Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)

Trends and developments
Courants et tendances
Sarath Amunugama
Anagarika Dharmapala ( 1864- 1933)

and the transformation of Sinhala
Buddhist organization in a colonial setting
Recent studies in the sociology of Buddhism, particularly by

Bechert (1969), Sarkisyanz (1965) and Tambiah (1976), have
attempted to place Max Weber's analysis of the lay ethic of
Buddhism within the wider context of a Buddhist polity, by supple-
menting canonical evidence with historical data. As Tambiah puts it,
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)
The King and the Sangha
An historical introduction
Central to an analysis of the Buddhist polity, as it was developed in

the great Buddhist Kingdoms, is the historical relationship between
the King and the order of monks, known as the Sangha. Unlike the
Hindu "renouncer" who withdraws from social life into individual
contemplation, the Buddhist monk, while giving up his lay social
commitments (as exemplified by his renunciation of worldly posses-
sions, his change of tonsure, vestment and dietary habits), enters an
order with clearly defined rules and regulations (Vinaya). This
creation of a "community" of renouncers by the Buddha gives a
special characteristic to Buddhism among "salvation religions". The
Social Science Information (SAGE, London, Beverly Hills and New Delhi), 24, 4
(1985),pp.697-730.
Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015
from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

698 Trends and developments Amunugama
Buddhist worshipper - from the religious virtuoso to the humblest

peasant - affirms his faith in the "Three Refuges" - Tisarana
identified as the Buddha, his doctrine (Dharma) and the monkhood
(Sangha). These three refuges are also referred to as the "triple
gem" of Buddhism and the act of its affirmation is incorporated in
every Buddhist ritual. The community of "renouncers" (the
Sangha), legitimated as a creation of the Buddha himself, having its
own rules of recruitment and discipline, is accepted by the Buddhist
masses as an integral part of the religion alongside the Buddha and
his doctrine. Its existence creates, in a structural sense, within every
Buddhist society a strong religio-political institution which is
brought into interaction with the locus of secular authority best
typified in medieval society by the King. Thus the Sangha-King
relationship, with all its dialectical tensions, becomes crucial to an
understanding of Buddhist society. Tambiah describes this situation
well when he says that
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 complex relationship between Sangha and King manifested

itself in many ways. At the level of the higher dharma (lokottara),
the supremacy of the Sangha was acknowledged. This was best illus-
trated in the Asokan tradition of the King inviting monks to his
palace on uposatha days and requesting them to sit on his throne and
expound the dharma. But in this-worldly activity (laukika), the King
retained his authority. For instance, he was responsible for the
"cleansing" or reform of the Sangha as has been described in many
katikavatas (Ratnapala, 1971, pp. 9, 10). He donated buildings and
lands to the Sangha and had powers of reappropriating such lands.
He safeguarded relics of the Buddha and of Buddhist saints, particu-
larly the tooth relic, which therefore came to be regarded as the
palladium of the ruler (Seneviratne, 1978, p. 2). His wars were

Amunugama Courants et tendances 699
described as those waged on behalf of the religion. Thus the role of

the Buddhist King as the protector of the faith (Sasanarakshaka) is
central to his functions and legitimacy, and deviation from this norm
tended to denude the King's popularity and authority.
While this model of a Buddhist polity prevailed with remarkable
consistency in Sri Lanka up to the end of the eighteenth century, the
extinction of Sinhalese Kingship in 1815 created a new socio-
religious context for Sinhalese Buddhist society. By 1815 the British
had not only ended Sinhalese Kingship but had also managed to
bring the whole island under their rule (cf. De Silva, 1965, p. 2). The
role of the King vis-a-vis Buddhist society was emphasized by a
convention by which the Kandyan aristocracy ceded their Kingdom
to the King of England in 1815.
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".
The formation of a modern Buddhist polity
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

missionaries came from the aristocracy. A direct consequence of this

was a change in their perception of Buddhist polity, particularly the
relationship between the Sangha and the political authority. At the
same time, a new elite was emerging as a result of the spread of
capitalist economic activity which followed British rule. Their
wealth was based on trades such as coopering, arrack and toddy
sales, transport, bridge building, real estate, provisioning and
victualling (Roberts, 1979, pp. 166--7). Many were first generation
migrants from villages who retained the traditional Buddhist view of
the relationship with the Sangha.
It was this nativistic elite which forged strong bonds with the
Buddhist Sangha and laid the foundations of the Buddhist revival in
Sri Lanka from the latter half of the nineteenth century (Malalgoda,
1976, p. 248). On the one hand, they were not integrated with the
colonial administration due to the fact that they were businessmen
often in competition with commercial interests favoured by the
British. On the other hand, since they had not assimilated Western
cultural values, they attempted to bring the symbols of traditional
Buddhism to the city. Indeed, an important aspect of modern
Theravada Buddhism is the intermixture of traditional Buddhist
values and symbols with urban culture (Obeyesekere, 1979, pp.
308-9).
There have been many studies of the growth of the Sinhala
nativistic elite of the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. In these studies the complex contribution of different
members of this elite to the Buddhist revival have not been
examined in detail. Instead there has been a concentration of
attention on the personality of Anagarika Dharmapala, occasioned
perhaps by the ready availability of two collections of his writings
Return to righteousness andAnagarika lipi (Obeyesekere, 1979, pp.
279-312; Gombrich, 1982). 1 But what is perhaps more significant is
that studies of Dharmapala's contribution, while emphasizing
"personality problems", do not focus adequately on his inter-
relationships with lay-Buddhist organizations and the Sangha of his
time. I have argued that the relationship between the Sangha and lay
authority is crucial to an understanding of the Buddhist revival and
that Dharmapala's contribution has to be analysed in such a context.

