Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)
Courants et tendances
Sarath Amunugama
It may well be true that the Buddhist lay ethic as propounded in the canon is, to use
Weber's words "weak" and "colourless"; yet Weber never grasped the possibility
that the soda! ethic may have been propounded in early Buddhism as part and
parcel, and as a concomitant, of the ethic of chakkavatti and the righteous ruler,
dhammaraja. (Tambiah, 1976, p. 47)
An historical introduction
Social Science Information (SAGE, London, Beverly Hills and New Delhi), 24, 4
(1985),pp.697-730.
The Sangha and the bhikku are oriented to the more embracing domain of dharma
while at the same time being physically located in society under the aegis of a king
whose (lower) dharma of righteousness pertains to this world. This location of
Sangha in society, though it is not of that society, thus produces a dialectic in their
relationship. But this dialectic is one of reciprocity as well. Kingship as the crux of
order in society provides the conditions and the context for the survival of the
sasana (religion). They need each other; religion in being supported by an ordered
and prosperous society is able to act as the "field of merit" in which merit making
can be enacted and its fruits enjoyed, while the king as the foremost merit maker
needs the sangha to make and realise his merit and fulfil his kingship. (Tambiah,
1976, p. 42)
The religion of the Boodhoo professed by the chiefs and inhabitants of these
provinces is declared inviolable, and its rites, Ministers and places of worship are
to be maintained and protected. (De Silva, 1965, p. 291)
Though this was the ideal, the Sinhalese not only lost their King but
also lost their traditional "protector of the Sasana".
How did the Buddhists, under colonial rule and deprived of the
traditional "protector" of the religion, transform their ideology and
practice of a Buddhist polity? This crucial aspect of the development
of Sinhalese society has very important implications for an under-
standing of social processes at work in Sri Lanka even today. In the
rest of the article, I will analyse the question in relation to the
Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka, with particular emphasis on the role
played by Anagarika Dharmapala.
The British did not take on the traditional role of the King, though
there were controversies within the administration and between the
administration and missionaries regarding the degree of patronage
to be extended to Buddhism (De Silva, 1965, pp. 64-102).
Moreover, as the Kandyan aristocracy became integrated into the
colonial bureaucracy, they progressively withdrew from their role as
regional "protectors of the Sasana". Though there were notable
exceptions such as the Sabaragamuwa aristocrats, many of the
earliest Sinhalese to be converted to the Anglican church by British
He was brought up in the temple at Hittatiya, Matara. His eldest brother was the
high priest of the Raja Maha Viharaya. His elder brother was an Ayurvedic physi-
cian. My father was taught astrology and he was an expert in the science. (Diary, p.
37)
my father being a leading Buddhist and of good Goivansa family, all the Siyam
Samagama Maha Theros knew him well, and he was one of the three deputed to go
to Galle to bring the high priest Sumangala to Colombo. The other two were my
uncle and a near relative. The Maligakanda property which belonged to my grand-
father, with the consent of his son and two daughters, was presented to the
Vidyadhara Society to establish Vidyodaya College. (Diary, p. 38)
Every Sunday afternoon I used to accompany my uncle to see the High Priest. I
was then only nine years old. Continuous association with learned people and my
visits to the High Priest were the causes of my devotion to Buddhism. (Diary, p.
51 ).
The warden of St. Thomas' College was Rev. D. F. Miller, who loved me affec-
tionately, because he said one day that he admired my truthfulness. He once told
me that: "We don't come to Ceylon to teach you English, but come to Ceylon to
convert you ... " (Righteousness, p. 684)
But I do not come to the west ignorant of Christianity. For twenty years I have
been reading and rereading the Christian Bible. Along with ancient Buddhist
writings, I carry with me everywhere a leather bound Bible, which is heavily
underlined with references and cross-references and falling apart from constant
use. (Righteousness, p. 682)
When I was ten years old I attended a great debate in a temple pavilion sixteen
miles from Colombo, where the Christians on one side and Gunananda on the
other argued out the truths of their respective religions. In clumsy two wheeled
bullock carts covered with woven cocoanut leaves, in lighter hackeries, in
occidental spring carriages and afoot, thousands came from the most distant parts
of the island to hear this famous debate. (Righteousness, p. 685)
The strange thing was when the Catholic religion was so strong in Colombo, why
didn't I become one. The influence of my parents and grand-parents was strong in
keeping me within Buddhist environments. In my ninth year I was initiated in the
Brahmachariya vow by my father at the temple and on that day he advised me that
a Brahmachari should be content with what he is given to eat and that he is
expected to sleep little. (Righteousness, p. 698)
When they arrived in Colombo in June, I walked all the way from school to the
place where the first lecture was to be delivered by Colonel Olcott. When all had
left only my uncle and father remained behind, and I was with them. My uncle had
already become a favourite with Madame Blavatsky and I still remember the
delight I felt when I, along with them, shook their hands when they said good-bye.
