Of all Poyas, Vesak has the utmost significance, since it celebrates the three major events in the Buddha’s life: Birth, attaining the Buddhahood and Great Demise.
The Buddha’s journey starts with the young ascetic Sumedha’s determination to achieve the supremest spiritual status. Dipankara Buddha could well fathom the weight of the youth’s determination and solemnly prophesied that Sumedha would be his twenty-fourth successor in eons to come. And thus the Vesak was born.
As any Bodhisatva, a Buddha aspirant, Sumedha had also been re-born in many existences fulfilling 30 perfections. And before his final birth, the Bodhisatva, or Buddha aspirant, was born in Thusitha heaven.
The divine creature inquired about five affairs before expiring for the final birth: right time, right area, right continent, right caste and right mother.
Then, as any Buddhist knows, the fully mindful divine being entered the womb of Queen Mahamaya. A prince was born on a Vesak Poya day to the Queen and King Suddhodana and was named Siddhartha, one who has found meaning of existence. The Queen passed away seven days after the prince’s birth.
The whizkid stated the glorious verse, customary for all Buddhas, just after the birth: “I am the chief of the world. There is no equal to me. I am supreme. This is my last birth. No re-birth for me.” The teacher worshipped the teacher of the world, and the father worshipped the son!
Renounced princely life
Siddhartha Gotama’s life was spent amid royal luxuries until he realised life’s true nature. Later Prince Siddharth renounced the princely life on a Vesak Poya day. Ascetic life was not a simple thing for the prince.
The robed Gotama was trained in various mental skills under many teachers, only to get disillusioned that they do not have the truth he looked for. The right way to achieve the truth dawned on him one day. He directed the mind in the right meditation path. Moments later he reached Enlightenment and conquered the world of sorrows on a Vesak Poya day.
The Conqueror was heading to the city of Kusinara, when he met Pukkusa.
Pukkusa listened to the Dhamma and offered the Conqueror two golden robes: one worn by the Blessed One and the other by His assistant Ven. Ananda.
When the Conqueror was robed, his skin became clear dazzling in the robe. Ven. Ananda was amazed and the Conqueror declared that the skin of a Buddha will be remarkably bright on two occasions: the night He attains Enlightenment and the night He passes away.
The 80-year old Gotama Buddha then announced His passing away, Parinibbana, would take place on the third watch of the night at Sal grove of Malla royal family, and it happened to be a Vesak Poya day.
The Buddha visited Sri Lanka on three occasions: first to Mahiyangana in January, second to Nagadipa in April, and third to Kelaniya in May, Vesak.
On the second visit made to Nagadipa, King Maniakkikha invited the Blessed One for a third visit to Kelaniya. And the Blessed One visited Kelaniya three years after his second visit, with 550 Arahants.
However, Nishantha Gunawardena, a Sri Lankan historian living in the US, mentions an interesting find in his ‘The Lost Dynasty’; the Buddha was not invited by King Maniakkhika but by a king named Panitha and his daughter princess Abhi Upaliya. Nishantha cites rock inscriptions at Balaharukanda and Bambaragastalawa that corroborate his find.
“...the rock inscriptions are more accurate due to the difficulty in changing or forging them. It was the national King Panitha who invited Gautama Buddha the second time. The regional King Maniakkhika is mentioned in a few other records.
But it was not until December 2004 tsunami hit, the inscription reappeared itself. As the tsunami tore through the island it exposed several rock inscriptions.
Two of them bore the name King Maniagiya and his mother’s name. This is, in fact, King Maniakkhika.”
Mahavamsa interestingly relates how the Blessed One headed to Adam’s Peak or Sumanakuta from Kelaniya on the Vesak Poya day. The 7,359-ft-tall conical mountain has a historic significance as Buddhists believe it has the Buddha’s footprint on it.
Some historians however see the Buddha’s visit to Dighavapi far from being likely. As the chronicles state, the Buddha had Himself visited the village and meditated consecrating the place.
