Browsing by Author "Upali Thero, Demunnewe"

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A Critical Study of the Ethical Codes Related to the Disciplinary Conduct of Laymen of Jain Mahāwīra in association with ‘Uwāsagadasāō’
(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Upali Thero, Demunnewe; Nanda Thero, Irudeniyaye
There are two main traditions among many philosophies emerged in ancient India. They are tradition of Clergy and the tradition of Brahmin. The disciples of the Lord Buddha and Niganṭhanāṭhaputta alias Jain Mahāwīra belong to the tradition of Clergy. The teachings of Jain Mahāwīra could be divided into two main segments, namely 1. Syādwādaya 2. Nawatatwaya. ‘Syādwāda’ explains that all the worldly objects should be seen in different views, whereas ‘Nawatatwa’ depicts that there are nine positions in the world. Jainism has been identified as ‘Catuyāmasanwaraya’ in Samaññapala Sutta of Dīgha Nikāya. The disciples who follow these teachings could be segregated into two sects, namely ‘Śwētambara’ and ‘Digambara’. Subsequently, many scriptures containing ethical codes of Jain Mahāwīra had been originated during the later years. The entire collections related to the ancient literature of Jainism contain 45 scriptures. Jainism as well as Buddhist order contains four main groups of disciples such as Bhikku, Bhikkuni alias Sādhu and Sādhwinī and Upāsaka, Upāsikā. Accordingly, in Jainism the volume containing the ethical code for the clergy is named as ‘Sūyagadanga’ or ‘Sūttra Krutāṅga’. The code of ethics for the laymen is indicated in the volume namely, ‘Uwāsagadasāō.’ The said volume has been described as ‘Upāsakānaṅ śramanōpāsakānaṅ sambaṅdhita anuśṭhanasya pratipādikā daśadyayana rūpā upāsakadaśā’ by ‘Bhāśyakāra Abhayadēwa’ means, “the ethical code containing nine chapters or the policy for the ‘Upāsaka’ among the ‘Upāsakā’ of Jain Mahāwīra is named as ‘Upāsakadaśa.’ In volume ‘Uwāsagadasāō’ the code of ethics is presented as life stories of ten selected disciples (upāsaka). It is evident that in certain instances the said stories are interconnected as well. Special attention is drawn to adhering to ‘Panca Anuwruta’ and ‘Sapta Śikśāpada’. The research question is a critical analysis of the code of ethics related to the disciplinary conduct of laymen of Jain Mahāwīra in association of ‘Uwāsagadasāō.’ The objective of this study was to reveal information relevant to the disciplinary conduct of Jain Mahāwīra and his lay disciples (Upāsaka and Upāsikā). Accordingly, this study will be conducted as a quantitative research subsequent to study of primary, secondary sources of literature.
A Study of the Sentence Endings of Historical Palm Leaf Manuscripts; With Special Reference to the Special Palm Leaf Manuscripts Collection of Petiyagoda Paramartha Dharmakara Piriwen Viharaya
(Staff Development Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2020) Upali Thero, Demunnewe
Palm leaf manuscripts had been a very famous historical method of writing material in Ceylon and in many other South Asian Countries. With the arrival of Arahath Maha Mahinda Thera, Sri Lankans initiated the characteristics of a moral civilization of Sinhalese. They could enrich their knowledge by chirography. In Sri Lanka, many people used to write knowledge on palm leaf manuscripts which should be preserved for the future generations. Sinhalese has preserved Lord Buddha’s original preaching by writing through Palm leaf manuscripts, in a few languages called Pali, Sinhala and Sanskrit. They have written many religious books using Palm Leaf Manuscripts. Not only religious books but also literature books and grammar books including Astrology, Ayurvedic Medicine, Esotericism and all valuable knowledge books belong to Sinhala, Pali Sanskrit languages. Suraweera states that, many of old palm leaf manuscripts were written on the life of the Buddha and Buddhist doctrine. It can be identified that there are two categories of doers of old Palm Leaf Manuscripts. One is the authors and the other one is the copiers. Both of them have mentioned very special ending sentences at the end of those historical manuscripts. Some authors have mentioned that they may be able to collect merits and some mentioned they may attain Nirvana. Accordingly, this study is based on the qualitative research methods to explore what is expressed by the sentence endings of selected old traditional Sinhalese Palm Leaf Manuscripts with special reference to the Special Palm Leaf Manuscripts Collection of Petiyagoda Paramartha Dharmakara Piriwen Wiharaya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.