A short biography of Dharmapala
The early years and religious influences
Dharmapala was born in 1864, the eldest son of Don Carolis

Appuhamy who was the owner of a well-known firm of furniture
dealers in Colombo. Don Carolis migrated to Colombo from
Hittatiya, a Buddhist stronghold in south Sri Lanka, and had started
a carpentry business. Due to the expansion of plantation and
commercial activity, the growth of the city of Colombo, and the
construction of a new road to Kandy creating a demand for rapid
transport of commercial produce, this enterprise prospered and by
the time Don David Hewavitarne, as Dharmapala was named, was
born, his father had become a leading Sri Lankan businessman
(Diary, p. 39). His contacts extended to Australia, Japan and the
Far East. Don Carolis was a benefactor of Buddhist causes long
before his son's public career began. Dharmapala himself describes
his father's early Buddhist training in the following way:
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)
A characteristic of Don Carolis's career, which is clearly spelt out

in most Sinhaia writings about this period but not adequately
examined by Western scholars, was his close relationship with the
Sangha, particularly with Hikkaduwe Sumangala, who was a
leading Buddhist scholar and activist, and had been associated with
the Buddhist revival in Galle in south Sri Lanka. Dharmapala's
family brought him to Colombo and provided the premises which
became his temple. Together they sponsored the Vidyadhara Sabha
- a foundation for the promotion of Buddhist learning, particularly
for young monks (Pannananda, 1947, pp. 188-9). Dharmapala
writes that
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)

The trustees of the Vidyadhara Sabha, Sinhala-Buddhist

businessmen with strikingly similar social backgrounds, were the
laymen who, together with Buddhist monks, laid the foundations of
the Buddhist revival (Pannananda, 1947, p. 193).
Don David Hewavitarne's early years were similar to those of
young men of affluent Buddhist, business families in Colombo.
Although he went to Christian schools for an English education, he
did not neglect his study of local languages and Buddhism. While
Obeyesekere and Gombrich emphasize Dharmapala's Western
education, he himself in an autobiographical note stresses his
connections with the Buddhist clergy:
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 ).
Dharmapala started schooling in a Catholic institution in Pettah

patronized by children of Dutch burghers and affluent Sinhalese.
Later he was admitted to the leading missionary boarding school on
the island, St Thomas' College, which was modelled on English
public schools. Though it was English education which attracted
Buddhist children to their schools, missionaries were not averse to
using their establishments as centres of proselytization. As
Dharmapala himself wrote,
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)
Later a bitter critic of Christian missionary activity, Dharmapala

had nonetheless a thorough acquaintance with the Bible and an
appreciation of Christian teaching methods:
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)
Writing to the Principal of the Mahabodhi College, Dharmapala

says:

[I am Jsorry that no attempt is made by the Buddhist Theosophical Society to bring

out a series of Buddhist readers for the use of Buddhist schools. Forty years ago,
Colonel Olcott drew the attention of the Buddhists to supply this want. Forty years
have elapsed and the Buddhists have made no progress. The bhikkus and the lay
Buddhists have failed in their duty. The Christians have their school readers.
(Righteousness, p. 772)
At the same time Dharmapala was strongly influenced by

Sinhalese Buddhist sentiment. The Hewavitarnes were one of the
leading Buddhist families in Colombo. He recalls that as a child of
ten he attended the famous Panadura debate:
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)
Thus while Dharmapala was attending missionary schools, he was

also, with the encouragement of his parents, familiarizing himself
with Buddhist precept and practice. From the ages of eight to ten he
was given special instruction in Buddhism and Sinhala language. By
reason of his father's friendship he came into close association with
Sumangala and Gunananda, the two most important monks of this
epoch.
In contrast to my wine-drinking, meat-eating and pleasure-loving missionary

teachers, the bhikkus were meek and abstemious. I loved their company and
would sit quietly in a corner and listen to their wise discourse, even when it was far
above my head. I was fortunate in knowing well the venerable H. Sri Sumangala,
the most learned and beloved ofbhikkus, who until his death in 1911, was the high
priest of Sripada. Another Buddhist monk whom, as a friend of my family, I saw
nearly everyday, was Mohottiwatte Gunananda. He was a golden tongued orator,
winning in personality and, when he began replying to Christian attacks on
Buddhism, his fame soon spread all over the island. (Righteousness, p. 684)
Obeyesekere neatly describes these contradictory influences in

the urban milieu of Colombo: "In contrast to the enculturation of
Christianity at school, Dharmapala was socialised in Buddhism at
home" (Obeyesekere, 1979, p. 297).
Why, when many other urban Sinhalese youth were converting to
Christianity, did Dharmapala not become Catholic? Unlike the
parents of many of his youthful colleagues, Dharmapala's father and

mother were devout Buddhists, active personalities in the Buddhist

revival. We have seen already that Mohandiram Don Carolis was
the chief day akaya (lay supporter) of Sumangala and a benefactor of
Vidyodaya College. He encouraged his eldest son's religious
pursuits.
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)
The Theosophical period
Much of the writing on Dharmapala has not adequately analysed the

impact on him of the Theosophists. This was an influence which was
more crucial than has been recognized.
It was through his family that Dharmapala became involved with
the Theosophical Society. The earliest supporter of the Theosoph-
ists, Gunananda, a leading monk of Sri Lanka who translated parts
of Blavatsky's Isis unveiled into Sinhalese, was a friend of the
Hewavitarne family. Dharmapala recounts how he would drop by
"Migettuwate Hamuduruwo's" temple on his way from school
(Righteousness, p. 699). From the priest he learnt of the
Theosophical movement and had access to the island's only copy of
the Theosophist (Righteousness, p. 699). 2 Colonel Olcott who, with
Madame H. P. Blavatsky, was a co-founder of the Theosophical
movement had heard of the Panadura debate and had opened a
correspondence with Gunananda and other prominent monks. Thus
when Madame Blavatsky, Olcott and the Theosophist delegation
arrived in Colombo, the sixteen-year-old Dharmapala was present
with his father and uncle to greet them.
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.

