සීමානයදප්පනය.pdf

සීමානයදප්පනො (Síma-Naya-Dappana — “A Mirror of the System of Consecrated Boundaries”) යනු භික්ෂු විනයයෙහි උපසම්පදාදී සංඝකර්ම කළ යුතු සීමා (බද්ධ සීමා, උදකුක්ඛේප සීමා ආදිය) පිළිබඳ විනිශ්චය කෙරෙන පාලි ග්‍රන්ථයකි. මාතෘකා පිටුවට අනුව මෙය බුද්ධ වර්ෂ 2425 දී සඞ්ඝනායක සුගතසාසනධජ විනයාචරිය ධම්මාලඞ්කාර ස්ථවිරයන් විසින් රචනා කොට, ශබ්දශාස්ත්‍ර හා ධර්මවිනයධර ස්ථවිරයන් ප්‍රමුඛ මහා භික්ෂු සංඝයා විසින් පිළිගන්නා ලද්දකි.

පොතේ මුලට ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් “A Summary of the Introduction” නමින් දීර්ඝ හැඳින්වීමක් ඇත. එහි විනයයේ වැදගත්කම, සමන්තපාසාදිකාවේ දැක්වෙන උපසම්පදා ක්‍රම අට, සීමාවක් නිවැරදිව සම්මත නොකළහොත් උපසම්පදාදී කර්ම අවලංගු වන බව විස්තර කෙරේ. 1845 දී බලපිටිමෝදර මාදූගඟ මත ඉදිකළ අමරපුර නිකායේ උදකුක්ඛේප සීමාව සංකර හා අවලංගු බව ලංකාගොඩ සිරිසද්ධම්මවංසපාල ධීරානන්ද හිමියන් පෙන්වා දීම, එයින් ඇති වූ ආරවුල, බුරුම සංඝරාජයන්ගේ තීරණ සහ ලංකාගොඩ හිමියන්ගේ ජීවන තොරතුරු ද එහි ඇතුළත් ය. කතුවරයා ලංකාගොඩ හිමියන්ගේ ශිෂ්‍ය පරම්පරාවට අයත් වූ බවත්, මේ කෘතිය ඔහුගේ මතය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට ලියූ බවත් හැඳින්වීමේ සඳහන් වේ.

මෙම මුද්‍රණය “තොමස්මැන්දිස් විජයවික්කම සිරිවඩ්ඪණ” අමාත්‍යයා සහ “ආරොන්දුබ්‍රෙවී විජයසිහ” නම් ස්ථානාන්තරිකයා විසින් බුද්ධ වර්ෂ 2428 (ක්‍රි.ව. 1885) දී ලොකත්ථසාධක යන්ත්‍රාලයෙහි මුද්‍රණය කරවන ලදී.

SIMA-NAYA-DAPPANA. A Mirror of the System of Consecrated Boundaries. A SUMMARY OF THE INTRODUCTION.

THIS is a treatise that derives its materials from that source of the Buddhist Scriptures called the Vinaya,—the Ecclesiastical Law and Moral Discipline of the Priesthood.

