The teachings of the Buddha or the Thervada Tripitaka was introduced by Arahath Mahinda in Pali language and it was brought forward by word of mouth for generations until it was transcribed into written text on Ola leaves in the 1st Century A.D. at Aluviharaya in Matale. In a significant move to provide the long due proper status to the Tripitaka, President Maithripala Sirisena proclaimed the Tripitaka as a national heritage on January 5, 2019.
The Buddha’s teachings were divided into nine parts during his lifetime and during the first Dhamma Sangayana (First Buddhist Council) it was divided into three parts as Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and the Abhidharma Pitaka. The Dhamma preached by the Buddha for over 45 years was preached by 500 bhikkhus jointly by memorizing those teachings, at this first Dhamma Sangayana.
Over the years, the responsibility of carrying forward the Tripitaka was given the Bhanaka Theras or the monks assigned to preach.The monks made tremendous sacrifices to ensure preservation of the Tripitaka. The chief monks took every possible step to protect the erudite Theras who knew the Tripitaka by memory. During prolonged famine, there were fears that might disappear totally and some of them were sent to different places, even overseas to ensure all the Bhanaka Theras would not be extinct. According to the chronicle Manorathapuraniya, 60 monks travelled to Malaya Rata with the aim of preserving the Tripitaka Dharma by saving their lives. They survived by eating the roots and leaves of the trees as there was no food during the famine. Some monks travelled to South India for the same purpose.
Once the importance of transcribing the Tripitaka to ensure its eternal preservation was realized, the leading monks succeeded in obtaining the sponsorship of King Wattagamini Abhaya, popularly known as King Walagamba in the 1st Century AD. The writing of Tripitaka served immensely for preservation and propagation of the Buddhist Sasana. The United Nation Organization has acknowledged Sri Lanka as the centre of Theravada Buddhism and subsequent to that recognition, President Maitripala Sirisena proclaiming the Tripitakaya as a national heritage is a proud moment for the nation.
Once the Tripitaka is proclaimed as the national heritage, the rights of publication of Tripitaka will be under the Ministry of Buddha Sasana. This will put an end to the attempts to give irrational connotations and interpretations to the words of the Buddha or to add new words to the Pitaka books and code of discipline that preserved the dhamma and the Buddhist order. As Buddha said, “Dhammo Bhave Rakkathi Dhammachari” meaning that no evil force could harm a person who practices Dhamma.
Courtesy of http://www.dailynews.lk