Dharmapala remained in St Thomas' College until 1883 when, at the

age of nineteen, his father removed him from this Christian school
following religious troubles in Kotahena. In March that year the
Buddhists of the area celebrated the completion of an image house
at the Dipaduttaramaya temple of Gunananda, who had by now
acquired a reputation as a powerful opponent of Christian
missionaries. Buddhist temples were the foci of migrants from
Buddhist villages, who were now coming in large numbers to the
city. Nearby was St Lucia's Cathedral, a major centre of worship of
the Sri Lankan Catholics. As it was Easter, Catholics, too, were
conducting processions in Kotahena, and it was alleged that each
side was insulting the other while going in procession. The police,
whose authorization was required to stage these parades, mista-
kenly had issued permits to both sides. A belated attempt to
withdraw the permit issued to the Buddhists failed and when the
Buddhist procession was passing St Lucia's, Catholics attacked it,
killing one person, injuring thirty and damaging some carts in which
the Buddhist processionists travelled.
This deliberate, armed attack created a furore among Colombo
Buddhists. It was a direct affront to the Hewavitarne family who
were close friends of Gunananda, lay supporters of Dipadut-
taramaya and residents of Kotahena ( Gnanaloka, 1965, p. 26). 3 Don
Carolis not only withdrew his son from the Christian school in
protest, but he petitioned the government for redress of the injustice
done to the Buddhists. He also wrote to Olcott requesting him to
return to Colombo to help in the Buddhist agitation for an inquiry
into this incident.
Even while in school Dharmapala had followed the activities of
the Theosophical Society. Now he could devote more time to it. In
an obituary note on J. R. de Silva and C. P. Goonewardene, two
Theosophist officials of this time, D harmapala wrote in the Sinha la
Bauddhaya, that in 1883 he would meet these fellow Theosophists
three or four times a week at the Pettah library, which was opposite
his father's business house. After formally obtaining membership in
the Theosophical Society in 1884 (he was under-age for membership
but Olcott personally granted an exemption and initiated
Dharmapala), he would visit daily the society headquarters at 84
Maliban Street to help in its work (Sinhala Bauddhaya, 15 January
1917).
There is no doubt that by this time Dharmapala was considered a
valuable member of the Theosophical Society. Olcott and Blavatsky

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)
Thus Dharmapala returned to Sri Lanka and absorbed himself in the

study of Pali which meant also a study of the Buddhist doctrine.
Dharmapala's father, though a devout Buddhist, was perturbed
about his son's other-worldly interests. He was a successful
businessman who had given the best possible English education to
his son with the expectation of assisting his social mobility, as did all
the new rich of this time. For them there was no contradiction
between the hard pursuit of economic gain and religious aspirations
within that entrepreneurial framework.
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)
Dharmapala was a notable exception. He was willing to devote his

life fully to the Buddhist cause:
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)
For three months Olcott, Leadbeater and Dharmapala toured the

western and southern provinces of Sri Lanka in a caravan, holding
meetings, collecting money and getting pledges of support. This was
the first time that such an intensive effort at communicating with the
rural masses was made in modern Sri Lanka. Since there was a
restricted franchise, politicians had no need to go to the disen-

franchised rural poor. They confined themselves to political

manoeuvres in the cities. It was only the Buddhist monk who had a
rural constituency. Gunananda and Sumangala had already under-
taken preaching engagements in a large number of village temples.
But the Theosophists were the first laymen to attempt "canvassing"
at the village level.
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)
Creating a Buddhist self-awareness
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,

edited by Weragama Bandara, a pupil of Sumangala. In fact,

Sumangala was the guiding spirit behind the Sandaresa. He picked
the editorial staff, wrote articles and even made up the headlines
(Pannananda, 1947, p. 323).
With the Buddhist revival gathering momentum, and a new
popular literary style being employed in the paper, its popularity
increased. It became necessary to put it on a sounder footing.
Dharmapala's grandfather, Mohandiram Dharmagunawardene,
made a donation of £50 which was used for the purchase of a second-
hand printing machine and Sinhalese letter type. By this time the
Sandaresa had become in effect the paper of the Theosophists.
Dharmapala was made its manager in 1887. He persuaded his grand-
father to donate his shares, and established the Buddhist press. The
Sandaresa was brought out twice a week. Dharmapala wrote articles
and exerted editorial control. This was the beginning of his lifelong
connection with printing, publishing and writing:
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 1891 Dharmapala revisited India and proceeded to Bihar State

to Buddha Gaya, the historical site of the Buddha's enlightenment
and his first sermon, the dhammachakkapavattana sutta ( the sermon
setting the wheel of the doctrine in motion). This was hallowed
ground for all Buddhists: Dharmapala characterized it as the
"Buddhist Jerusalem". But centuries of neglect and later desec-
ration by Shaivite priests (Mahantas) had reduced this sacred area,
once a centre of Asokan art, into a wasteland. Dharmapala vowed to
take back this land and build a Buddhist centre on it. Until his death,
despite other multifarious pursuits, this was his guiding interest.
Something of his religio-aesthetic passion for Buddha Gaya still
remains in his essay, Memories of an interpreter of Buddhism to the
present-day world, written twenty-six years after this first journey:
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 task of restoring Buddha Gaya to the Buddhists was not a

simple one. Although the site was, in the eyes of the British
administration a remote and barren terrain, of no practical use to
them, they were loath to incur the displeasure of the Hindus who laid
claim to it. Important Hindus were already perturbed by Buddhist
missionary activity done through the Theosophical Society.
Dharmapala made Buddha Gaya a symbol of international
Buddhism. He founded the Mahabodhi Society for the restoration
of Buddha Gaya, with the Grand Lama of Tibet as its patron and
Hikkaduwe Sumangala as president; he was its general secretary.
The Society had representatives from Siam, Japan, Burma, Arakan,
Chittagong, Darjeeling, Calcutta, California, New York and Paris.
Dharmapala undertook speaking tours to many of these places and
collected money for purchase of the land, the establishment of a
rest-house for pilgrims and a magnificent temple, Mulagandakuti, in
Sarna th.
For long periods Dharmapala would be engaged in Buddhist
activity in India and tours of Japan and the West. In 1893 he visited

the United States as the Buddhist representative to the congress of

religions held in Chicago. Contemporary records show that he made
a favourable impression at this conference. It was then that he
decided to propagandize Buddhism in the West.
But he maintained close links with Sri Lanka, writing frequently
to the newspapers and keeping alive the interest of Sinhalese
Buddhists in Buddha Gaya. He would also return periodically and
undertake speaking tours in the country chastising, exhorting and
encouraging Sinhalese Buddhists to recognize their strength as a
politico-social group. He poured ridicule on Westernized Sinhalese
and scorned the British administration:
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)
In 1904 he broke with the Theosophists, who were increasingly