Beings endowed with ordinary passions are subject to birth, decay and death. It is by the subjugation of those passions that they can become free from the concomitant evils of re-existence. The Vinaya is, therefore, rightly considered by Buddhists as the most important portion of the doctrines and precepts delivered by Buddha ; for, so long as the laws of the priesthood are observed by “the Order,” so long will the doctrines of the Blessed One be proclaimed by that Order in their purity and grandeur. Light, to all who have eyes to see, is the result of the sun shining gloriously in his meridian, and darkness is the consequence of his departure from the horizon. Therefore has the Blessed Buddha declared that the pious priest [1] who is a proficient in the Vinaya becomes like a father to his religion, [2] and to him was entrusted the responsible duty of duly performing the rite of ordination, or Upasampada’. The Blessed Buddha has for this reason pronounced a high eulogium on the priest of piety and learning in Ecclesiastical Law, describing him as the possessor of five special characteristics which are summed up in the following passage:—“Priests, these are the five advantages which result from a person being well-grounded in the Laws of Discipline. The priest who is a proficient in the Vinaya has his own moral conduct duly regulated ; he is a helper to those who labour under doubts and difficulties; he conducts himself with self-confidence in the midst of the assembly of the Order ; he is able to disarm opposing factions by sound argument, and he devotes himself to promote the stability of sound religion,” [3] Again, the Supreme Buddha has in another place exalted the Vinaya in these words:—“The Vinaya is conducive to circumspection in conduct ; circumspect conduct, to prevention of regret ; prevention of regret, to complacence ; complacency, to pleasure ; pleasure to joy ; joy, to serenity ; serenity, to happiness ; happiness, to equanimity ; equanimity, to the perception of the actual condition of things : this perception weans the mind from affection to earthly things ; weaning the mind from worldly affections, to detachment from the world ; detachment from the world, to sanctity ; sanctity, to the perception of true wisdom ; the perception of true wisdom, to the attainment of complete emancipation. It is for the purpose of obtaining this grand result,—namely, Complete Emancipation of the Mind,—that discourses, exhortations, motive for action and patient attention are directed.[4]

[1] A priest may be learned but not pious ; and that is the reason why Buddha insisted on piety, faith and obedience as essential requisites for a man who would be a leader of the “Order.” Devadatta, Kokálika and others were men of learning but not of piety. Hence the disastrous consequences of their conduct in the earlier stages of the propagation of Buddhism.

[2] The precepts of Buddha (Sásana) are classified as follows :— Adhisila or those which relate to conduct : Adhicitta, or those which relate to mind or thought, and Adhippanna, or those which relate to wisdom and right understanding. There is another division of them into Pariyatti, Patipatti, and Pativedha, corresponding in most respects to the above.

[3] “ Panc’ime Bhikkave ánisansá vinayadhare puggale, attano sílakkhandho sugutto hoti surakkhito; kukkucca- pakatánan bhikkhúnan patisaranan hoti ; visárado sangha majjhe voharati ; paccatthiko sahadhammena suniggahitan nigganháti; saddhammatthitiyá patipannohoti.”

[4] “ Vinayo, sanvaratthaya ; sanvaro, avippatisáratthaya ; avipatisáro, pámojjatthaya ; pámojjan, pítatthaya, píti, passaddhatthaya- passadhi, sukhatthaya ; sukhan ; samádhatthaya ; samádhi, yathábhútanánadassanatthaya ; yathábhutanánadassanan, nibbidatthaya ; nibbidá virágatthaya; virágo, vimutthaya; vimutti, vimuttinánadassanatthaya; vimuttinánadassanan, anúpádáparinibbánatthaya. Etadatthá kathá, etadatthá mantaná, etadatthá upanisá, yadidan Anupádá cittassa Vimokkho.”

The importance of the Vinaya is still further established by the fact that at the first Synod, which consisted of five hundred Arhats of the highest order, held at Rájagaha under the auspices of king Ajátasattu, it was decided that the Vinaya was the most important portion of the religion of Buddha ; and accordingly that Synod collected, arranged and recited the Vinaya first.

Therefore, it is a duty incumbent on every faithful priest of Buddha to see that the rules and precepts laid down in this body of the Scriptures are strictly observed by “ the Order,” and not transgressed or set at naught, especially in points which affect the validity and stability of that Order.

Now, the form and manner of ordaining priests is one of the principal rites described with minute precision in different portions of the Vinaya. Ordination was allowed to be performed in distant countries by a chapter consisting of five blameless priests, and in the middle region of India, by a chapter consisting of ten similar priests. Other ecclesiastical functions, such as the rehabilitation of a priest excommunicated for any grave offence, as in the Sanghádisésa class of offences, &c., required a conclave of twenty ordained priests. But all these acts, especially that of ordination, would be rendered nugatory by not performing them within certain defined or marked boundaries, which may be either natural or artificial. These boundaries are called Si’má, and the various kinds of Símá that may be adopted according to exigencies are minutely set forth. If these boundaries are improperly defined, irregular or confused, then the act of ordination or any other ecclesiastical matter performed therein becomes null and void.

