Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Review
Reviewed Work(s): EARLY HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CEYLON (or "State of Buddhism in
Ceylon as revealed by the Pāli Commentaries of the 5th century A. D.") by E. W.
Adikaram and E. W. Adikram
Review by: V. V. Gokhale
Source: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 28, No. 3/4 (July-
October 1947), pp. 313-315
Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44028075
Accessed: 04-07-2019 14:14 UTC

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 EARLY HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN CEYLON (or
" State of Buddhism in Ceylon as revealed by the Pāli
Commentaries of the 5th century A. D. 99 ) by E. W.
Adikaram, M.A., Ph.D. ( Lond. ), published by D. S.
Puswella, Migoda (Ceylon ) 1946, Pp. X+154+L.
The sub-title, put into brackets, represents the proper subject
of this doctorate thesis, prepared under the guidance of the
veteran Pāli scholar, Dr. W. Stede. The book is divided into two
Parts. In Part one, consisting of four chapters, the author gives
a brief survey of his materials and tries to assess the nature of
their contents, firstly by discussing the older sources to which
references are found in the Pāli commentaries, and then by
illustrating some of the differences that exist between the com-
mentaries and the canon and those between one commentary and
another. He has drawn interesting infererences concerning espe-
cially the Porāņas, who according to him may be the same persons
as the Pubbacariyas and maybe closely connected with the Porāņā-
cariyas and Atthakathâcariyas, but not the same as the Porāņa-
kattheras. The chapter on the Bhāņakas ( Reciters ) is more
instructive. The author is not aware of any reference to the
Reciters of the Khuddakanikâya in any of the commentaries,
although the word 4 Khuddakabhāņaka ' occurs in the Milinda-
pañha. This fact seems to support strongly the theory, that the
Sutta Pitaka consisted originally of only four Ägamas ( as in the
Chinese tradition) instead of the five Nikayas represented in
Pāli, and that the term ' Nikäya ' ( group ) might itself indicate a
later re-arrgangment of the canonical material on the subject of
the 1 Dhamma ' as distinguished from the ' Vinaya ( Olderiberg ,
Studien zur Geschichte des buddhistischen Knon, NGGW. 1912 ).
Part Two, containing ten chapters and covering nearly three-
fourth part of the whole book, deals mainly with the early history
of Buddhism in Ceylon, during a period of about one thousand
years ( roughly, 500 B. C. to 500 A. D. ). It may be said, in
general that in trying to establish historical facts, Dr. Adikarm
is very willing to give a long rope to the commentators and later
authorities, even where they seem to be manifestly reproducing
ppre hearsay, and prefers to err? if neęci be, orç the sitlf}

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314 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

of orthodox beliefs. For example, in regard to the legend that

the Buddha himself had visited Ceylon - not once but thrice - ,
he admits that 4 no mention is made of these visits in any part
óf the Pāli canon ' and yet proceeds with the remark : " This
negative evidence, though a weighty one, is not sufficient for us
to arrive at a decision and deny the truth of the tradition "
( p. 46 ). Can it be seriously contended that, had there been any
historical truth behind the legend that the Enlightened One had
actually undertaken three proselytising tours in Ceylon, the
Pāli Canon, written out in Ceylon on the basis of the traditional
recitations could have been so completely innocent of such a
tremendously significant fact ?

The documentation throughout the whole study has been

carried out assiduously and the sections containing the chrono-
logical history of the events, connected with the ' Spread of the
Faith ' ( chap. Ill ), the 4 Writing down of the Texts ' ( chap.
IV ) - for which the first schism that divided the Ceylonese
Church into the Abhayagiri and Mahāvlhāra schools seems to be
itself a far more potent reason than those described by the
author ( p. 79 ) - , the ' First Literary Period 9 ( chap. V ) in the
history of Ceylonese Buddhism of the first century A. D. after
the reign of Vattagāmanī, and the 4 Growth of Dissentient
Schools ' ( chap. VI ) are all full of revealing allusions and
cogent remarks. Particularly interesting are the accounts of the
Abhayagiri ( or Dhammaruci ) school belonging to the Vajji-
puttaka sect, which studied, according, to Fa-hsien, both the
Hlnayana and Mahãyãna works and had probably preserved the
Canon in its Sanskrit form, of the ' Vitaņdāvādins who rejected
the Kathāvatthu in favour of the 4 Mahãdhammahadaya ' and
lastly of the Secret Doctrines, by which was probably meant
such texts as were not admitted into the official Canon of the
Theravāda School. The Nikayasaňgraha of Dharmaklrti, on which
Dr. Adikaram has drawn heavily for traditional views on these
subjects, is a late source of the fourteenth century A. D. ; yet it
will be worthwhile comparing its statements with the older
sources on the sects of Northern and Southern Buddhism, like
the well known' works of Vasumitra, Bhavya and the Kathā-
yatł/hu ( Walleser , Dię Sakten dep alten Buddbißmus, Heidelberg

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 Reviews 315
1927 ). On the Lokuttaravāda school,
thrown by a thorough investigation
literature, found in the Tibetan monasteries. Chapter VII
accompanied by a useful map of ancient Ceylon deals with
references to the ancient geography of Ceylonese Buddhism.
Chap. VIII describes generally the ethics of life, adopted by
the Buddhist monks and laymen. Chap. IX deals with the
growth of the ritual, connected with the Caityas, including the
relics, the Bodhi-tree and the images, and with the recitation of
the Parittas. The last Chapter ( X ) describes the position of the
Buddhist deities : Brahmà, Sakka, the Four Great Kings, Yama,
Māra, Metteya etc. and concludes with a brief sketch of the
Buddhist cosmography, which has hitherto formed an important,
though not yet properly explored, source of comparative Indian
mythology. Among the Appendices are found lists of personal
and place names in Ceylon and useful collections of quotations
from the Porāņas and the Porāņaka theras, occurring in the com-
mentaries. The Bibliography ( Pp. XXXIII-XXXV ) should have
been more exhaustive. The author having concentrated himself
on the works of Buddhaghosa, the problém of the " Vimuttimagga
and Visuddhimagga", initiated by Nagai and treated exhaustive-
ly by P. V. Bapat in his thesis, bearing that title ( Poona, 1937 )
should not have escaped his attention. ( See my review in the
Visva-Bhāratī Quarterly Vol. V, pt. i ( 1939), Pp. 92-94 ). The
original and thoroughly critical view taken by Dharmananda
Kosambi about the personality of Buddhaghosa in his Introduc-
tion to the DevanāgarI edition of the Visuddhimagga published
by the Bharatiya Vidyâ Bhavana ( Bombay, 1940 ) has also not
come to the notice of the author. A good Index closes this neat
and attractive volume, containing a comprehensive, laborious,
systematic and useful collection of data from the Pāli commen*
taries of the fifth century A. D. Some of the misprints that have
come to my notice are: p. 9 : the third paragraph should bear
the title 4 Upasena ' ; p. 94*. read 'fifth' instead of 'first' in
line 23 ; Index * p. XLVI, under 4 Nikayasangraha' add p. 92 n ;
p. IL under 'Upatissa' read 143 instead of 142, and under
4 Vaitulya-vãdins ' read 105 instead of 104.
V. V. Gokhale

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