(Righteousness, p. 701)
had made arrangements to take him to India. This was a crucial point
in Dharmapala's career, especially since at the last moment his
father, grandfather and Sumangala himself opposed this journey.
Olcott gave in but Madame Blavatsky insisted vigorously to good
effect. Dharmapala described the scene several decades later:
Then in rushed Madame Blavatsky and said that if my father would rtot let me go I
would surely die; but there is no fear in my going to Adyar, because she herself
would be responsible for my safe return. But, she said, if he was not allowed to go
he will surely die. My father was frightened and I was handed over to Madame
Blavatsky, and she took me with her to Adyar, where I stayed a few days. (Right-
eousness, p. 702)
This trip to Adyar had all the effects of a rite de passage. Not only
was he initiated into a select circle of celibates with a deep interest in
the study of religions but he also accepted the Theosophical
approach of a full-time and life-long dedication to this pursuit. At
first Dharmapala wished to study occultism, which as in the case of
another youthful Sinhalese Theosophist, Jinarajadasa, would have
invariably taken him away from Buddhism. But again Madame
Blavatsky intervened:
One day calling me to her room, she made me sit by her and said that I need not
take up the study of occultism, but that I should study Pali where all that is needed
is found, and that I should work for the good of humanity, and gave me her
blessings. There and then I decided that henceforth my life should be devoted to
the good of humanity. (Righteousness, p. 702)
My father did not approve of the interminable hours I spent in the library. I was in
a worldly sense of doing nothing - just reading and musing and studying the
Theosophists, whom I regarded as exponents of Buddhism in the western world.
But my father though most sympathetic to their cause, thought it high time for me
to begin a career. He said to me: "You'd better do something useful. Join a
department in the office of government here in Colombo and see if you can't be
practical". (Righteousness, p. 686)
For this reason, before he left for Adyar, Dharmapala had joined
the Department of Education as a junior clerk. He now returned to
this job and took up lodging in the Theosophical Society headquar-
ters. He had by then, he says, resolved to abstain from sexual activity
(brahmachari), and leaving his parental home marked the beginning
of his Anagarika (homeless) role, a traditional role which he
fashioned in a distinctively modern way, as we shall see later. It is
important to note, however, that this decision was made in
Dharmapala's Theosophical period .
. In 1886 Olcott and another leading Theosophist, C.W. Lead-
beater, arrived in Sri Lanka to inaugurate the Buddhist educational
fund. This had been one of the objectives set out by Olcott on his
first visit in 1880, but by this time he was exasperated by the lack of
unanimity among the Sinhalese. There were many to pledge money
and support but few to actually convert their pledges into practice.
The initial enthusiasm was over, factionalism was rampant and the
Kotahena riots made the administration less sympathetic to
revivalist activity. Olcott wrote:
There was such petty jealousy, such contemptible intrigues to get control of
money, and such ingratitude shown towards me that I was at one time so disgusted
that I was ready to throw up the whole thing and let them make their funds and
found their schools by themselves. (Olcott, 1967, p. 85)
Colonel Olcott found no one to accompany him on his tour, and he said it was
useless wasting his time if no Buddhist would come to go with him in his tour.
There was none in the.Society able to leave his family and accompany him, and I
thought here was an opportunity for me to make further sacrifice hy resigning my
post. (Righteousness, p. 703)
Then the arrivals at villages in the dawn; the people all clustered along the road to
meet you ... the bath under difficulties: the early breakfast of ... the visit to the
monastery; the discussion of plans and projects with the Buddhist monks; the
lecture in the open air or the preaching pavilion, with a great crowd of interested,
brown-skinned people watching you and hanging on your interpreter's lips.
