With Compassion to thee, have come here from Jambudheepa

By Panchamee Hewavissenti

Samanamayan Maharaja
Dammarajassa Sawaka
Thamewa Anukampaya
Jambudheepa Idha Gatha

O! King of righteousness, we are disciples of the king of Dhamma, with compassion to thee, we have come here from Jambudheepa.

Upon witnessing the vast devastation due to the desire to seize power over all states of India, King Asoka who was notoriously known as Chandasoka ( Asoka the wicked) embraced Buddhism to give solace to his troubled soul.

Later Chandasoka, through the righteous conduct automatically became Dharmasoka (Asoka the virtuous). Being a convert to Buddhism King Asoka propagated Buddhism in several neighbouring countries.

King Asoka fell in love with a pretty damsel by the name of Devi, the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Vidisa. Asoka and Devi had two children, Mahendra ( Mahinda) and Sangamithra ( Sangamitta). Both of their children entered the order of Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni upon the request made by the King himself.

Mahendra was ordained at the age of 26. Having destroyed all defilements and all passions pertaining to mundane existence, he was elevated to the state of Arhant.

Socio- religious status of Sri Lanka before the arrival of Arhant Mahinda.

Though the arrival of Arhant Mahinda caused a major socio- religious revolution in Sri Lanka, it probably was not the purpose of introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

On the day of the Great Demise of Lord Buddha, Prince Wijaya, who was ostracized by his clan embarked in “ Thambapanni” with 700 followers.

After the reign of Prince Wijaya, Panduwasudewa succeeded to the throne and had got down a princess and 325 maidens from the Sakyan clan for the marriage. Princess Bhaddakaccana who was from the same clan- Sakya clan to which prince Siddhartha belonged ,became the wife of the Sri Lankan king.

These events had taken place within nearly forty years of the Buddha’s Great Demise. According to historical chronicles, by that time “ The Buddha Sasana” was firmly established in India and Sakyans were believed to be followers of Buddhism.

Besides the arrival of Sakyan princesses who were believed to be related to Siddhartha (later to be the Buddha),according to Mahawamsa the Buddha had visited . According to Sri Lanka’s chronicles, Buddhism ( the Dhamma of the Buddha) was introduced and preached by the Sakyamuni Buddha himself 281 years before the arrival of Arhant Mahinda.

The Buddha had visited Sri Lanka thrice and travelled far and wide across the country and those sixteen sacred abodes are now venerated as “ Solosmasthana”. With the knowledge of the country and its people, the Buddha predicted that his precious Dhamma would be preserved well in Sri lanka. And that message is believed to have been passed on to King Asoka.

Procrastination of the visit of Arhant Mahinda to Sri Lanka

Arhant Mahinda’s mission was the most successful out of many missions King Asoka sent. However, Arhant Mahinda postponed his mission until the appropriate time. Then king Mutasiva (367-307BC) was too old and feeble to comprehend the doctrine of Buddhism. They knew that if the king embraced whatever a creed, he would be followed by the country’s citizens.

The wisdom behind procrastinating the mission till the enthronement of Devanampiyatissa was that the young king would be able to perceive the profound yet uncomplicated doctrine of the Buddha and it would be widely spread across the country.

Plan for the mission

After making the decision to visit Sri Lanka for the mission they actually could accomplish it after six moths of the initial stage of planning; that’s after the enthronement of the King Devanampiyatissa.

Arhant Mahinda with his retinue comprising, Ittiya, Uttiya, Sambala, Baddasala and Panduka(Samanera) novice left Vidisagiri in Sanchi, India for Sri Lanka for the propagation of the doctrine of the Buddha. The crew was completely equipped with the essential ingredients in order to demonstrate the method of ordination.

Arhant Mahinda’s purpose was not to introduce Buddhism, but to polish the Dhamma which had already been expounded by the Buddha and to establish the national order of “ Sangha” in Sri Lanka.