A shrine was later erected on the place the Blessed One meditated. Many works including Samantha Pasadika and Dipavamsa contain allusions to Dighavapi.
What happened on Vesak Poya is a touchstone in Buddhist history.
So to say it also deserves our attention to focus on more spiritual affairs in a world that is burning with defilements than ever.
It is not surprising that India was late in adopting writing for literary or religious purposes, as this was a common phenomenon in other cultures as well. In addition, India had a well-developed tradition of oral literature, which was also present in other civilizations such as Iran and the Celtic world. However, unlike the Brahmanical tradition which developed thorough and systematic methods for memorizing and preserving complex and even incomprehensible texts, there is no evidence that Buddhists adopted similar practices to preserve their literature.
Instead, Buddhist texts were primarily remembered through collective recitation, which suggests that they were not composed by a scriptural composition committee. The traditional account of the first Council, although considered legendary in the world of scholarship, at least preserves a memory of a time when texts were composed by individuals based on their own recollection of the Buddha or his teachings.
Over time, a tradition of mnemonic chanting by monks seems to have evolved, likely with pre-Buddhist roots. It is probable that the practice of collective chanting developed later as the Buddhist community grew in size.
In this context, it is important to note that there was a tradition of reciters known as bhanakas who specialized in a particular branch of the Buddhist Canon. It is evident that some of these specialists focused on reciting long discourses, while others focused on discourses of medium length. This organisational principle is reflected in the second section of the Suttapitaka, which is part of various existing Buddhist Canons.
It is likely that the task of transmitting the disciplinary literature, contained in the first section of the Canon, the Vinaya, was also the responsibility of similar specialists. Moreover, it is possible that the same bhanakas who were responsible for parts of the discourses were also entrusted with the transmission of the third section of the Canon.
It is evident that each of the first four Nikayas had its own bhanaka tradition, as confirmed by inscriptions in India and references to their views and occasional disagreements in the commentaries from Ceylon. Furthermore, a number of named individuals had titles such as Dighabhanaka incorporated into their names, indicating their affiliation with a particular bhanaka tradition.
Although other types of bhanaka are occasionally mentioned, it appears that they represent either a secondary institutional development or a later usage in which anyone who has memorized a text may be referred to as a bhanaka of that particular text.
The available literary evidence for the history of Buddhism in India between the passing of the founder and the post-Mauryan period is quite limited. Apart from the descriptions of the first two Communal or Collective Recitations (sangiti), commonly known as Councils, and some information relating to the reign of Emperor Asoka, we are primarily reliant on two sources: traditional Buddhist accounts of the origins of the eighteen schools and whatever can be inferred from surviving works from this era.
In terms of doxological works, Frauwallner has remarked that “these accounts are late, uncertain and contradictory, and cannot be relied upon blindly.” However, this may be an overstatement. There is a widely accepted tradition that in the second and third centuries following the Buddha’s Mahaparinibbana, the Sangha split into various teachers’ lineages (acariyakula) or doctrines (vada; acariyavada) or fraternities (nikaya). Although these terms eventually became largely synonymous, this may not have been the case in earlier times.
Schools of thought
In contrast to the Vinaya practice traditions, there were three major schools of thought - the Sarvastivada, Vibhajyavada (which was the source of ideas that became established in Ceylon), and Pudgalavada - that emerged at a later period. Originally, these schools were not separate fraternities or nikayas but were rather schools of thought within the sangha as a whole. These schools are known from surviving works, mostly portions of the Abhidharma literature of the first two schools, as well as their criticisms of the third.
Vesak is a significant Buddhist festival celebrated around the world to commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of the Buddha. It is a time for reflection, introspection, and acts of kindness towards all living beings. The festival is deeply rooted in Buddhist literature and culture and has been celebrated for centuries, with various customs and traditions associated with it. Vesak highlights the teachings of the Buddha and serves as a reminder of his profound impact on the world. It is an occasion for people to come together, regardless of their differences, to celebrate peace, harmony, and compassion.
Add new comment