Poson: Sri Lanka’s day of light

by Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa

It is again the season of Poson. The traditional story relating to the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka is quite widely known. According to the Mahawamsa, Ven. Arahant Mahinda Thera arrived in Sri Lanka with a retinue of five bhikkhus and a lay devotee named Banduka.

King Devanampiyatissa, the Sri Lankan monarch of that day, was out on a hunting spree, accompanied by his men. The King was charging fast, bent on hunting a deer he had targeted.

Suddenly, someone called out to him by his first name - Tissa. Shocked and utterly surprised by this untoward event, the King stopped and looked around. It was then that he beheld Ven. Arahant Mahinda Thera, standing on the Mango Hill (Ambasthala).

History records that Ven. Mahinda Thera asked King Tissa a series of questions. These are in the Mahawamsa: To test him (the King), that most wise Thera asked a subtle question, and even as he was questioned, the monarch answered the questions severally.

Lesser discourse

The Mahawamsa goes on to say that Arahant Mahinda was satisfied and at the end of this historic IQ test, Arahant Mahinda complimented the King: "Good, thou hast a shrewd wit, O ruler of men."

It was only then, that Arahant Mahinda preached to the monarch the Culahatthipadopama Sutta (The lesser discourse on the simile of the elephant's footprint).

The illustrious father of Arahant Mahinda - Emperor Dharmasoka - had established contact with the Sri Lankan monarch over a considerable period of time. The Emperor and the King were "unseen" friends. They exchanged greetings and gifts, and even royal paraphernalia for a fresh coronation ceremony was sent along by the Emperor.

The Emperor had kept the King informed about the teachings of the Supremely Enlightened Buddha.

Arahant Mahinda knew all this in advance. With his transcendental wisdom, the Arahant was quite certain that the King was to absorb the eternal truths of the Buddha.

Totally equipped

In such a context, the "Test" may have been a preliminary, to make it doubly sure that the King was totally equipped to receive the gift of the Dhamma. The Arahant did not have even a vestigial doubt about the King's intellectual maturity and spiritual readiness.

It is quite apt to note that Emperor Asoka had all along considered Sri Lanka a specially privileged land.

The Emperor sent along his own son Arahant Mahinda as the head of the mission to Sri Lanka. The Emperor's grandson Novice Sumana was a member of the group. The lay devotee who accompanied the bhikkhus to Sri Lanka - Banduka - was the Emperor's grandson (the son of the daughter of the Emperor's consort Devi's sister).

Ven. Nun Sanghamitta, daughter of Emperor Asoka and sister of Arahant Mahinda, arrived in Sri Lanka later, bringing along a branch of the Sacred Bodhi Tree, under which Ascetic Siddhartha had attained Supreme Enlightenment, as a holy outcome of the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Ven. Arahant Mahinda.

Intimate relations

When we put all these bits and pieces of information together a really surprising picture emerges. The Emperor had sent to Sri Lanka, most of his intimate relations: Son Mahinda, daughter Sanghamitta, grandsons Sumana and Banduka.

In his far-sighted vision, did Emperor Asoka see that due to the Glorious Light of Spirituality that dawned on our privileged island on Poson Day, Sri Lanka will turn out to be a stronghold of Buddhism in the years to come?

To my mind, it seems as though the Emperor considered it the special responsibility of his imperial family, to see that Buddhism is unshakably entrenched in our noble island. He sent the members of his own family to establish, safeguard and perpetuate the Buddha's dispensation in Sri Lanka.

The truth is that Poson made Sri Lanka an Island of Light, capable of holding aloft the torch of the timeless teachings of the Buddha, to illuminate the path of mankind towards liberation. The extensive celebrations held during Vesak, to mark the 2,600th anniversary of the Attainment of Enlightenment proved beyond any doubt, that the light kindled on Poson Day by Arahant Mahinda shines brightly even today.

Mihintale, where the main Poson celebrations take place