[ConversionWatch] In Sri Lanka,Hindu Gods are subordinate to the Buddha

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In Sri Lanka, Hindu Gods are subordinate to the Buddha

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_574380,00410008.htmCOLOMBO DIARY | PK

BalachanddranColombo, February 16 Sri Lanka is an avowedly Buddhist country,

and its population is overwhelmingly Sinhala-Buddhist. But the Buddhists here

are also ardent worshippers of Hindu Gods. When the need arises, they may even

indulge in Hindu ritualistic practices. In fact, the worship of Hindu Gods is

intrinsic to the 2,500 year old Sinhala-Buddhist cultural tradition.Almost

every Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka has shrines for a variety of Hindu and

pre-Buddhist Sri Lankan divinities. After worshipping at the main shrine

dedicated to the Buddha, the devotees make a beeline to smaller shrines

dedicated to Hindu Gods like Ganesh, Vishnu, and Skanda (known as Kataragama

among the Sinhalas and Murugan among the Tamils). There are abodes also for

non-Sanskritic and local Gods like Saman and Pattini, who are credited with

much power.The devotees seek mundane favours from these Gods and make vows to

them. Money is offered in exchange for divine intervention. Trishaws and buses

display pictures of Hindu Gods placed in a row, although the pride of place is

invariably given to the Buddha, who is put in the middle. Buddhists

unhesitatingly visit Hindu temples called kovils and perform South Indian

rituals with as much devotion as the Tamils, who constitute the bulk of the

Hindu community in the island.Vishnu "defends" Sri LankaOne of the most deeply

entrenched and enduring beliefs among the Sinhala-Buddhists is that Vishnu is

the defender and protector of Sri Lanka. The ancient Sinhala-Buddhist chronicle

Mahavamsa, mentions this."When the Indian Prince Vijaya was coming to Sri Lanka,

the Buddha requested Vishnu to protect Vijaya and his progeny. The Buddha

foresaw Buddhism taking deep root in Sri Lanka and wanted it to be protected,"

said Dr WG Weeraratne, editor of the Buddhist Encyclopaedia.At the folk level,

Skanda or God Kataragama is also deemed to be a protector, though mainly of

individuals, points out Dr Arjuna De Zoysa, an expert in Buddhism and the

philosophy of science at the Open University of Sri Lanka. The shrine for

Skanda in Kataragama, in south Sri Lanka, is as holy as the shrine for Murugan

in Palani in Tamil Nadu.At Kataragama, the Sinhala-Buddhists completely

outnumber Tamils. Men and women, the young and the old, stand for hours in long

queues, with puja vattis or offerings in hand, to have a glimpse of the Lord.In

the mid 1990s, when the Sri Lankan armed forces were fighting a bitter battle

against the Tamil separatist LTTE, a temple was to be erected for Vishnu on the

western coast, not far from Colombo. It was said that the then Army top brass

were behind the project. But, for a variety of reasons, it was given up."For

the common people the Hindu Gods are like a pair of crutches and a wall to lean

on in case their legs and back are weak," said a Sinhala-Buddhist lady devotee

at the Kali Amman kovil at Modera, in north Colombo. "Buddhist monks say that

there is no harm in taking such help, if it can give some relief," the devotee

said."Ordinary folk need help to solve their seemingly intractable personal,

familial and social problems. But help is not accessible to them because of the

stratified society. Perforce they have to appeal for divine intervention," the

devotee added.But they have to turn to Hindu Gods for divine intervention

because the Buddha is not a giver of boons or a dispenser of favours. He does

not even want to be worshipped. He will not accept any offerings other than

flowers. The Buddhist sangha is not meant to render social and economic

services to anybody including the hoi polloi. The Hindu Gods, on the other

hand, are dispensers of boons whether it is wealth, artistic abilities,

education, or power in return for worship.The Buddha himself, never banned the

worship of Hindu Gods or any God for that matter. "The Buddha himself had had

conversations with the Gods as in the Sakkasamyutta and Vanasamyutta," points

out Dr De Zoysa. To the Buddha, it did not matter if someone worshiped Gods so

long it did not harm anybody or society, and so long as he followed the Dhamma,

or the code of right living, adds Dr Weeraratne.Position of Gods in

BuddhismExplaining the Buddha's reservation about theism, Dr Weeraratne said

that the Buddha was not happy with the way the Brahmins were manipulating

theistic ideas to suit their interests. "Through their control over religions

practices, especially the sacrificial rites, the Brahmins were enhancing their

social status and power at the expense of the masses. From the very inception,

the Buddha considered this situation unsatisfactory. He felt that the theistic

religion was enabling the Brahmins to exploit the people, through the caste

system particularly," Dr Weeraratne said."The Buddha realized that the main

cause of this phenomenon was the idea of the Creator God. He examined the

concept of the Creator God and found that it had no basis. He rejected it. The

Buddha also rejected all other Gods," Dr Weeraratne said."However, the Buddha

did not debunk the popular belief in Gods and Goddesses, because they had taken

deep roots in the minds of the common folk. He was aware that ordinary people

did good things to get rewarded in their next life. They did not do bad things

for fear of being punished in the next life. Therefore, the Buddha let this

system of control remain. It did not matter to him so long as it played a

positive social role," Dr Weeraratne explained."But the Buddha kept on

discouraging the dependence on Gods in the running of one's life, pointing out

that the Gods really would not be able to help or hinder anybody. For him Gods

were but human beings who had attained divinity through good karma or deeds.