(Olcott, 1967, p. 84)
This tour was crucial. Not only did Dharmapala get a first-hand
impression of the state of his country and religion, he also made an
impression as a potential national leader with personal access to an
organization and a communication network, which neither the
administration nor middle-class politicians could command. He was
also recognized as a leader of the Theosophical Society in Sri Lanka.
The following entry depicting his responsibilities in the movement
confirms that after the tour he had become a crucial figure.
Up to January, 1886: Left government service to work in the interest and welfare
of the Buddhist Theosophical Society wherein he was engaged as general secretary
of the Buddhist section, manager of the Sandaresa (paper] and the Buddhist press,
manager of Buddhist schools and assistant secretary of the Buddhist defence
committee from March, 1886 to December, 1890. (Righteousness, Introduction,
p. xxxv)
Newspapers were a way of forging a link with Buddhists all over the
country. Even before the arrival of Olcott, several Buddhist leaders
were perturbed by attacks made on Buddhism in the Catholic
newspaper Gnanartha Pradipaya (Flame of knowledge). Christian
tracts were being printed and distributed freely and many of them
had derogatory references to Buddhism. Led by Bulathsinhalage
Haramanis Cooray and Dharmapala's father, the Buddhist leaders
made plans to bring out a newspaper, but they were handicapped by
the lack of a printing press. A modest start was made in 1880 with the
publication of Sarasavi Sandaresa (Ray of words). It was a weekly,
I began to learn Sinhalese when I was eight years old and finished the preliminary
course in two years. That knowledge helped me to be of use as a vigorous writer of
Sinhalese articles in the Sandaresa and Bauddhaya. In 1889 I began reading the
Visuddhi Magga. In 1885 I began writing articles for the Sandaresa which I
continued on and in 1898 ceased. Then in 1906 May started the Sinha/a
Bauddhaya. 1911-1915 was a period of great vigour ... The Bauddhayabecame a
kind of preacher of good morals and activity. It was a terror to the evil doer.
(Diary, 1918, p. 45)
In January, 1891, I visited Bodh Gaya, the holy spot in India where the Buddha
received enlightenment. From the mountains behind Bodh Gaya, Gautama came,
worn out by six years of the fasting and self-torture practiced by Indian ascetics. He
had learned that mortification of the flesh did not enfranchise the spirit. Alone,
deserted by his disciples, he came down to a beautiful grove of trees, always a
haven in burning India. He sat under a delicate, wide-spreading fig tree, the sacred
Bo tree, determined to remain until he had achieved knowledge and freedom.
And that very night, under the brilliant full Indian moon, he attained to Buddha-
hood.
Bodh Gaya is six miles south of the city of Gaya, in Bihar. My heart swelled with
emotion as I rode along the bank of the river, through groves of screw-pines and
palmyrah-palms, and passed pilgrims journeying afoot to this holiest shrine of
Buddhism. Bodh Gaya is to the Buddhist what the holy sepulchre is to the Christ-
ians, Zion to the Jews and Mecca to the Mohammedans. Perhaps no other place in
the world has been so venerated for so long a period by so many people. For
twenty-five centuries, Buddhist pilgrims have come from Ceylon, Burma, Siam,
China, Japan and Korea, from Turkistan and Tibet to see the holy tree and the
place where the Buddha sat ...
In Bodh Gaya, when I beheld the Bo tree, an off shoot of the original tree under
which the Buddha sat, I had the same winged peace of soul as the humblest pilgrim
from Burma. Reverently I visited the brick temple, built in the form of a pyramid,
and examined the carvings on the ancient stone railing. But I was filled with dismay
at the neglect and desecration about me. The Mahan!, the head of the Hindu fakir
establishment, had disfigured the beautiful images. At the end of a long
pilgrimage, the devout Buddhist was confronted with monstrous figures of Hindu
deities. It seemed an outrage that this holiest temple of the Buddhists should be
under the management of a man whose ancestors had always been hostile to
Buddhism. (Righteousness, p. 688)
The anglicised Sinhalese, the Christian padres, Government officials, I have freely
criticised. The Governors Ridgeway, Blake, McCall um, Chalmers were subject to
my criticism. Chief Justice Layard was going to haul me up for contempt of court.