The journey to Sri Lanka was well planned by Emperor Asoka, Arhant Mahinda and the wise people in India. Besides the main purpose of propagating Buddhism, they also planned to create long-term cultural awakening, religious uplift and social reinforcement.

Arrival of Arhant Mahinda- Mahindagamanaya

The illustrious apostle of Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka on an auspicious day, that’s on a Poson Poya day in BC 360. Arhant Mahinda was 32 years then. It was believed that he was the first teacher of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Mahinda - Tissa encounter

That was a festival day in Sri Lanka on which Arhant Mahinda alighted on Missaka Pabbatha ( now known as Mihintale) where the king Deavanampiyatissa was on a hunting spree towards the wilderness of Mihintale. That incident shows that before the arrival of Arhant Mahinda, Sri Lankans had a custom in which they killed animals for amusement . That habit was later changed with the observation of Five Precepts, especially the first precept of refraining from killing living beings.

As the place where the Mahinda- Tissa encounter took place,today stands the “Ambatale Cetiya” which is believed to be built by King Maha Deliyamana (16-18 AD). The king had held a splendid ceremony to mark the completion of the “Cetiya” called Giribhanda Pooja (lighting the whole city with oil lamps) and alms- giving.

The custom of lighting the whole city is still seem to be continued in Mihintale. People from various parts of Sri Lanka gather to Mihintale to perform “ Aloka Pooja”. The present modified version of Giribhanda Pooja is “Aloka Pooja”.

Upon meeting Arhant Mahinda and the king, the disciples of the Buddha engaged in a brief conversation with the king to test the level of his intelligence of the king to ascertain if he was in a state of comprehending the doctrine of the Buddha.

Arhant Mahinda delivered Chullahaththipadopama Sutta after the king had successfully answered the questions. After the discourse, King Devanampiyatissa was converted to Buddhism which is regarded as the most important event of the country which led to a distinctive civilisation and cultural patterns attached to it.

Socio- religious revolution

Proper establishment of the “Buddha Sasana” took place after the advent of Arhant Mahinda. Conforming the Buddhist tradition, Arhant Mahinda progressed step by step through which the lifestyle of people in the country was drastically changed with the royal patronage in full measure, Arhant Mahinda continued to preach Dhamma to vast congregations of people from the royal households to the common people.

Arhant Mahinda and his companions spent nearly 26 days at Mahamegha park in Anuradhapura and later shifted to Mihintale to spend the first retreat period ( Vas period). They delivered the discourse of Vassupanayikakkhandaka Sutta of which the king was so pleased and offered 68 caves for them.

The first Dageba built in Sri Lanka was “ Thuparama” which was built by King Devanampiyatissa himself. Aritta and fifty five of his brothers were the first in the island to be ordained by Arhant Mahinda.

With the advent of Buddhism, people gave up primitive forms of worship such as worshipping rocks, trees, mountains, rivers etc.

Arhant Mahinda with his followers spearheaded expounding religious activity in every nook and corner. By the succeeding year a large number of Stupas , monasteries and religious edifices were constructed.

Old age of Arhant Mahinda

His mission in Sri Lanka became completely successful and religious, cultural and civilisational reawakening had taken place in a great deal. Arhant Mahinda , without returning to his mother country spent the rest of his life in monasteries in Sri Lanka, propagating the doctrine of the Buddha.

Arhant Mahinda became feeble and on becoming old, he was unable to actively engage in expounding Dhamma. Having served 60 years as a monk in the “ Buddha Sasana”, he breathed his last at the age of 80 in 259BC at the time of King Uttiya. Arhant Mahinda’s corpse was taken to the capitol- Anuradhapura and cremated at the left side of Ruwanmaliseya.

The life of the venerated disciple of the Buddha came to an end and the mission he started still continues. In Sri Lanka Arhant Mahinda is venerated as Anubudhu who is second in importance to the Buddha. For the noblest work Arhant Mahinda pursued, we Sri Lankans inherit a proud culture and a civilisation.