Page 255 - Proceedings book

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Buddha, but also to be themselves men destined to become Buddhas in the future.

They were presenting themselves to be ideal individuals to rule over a land where the
overwhelming majority of the people were Buddhists.

At this point an important question may be raised. Do these trends indicate that the

kings were being elevated to a position above the sangha ? Do they indicate the

combination of political and religious authority in the same individual ? In this
context, it is particularly noteworthy that it was also part of the Theravada tradition of

Sri Lanka that the sangha, as a whole, always had ritual precedence over the king. In
this respect, one can detect a significant difference between the Theravada Buddhist

tradition on the one hand and the Saiva and Vaisnava traditions on the other. The

Brahmana claimed to be spiritually superior to the Ksatriya, but he always gave
precedence to the king. The Brahmana priest, the purohita, walked behind the king.

Even in the case of Buddhism, in certain countries, monks accepted the king's claims
to precedence. In China and Japan, it was the monks who bowed before the king. The

Theravada tradition of Sri Lanka, which subsequently spread to Southeast Asia,
presents a distinct contrast in this respect. The Theravada rituals emphasize the

precedence of the king over other members of the laity, but they also emphasize the

subservience of the king to the sangha. Here it is the king who publicly prostrates
himself before the sangha and venerates the sangha. We do not know what the monks

of the Abhayagiri monastery thought of the king's idea of erecting a Buddha-image
after his own likeness. Even if they had certain reservations and disapproved his

action, their feelings do not appear to have found expression in protest. If the monks

had to make offerings and honor a portrait statue, it did not radically change the
overall situation. Even a Bodhisattva was expected to venerate the three jewels of

Buddhism: the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. (Gunawardana, 1979)

Concepts concerning the relative position of the king and the sangha are reflected in

certain political ideas and ritual. On examining the rituals for the initiation of a king,
it would be noted that, soon after his consecration, the king was expected to proceed

to a monastery where he put on a white turban and served the sangha as a personal
attendant. This part of the ritual was carried out on the very day of the consecration. If

it was believed that kings were Bodhisattvas, it was also believed that Sri Lanka was
the island of the dhamma and that it belonged to the sasana. In fact, it was often

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