under pressure from Hindus who had found a champion in Annie
Besant. The Hindus resented the prominence given to Buddhist
activities. This was the culmination of a growing estrangement
between Theosophists and Buddhists in Sri Lanka (Diary, p. 51).
The growing Buddhist consciousness was not looked on with favour
by some Theosophists who proclaimed the correctness of all relig-
ions. And the Theosophist organ, Saras a vi Sandaresa was subject to
severe criticism by Buddhist newspapers such as Lakminipahana
and Riviresa.
Dharmapala launched a new Sinhalese paper, Sinha/a Bauddhaya
(the Sinhala Buddhist) printed on a second-hand press he had purch-
ased. He named his publishing house the Mahabodhi Press.
Piyadasa Sirisena was appointed editor. Through the press,
Dharmapala involved the Sinhalese in the Buddha Gaya issue,
which he presented as a matter of pan-Buddhist prestige. Public
meetings were held and money was collected for Mahabodhi
activity. Buddhist priests were encouraged to reside at or at least
visit Buddha Gaya and such visits became important means of merit
earning (pin) for affluent Sinhalese.

Epilogue
That Dharmapala's agitational activity on behalf of the Sinhalese

Buddhists had struck root was evidenced by the 1915 riots
(Jayawardena, 1970, pp. 223-33). These riots, which took the form
of clashes between the Sinhalese and Muslims over a religious issue,
were taken by the British administration, apprehensive of German
and Japanese infiltration during the first world war, as an attack on
the British "Raj" and were suppressed with great brutality (Kannan-
gara, 1984, p. 135). Dharmapala's last years were spent in India,
isolated from Sri Lankan politics.
The Sinhala elite who had been treated harshly by the administ-
ration in 1915, realized the need to intervene more actively in the
political arena. It reaped the benefits of the agitation carried on by
Dharmapala for half a century, but was unwilling to associate him
with their political activity for fear of being labelled "seditionist".
The Temperance movement and the formation of the Ceylon
National Congress threw up new leaders who preferred to negotiate
with the administration for concessions. The British, locked in a
desperate struggle for India, also realized the danger in totally
alienating the local elite and embarked on a policy of co-opting its
leading members. Governor Chalmers who had authorized a "hard
line" against the local bourgeoisie was withdrawn. Many who had
been taken into custody in 1915 were released, and Chalmers's
successor, Anderson, dealt severely with the planters and
policemen who had committed excesses in the suppression of the
riots. From then on, more consideration was given to Sinhala
Buddhist interests.
Dharmapala lived in Calcutta for some time and then retired to
Sarnath where he entered the Sangha in 1931 as Bhikku Devamitta.
He died in 1933 after receiving Upasampada, the highest ritual state
for a Buddhist in the modern world. To the end Dharmapala
devoted his life to the Buddhist cause. He was, without a doubt,
!' homme engage of the Sinhalese Buddhist revival.
Dharmapala's contribution to the

Sinhalese Buddhist revival
Having recounted in some detail Dharmapala's career, we can now

turn to an analysis of his contribution to Sinhala Buddhist organiza-

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.
A critique of colonial rule
Dharmapala began with an analysis of the realities of colonial rule:

the Sinhalese Buddhists were politically impotent. The Kandyan
treaty of 1815, whereby the chieftains ceded their kingdom to the
British on written guarantees, was a dead letter. In the economic
sphere, Buddhist lands were expropriated, capital was mainly in the
hands of non-Buddhists, and demographic changes induced by
capitalism were to their disadvantage. The majority of Sinhala
Buddhists were reduced to the position of consumers of foreign
trade goods. Culturally, their traditional institutions were
threatened by the spread of missionary activity.
Dharmapala painted a grim picture of the state of the Sinhalese in
his time:
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)
Central to Dharmapala's critique of colonialism was his refutation

of the imperialist-missionary ideology. The sine qua non of colonial
ideology in Ceylon was the rejection of the claims of the Sinhalese
regarding the merits of their religion and culture. As the
missionaries informed Dharmapala in his schooldays, Buddhists
were worshippers of clay idols and false gods, while the ancient
culture of the Sinhalese was symbolized by old-world customs and
the ruins of temples. This was also the theme of the Christian
debaters at the religious controversies. The moral and physical
superiority of the British was the cornerstone of the imperial
ideology. While this was not surprising in the case of the British,
what was more remarkable was that a large number of the colonized
people believed it as well: they changed their names, dress, habits,
language and religion. The objective of this class was to be British
"except for the colour of the skin". Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph
neatly summarize the nature of this colonial mentality:
Why inferiority in arms, technology, and organization, circumstances related to

particular historical contexts that may be reversed, has led colonialist people to
more essentialist conclusions about themselves is not entirely clear. The fact that
they frequently did come to such conclusions was one of the more degrading
consequences of colonialism. This state of mind-a sense of impotence combined
with the fear of moral unworthiness arising from impotence - was not unique to
India. It provided a central theme in other nationalist movements and led to
attempts- to use the Chinese nationalist phrase - at self-strengthening. (L. and
S. Rudolph, 1967, pp. 167-9)
Dharmapala launched a frontal attack on the concept of English

superiority. He reversed the present relationship and contrasted the
past of English civilization with that of the Sinhalese.
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)
In place of the imperialist stereotype of the coloured man as a savage

and heathen, Dharmapala, with a sense of mass psychology, substi-
tuted his own stereotype of the Englishman as a barbarian.
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)
In contrast, the Sinhalese were portrayed as the heirs to a magni-

ficent civilization:
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.
This grandiose view of ancient Sri Lanka as the centre of a great