Hence the Símá, or consecrated boundary becomes of immense importance ; and must be regarded as a great factor in estimating the validity of the ecclesiastical acts performed by the Buddhist priesthood. As, without the plane and plumb, the fabric of the mason tumbles to the ground, so without a properly defined and regular Símá, the acts of the priesthood become inoperative and invalid.

The rite of ordination forms one of the most important features in the ceremonials of the Buddhist clergy; and it would therefore be interesting as well as useful to notice in how many different ways it was performed during Buddha’s lifetime, as shewn in the Buddhist Scriptures. The Samanta-pásádiká, Buddhaghosa’s Great Commentary on the Vinaya Pitaka, enumerates eight methods, of which only the last is now valid and practised throughout Southern Buddhist countries. The eight kinds of ordination are,

1st—Ehi-bhikkhu-Upasampadá, or ordination by the expression of the words “ Come, Priest.” In the beginning of his ministry Buddha adopted this form. He used to stretch out his right hand and address the candidate whose potentiality for the attainment of Arhatship [5] was beforehand known to him, in these words;— “ Come, Priest : walk in the path of sanctity for the complete cessation of suffering.”

[5] “Upanissaya-sampannan puggalan disvá”

2nd—Sarana-gamana-Upasampadá, or ordination by the adoption of the three Refuges—Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. This form was adopted later on in his career.

3rd—O’va’da-patiggahana-Upasampada’, or ordination consisting in the acceptance of advice given personally by Buddha. The reception of this advice, it is said, constituted the ordination of Maha’ Kassapa.

4th—Panha-vyakarana-Upasampada’, or ordination by a catechetical examination, as in the exceptional case of young So’paka who was seven years of age, and to whom Buddha put several questions on the Asubha Kammattha’na, which he answered correctly. The Teacher was so pleased at the intelligent answers given and the extraordinary intellect displayed by the boy-priest that he permitted his ordination to take place at once.

5th—Garudhamma-patiggahana-Upasampada’, or ordination by the acceptance of eight grave precepts which the candidate undertook to observe and the breach of one of which would ensure expulsion from the Order. This ordination was conferred on Buddha’s aunt, Mahápajápatí Go’tamí.

6th—Dútena Upasampada’, or ordination by an accredited messenger, as in the instance of the reformed harlot Addha-kásiká.

7th—Atthava’cika’-Upasmpada’, or ordination granted to a nun once in an assembly of priests and once in an assembly of nuns by having the four-fold formula (natticatuttha) repeated at each place.

8th—Natti-catuttha-kamma-Upasampada’, or the ordination which has for its formula one introductory clause, two permissive clauses and one confirmatory clause in the operative part of the Service. This is the form now in vogue throughout all Southern Buddhist countries, the rest having been discontinued with the cessation of the circumstances that gave rise to them and the authority which made them binding.

In order, however, to constitute an ordination valid, it is necessary that the ceremony should be performed in a properly defined Si’ma’. The way of defining and marking this Síma’ is very minutely described and recorded in the Vinaya; and it is only a priest well-versed in the Vinaya section of the Buddhist Scriptures who is competent to pronounce a judgment as to the validity or nullity of a disputed Símá.

Among the different Símás within which the priests can legally perform ecclesiastical functions is one called the Udakukkhepa Si’ma’ or the “ Limit formed by the throwing of water ” or sand. This Síma’ is formed in the following manner:—

A raft, permanent or temporary, is constructed and moored or fixed in a river, into which the chapter enters for the purpose of performing ordination or other grave ecclesiastical function. A consecrated area, around this raft, is formed by a person of moderate strength throwing out water or sand from it: the space delimited by the fall of the water or sand is regarded as enclosed or isolated. This is called the Udakukkhepa Si’ma’.

