Physician, surgeon, vet all rolled into one:

King Buddhadasa the all-rounder

by Premasara Epasinghe

Our proud history, which is recorded in Mahavamsa gives a comprehensive report, related to Sri Lanka rulers and their achievements.

Turning the pages of Mahavamsa, we come across many colourful and unforgettable characters and personalities. One of them is a physician, surgeon, veterinary specialist all rolled in to one. He is the one and only Buddhadasa the Pious Buddhist King, who ruled Sri Lanka from 340-368 AD. He is the 57th ruler of Sri Lanka.

His personal history is always worth recording and narrating, because, it is very rarely that we come across this kind of brilliance in a ruler of a country. Even as a person, Buddhadasa displayed a certain trait that may well astonish the modern history.

King Buddhadasa (340-68 AD) was the son of King Jettatissa, (331-340 AD) who was famous for artistic skills. He was an expert in fine arts, especially carving ivory. This was his favourite past time. He ruled Sri Lanka for nine years. After his demise, Buddhadasa ascended the throne.

Mahavamsa describes Buddhadasa as a "Mind of Virtue and an Ocean of Gems." He was the only Sri Lankan King, who excelled in medicine, surgery and veterinary science. According to Rajavaliya, Buddhadasa's royal clan was known as "Bujas".

Going through Mahavamsa, we come across many, unbelievable, fantastic stories woven round King Buddhadasa, which I presume, will be interesting reading for our physicians, surgeons, anaesthetists, medical consultants, specialized men of veterinary sciences as well as the general public.

A certain priest went about begging in a village called Thusarettika Thusavetiyone village in the Anuradhapura District. He partook dry boiled rice containing worms. The Buddhist monk fell sick.

King Buddhadasa, the physician, attended on this monk. In the meantime, the kings equerry or security (an officer attending the king) rushed into Royal presence and informed that one of the horses in the palace stable had suddenly taken ill. After examining the Buddhist monk, he rushed to treat the horse. A Minor Surgery was performed on the animal.

The King Buddhadasa collected the horse's warm blood into a basin. He rushed back to treat the Buddhist monk, taking with him a cup of blood collected from the horse. He gave the Buddhist monk to drink the blood of the horse.

After few minutes, King Buddhadasa told the monk that what he drank was the blood of a horse. The Buddhist Monk started vomiting and threw out the putrid milk and worms. According to the chronicle - Mahavamsa, King Buddhadasa saved both the Buddhist monk as well as the horse.

Out of many, there are two interesting incidents recorded in the Mahavamsa, where King Buddhadasa extracted a parasites from human bodies. A certain villager who was drinking water from a well, swallowed the spawn a water snake.

It began to grow internally and poor villager was in pain. King Buddhadasa, kept him on a low diet for a week. The patient was well bathed and anointed and laid on a comfortable bed. Very soon the patient fell in to deep sleep with his mouth wide open.

The King kept a piece of raw meat tied to a string into his mouth. The little snake attracted by its smell, crept out, and sized it, and was about to draw it down, the king adroitly drew up the snake with the tied string, placed it in a basin of water.

It is stated in Mahavamsa that King Buddhadasa, once performed a brain surgery. Once, spawn of a frog entered the nostrils, when a certain person was drinking water in a hurry. This entered the head and having burst, there generated a tadpole a tapeworm. The great King performed a brain surgery and saved the life of the patient.

The story I give below, from Mahavamsa, depicts King Buddhadasa's skill as a veterinary surgeon.

One day, when King Buddhadasa was on a visit to a "Putthabhaya Vihara" close proximity to Tissawewa, Anuradhapura, he spotted a huge snake, wriggling and rolling on an ant hill, apparently suffering from an acute pain. As a surgeon, King Buddhadasa had the habit of carrying surgical instruments and medicines in a small bag.

He descended from the royal elephant, went near the snake and uttered. "I will cure you. How can I touch you and treat you? On hearing this, snake thrust his head into a hole. King Buddhadasa, cut open the belly of the snake, and removed the obstruction and cured the snake.

As a token of appreciation, the snake gave his invaluable gem "SIYAMINIRUWANA" to the king. The pious king donated this gem to Abahayagiri Vihara and it was fixed as an ornament in the eye of the Buddha. Buddhadasa was a great benefactor of Buddhism and always looked after the Sangha.

King Buddhadasa was an exemplary administrator. He ruled the country following the concept of Dasharajadharma. The greatest talent a ruler can have is the ability to convey sincerely to his people. King Buddhadasa possessed this quality. The people loved him and he loved the people.

As a medical man, he gave top priority to mdical siences. He built many hospitals and appointed medical officers. Further, he appointed Veterinarians, to cure animals.

King Buddhadasa establisher infirmary and asylums along the main roads for the benefit of the blind, the lame and maimed. To put it in a nutshell, he emulated Jeevaka, the renowned Physician during the time of Lord Buddha. King Buddhadasa was also a erudite scholar and a man of literature. He composed the medical treaties "Sarathasangrha".

When you turn the pages of Mahavamsa, it reveals an interesting point. King Buddhadasa created a world record in his personal life. It seems that he was blessed with eighty (80) sons. There were no mention of a daughter born to the king. He named them with the names of eighty (80) principal disciples of Lord Buddha.

King Buddhadasa surrounded by eighty princes, shone like the Lord Buddha. States the Mahavamsa chronicle. King Buddhadasa was a rare human being and a person who saved many lives as a physician and surgeon, according to Mahavansa. Further he built temple. The Monara pirivena one of the Buddhist Education Centre for Buddhist clergy was built by him.

This income derived from the villages "Samanaya" and "Galpanuwa" was given to maintain this pirivena . It was a leading educational institution.

In analysing the colourful history of the great king Buddhadasa it reminds me so much the saying "what we have done foe ourselves alone, die with us, what we have done for others and the world remains and is Immortal".