Devdath is in love with Yasodhara. When Yasodhara’s husband, Siddhartha, leaves the worldly life, Devdath enters her life for sexual advantage. Yasodhara kills herself with a dagger. Fear not, for it is highly unlikely that a story with such an interpretation will take root in this land. It was a subplot of a Japanese movie based on the Buddha’s life. Yasodhara, the first ever film on the eponymous lady venerable, directed by Professor Sunil Ariyaratne, takes you elsewhere on the path leading to the Vulture Peak (Gijjhakuta Pabbata) where the Buddha awaits the arrival of his Sansara-long partner.
Produced with a colossal budget – with Sarasavi Sineru Chief Premasiri Haputanthri’s input of Rs 70,000,000 - Yasodhara will enter 85 cinema halls (the biggest number of the simultaneous screening) on April 26.
Revered subject
The Daily News discourse with Professor Sunil Ariyaratne leads to numerous creative barricades that any artiste will face when dealing with subjects of reverence.
 Yasodhara Director Professor
Sunil Ariyaratne
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“Yasodhara is not an attempt to offer new interpretations. But we tried to dramatise what is already laid down in the ancient classics woven around the characters of Siddhartha and Yasodhara. Offering new interpretations may hurt the Sinhalese Buddhist community of this country.”
Yes, offering new interpretations to a revered subject is a daring feat. Yet, Ariyaratne has taken a few liberties.
The legend has it that Siddhartha comes across the four omens (diseased, aged, corpse and a robed figure) one after another as isolated encounters. In Ariyaratne’s script, these individuals burgeon into an extensive platform. The diseased and the aged are quarantined in separate quarters to which Siddhartha runs into by accident. The death occurs to the father of his close associate, Channa. And then his travelling partner, Kantaka, leads him to a robed figure. Struck by these heavy incidents (filmed to the effect of Mark Herman of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas fame), Siddhartha comes home to his wife. They have a symposium-like conversation about his findings.
Ariyaratne does not believe that Siddhartha fled the palace. The sources do not narrate such a story, he justifies.
“Yasodhara was conscious of the spiritual revolution brewing within Siddhartha. They discussed these issues as a husband and wife. Even King Suddhodana knew that Siddhartha would renounce sooner or later. You cannot call that an escapade or a fleeing.”
The script tries to establish that argument. Yasodhara was not only aware of the changes happening in Siddhartha but she also encouraged him to tread the path of liberation. That particular feature is unique to Yasodhara who had been with Siddhartha for numerous births since the time of Deepankara Buddha.
Grappling with dilemma
Yasodhara feels Siddhartha’s arrival in the room on that fateful day. She feigns asleep, with her hand gently covering Rahula the newborn. Siddhartha would not be able to welcome his son and bid farewell to his wife. If he manages to do either, Yasodhara knew it would make things tough for Siddhartha. Grappling with the dilemma, Siddhartha’s journey may get delayed. That should not be the case.
“It’s a kind of a razor’s edge. These are much-revered characters in the Sinhalese Buddhist circles. So we had to be extra careful not to stain the characters. Instead, we chose to make them more glorious,” Ariyaratne notes.
In addition to Yasodhara’s own narration, en route to the Vulture Peak to take her farewell from the Buddha, a poet or a jongleur is also present to feed us with a description of what took place then. Such poets or jongleurs used to be common in northern India at the time, according to Ariyaratne. If not for this character, he defends the introduction of another narrator beside Yasodhara herself, the film duration will be even longer. In Lady of the Lotus, a singular novel based on Yasodhara, William Edmund Barrett describes this profession: ‘Any wandering minstrel, jester, puppeteer or teller of tales who came to Koli gave a command performance at the palace. They told, or they sang, and they acted, the stories of Kings and of ladies fair, of warriors and gods.’
“We had qualms until we organised a special screening for the approval from the Maha Sangha. Venerable Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera was instrumental in trimming the script. If not for him, the plot would have had more of Devdath.”
Tough task
Scripting was the toughest task owing to the lack of sources available on Yasodhara. More sources are available on other lady figures such as Ambapali, Visakha and Patachara.
“Except for Pujavaliya, you don’t find much information related to Yasodhara. Only a handful like the folk poem Yasodharawatha and the biography of Yasodhara by Venerable Ganegama Saranankara Thera are available. The Thera makes reference to Lady of the Lotus by William Edmund Barrett. I personally feel that Barrett’s work would have been more elegant if he had an opportunity to read the Pujavaliya chapter on Yasodhara. That chapter is written with such a deep affection towards Yasodhara.”
According to the Pujavaliya, the Buddha has spent the whole night in the funeral. Then he gathered the relics and erected a chaitya to pay homage to her.
“I must also mention about Narasiha Gatha. In the oriental literature, you will find many eulogies written for females. But a eulogy on a male is quite rare. So narasiha verses fill that void by praising an ancient male figure.”
When Rahula laments that he could not identify his father among the many robed figures, resembling the ehela flowers, Yasodhara opts to paint a portrait of the Buddha. For Sunil Ariyaratne this is the accomplishment of two objectives.
“First we could introduce this verse to the cinema. Second, we could overcome a common challenge. No actor in Sri Lanka is supposed to play the Buddha’s character. Although there are many international performers who have played the Buddha’s role and the local television channels have broadcast them as well, we face that challenge. So we make Yasodhara paint a portrait, reciting the narasiha verses.”
Supporting characters
After Enlightenment, the Buddha enters Yasodhara’s abode in many symbolic gestures.
Despite being titled Yasodhara, a major portion of the movie deals with the supporting characters of Siddhartha and Devadatta. Yasodhara’s character blooms into life after Siddhartha attains Enlightenment.
“How many films have been made on the Buddha? Quite a lot. And how many films have been made on Yasodhara? None. This is because of lack of sources. So we had to develop Yasodhara’s character with the assistance of other characters.”
Professor Asanga Tilakaratne maintains that the Buddhahood is not possible without a partner like Yasodhara. Enlightenment cannot be achieved alone. You need moral support to renounce and seek Enlightenment. If not for Yasodhara, Siddhartha would have had to wait for a few more births until Enlightenment as Buddhist literature indicates.
Devadatta also gains a new lease of life. Contrary to the common attitude thrown at him, he turns out to be an affectionate brother to Yasodhara. He respects Siddhartha only on the grounds that the latter takes care of Yasodhara well.
“What brother would like his sister to be married off to a man destined to renounce? What if her husband dies? The wife will have to perform sati puja. She will be forced to have meals without salt. She had to be satisfied with plain clothing. If her husband’s dead body is found, the widow will have to sacrifice herself to the pyre.”
Brainstormed
Running for two and half hours (which is more than the average movie duration), Yasodhara is an offshoot of well brainstormed script with the scholars of the calibre of Venerable Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratana, Venerable Professor Medagoda Abhayatissa Thera, Venerable Nawalapitiya Sudammika Therini, Professor Asanga Tilakaratne, Professor Chandima Wijebandara and Venerable Professor Agalakada Sirisumana Thera.
And finally, Yasodhara’s looming legacy grows. She may well be able to stir a spiritual renaissance.
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