It is surprising that even if a chronicle named Mahavansa was compiled in such a small country as Sri Lanka with all the important historical records of the start of its human habitation, history of the Buddha’s Order, and the lineage of Royal Kings, there is no historical chronicle as such in India despite the fact that it is a huge country. It is not very difficult to understand the reasons for this when we look at India that has been under the hegemony of the Brahmins.

The books of the Brahmins do not include any piece of information about India becoming a favourable place for human inhabitants, how the monarchy was introduced, how the spiritual leaders were born, and the kings who supported them. Brahmins do not like to accept others’ views. That is well shown in the Sutta Pitaka. Their fundamental religious books were the three Vedas written by their forefathers. The Vedas lost their importance due to the Mahayana teachings based on the Sanskrit language that was spread by exceptional universities like Nalanda. Background for that was formed thus.

The second Buddhist Council was held 100 years after the Buddha’s demise. A group of monks, known as the “Mahasanghika” misunderstood that the Buddhist Council was conducted against them, and separated from the main body of sangha. They laid the foundation for the heretical Mahayana presenting imaginative ideologies against the pure Dhamma and Vinaya.  As a result of that, Indian Bhikkus had been disintegrated into 18 sects by the time of the Third Buddhist Council which was held with the mediation of the Great Arahant Moggaliputta Thissa and the patronage of emperor Dharmashoka. After that Council which protected Dhamma and Vinaya as they originally were, arahants were sent to various countries. It was Great Arahant Mihindu who arrived in Ceylon in that Dhamma missionary service. Because of that, the Buddha’s Order in Ceylon was purely protected.

With time, the Mahayanikas who mastered the exorcism used Sanskrit as their medium for the Dhamma dissemination. They studied the Dhamma merely for the sake of debating. A person who catches a serpent by its tail dies, because of the fact that he caught the serpent in the wrong place. Likewise, the Buddha, in Alagaddupama Sutta preached a person who studies the Dhamma in order to debate may be destroyed because he studies the Dhamma for the wrong purpose.

Likewise, the Mahayanists defeated the Theravada Bhikkus first and made them vanish from India. After that, they entered the debate on the teachings of the “soul” mentioned in the Vedas of the Brahmins. The Brahmins continued to be defeated from the debates. Then, the Brahmins who were outrageous with the Buddha and the Sangha, by mastering their exorcist powers swept away Buddhism from India. Since the ideas of the Vedas were criticised in the debates, they authored a book named, “Bhagavad Geetha”. It includes the teaching of the Ten Great Avatars or Incarnations. Moreover, most of its facts are extracted from the Dhammapada and the Suttas.

Then they composed Ramayanaya. They wrote that based on the Bodhisattva Rama in the Dasaratha Jataka. According to their teachings of Avatars, the story was filled with mythical stories. They also wrote a book named, “Daha Ata Puranaya” (Eighteen Stories) constructing history with despiteful stories that condemned the Budda and God Sakka instead of the history that prevailed. They gave up the Lakkhana Shastra (Teaching on Foretelling based on the Physical Features) too. Even today, most Indians are against the Buddha as well as Buddhism. They hate even to mention the name of the Buddhist kings. Everybody knows how much the Hindu Tamils in the Nothern part of Sri Lanka are against Buddhism.

During the Colonial rule of the English, many inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka and Pillar Inscriptions were found from various places in India. The English who read these, tried their best to find king “Devanampiya” in all the Indian Brahmin books, as that name is mentioned in those inscriptions. At last, they sought the support of the chronicles in Ceylon. There, they realized it is none other than emperor Ashoka who was referred to as Devanampiya.

Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was the Minister of Constituent Drafting Committee of Independent India, converted to Buddhism with lakhs of low caste people. However, still, the Indians do not consider Buddhists to be a separate community. Further, they are thoroughly against the spread of Buddhism. The Buddhists are discriminated against and ill-treated by the Indian Brahmins considering Buddhism to be a branch of Hinduism. I know this by experience.

Huge ruins spread throughout India were excavated by the Archaeological Survey In India established during the English government. It was our Mahavansa and the ancient travel records of travellers like Xuanzang that were highly supportive of that mission. Thereby, we should gratefully remember that it was Mahavansa that primarily guided them to rediscover the history which was forcefully buried in India.

The English knew for sure that the Sinhalese would someday stand strong owing to the greatness of Mahavansa. So they did everything to make the Sinhalese lose their respect for Mahanvansa. The education system with the slavish attitude which they granted us teaches us not to accept history with respect, but to despise it. Some so-called scholars at present are performing the same role as the White people in a mean way.

At present, not only the common Sinhalese but also the Bhikkus do not know the history. Because of that, they shamelessly and readily accept all the deformed ideologies which are completely against the history of the Sinhalese and Buddhist Order. The only way to save the Sinhala society from this unfortunate tragedy is to make them read Mahavansa. Many scholars have commendably attempted to do this a number of times, but we have still failed to socialize it.

Venerable Kiribathgoda Ghanananda Thero