Buddhist Era 2545 Nikini New Moon - Thursday, September 06, 2002

Buddhist poems in Sanskrit literature

by D. Amarasiri Weeraratne
The ancient Sanskrit poets made use of popular legendary stories as the themes of their poetical works. The best examples are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This was the method adopted by the ancient Greeks. They wrote similar works called Iliad and the Odyssey extolling their heroes and their brave deeds. The earliest Sanskrit poems were written on themes such as the doings of their gods or some hero-king and his doings. The ancient Greeks and Romans seem to have adopted this procedure. Even the ancient Sanskrit poets followed this line of thinking. The Buddhists among them made use of Jataka stories where the hero was the Bodhisatva. The Sanskrit poets of India during the heyday of Buddhism resorted to this practice on a marginal scale. Asvaghosa was a great Sanskrit Buddhist poet in Buddhist India. He chose the life of the Buddha (Buddha Charita) as theme of his classical work. In another work Saundara Nanda Kavya) he selected the story of Nanda Thera and his former fiancee Rupananda) as the motif of his poem. Asvaghosha lived during the time of the Buddhist emperor - Kanishka the Graeco-Bactrian ruler. Chinese Buddhist works refer to Asvaghosha Ma-Ming - (horse-neigh) making a literal translation of his name. His Buddha-Charita deals with the life-story of the Buddha. As available now it comprises 13 chapters. The original is said to have contained 28 chapters. In it he displays his profound respect and honour to the Buddha. He adopted the nine rhetorical devices considered necessary for a Maha Kavya, in Sanskrit poetry. In portraying the seasons, he describes the beauties of nature. Descriptions of cities, seasons etc considered necessary to a MahaKavya are found in this work. Aryasura's Jatakamala (Garland of Jataka Tales) is another Sanskrit poetical work written round 100 AD. It belongs to the class of literary works known as 'champu'. They are works of mixed verse and prose in Sanskrit. Jatakamala deals with some selected Jataka tales. The literary style resembles that of the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesa. Aryasura's poetic style is fascinating and free of charm. ======================================== gies. They are calculated to evoke adoration and faith among the devotees. Anuruddhi Sataka contains a hundred Buddha-hymns written by one Anuruddha Thera. It is written in scholarly style in elegant Sanskrit verse. Anuruddha Thera lived in the 12th century at Uttaramala monastery. Then we have the Namastha Sataka. It was a text in our ancient system of Pirivena education. 108 names for Buddha are mentioned in offering him praise and worship. The author remains anonymous. He is said to have lived during the Polonnaruwa period. The Bhakti Sataka was written by Sri Ramachandra, a Bengali Brahmin who came to Sri Lanka to study the Theravada doctrines at Vijayabahu Pirivena under Totagamuwe Sri Rahula. This work was a text book in our ancient system of Pirivena education. 108 names for Buddha mentioned in offering him praise and worship.

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There are some works called "Avadana". They deal with the Bodhisatva's previous lives taken from Mahayana literature. The author remains anonymous. Avadana Sataka (A century of life-stories) and Divyavadana are two of these well-known works. Divyavadana is the more popular work among Sanskrit scholars. The Jataka tales are taken from Sarvastivadi literature. Lalita Vistara is a well-known biography of the Buddha compiled by the Mahayanista. It contains a mixture of verse and prose writings. The miraculous and the supernatural elements loom large in these pages Vasubhandu's Abhidharma-Kosha is a treatise on philosophy compiled in verse. It has been composed in verse to help students to memorise the doctrines enunciated therein. Janakiharana was written by King Kumaradasa during the Anuradhapura period to commemorate the Rama-Sita story of the Ramayana. There were sanskrit works written in verse and prose by the monks of the Abhayagiri Vihara. But they were burnt and destroyed due to the jealousy of the Mahavihara monks and their anti-Mahayana obsessions. King Kumaradasa is said to have written a work called "Gnanananda Kavya". It is now lost, we have only quotations from it in other works. In Sanskrit literature there is a class of poetry called Sataka-poetics. They usually contain a century of Buddha-hymns, panegyrics, and Buddha-eulo-

Even now it is a text for the Pracheena examination in oriental studies. King Parakramabahu VI of Kotte honoured the author with the title "Agama Chakravarthy". Santideva's Bodhicharyavatara (Journey towards the Lights) is the immortal classic in Sanskrit Buddhist verse. Santideva was a teacher at Nalanda University - India's oxford during the heyday of Buddhism. It was at Nalanda where Hieun Tsang - the celebrated luminary of the Buddha Sasana in China studied and obtained his Masters Degree. In his classic "To-Tang Si-yu-ki- Buddhist records in the western world he gives a glowing record of Nalanda University its activities, teachers, curriculum patrons etc. Santideva's Bodhicharyavatara has been called the finest poem in Buddhism by European scholars - recognised as masters of Buddhist literature. It has been translated to the leading languages of the world. Two Sinhalese translations are available. In 1957 I prepared an English translation and it was published by the Buddhist Federation of Australia, Melbourne, under Chas. F. Knight, its president. I was elected a lifemember of the society by way of appreciation. In our own time Ven. Henpitagedara Gnanaseeha wrote his "Samanta-kuta-varnana" in a century of Sanskrit verses. It gives an account of Sri Pada, our mountain shrine, the cynosure of all eyes during the pilgrim season. Rev. Dehigaspe Pannasara who was sent to the London Vihara for Buddhist missionary work in the 1930's wrote his "Sanskrit Literature in Ceylon". It was Kshemendra's Jinacharita that inspired Sir Edwin Arnold to write his classic "Light of Asia" which has become world famous and has been translated to the leading languages of the world. Let me conclude with an English rendering of two verses from Ramachandra Bhareti's Bhakti-sataka. Worship thou my head the Buddha's supreme form Hear thou my ear his ambrosial norm, Kiss thou my nose the master's holy feet, Preach thy my mouth Buddha's Dharma sweet, Sing thou my tongue, Buddha-hymns in praise In worship to the Lord, my hands thyself raise Walk thou my feet the Buddha's holy shrine Reflect thou my mind, on the Buddha-virtues fine. From birth to birth may I have steadfast faith In the Buddha-dispeller of nescience - gloom From birth to birth may I have steadfast faith In the Dharma my unfailing guide From birth to birth may I have steadfast faith In the Sangha - the Supreme merit field.