(Diary, p. 46)
Epilogue
tion. Dharmapala was a prolific writer and speaker and has left
behind a clear record of his observations on the plight of the
Sinhalese Buddhists of his time and his vision of their historic role. In
a life of fifty years of agitation and exhortation he fashioned a
philosophy which, while drawing from traditional heritage, was
contemporary in that it enabled the Sinhalese to confront present
realities. In sum, Dharmapala attempted to redefine the new
identity of Sinhalese Buddhists within a pluralistic, colonial society.
We have noted earlier that from the middle of the nineteenth
century Sinhalese Buddhists had made tentative efforts (religious
disputations, a "save the Bo tree" campaign, anti-Christian
pamphleteering) at halting the missionary advance. It was
Dharmapala who finally channelled these ad hoc responses into a
powerful and effective oppositional platform, which was open to all
Sinhalese Buddhists, irrespective of their primary caste, class and
regional affiliations. Indeed, this platform was open to everybody
who identified himself with the interests of Sinhalese Buddhists.
Many of the earlier workers and benefactors of Dharmapala's
missions were Westerners and Indians who sympathized with his
philosophy.
After a hundred years of British rule the Sinhalese as a consolidated race is on the
decline. Crime is increasing year by year, the ignorance of the people is appalling,
without local industries, the peasant proprietor is on the verge of starvation, cattle
are dying for want of fodder, for the pasture lands and village forests have been
ruthlessly taken away from him and made crown property, and sold to the
European to plant rubber and tea. The government is forcing the poor villager to
drink intoxicants by opening village liquor shops by the thousand, in opposition to
the united voice of the whole people. It was the British Government for the first
time for the sake of filthy lucre opened liquor ·shops in the year of Christ 1801 in
Ceylon. Since then with muddle-headed indifference, the Government has
continued to give liquor to the illiterate villagers, and today the prisons are full of
criminals. (Righteousness, p. 508)
When the ancestors of the present holders of our beloved island were running
naked in the forests of Britain with their bodies painted, and later on when their
ancestors had gone under the imperial rule of Rome, and some of them were being
sold as slaves in the market place of Rome, our ancestors were already enjoying
the fruits of the glorious and peaceful civilization whose seeds were sown by the
scions of the Sakya house in 540 B.C. (Righteousness, p. 502)
The Britons who are now administering the Government of the island, two
thousand four hundred years ago were in a state of absolute savagery. They were
conquered by the Romans, and their men and women were sold as slaves in the
markets of Rome. For several hundred years they remained in a state of
barbarism, and not until the reign of Elizabeth did the British people emerge from
their isolation. Although they are a powerful race today yet their hereditary
tendencies of primitive barbarism still cling to them. Cruelty, drunkenness,
slaughter of innocent animals, wife-beating, roasting the whole ox on feast days,
promiscuous dancing of men and women regardless of the laws of decency, are the
vestiges of their primitive customs, when they lived half naked and painted their
bodies and wore skins to ward off the cold. Compassion, gentleness, mercy are
divine qualities which are absolutely foreign to the savage. Several centuries of
ethical development are required to generate the psychological qualities of perfect
manhood in a race. (Righteousness, pp. 479-80)
What other nation on earth is there which could boast of a history of the island, a
history of the great line of kings, a history of religion, a history of sacred architec-
tural shrines, a history of the sacred tree, a history of the sacred relics?
Under the influence of the Tathagatho's religion of righteousness, the people
flourished. Kings spent all their wealth in building temples, public baths, dagobas,
libraries, monasteries, rest houses, hospitals for man and beast, schools, tanks,
seven storied mansions, waterworks and beautified the city of Anuradhapura,
whose fame reached Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, India and other countries.
