Manual of Indian Buddhism c7.s5: 5. Propagation of the Faith in Foreign Countries

Manual of Indian Buddhism c7.s5

Language: English

5. Propagation of the Faith in Foreign Countries

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During the lifetime of the Buddha he had made converts within the limits of Madhyadeśa and Prāgdeśa. This is, roughly speaking, the outcome of the data furnished by the sacred texts. This condition of things remained stationary until the conversion of Aśoka, which event inaugurated a period of zealous propaganda in distant countries. Considering the full agreement of all Buddhist traditions in this respect, we are convinced of the historical truth of the fact in general. As to the particulars the traditions disagree, and it cannot be denied that the stories of the different missions are interspersed with fables of the most transparent hue.

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The most detailed account of the spiritual conquests of Buddhism in the days of Aśoka is the story referring to the conversion of Ceylon². That conversion is ascribed to Mahendra, the son of Aśoka and the pupil of Tissa Moggaliputta. The Buddha, just before his final extinction, had predicted that 236 years later a man, Mahendra by name, would reveal the Faith in Ceylon. Immediately after the assembly at Pāṭaliputra, which was held in that year, Mahendra undertook the glorious task of converting the island. Accompanied by four brethren, one Śrāmaṇera and one laic, he departed from Pāṭaliputra, and travelled to Vedisagiri, where he converted his mother. During his stay in that place, he got a visit from his namesake, the god Indra, who — rather superfluously — exhorted him to preach the Law to the benighted inhabitants of Ceylon. Mahendra flew with his companions through the air, like the king of swans flying in the sky, and alighted on the mountain Missaka, now Mihintale. The king of the island, Devānāmpriya Tiṣya, happened to be a-hunting, and had a meeting with the apostle, who improved the occasion by preaching the Hatthipada Sutta, with the result that the king became a convert, along with his attendance of forty thousand men. After performing the same miracle as before, Mahendra with his companions appeared within the precincts of the palace where the princes, princesses &c. were assembled. All of them were soon converted. Meanwhile the crowd of people, anxious to hear the missionaries, had become so numerous that the preaching had to be carried on in the Nandana Park outside the town. The success was immense. At nightfall the King offered to the distinguished guests for a lodging the royal pavilion in the Meghavana Garden. The offer was accepted, and when Devānāmpriya Tiṣya came the next day to visit the monks, and heard that they were well pleased with their lodgings, he dedicated to the Congregation the Meghavana, which became the site of the Tissārāma or Mahāvihāra.

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² Dīpav. XII—XVII; S. Vibh. I, 318—348; Mahāv. 83—183; Saddh. S. IV.

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The monks of the Mahāvihāra, whose annals are the source of our information, have undoubtedly painted the conversion of the island in the brightest colours, and magnified the achievements of Mahendra. Yet we feel not at liberty to denounce the whole story as a fable, the less so because the same tradition was current among the N. Buddhists, with this difference that Mahendra is called a younger brother of Aśoka, and that the conversion is said to have taken place one century after the Parinirvāṇa, quite in keeping with the usual N. chronology¹. It is exactly the difference between the two versions which points to an historical base underlying the fabric of more or less wilful alterations, some of them of a markedly mythological character. The mythical traits recur in a later N. Buddhist tradition, which otherwise differs in some essentials². All agree that Buddhism was introduced into Ceylon in the days of Aśoka. This fact we consider to be historical.

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¹ Voy. I, 198; II, 140; cp. II, 423.

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² Tār. 44; Tib. L. 308.

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The Simhalese, as well as the N. Buddhists ascribe to Madhyāntika a signal part in the propaganda. The former say that it was he who conferred the Upasampadā on Mahendra, and that he became the apostle of Gāndhāra. In that country he subdued an enraged Nāga and delivered many from bondage. A later account knows the exact number of Nāgas converted; it is distinctly said that he made also converts amongst human beings³. The N. Buddhists, who represent Madhyāntika as a pupil of Ānanda, magnify him as the apostle of Kashmir, where he curbed the Nāga Hulunta, and preached the Law, with such an eminent success that fifty years after the Parinirvāṇa the Nāga had erected 500 monasteries⁴. The chronology is sadly disturbed. Another Thera, Majjhima, is said to have converted crowds of Yakṣas in the Himālaya⁵. He is called *sava-Himavatācariya* in a Sānchi inscription.

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³ Dīpav. VIII, 2-5; S. Vibh. I, 315; Bodhiv. 113; Mahāv. XII.

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⁴ Tib. L. 290; 309; Tār. 8; 12; Voy. I, 95.

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⁵ Dīpav. VIII, 10; CUNNINGHAM Bhilsa Topes, Pl. XX, Nr. I.

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A third apostle was Mahādeva, who conferred the Pravrajyā on Mahendra. It was he who afterwards delivered many from bondage in the kingdom of Mysore⁶. The name of this worthy is known to the N. Buddhists also, but with them he appears in another light. He is remembered as a great sceptic, a kind of Mephistopheles, who by his destructive criticism caused dissensions in the brotherhood, much to the prejudice of the true Faith. His party was especially powerful in Kashmir⁷. The talents of this Mahādeva show a striking resemblance to the prominent qualities of the god Mahādeva, or Śiva, for he had destructive tendencies, and was a master in contemplation, like Śiva, and knew the Three Piṭakas, like Śiva is Trividya. The fable of Mahādeva's pernicious activity may all have an historical background, viz. the fact that Śivaism has been detrimental to the spreced of Buddhism in Kashmir.

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⁶ Dīpav. VII, 25; VIII, 5; S. Vibh. I, 316.

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⁷ Tār. 51; 293; WASSILIEF B. 38; 58; cp. 224.

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The Simhalese mention several other apostles, as Rakkhita, Rakkhita the Great, Dhammarakkhita the Greek, and Dhammarakkhita the Great⁸, the similarity of whose names is apt to move suspicion, albeit we have no right to deny the existence of those persons altogether. Still more suspicious is the duumvirate Sona-Uttara, that went to Suvarṇabhūmi, the Gold-land, and there, after clearing the country from Piśācas, delivered many from bondage⁹. Whether this duumvirate be identical with the Thera Soṇottara or simply Uttara, living in the time of Duṭṭha-Gāmaṇi, is doubtful¹⁰. It should not be objected that there are chronological difficulties in the way, for the Simhalese chronology knows no difficulties, and besides, the apostles Dhammarakkhita and Rakkhita the Great were likewise present at the consecration of the Mahāthūpa in the reign of Duṭṭha-Gāmani, something like 150 years after their mission to propagate the Faith.

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⁸ He who ordained the Yuvarāja Tiṣya, the younger brother of Aśoka; Mahāv. p. 36; Bodhiv. 106.

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⁹ Dīpav. l. c. Curiously enough Soṇa in Prakṛt means "gold", and uttara is "North"; often the Gold country is said to lie in the North.

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¹⁰ Dīpav. XIX, 6; Mahāv. 172 ff.

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The duumvirate Sona and Uttara is unknown to the N. Buddhists, unless we choose to identify Uttara with Dharmottara who founded two sects, the Tāmraṣāṭīyas and Saṅkrāntikas; a really unique performance¹. Whether the Arhat Uttara, who is represented as living in the East² should be considered to be one and the same person is doubtful.

Cites (5)

Dīpavaṃsa — Pāli
Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
Samantapāsādikā — Sanskrit
Mahābodhivaṃsa — Upatissa (Mahābodhivaṃsa), Pāli
Sanchi Stupa inscription (No. 67) — Prakrit