Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.137

c7.137

‘Form, sound, taste, smell, touch, these intoxicate beings; cut off the yearning which is inherent in them’ says the Dhammika Sutta, addressed to priests. Again, the first of the ten ‘objects’ on which the thoughts of an ordained priest should dwell runs thus: ‘Beauty is nothing to me,—neither the beauty of the body nor that that comes of dress’ (Dasa Dhamma Suttam); but of course the beauty of Buddha’s own person is frequently insisted on in Buddhist literature. As example of the ascetic attitude may be quoted the story of Citta Gutta and the cave with the painted roof, from the Visuddhi Maggaya (first quarter of the fifth century A.D.):—“Once on a time a number of monks were walking from cave to cave, inspecting in them various paintings which were found to charm the eye, and so came to the rock cave, Karanda Mahā Lena. Seeing in this cave the representations in paint of the seven Buddhas, Vipassiya, Sikhiya, Vessabhuya, Kakusandhaya, Konagamanaya, Kassapaya and Gautamaya in the act of departing (renouncing worldly pleasures) to become monks preparatory to attaining Buddhahood, they remarked to the great monk (Citta Gutta Thera) who had been dwelling in it, ‘These paintings are attractive’; and he addressing them, ‘Evetni (long life!), I who am living in this cave have passed sixty years (in it), but no such paintings have ever come under my notice. However, now because of you who have eyes, I have come to know of the existence of the paintings.’ This great monk who has been dwelling in this rock cave for so long a time, never opened his eyes and looked up, as he was wont to look about him only within the distance of a yoke (about eight feet). Opposite this rock cave there is a huge nā-tree. This great monk, however, did not see (the top of) it. But when every year it flowered in season, he saw the pollen, etc., of the flowers on the ground, and had thus discovered that the tree had blossomed.”