Buddhist civilization was made into an article of faith by the _
Buddhists- as compensation for their impotence in colonial times.
It reinforced the view that Sinhalese polity must essentially be
Buddhist. As Edmund Leach, writing about Sri Lanka, Thailand
and Burma, describes it,
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)
Dharmapala's rationale for the defence of the Sinhalese nation lay

precisely in its historical custodianship of the Buddha's teachings.
His anti-imperialism did not spring basically from a political or
economic critique of imperialism. To him imperialism had to be
resisted since it threatened the survival and integrity of the tradi-
tional Sinhala way of life which had preserved the Buddha's
teaching. In doing so Dharmapala gave contemporary meaning to
two fundamental concerns which are evident in the history of the
Sinhalese. The first is the fear that the Sinhalese are a "beleaguered"
nation; a numerically small community surrounded by hostile alien
races. The classic utterance of the youthful Dutugemunu - the epic
hero of the Sinhalese - that he sleeps huddled up because he is
constricted by the sea on one side and the Tamils on the other, which
is part of a predominant Sinhalese myth, encapsulates this historic
concern. The chronicles of the Sinhalese reinforce this view of
isolation and vulnerability: the Aryan Sinhalese are threatened by
the Dravidian Tamils. The other concern related to the first, is the
need for the Sinhalese to overcome - be it by the use of force -
these hostile and restrictive forces since theirs is a historic mission,
the safeguarding of Buddhism.
These two concerns, which always predominated in the Sinhalese
"psyche", were spelt out and brought into the open by Dharmapala:
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)
Steps towards a Buddhist identity
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

Buddhist organization which encompasses developments in the

Sangha, their interrelationships with the laity, and the creation of a
complex relationship in which the Sangha and its protectors - be it
King or, as it now stands, lay leader - interact with and reinforce
each other.
Viewed in this manner, developments in Sri Lankan Buddhism
under colonial rule assume a certain coherence and continuity. The
highlights of this development were
- the growth of new Buddhist fraternities (nikaya),particularly on
the southern seaboard
- the segmentation of such sects
- the isolation of the chief monasteries of Malvatta and Asgiriya
- the rise of Buddhist scholarship and disputation among monks on
points of Vinaya
- the growth of Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara Pirivenas as schools
of instruction for monks and centres of learning and
discussion
- the proliferation of Pirivenas in other parts of the country
- the renewal of Buddhist missionary activity
- the growth of the Buddhist Theosophical Society
- the founding of the Mahabodhi Society.
While the sociologists writing on the Buddhist revival have, up to
now, tended to emphasize the activities of laymen, I propose to
examine the writings of the principal "actors" themselves. Colonel
Olcott for example recognized the centrality of the Sangha for the
Buddhist polity. He paid great attention to bringing together the
different nikayas through the activities of the Theosophical Society.
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)
As regards subjects discussed at this convention, Olcott writes:
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)

Dharmapala writes of the absence of the Sangha from the city of

Colombo:
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.
Transformation of the monk's role
With respect to the clergy, Dharmapala consistently emphasized its

societal function. He spoke admiringly of the self-sacrifice and
dedication of Christian missionaries who forsake their kith and kin
and live under trying conditions in Africa and Australia. But "it is a
tragedy that our monks think only of their convenience and do not
try to spread the Sasana of the Buddha in surrounding lands"
(Sarasavi Sandaresa, 6 March 1894). He therefore undertook to
recruit a number of Sinhalese monks for missionary work in India
and England, and undertook personally to pay for their travel,
board and lodging (Sarasavi Sandaresa, 6 March 1894).
But this clerical involvement in the "good of the world" was at the
expense of meditation and striving for salvation. The scale of
sanctity in Buddhism is measured in terms of distance from
mundane, societal activity.

In this paradigm, a Buddhist must progress from the 5 precepts

observed by the layman to the 227 precepts (sanvara silaya) which
are prescribed for the Upasampada Sangha. In real life Buddhists
would, to greater or lesser extent, traverse a section of the
continuum.
In modern times the observation of sila became a highly visible
aspect of a monk's vocation. With the commitment of the monk to
live in urban society this became a primary index to a Buddhist's
prestige rather than meditation, which is the basic aspect of ascetic
salvation-striving. Progressively, the Buddhist monk's role in
society as a disciplined, benevolent activist was emphasized at the
expense of salvation-striving.
The model of this new priest was Hikkaduwe Sumangala.
Sumangala was a scholar, a preacher and an indefatigable organizer
of Buddhist causes. He travelled, managed a teaching institution
and was a personal advisor of local and foreign dignitaries
(Pannananda, 1947, p. 157). At the same time, he scrupulously
observed the ten precepts (dasa sil) which are the basic behavioural
prescriptions applicable to all members of the Bikkhu community.
The Theosophists and the native elite led by Dharmapala were
largely responsible for popularizing the image of the activist monk.
Olcott very shrewdly observed the difference in Migettuwatte
Gunananda, even at their first meeting:
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)
Such monks were in reality responding to a functional requirement

necessitated by a change in social structure.
The changing role of the Buddhist layman
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

attachments. For him the Buddha propounded a social ethic which

Weber characterized as "an insufficiency ethic of the weak" {Weber,
1962, p. 215). In terms of popular religion, the layman looked on the
observation of the lay ethic as a means of merit-making (pin) which
enhanced his favourable karma, preparing the way for a more
rigorous salvation-striving in a future birth. Another object of such
merit-making was to ensure rebirth at the time of Maitreya
Buddha's appearance on earth so that his personal intervention
could be obtained in salvation-seeking.
Dharmapala's objective, at this point, was to build a tightly knit,
well-disciplined Buddhist congregation with a common corpus of
belief and awareness of its strength as a politico-religious group. In
this he was continuing the work begun by the Theosophists. For this
purpose several changes in traditional Buddhist lay practice and
belief had to be effected. Firstly, an effort was made to separate
canonical teachings from popular religious practices. Many of these
rituals which did not have a direct scriptural rationale were
dismissed as "excrescences", survivals of Hindu practices which
were antithetical, or at least irrelevant, to Buddhism. The best
statement of such fundamentalist Buddhism was incorporated in the
Buddhist catechism which was the joint product of Olcott,
Sumangala and Dharmapala, who may be considered the
ideologues of this viewpoint (Olcott, 1967, vol. 4, pp. 468-9).
Secondly, there was an attempt to establish a fundamentalist,
scriptural Buddhism which would have been inconceivable in the
times of Sinhalese Kings. 4 The full resources of Dharmapala's
propaganda skills - in newspapers, pamphlets, lectures - were
used to this end. Indeed, the use of mass media technology was a
crucial factor in the spread of this fundamentalist view of Buddhism.
Access to Buddhist texts, particularly the Vinaya Pitaka (rules of
discipline) previously restricted to a handful of monks, was now
made available to many at little cost. These texts and commentaries
on doctrine and practice were discussed, edited and published,
providing a public measuring-stick whereby both lay and clerical
behaviour could be evaluated. Whereas in the past the cleansing of
the Sangha had to be done by the King, now only public opinion by
way of social sanctions could create pressure on the monks to adhere
to the silas. Dharmapala was harsh on the monks who transgressed
the laws of discipline:
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)
Finally, if Sinhalese Buddhists were to be organized into a viable