They were not to be feared," Dr Weeraratna said.In Dr De Zoysa's words, the

Buddha conceived Godhood as a temporary status of splendour and recognition

which would last only so long as the "spiritual bank balance" accumulated by

excellent karmas, lasted. Godhood is by no means a permanent status in

Buddhism. "The devas in Buddhism are subject to decay and death. They may pass

away due to too much pleasure, anger or jealousy. The Gods are also subject to

impermanence (anicca), he pointed out.When the Devatas and Devas had spent

their karmic capital, they would die and be reborn, even as an animal, adds Dr

Weeraratne.That Gods are human beings living in an ethereal world comes through

in their behaviour, which is human. They are subject to human emotions, and the

ability to do good or evil, though their attributes are generally

pleasant.According to Dr Weeraratne, there are three types of Gods in Buddhism:

(1) Living human being to whom divinity is attached by popular acceptance like

the Kings. These are called the Sammuti Devas (2) Human beings who become

divinities after death because of their good deeds as human beings. These are

called Upapatti Devas, (3) Those who have attained divinity through

purification and righteous living as per the teaching of the Dhamma like the

Pachcheka Buddhas and the Arahants ,the outstanding followers of the Buddha.

These are the ones who have attained Nirvana and the freedom from the cycle of

birth, death and rebirth. They are called the Visuddhi Devas.Devahood or

Godhood is but a "station" or position, which human beings enter and leave

according to their karmic deeds and how much merit or good karma they have

accumulated, says Dr De Zoysa.The Buddha does give tremendous amount of

importance to the deeds done on earth for the benefit of fellow human beings.

In popular Buddhism, the highest place in the heavens is given to Sakra and his

retinue of 33, who had done excellent social/development work for their

community. It was because of their good karmas that they escaped from being

trampled to death by elephants sent by a King who was misled by a set of

jealous palace officials. The elephants would come close to Sakra and his boys,

but stop. The astounded King, who was watching this, released them and let them

continue their useful social work. After death, Sakra and his retinue went to

the highest heaven - known as the Thaavathinsa.Unlike the Gods in Hinduism, the

Gods in Buddhism are not are not all powerful, all-knowing or very intelligent

beings. In fact, there are suttas galore in which the Devas come to the Buddha

with all kinds of problems and questions, and the Buddha would clarify their

doubts and show them the light of knowledge. The Buddha had often elucidated

Buddhistic ideas through dialogues with the Gods. "He used these to expose the

hollowness of the claims that the Gods were know-alls," noted Prof

Weeraratne.Gods in folk BuddhismHowever, despite the Buddha's injunctions, the

Gods were, and are, seen to be powerful by Sinhala Buddhists. Appeals are made

to them for help in times of need and rituals are conducted to appease them if

they are perceived to be angry. The Buddha was aware of this and did not expect

common folk to change their beliefs overnight."He gave a new interpretation to

the phenomenon of Gods and other old believes," Dr Weeraratne said.In popular

Sinhala-Buddhism, the pre-Buddhist or the folk element is integrated into

Buddhism. Though the Buddha had said that the Gods did not have the power to

protect anybody, the popular belief is that that the Gods are there to protect

Buddhism! Basically they are the Sewakas of Buddhism. The Mahawamsa, the

Sinhala-Buddhist chronicle, has it that the Buddha himself had made Vishnu

protect Buddhism in Sri Lanka.The local God Saman, who resides in the heights

of the Sripada, has been made into a "disciple" of the Buddha. As Dr De Zoysa

points out there are suttas showing the Gods as teachers of Buddhism. In the

Vanasamutta for example, the Vana Devas accosted a group of wayward Bhuddhist

monks and reminded them of the tenets of the Buddha Dhamma. The monks did not

end up worshiping the Gods but reaffirmed that faith in the Buddha Dhamma.As

the late Buddhist activist Gamini Iriyagolle put it: "In Buddhism, the Gods are

not supreme beings. They are subordinate to the Buddha and are there to protect

the Dhamma." And at the folk level, this is taken further down the road, and

the Gods are seen as protectors of individuals facing the mundane problems of

life.