MONKS, CAVES AND KINGS - A REASSESSMENT OF THE NATURE OF EARLY BUDDHISM IN SRI-LANKA

This paper begins by describing the early history of Buddhism in Sri L anka as recorded in the two Pall chronicles, the Dipavamsa and the Mah avamsa. Their general approach treats the introduction of Buddhism int o the island as a royal package sent by the Emperor Asoka to his Sri L ankan ally Devanampiya Tissa, through the former's son and daughter, M ahinda and Sanghamitta. Buddhism was immediately accepted as the state religion, thus linking it with the destiny of the Sinhala people. Thi s pattern is not, however, supported by the only extant category of Bu ddhist archaeological remains from this period - over 1,000 Buddhist c ave-dwellings, It is clear from their dedicatory inscriptions that the y were constructed by patrons bearing high royal titles about whom the chronicles are remarkably silent. By drawing from studies of modern f orest-dwelling monks, it is possible to identify more fully the proces ses at work and to identify the discrepancy between the two records. I t is argued that the first monks attracted political patronage by virt ue of their ascetic discipline and soon became one of the vehicles for competition between localized political organizations. As this compet ition ended, a single high king ruling a loose political federation em erged, with the formerly ascetic monastery communities as wealthy feud al landlords; both were increasingly interdependent. This relationship led to the creation of a foundation myth forever cementing the intere sts of the legitimate rulers with the survival and patronage of Buddhi sm.