socio-political entity, it became necessary to enunciate for them a
code of lay ethics. While the Vinaya Pitaka laid down a code of
behaviour and discipline in great detail for the clergy, there was no
parallel code for laymen, except for some injunctions of the Buddha
such as the sigalovada sutta.
This lack of concern with lay ethics is perfectly congruent with the
salvation-goals and methods of the Buddha. But in the political
context of Dharmapala's time, such a unifying code was of
paramount importance. Dharmapala therefore compiled and
published a lay code which he entitled a Daily code for the laity,
wherein he set out 200 rules for the lay Buddhist under the following
headings:
1. The manner of eating food. (25 rules)
2. Chewing betel. (6 rules)
3. Wearing clean clothes. (5 rules)
4. How to use the lavatory. (4 rules)
5. How to behave while walking on the road. (10 rules)
6. How to behave in public gatherings. {19 rules)
7. How females should conduct themselves. (30 rules)
8. How children should conduct themselves. (18 rules)
9. How the laity should conduct themselves before the Sangha.
(5 rules)
10. How to behave in buses and trains. (8 rules)
11. What village protection societies should do. (8 rules)
12. On going to see sick persons. (2 rules)
13. Funerals. (3 rules)
14. The carters code. (6 rules)
15. Sinhalese clothes. (6 rules)
16. Sinhalese names. (2 rules)
17. What teachers should do. (2 rules)
18. How servants should behave. (9 rules)
19. How festivals should be conducted. (5 rules)
20. How lay devotees should conduct themselves at temple.

21. How children should treat their parents. (14 rules)

22. Domestic ceremonies. (1 rule)
In this lay charter was combined Dharmapala's fundamentalist
interpretation of Buddhism and his view of corporate traditional
Sinhala culture. What is significant is the attempt to reconcile
Buddhists to living a "successful" life in society- liked by parents,
relatives, friends and priests; capitalistic but generous and consid-
erate. It was in esse a bourgeois world view, which takes for granted
the prevailing social hierarchy. For example, one section of
Dharmapala's lay code is devoted to the obligations of servants and
carters. Servants are exhorted to work hard and promptly, be
enthusiastic about the worldly success of their employer and avoid
any hostility to the employer by word or thought, much less deed.
This charter performed two vital functions. Firstly, it could unite
Sinhalese Buddhists under the leadership of the nativistic elite. It
was a common platform cutting across caste and kin lines and
eliminating village cultural practices which had a specific regional or
caste focus. Secondly, it incorporated all those puritanical charac-
teristics which were proclaimed as desirable by the missionaries.
Thus the national bourgeoisie, upwardly mobile and anxious to drop
its village affiliations, could easily approve of it and adopt it as their
ideal life-style.
The modern Anagarika:

a new form of religious commitment
The same functional requirements that were bringing subtle changes

in the monks' vocation were also creating new forms of religious
commitment. The absence of a lay Buddhist authority, classically
represented by the King, which had forced a change in the monks'
role in contemporary Sinhala society, also led to the creation by
Dharmapala of the role of the modern Anagarika.
The Anagarika (homeless) role which was central to
Dharmapala's religious charisma was probably born, as I shall
describe later, out of his own psychological needs. But he was able to
adapt them to the functional needs of modern Buddhism. According
to Buddhism a monk is an Anagarika, homeless, celibate and
dedicated to his personal salvation, as evidenced by his repudiation
of all ties that bind him to society (Weber, 1962, p. 214). An
important element of Buddhist religious authority is derived from

renunciation, which finds its clearest expression in the life of the

Buddha, a model for all Buddhists. Gotama, a Sakhyan prince and
heir to the throne of Kapilavattu, was brought up as befitting a king-
to-be. He lived in great luxury. He was proficient not only in book
learning but also in the martial arts. But all these comforts as well as
a beautiful wife, could not take his mind away from the problem of
death and decay, of suffering and the cessation of suffering. One day
after a surfeit of revelry and indulgence, he was struck by the vacuity
and futility of life. He renounced all worldly comforts and attach-
ments, and crossing the great Neranjara River, adopted the hard life
of a salvation-seeker. Tales of the previous births of the Buddha
(Jatakas), the source of popular Buddhist lore, also emphasized
renunciation (Wray et al., 1972, pp. 107-20). Even in his previous
births the Buddha had renounced worldly attachments. The most
popular of these renunciation tales was the Vessantara J ataka which
has been celebrated in Buddhist art, literature and especially folk
poetry (pp. 93-103).
Renunciation was not only an ascetic's goal. It was a source of
power. The Buddha, reflecting on his life's renunciations, sat under
a Bo tree determined not to rise until he had achieved enlighten-
ment. Vessantara, by the power of his renunciations, achieved a
better birth culminating in the achievement of Buddhahood. Thus,
according to Buddhist cultural belief, renunciation confers powers
on the salvation-seeker, including the powers of levitation and
omniscience.
Dharmapala too was a renouncer coming from the richest of
Colombo Sinhala families. He renounced all those symbols of
affluence that his contemporaries sought and dedicated himself to
the revival of Buddhism. Obeyesekere attributes this to an "identity
crisis" caused by cultural marginality (Obeyesekere, 1979, p. 296).
However, in his autobiography Dharmapala deals with this question
forthrightly, and we can see clearly the genesis of the Anagarika
ideal.
There is no doubt that Dharmapala's early childhood was
traumatic. Writing fifty years after the event, he vividly recalls the
terrors of his childhood:
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)
Dharmapala not only renounced his inheritance: he also

subjected himself to a rigorous personal asceticism from the age of
mne.
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)
He is also equally forthright regarding the way in which he was

inspired to create the Anagarika role.
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)
Sumedha Tapas is the nearest in Buddhist literature to the

