhist schools.

Sumana Saparamadu

The meeting on the hill

It gave the country an identity

It was the full moon Poson day in the month of Jetta or now June. King Devanampiyatissa declared the day to be a holiday. People taking time off their daily routine spent the day in outdoor sports or water sports.

The king went out hunting. Hunting was from ancient times until very recently, a royal sport. They went hunting for pleasure, not to secure food as the poor did.

The king went with his men to Missaka Pabbata, a hillock covered in shrub jungle about five or six miles to the east of Anuradhapura, the capital. Seeing a deer in a thicket, the king chased him, but the deer was too swift for the king.

It was at the foot of the cliff that the king saw the deer at close quarters, and as the king was about to twang his bow, someone called out "Tissa, come here."

Flabbergasted (very astonished), the king dropped the bow and arrow. "Who called me by my name?" He looked right and left, and up. Then he saw a figure dressed in yellow standing on the cliff. By his miraculous powers, Mahinda Thera had made his companions invisible.

Unable to speak because of the shock of hearing someone call him by name - (no one dared call the king by name), the king stood staring at the stranger for a minute or two.

Recovering his speech, the king asked "Who are you?"

Then the Thera, making his companions visible, said;

Samanah mayam maharaja

Dhammarajassa saavakah

We are sramanas o, king, disciples of the Dhammaraja (Buddha)

Tameva anukampaya

Jambudeepa idaagatah.

Through compassion for you we came here from Jambudeepa.

Mahinda Thera came down from the cliff top, followed by five bhikkhus and Bhanduka Upasaka, to the grassy plain below. Seated there on the grass in the shade of a mango tree, the king and the Thera had a long discussion.

The purpose of the Thera's visit here was to tell the king of the Buddha Dhamma, and make him accept the Triple Gem - Thisarana (the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha) as his refuge that is to formally become a Buddhist.

But before taking up this special mission, the Thera wanted to make sure that the king would be able to understand the Dhamma. So, he put some questions to the king to test his intelligence, his ability to think clearly, and reason out anything. This Intelligence Test is given as a box in this page.

Satisfied with the king's intelligence, the Thera preached the Chula hatthipadopama sutta - the minor sutta of the semile of the elephant's footprint.

The sutta opens with the indirect warning not to rush to a conclusion on the first evidence - a large footprint is not necessarily that of a great elephant. Then the sutta goes on to explain what the life of a 'samana', a monk, is and how one becomes a Buddhist.

Mahinda Thera may have decided on this sutta for his first sermon to introduce himself and his companions and to dispel any suspicions the king had about them, strangers suddenly appearing on a hill top from nowhere.

After the sermon the king said "henceforth, the 'thisarana' will be my refuge." When the king said the thisarna will be his refuge in future, that was the formal acceptance of the Buddha Dhamma as the state religion. This happened about 243 years before the Christian era began and since then, Buddhism has been the 'main' religion for 2,550 years.

This meeting of the king and the Thera (on the grassy plain now known as ambasthala, the plain of the mango trees), was one of the most fateful events in our history and it is what gave the country and the people an identity and a national consciousness, which "centuries of warfare or the attacks of modern commerce could not destroy."

As the king and Thera sat there conversing, food was brought for the king. He invited the Thera and his companions to share the meal. Mahinda Thera declined the offer telling the king that they observed the rule of not eating after the prescribed time, which is 12 noon.

Before leaving for Anuradhapura, the king invited the Thera and his companions to a meal in the palace the next day, Mahinda Thera accepted the invitation.

The suspicion the king got when he saw the monks on the cliff top was still lingering in his mind. So before he left, he called Banduka Upasaka to a side, and asked him, "Are these really human beings or are they some celestial beings who have suddenly descended here?"

Banduka Upasaka convinced him that they were indeed human and the King went away with peace of mind, looking forward to meeting them again next day.

Sumana Saparamadu

****

Fact file

The Mihinthale

* The "Missaka Pabbata" is situated eight miles east of Anuradhapura, close to the Anuradhapura - Trincomalee Road. This mountain is 1000 feet in height.

* From ancient times, a large number of huge steps were constructed to climb Mihintale.

* It is stated that King Devanampiyatissa constructed a vihara and 68 caves for the bhikkhus to reside at this place.

* It is believed that King Suratissa may have built Kantaka Chetiya.

* Ambastala Chetiya is situated on the plain close to the peak of the mountain, and is said to have been built by King Makalantissa.

* The large stupa known as the Maha Saya, the base of which is 136 ft in diameter, on the summit of the Mihintale hill, was built by King Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19 AD)

The Intelligence Test

To make sure that the king was intelligent enough to understand the Dhamma, Mahinda Thera asked him some simple questions, which are given below. Reading them, you might think how stupid these questions seem to be.

Read them carefully and you'll see that they are NOT as simple or as stupid as they appear. To answer them, you need to think clearly and sensibly.

Here are the questions of the first Intelligence Test on record.

Q: What name does this tree bear, O King?
A: The tree is called mango.
Q: Is there another mango tree besides this?
A: There are many mango trees.
Q: Are there any trees other than this mango tree and other mango trees?
A: There are many trees Sir, but those are not mango trees.
Q: And are there, besides other mango trees and those trees which are not mango trees, yet other trees?
A: There is this mango tree, Sir.
Thou has a shrewd wit. "O ruler of men" said the Thera.
The catch was in the last question.
The king had thought carefully and answered correctly and quickly.