Such a Síma’, consisting of a permanent raft fixed in themiddle of the lake called Ma’duganga at Balapitimodera and having an approach to it by a bridge from the bank, has been in existence for some time past for the purpose of carrying on the ecclesiastical functions of priests belonging to the Amarapura or Burmese sect of Buddhists. This Símá, formed in 1845 A. D. or 2389 A. B., was afterwards found fault with as being confused and undetached, and consequently irregular and invalid, by a famous learned priest called Lanka’goda, Siri-saddhamma-vansa-pa’la Dhi’ra’nanda, who rose to the highest eminence among his followers, and was regarded by them with the greatest respect and veneration. In consequence of his representation and his protest against the validity of the rite of ordination performed in the said Síma’ many priests who had received that rite there had themselves re-ordained in properly defined Símâs.

A brief account of the life of this great dignitary of the Amarapura sect of the Buddhist priesthood may not be uninteresting. He was born in 1811 at Ma’dampe in the Vellaboda Pattu of the Southern Province. His parents belonged to a respectable family of the Sala’gama caste. When he came to proper age, he was robed under a learned, pious and respected priest named Dhamma-Rakkhita who lived in the Vihára of the same village. Here he received his preliminary training and was sent to Galle to complete his education under the famous high priest Ñánàlankára Sirisumana of the Dadalla Vihára, a monastery celebrated at that period as the seat of learning in the Southern Province. Under the auspices of the venerable abbot and the immediate eye of his superior he completed his course of education, and, aided by natural gifts and superior intelligence, soon rose to eminence and distinction among his brethren. In personal appearance, manly bearing, good fortune and celebrity, he had scarcely one compeer, and his lot in this respect was one which not even a favored few could boast of. His fame spread beyond the limits of this Island, attracting the notice of even the crowned heads of Buddhist countries. The late learned King of Siam, Vajira-na’na Makuta Sammati Devavansa, a great Páli scholar and a most liberal-minded man, kept on an unbroken correspondence in Páli with this man of learning and piety, and regularly sent him invaluable presents and offerings. One of these presents consisted of a superior silk robe bearing the impression of His Majesty’s Crown and Sceptre, forwarded with the request that the venerable priest should wear it on all public occasions in which he had to maintain and uphold the tenets of Buddhism among his fraternity or co-religionists. One of the epistles of this learned King concludes with a Páli verse which deserves a place here not only for the beauty of its composition but also as a remarkable expression of affectionate and tender feeling towards an unseen friend. It runs thus:

“ Mettin maya’ rakkhatu yávaji’van The’ro’ sudhi’ro’ abhinandama’no’ Sudullabho’ pandita-sa’dhuru’po’ Datthun ca [6] so’tun ca kuto’ labhe’ma ! ”

“ May my good and learned father cultivate friendship with me rejoicingly as long as life endures. Very rare indeed is a learned man to be found who is (at the same time) pleasing; but wherefrom can we see or hear of such a one? ”

[6] In Páli and Sanskrit ච is represented by ca all over the Oriental world.

Nor was the late King of Burmah less regardful of the piety and learning of this celebrated priest. His Majesty, the late king, who was a devoted follower of Buddha, sent annual offerings and gifts to the venerable Lanka’goda; and the High-priest of Burmah and other leaders of the priesthood in that country carried on a continual correspondence and interchange of civilities with him.

In this country, too, he was looked up to as an authority, with the greatest respect. Being a profound scholar in the Vinaya, his exertions to promote the diffusion of a knowledge of it among the rising priesthood were unwearied. For the furtherance of this object he translated the famous Pa’li work called the Vinaya Vinicchaya into Sinhalese—a work acknowledged by scholars to be a masterpiece in translation.

He had a large number of followers and pupils. Among the latter, one of the foremost was the venerable priest Panna’si’ha who received the title of Sirivisuddha-Ariyavansa-pa’la, and subsequently became a prominent Elder in the Amarapura sect of the Buddhist priesthood. He translated the great Commentary of Buddhaghosa entitled the Samanta-pa’sa’dika’ into Sinhalese, for which he was honoured with a further title of Maha’nissayaka’raka’cariya which he continued to hold until his death in 1875.