(Righteousness, p. 481)
The stupendous ruins have nearly always been interpreted in such a way that they
appear to demonstrate the historical truth of the Buddhist sagas. In all three
countries, any young, educated, potentially nationalistic man or woman is bound
to feel that the evidence of past glory lies all around; and this past glory was
Buddhist. (Leach, 1973, p. 35)
Two things are before us, either to be slaves and allow ourselves to be effaced out
of national existence or make a constitutional struggle for the preservation of our
nation from moral decay. We have a duty to perform to our religion, to our
children and our children's children, and not allow this holy land of ours to be
exploited by the liquor monopolist and the whisky dealer. (Righteousness, p. 509)
But what were the distinctive steps taken by the Sinhala Buddhists of
this time to reinforce their identity? Here we find that scholars like
Obeyesekere and Gombrich have tended to emphasize innovations
on the part of the laity (Obeyesekere, 1979, Gombrich, 1982).
However, we noted at the beginning of this article that the funda-
mental problem regarding Buddhist polity does not rest with
changes in lay organization. Rather, it pertains more to the total
Two or three days of comparative quiet now followed which I devoted to the
preparation of an address to be read before a convention which I had called of the
two sects, with the view of creating a kindlier feeling between them, and making
them equally interested in the new movement we had begun in the interest of
Buddhism. This was quite a new departure, joint action having never been now
possible but for our being foreigners who were tied to neither party nor concerned
in one of their social cliques more than in another. (Olcott, 1967, p. 78)
Our subjects of discussion were the desired secularisation of schools, the preser-
vation of Temple endowment lands from spoilation, the proper way to restore
discipline of senior over junior priests - destroyed since the native dynasty had
been replaced by the Christian government and the propagation of propagandist
literature and its circulation. (Olcott, 1967, p. 78)
When I was a young boy there was hardly a bhikkhu to be seen in Colombo. There
was the "Ihala Pansala" which was occupied by Migettuwatte Priest and the
"Pahala Pansala" belonged to the Siyam Samagama .... Bhikkhus being rare in
Colombo, it was the custom for the laymen to recite Paritta on certain auspicious
occasions to ward off danger. (Diary, p. 38)
An early step in the revival movement was to bring monks into the
city and endow them with temples, which were in many cases
mansions of the new elite donated, as by the Kings of the past, to the
Sangha. This led to the creation in the cities of a crucial institution of
the Buddhist revival, the Dayaka Sabha. These were committees of
lay-supporters of temples who assumed responsibility for the
maintenance of the temple, provided food and clothing for the
monks and sponsored activities such as teaching of the Dharma to
schoolchildren, discussions on religious and cultural issues, and
collection of money for religious activities. These Dayaka Sabhas
were the main instrument of Sangha-laity co-operation and were
eventually to become the basic tier of Sinhala Buddhist organiza-
tion. Activists of the Buddhist revival were all members of such
Dayaka Sabhas spread throughout the country.
We found the famed Migettuwatte a middle aged, shaven monk, of full medium
stature, with a very intellectual head, a bright eye, very large mouth and an air of
perfect self-confidence and alertness. Some of the more meditative monks
habitually drop their eyes when conversing with one, but he looked you square in
the face, as befitted the most brilliant polemic orator of the island, the terror of the
missionaries. One could see at a glance that he was more wrangler than ascetic;
more Hilary than Hilarion. (Olcott, 1967, p. 60)
If the role of the monk was being transformed, so was the role of the
Buddhist layman. According to pristine Buddhism the layman plays
only a peripheral role in the striving for nirvana. He is too weak to
pursue the path of salvation as he is not willing to shed his societal
The impure bhikkus who deviate from the four silas are called srmanapetas and
srmanayakkhas (demons). And the upasakas who associate with the miccaditti
(heretics) and conform to their ignoble ways are called upasaka chandalas (lowest
caste) .... The bhikkus in Ceylon are indolent and ignorant of the paramita
dhamma and they keep up their position by a smattering of pali and sanskrit
prosody . . . . Buddha, our Lord, taught wisdom, not animistic dogmas and only
radiant consciousness can grasp the chitta-chaitasika psychology. (Righteousness,
p. 520)
My parents left the Pettah and I went to the Kotahena garden for residence. I
stayed with my uncle. He was very kind to me. My aunt was rather a strict woman
and yet kind. As my uncle had no children my parents were induced to give me to
him. To prevent my running home he would have me chained. This was before my
parents went to Kotahena, when they were still occupying the house in the Pettah
close to my uncle's house. I recollect the thrashings he used to give me, although I
was not more than five years old. My sorrow began at this tender age. I could not
receive the love of my mother on account of my uncle having me in his charge. On
certain Saturday evenings my parents came over to Pettah to hear Bana preach-
ings. It was my desire to go with her to Kotahena; but my uncle would prevent my
going, and for hours I used to weep in my bed. On certain Saturdays my father
would take me to Kotahena and such evenings were full of delight. My mother
would have me lay my head on her lap. She sitting on the mat on the floor, and
stroking my hair. She would relate folklore stories as well as religious stories of self
sacrifice. Her great theme was impermanency. She would tell me of the imperma-
nence of wealth and not to desire for wealth and to avoid pride. All this wealth goes
the way of impermanence she would tell me. My father also reechoed the same
sentiment. I would say "Mother, the wealth that we have is for our use, why not
enjoy. Look at my cousins, how grandly they live." But this continuous harping of
impermanence had great effect later on in lessening the natural desires. The desire
for pleasures, for dress, for money disappeared when I was not even ten years.