Anagarika role. He was a previous incarnation of the Buddha as an
ascetic who attended to the needs of a Buddha named Dipankara.
Juxtaposed in the modern context, a follower of Sumedha would
dedicate his life to ministering the needs of the Sangha. "HPB"

refers to Madame Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical

movement. Dharmapala was aware that there were "chelas" (disci-
ples) in the Theosophical movement like Damodar Mavalankar who
had taken the vows of Brahmachari in the cause of Theosophy
(Diary, p. 51). Indeed Malavankar seems to have been the ideal of
Dharmapala at this time and in Theosophical circles Dharmapala
was spoken of as "Ceylon Damodar".
In fact the Brahmachari role is specifically a Hindu, not a
Buddhist, one, being a stage in the progress of a man from childhood
celibate to householder, to Sanyasi or salvation-seeker. For
Dharmapala, however, it provided a highly original solution to the
contradiction between world renunciation and the need for
Buddhist activism in society. The more he criticized the selfish
detachment of some monks - the "Sramana Pretas" (monkish
goblins) as he caustically called them - the more he was confronted
with the need for an institutional position between layman and
monk from which one could engage in this-worldly activity on behalf
of Buddhism while at the same time participating at a higher stage of
salvation-striving than the lay adherents of the five precepts. Tradi-
tionally, however, the Ata Sil (Eight precept) or Dasa Sil (Ten
precept) Upasaka, or lay specialist, who came closest to the
Anagarika role was a person who was committed to withdrawal from
society rather than one pledged to fight, even for the good of his
religion. Usually it was an ex-monk who was too ill or infirm to live
on his own, and had abandoned his robes due to practical necessity.
Other laymen adopted this status on special sacred days when they
withdrew from lay life for the duration of their sil.
Dharmapala transformed this traditionally passive role into one
of militant activism. But all the while being active in the social field,
he still subjected himself strictly to the personal discipline
prescribed for an Upasaka. Significantly he emphasized the eight
precepts, which, unlike the ten precepts, did not prohibit the
handling and use of money. Unlike the traditional Upasaka,
Dharmapala was aware that the Buddhist revival could not be
effected without the collection and investment of money in the
pursuit of modern goals.
An effective use of symbols
To the Sinhalese audience, then, Dharmapala personified two

concepts which were central to Buddhist culture: renunciation and

asceticism. These actions were not mere gestures. According to
tradition they bestowed power and charisma. The ascetic who
renounces his worldly inheritance earns thereby a mystic power.
Dharmapala's charisma was thus securely moored on the indigenous
cultural tradition. This was a major factor in his recognition by the
mass of people as a messianic, charismatic figure. 5
But Dharmapala went beyond religious symbolism. He
emphasized all those symbols that differentiated him from the ranks
of the Westernized middle class. He not only had different views, he
changed his name, his habits, his home, his manner of speaking and
his dress. This, intentionally or otherwise, was excellent
propaganda. Dharmapala's new symbols were fashioned out of
existing cultural material. He urged Buddhists to take the names of
local heroes and Buddhist saints. His discourses drew on the Bana
tradition. His early vestment was a white cloth dress and white shawl
thrown across his right shoulder, which was modelled on the tradi-
tional dress of Upasakas. The New York Herald of 15 September
1893 described Dharmapala in the following way:
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.
Just as he used traditional symbols for modern purposes,

Dharmapala could also use modern institutions for traditional
purposes. The decline of feudalism and the spread of capitalism
created a more differentiated, individualistic type of society in which
voluntary associations became increasingly more important in
contrast to obligatory groupings such as kinship and caste units. The
British administration, too, looked upon these voluntary organiza-
tions with favour. There were professional associations such as the

Planters' Association, the Agricultural Association and the

Lawyers' Association. The missionaries also provided Dharmapala
with a modern structural model.
The Buddhists took to this new form of organization after they
began to feel the effects of the Christian offensive. It also suited the
new middle class, who had no power in the traditional groupings,
since the cultural criterion there was birth status, not wealth. The
new nikayas were sponsored by voluntary associations led by the
affluent sections of the relevant caste (Diary, p. 38). Gunananda,
with the financial support of the newly rich Buddhists of Colombo,
set up the Bodhiraja Society for the safeguarding of Bo trees. To
Dharmapala, a student of Christian missionary as well as
Theosophical Society techniques, Christian-sponsored voluntary
associations such as the Young Men's Christian Associations,
educational foundations and Sunday schools, and religious symbols
such as flags, badges, songs and festivals, were very effective means
of converting as well as maintaining the morale of a congregation.
He therefore attempted to adapt these Western elements to assist
the Buddhist revival.
Young Men's Buddhist Associations were formed to encourage
young Buddhists to debate, swim and do calesthenics just as young
Christians did. A Buddhist catechism was devised and Buddhist
Sunday schools competed with Christian ones to impart religious
instruction. This effort also bore the mark of Olcott and Blavatsky,
who were past masters of popular psychology. Members of the
Buddhist Theosophical Society, with Olcott's assistance, designed a
Buddhist flag, which Dharmapala popularized in Sri Lanka and
later, through the Mahabodhi Society, introduced to the rest of the
Buddhist world (Diary, p. 70). It was also Olcott who interceded
with the British to have the birth, enlightenment and death anniver-
saries of the Buddha, Wesak, declared a public holiday.
Dharmapala, through his newspapers and speeches, made certain
that this festival was celebrated with great ceremony: Wesak songs
took the place of Christmas carols and Buddhist children were sent
carolling round the city.
Conclusion
In the final perspective, what can be said of the role played by

Dharmapala? During the times of Sinhalese royalty, the Buddhist

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.
Sarath Amunugama (born 1939) works at Unesco headquarters in Paris, where he

is Director of the International Programme for the Development of Communica-
tion. He is the author of one book, Notes on Sinha/a culture (1980), editor of Mass
communication research in Asia ( 1982) and has published several articles in Sri
Lankan historical and social science journals. Author's address: 15 rue Jean
Daudin, 75015 Paris.
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