The aforementioned priest Lanka’goda Dhi’ra’nanda, in the latter part of his life removed himself at the request of a great number of his influential friends to the Viha’ra at Dematagoda in Colombo called Jayase’kha-ra’ra’ma where he lived for some time and departed this in January 1871. The funeral honours paid to his remains were such as few Buddhist priests could ever expect to receive ; about 16 cwts. of sandal wood were heaped on the pyre by thousands of devoted followers; and the funeral oration was delivered by the pious and venerable High Priest of Adam’s Peak, Hikkaduwe Siri Sumangala Thera, one of the most profound and brilliant scholars that adorn the Buddhist Church of Ceylon at the present day. In the course of his impressive address the learned High Priest, with the sober eloquence and impulsive magnanimity which characterize him, expressed his conviction that in point of learning, piety and worth, there were not many among the Buddhist Clergy of Ceylon to compare with his departed friend whose loss was so sincerely felt by all who had known and appreciated him. At the conclusion of the funeral oration, marvellous for its eloquence and sobriety, the present Disa’va of Saparagamuwa, Akkarakkuruppu Wikramasinha W. A. Ekneligoda, then holding the office of Rate’mahatmaya’ of Kuruviti Ko’rale’, reverentially approached the pyre and set fire thereto as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed Disciple of Buddha. A detailed account of these interesting proceedings can be gathered from the Newspaper publications of that time.

We have thought it proper to give this short account of the life of the great Thera Lanka’goda not only because his memory richly deserves a place in the annals of Modern Buddhism, but also because we, who have written this work in defence of his views, derive our pupillary succession from him, having completed our course of education under the venerable Panna’si’ha who was the most prominent pupil of Lanka’goda Thera, and having studied the Vinaya immediately under the great Thera himself.

Although the faultiness of the Udakukkhepa Si’ma’ at Balapitimodara was clearly pointed out by Lankágoda Dhíránanda and many who were convinced of the correctness of his opinion had their ordination renewed, there were, on the other hand, several who, from various motives, upheld the validity of that Símá and the ecclesiastical acts performed therein : thus disputes and dissensions arose in the Society and rent the unity and harmony which had hitherto prevailed.

At this time two Ceylonese priests named Dhammakkhandha and Vanaratana went on a visit to Burmah and informed the High Priest (Sangha Rájá) of Mandalay about the controversy that was raging in Ceylon with respect to the validity of the Balapitimódara Símá, in which the ordination of the Amarapura priests had been hitherto held. The Sangha Rájá, be it remembered, is the head of the whole priesthood of Burmah and is regarded with the highest veneration by both the clergy and laity of that country, and is, moreover, appointed to that exalted post by the king himself. This pontiff having learnt the particulars of the case and after consulting the most eminent members of the Buddhist clergy in that country, drew up a memorandum embodying their decision on the matters in dispute, and sent the document in charge of these priests to the address of the principal priests of the Amarapura Society in Ceylon. This authoritative decision which was adverse to the views held by those who maintained the validity of the aforesaid Si’má’, not having been accepted as conclusive by them, the Sangha Rájá of Burmah sent a second epistle supporting the statements made in the first by copious quotations from the Pa’li texts and commentaries, and exhorting the recalcitrant priests to yield to reason and authority. When this epistle was read in a public assembly of the Buddhist clergy and laity, the then High Priest of the Amarapura Society and his colleagues who, for some time, upheld the validity of the disputed Si’ma’ became convinced of its faultiness, and, renouncing their preconceived notions on the subject, joined the party of Lankágoda. A number of priests at Dodanduwa who stood aloof from the contending factions also gave in its adherence on this day to the united factions, and thenceforward the three parties in alliance performed their ecclesiastical functions together in peace and harmony. But this epistle as well as two others accompanied with diagrams on the subject, subsequently addressed to the Amarapura priests of Ceylon by two learned members of the Burmese Church, had no effect on those who persisted in their error. So, time passed on ; and several of the clergy who held fast to the validity of the aforesaid consecrated boundary departed this life holding their own opinions with tenacity to the last.

Things were in this state when the priest Vimalasára Thera of the Ambagahapitiya Vihára, at Velitota, who had received his ordination at the faulty place of consecration wrote some epistles addressed to the late King of Burmah and to the