Buddhisam 2

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Buddhism - II

The Mauryan Buddhist mission to Sri Lanka found itself preaching to a receptive audience. No doubt the conversion of Devanampiya Tissa was decisive in ensuring its success. At a time when the authority of the kingdom of Anuradhapura over other 'kingdoms' in the island was on the increase, its patronage of Buddhism would have greatly hastened the acceptance of that religion by the people at large. According to both epigraphic and literary sources, the spread of Buddhism over the island's settlements was swift. But as it expanded its sway, Buddhism was transformed by the assimilation of pre-Buddhistic cults, and rituals and ceremonials of an exorcist character. Buddhism was coming to terms with its Sri Lankan environment.

The rapid spread of Buddhism was not without political implications. For one thing, religious sentiment strengthened the friendly links established between Sri Lanka and the Mauryan empire. The Buddhist mission to Sri Lanka had been led, as we have seen, by Mahinda who was either Asoka’s son or brother; following on his success came Sanghamitta, a kinswoman of Asoka, to establish the order of Buddhist nuns in the island. Apart from frequent exchanges of gifts and envoys between the two countries, Asoka also sent a branch of the Bo tree under which the Buddha had attained enlightenment. This tree still survives at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, while its parent and Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas (Oxford, 1961).

14 Ficus religiosa. was cut down in later centuries by an anti-Buddhist fanatic. There was also the close link forged between the state and Buddhism. Devanampiya Tissa himself granted a royal park as a residence for the ordained priesthood. This was the beginning of the Mahavihara, the historic center of Buddhist orthodoxy in ancient Sri Lanka. Within a short time of Mahinda's mission, Buddhism emerged as the established religion of the country. Finally, at this time the level of development of Sri Lanka’s agricultural economy did not yet provide an adequate foundation for a unified and centralized state. But settlements spread all over the island were evidently speaking a common language and were soon found using a common script. The rapid spread of Buddhism was a potent factor of unification, primarily cultural no doubt, but one which strengthened the process of political unification within the island.

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