Mahabodhi Society, many Sinhalese youth, notably Walisinghe Harischandra and

Walisinghe Dharmapriya adopted the role of Anagarika. But from the 1950s this role
has not had many adherents. The reason for this change is not far to seek. Since the
1950s, the role of the monk has changed so much that the need for an intermediary lay
activist has been eliminated. The Buddhist monk has himself become an activist.
Today he handles money, attends political meetings, and intercedes directly with
secular authorities. The head of the Nurses Trade Union is a monk. Indeed, there are
no fields of lay organization that the monks do not directly interact with, leaving no
functional role for an Anagarika.
References
Bechert, H.
1969 "Theravada Buddhist Sangha: some general observations on historical and
political factors in its development", Journal of Asian Studies 29 (4): 761-
78.
De Silva, K. M.
1965 Social policy and missionary organizations in Ceylon, 1840-1855. London,
Longmans, Green.
Dharmapala, A.
1918 Diary.
1965 Anagarika lipi. (Ed. by A. Guruge.) Colombo, Government Press.
1965 Return to righteousness. (Ed. by A. Guruge.) Colombo, Government Press.
Gnanaloka, B.
1965 Sri Gunananda Himipano. Colombo, Nandana Press.
Gombrich, R.
1982 "From monastery to meditation centre: lay meditation in Sri Lanka", pp.
279-312, in: P. Denwood, A. Piatigorsky (eds), Buddhist studies, ancient
and modern. London, Curzon Press.
Jayawardena, K.
1970 "Economic and political factors in the 1915 riots", The Journal of Asian
Studies 29 (2): 223-33.
Kannangara, A. P.
1984 "The riots of 1915 in Sri Lanka: a study of the roots of communal violence",
Past and Present 102: 135.
Leach, E.
l 973 "Buddhism in the post-colonial political order in Burma and Ceylon",
Daedalus, Winter: 35.

Malalgoda, K.
1976 Buddhism in Sinhalese society, 1750-1931. Berkeley, Calif., University of
California Press.
Obeyesekere, G.
1939 "The vicissitudes of the Sinhala-Buddhist identity through time and
change', pp. 279-313 in: M. Roberts (ed.), Collective identities,
nationalisms and protest in modern Sri Lanka. Colombo, Marga Institute.
Olcott, H. S.
1967 From old diary leaves. Olcott commemoration volume. (Ed. by S.
Karunaratne.) Colombo, Gunasena Press.
Pannananda, Y.
1947 Sri Sumangala Charitaya. Colombo, Lake House.
Ratnapala, N.
1971 The Katikavatas laws of the Buddhist order of Ceylon from the 12th century
to the 18th century. Munich, Kitzinger.
Roberts, M.
1979 "Elite formation and elites, 1832-1931", pp. 153-213 in: M. Roberts (ed.),
Collective identities, nationalism and protest in modern Sri Lanka.
Colombo, Marga Institute.
Rudolph, L.; Rudolph, S.

1967 The modernity of tradition. Chicago, Ill., University of Chicago Press.
Sarasavi Sandaresa
1894 6 March.
15 June.
Sarkisyan, E.
1965 Buddhist backgrounds of the Burmese revolution. The Hague, Nijhoff.
Seneviratne, H. L.
1978 Rituals of the Kandyan state. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Sinha/a Bauddhaya
1917 15 January.
Tambiah, S. J.
1976 World conqueror and world renouncer. Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press.
Weber,M.
1962 The religion of India. Glencoe, Ill., Free Press.
Wray, E.; Rosenfield, C.; Bailey, D.

1972 The Ten lives of the Buddha. New York, Weatherhill.

Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Trends and developments

Anagarika Dharmapala ( 1864- 1933)

Recent studies in the sociology of Buddhism, particularly by

The King and the Sangha

Central to an analysis of the Buddhist polity, as it was developed in

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

Buddhist worshipper - from the religious virtuoso to the humblest

The complex relationship between Sangha and King manifested

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

described as those waged on behalf of the religion. Thus the role of

The formation of a modern Buddhist polity

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

missionaries came from the aristocracy. A direct consequence of this

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

A short biography of Dharmapala

The early years and religious influences

Dharmapala was born in 1864, the eldest son of Don Carolis

A characteristic of Don Carolis's career, which is clearly spelt out

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

The trustees of the Vidyadhara Sabha, Sinhala-Buddhist

Dharmapala started schooling in a Catholic institution in Pettah

Later a bitter critic of Christian missionary activity, Dharmapala

Writing to the Principal of the Mahabodhi College, Dharmapala

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

[I am Jsorry that no attempt is made by the Buddhist Theosophical Society to bring

At the same time Dharmapala was strongly influenced by

Thus while Dharmapala was attending missionary schools, he was

In contrast to my wine-drinking, meat-eating and pleasure-loving missionary

Obeyesekere neatly describes these contradictory influences in

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

mother were devout Buddhists, active personalities in the Buddhist

The Theosophical period

Much of the writing on Dharmapala has not adequately analysed the

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

Dharmapala remained in St Thomas' College until 1883 when, at the

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

Thus Dharmapala returned to Sri Lanka and absorbed himself in the

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

Dharmapala was a notable exception. He was willing to devote his

For three months Olcott, Leadbeater and Dharmapala toured the

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

franchised rural poor. They confined themselves to political

Creating a Buddhist self-awareness

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

edited by Weragama Bandara, a pupil of Sumangala. In fact,

In 1891 Dharmapala revisited India and proceeded to Bihar State

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

The task of restoring Buddha Gaya to the Buddhists was not a

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

the United States as the Buddhist representative to the congress of

In 1904 he broke with the Theosophists, who were increasingly

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

That Dharmapala's agitational activity on behalf of the Sinhalese

Dharmapala's contribution to the

Having recounted in some detail Dharmapala's career, we can now

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

A critique of colonial rule

Dharmapala began with an analysis of the realities of colonial rule:

Downloaded from ssi.sagepub.com at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on May 4, 2015

Central to Dharmapala's critique of colonialism was his refutation

Why inferiority in arms, technology, and organization, circumstances related to