(Diary, pp. 39, 40)
The initiation into the Brahmachariya developed in me the desire to be pure. The
eagerness to be physically pure and strong. The training I received at the hands of
the strong disciplinarian teacher, the want of maternal affection, the feeling that I
was not in my home, the soldier like diet I was given in my uncle's house which I had
to eat returning from school, these combined to form in me a spirit ofresoluteness.
I had no desire to associate with other boys. The elderly relations often made the
remark that I was like Buddhaswami, meaning thereby my silent habits. (Diary, p.
42)
Before taking the application to the Director I said to the Mudaliyar that if ever I
pass the exam, I shall not remain in service but renounce the world and work for
the welfare of humanity. This idea I got from three sources - the life of the
Bodhisat Sumedha, The Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold and HPB's writings.
(Diary, p. 62)
Arrayed in robes of spotless white, which seemed all the whiter by reason of his
swarthy countenance and wealth of jet black hair, with arm and index finger
extended, and every muscle of his body quivering with excitement, Dharmapala,
the Buddhist scholar from Calcutta, stood upon the edge of the platform in the
religious congress at Chicago.
The New York World too drew attention to his highly original
vestment:
Mr. Dharmapala was one of the most interesting personages of the Parliament.
Always dressed in spotless white, his hair parted in the middle, and coming
together in a curl at the back, his face gentle and refined, he seemed just like a
familiar portrait of Jesus.
Conclusion
church and its priests had been protected by the King. The
extinction of Sinhalese royalty deprived the church of a benefactor,
and the church had lost all power to enforce its control over society.
This was recognized by the Christian missionaries, who actively
challenged the unprotected Buddhist church and made impressive
gains in converts. Once the national religion, Buddhism became
merely one of a number of competing churches. Furthermore, the
major institutions of Buddhism were linked with the feudal social
structure at a time when the spread of capitalism was redefining
social relationships. A readjustment, a charting of new directions
was urgently needed if a Buddhist social fabric was to be maintained.
It was Dharmapala who imposed his vision of the inseparability of
Buddhism and Sinhalese society and promoted the emergence of a
modern version of the historical relationship between religion and
lay society that had existed in Sri Lanka since the third century BC
when Buddhism was first introduced into the country.
Notes
1. Both collections were published by the government of Sri Lanka as part of the
nationwide celebration in 1964 of the centenary of Dharmapala's birth. It has been
pointed out that Guruge's collections of Dharmapala's writings are selective and do
not include his diaries and several autobiographical essays. In writing this article, I
have made use of some of these documents which have not been published, particu-
larly his diaries and the autobiography included in his Diary of 1918.
2. The Theosophist was published in India from 1879.
3. Dharmapala's grandfather, Muhandiram Andires Perera Dharma-
gunawardene was Gunananda 's closest lay associate, having been the chairman of the
Bodhiraja Society since 1849, when the monk and he launched a highly successful
campaign against the cutting down of Bo trees (ficus religiosa) in the city of Colombo
and its environs.
4. Many students of the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka tend to look upon the
times of Sinhalese Kings as a period of doctrinal purity and the latter period as one of
decline. Our analysis leads to the opposite conclusion.
5. It is sociologically relevant, however, that the Anagarika role has been almost
completely eclipsed in contemporary Sinhala Buddhism. During the early days of the
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