A schism in the order of merit

By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Niluka De Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila

~This article is part of a continuing series on the ‘Mahavamsa,’ the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history~

Commander Lankapura had to wage a fierce battle with the Chola soldiers. Our chronicles state that the Chola soldiers, when assembled, spread to a distance four guavas (eight miles) in extent. But even in this battle, the Sinhala army won. They succeeded in capturing a few Chola leaders too. The Sinhala soldiers burnt a number of cities that belonged to the Cholas. Madamanamekkudi, Manamekkudi and Madakkudi were some of the villages which were plundered and burnt.

Prince Kulasekera did not give up, even after this defeat. He began to reorganise his army. A number of leaders, namely, Shilamegharaya, Nadalvaraya, and Kadambaraaya, came to his help. They underwent training in 'Keenaveli.' With all these soldiers, Prince Kulasekera, came to Amaravati. Commander Lankapura got to know of these developments.

When Commander Lankapura collected his forces and went to fight, Prince Kulasekera was also ready for battle. Commander Lankapura besieged their camp and went on attacking. Prince Kulasekera too retaliated. This proved to be a fierce battle. In this battle too Prince Kulasekera was defeated. He had to flee to save himself. There was a very powerful provincial leader there. He was Nikaladharayara by name. He was quite wealthy and had military power too.

This leader had been observing the skill of the Sinhala soldiers and was quite frightened. He decided to send a message to Commander Lankapura. This is how the message read: "O! You all powerful Commander, I am highly pleased with you. I have already set a part, some wealth and horses to be gifted to you. You may come and collect them. But do not cause any harm to the villages in this area. Let us continue to be friends. I shall not hesitate to give whatever you need."

When Commander Lankapura read this letter he replied in the following manner, "O, you Provincial Leader, I have no need for your wealth or horses. We are a people who do not cause any harm to people who do not harm us. We treat them as our friends. So do not have any fear. Do come and meet me." The provincial leader, Nikaladharayara, who read this letter, came to meet Commander Lankapura. The commander gave him a warm welcome and treated him well. He gave him some gifts too. So the provincial leader became friends and left the place.

Elephants, horses and even men captured in the battle-field were sent to Sri Lanka by Commander Lankapura. King Parakramabahu employed the men to attend to the repair work of the temples that were ruined. By this time, Buddhism had suffered a serious setback. Even the Buddhist priests were divided. There was no unity among them. They altered the 'Vinaya' rules to their benefit.

During this time, some donned the yellow robe, only to make an easy living. There were others, who maintained wives and children with the income gained from temple lands. There was enmity among the bikkhus and they started criticizing each other. Everyone thought that he alone was correct. The laity, the devotees, were extremely puzzled, as they could not decide which ones were preaching the correct thing. As a result of this disunity among the Buddhist priests, the temples lost their place of sanctity. They were not properly maintained.

King Parakramabahu was quite disturbed over this state of affairs. He thought that if things were to continue in this manner, Buddhism will be wiped out from this country. So he convened a meeting of the priests of all three sects (Nikayas). They were the high-priests of Mahavihara, Abhayagiri and Jetavana. The king discussed the sad situation religion was faced with at the time. Then the king and the high-priests decided to convene a council of all the monks and bring about changes to purify the Sasana – the order of monks. Consequently all the Buddhist priests of the country were made to assemble at Polonnaruwa.