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| Sunday, 20 July 2003 |
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Sel lipi by Gotabhaya Swasthi Shree! Thus says his sacred Majesty, the gracious Great King, glorious Chakravarthi, King of the Kings of Maya, Pihiti and Ruhuna, Mahoora of the Vanniala-aeththo and ruler of all lands from Yapapatuna to Sampanthota: The servants of the Lion Throne of this resplendent isle must, on arriving at their maduwas, their places of duty, sign their names on a >puskola, writing next to it the exact time of their arrival. At a certain given time every day a widhaane, an official draws a red line on the puskola, below the list of names, after which the people signing it are noted as late. Those who are late may forfeit a portion of their remuneration and those repeating the offence may be reprimanded or punished. It has come to the notice of the Maha Wasala that complaints have been made by the servants of the lion throne that this red line interferes with their rajakaariya. The state of the rathas on the highways being what it is, it is difficult for them to arrive at their maduwas in due time, even more difficult than it is for them to return to their abodes in the evenings. They are unable to sign at the time at which they should have arrived, due to the presence of the red line. Now, the practice of marking the puskola with a rohitha rekaawa is not an indigenous habit, but one borrowed from the Parangis of Brithaanya. The Parangis are ruled by their immediate needs and impulses, by their need to obtain the results of their actions very soon. They do not have the patient temperament of the meritorious people of this dhammadweepa of ours. For our revered ancestors, on the other hand, Kaala was represented in terms of Yugas, aeons, and not of the tiny measures of welaawa. Three hundred and sixty thousand years make a deva year. Four thousand eight hundred deva years make a Sathya-yugaya; two thousand four hundred are a Dhvarpara-yugaya; three thousand six hundred a Threthaa-yugaya; one thousand two hundred a Kali-yugaya. A thousand cycles of these Yugas, or four hundred and thirty two kotis of years, make a Kalpaya, a year of the God Mahabamba. Furthermore, our people have traditionally been farmers of rice. They have looked to the seasons, to the Maha and the Yala, for season after season. A few days or a month are the periods which we have needed; rushing to sow the paddy at the first sign of rain can lead to disaster. When one thinks in these terms, who can have time for paeyas, paras or thath-paras? This red line on the puskolas is merely another aspect of the materialist culture of the Parangis. The rohitha rekaawa is an extension of the power of the Parangis of Brithaanya, who formed their soldiers, who were clad in robes of the colour of blood, into thin lines; and who formed an empire which shone in red on the surface of the earth. And did not one of the revered sages of these Parangis warn them against trying to rush the East? The time is now ripe for us to stop apeing the pundits of the Parangi nations. It is decreed that, henceforth, all servants of the Lion Throne shall not have to face the barrier of the red line when they arrive at their places of duty each morning (or indeed, afternoon). The machinery of the state will be observed to operate far more efficiently thereafter. Swasthi ShreeThis rock edict is made on the day of Ravi of the month of Esala of the year of the Saka Era 1930. |
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