United Nations
Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Secretary-General, in Message, Calls Vesak Day Occasion to Examine
How Buddhist Teachings ‘Can Inform Our Response to Prevailing
Challenges’

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for Vesak Day, to be observed on 24 May:

Vesak Day is a celebration for Buddhists worldwide and an opportunity
for all members of the international community to benefit from their
rich traditions. This year’s observance, falling at a time of widespread
strife and misery, is an occasion to examine how Buddhist teachings can
inform our response to prevailing challenges.

Confronting the troubling problems facing our world is consonant with
Buddhism. The Buddha himself, as a young prince, left the safety of his
palace to discover the four sufferings of birth, sickness, old age and
death. While such painful realities cannot be avoided, Buddhism offers
insights into how to cope with them. Its history is replete with
inspiring examples of the transformative power of Buddhist philosophy.

The legendary King Ashoka, a conqueror who presided over a brutal
reign in India some three centuries after the Buddha’s passing,
ultimately converted to Buddhism, renounced violence and embraced peace.
The values that King Ashoka espoused, including human rights,
democratic governance and respect for the dignity of life, are common to
all great religions. The fact that he was able to embrace them after
years of brutal war offers proof that the goodwill of individuals can
end widespread suffering.

Now more than ever, we need the spirit of non-violence to help
inspire peace and quell conflict. I offer my best wishes to believers
celebrating Vesak Day, and my sincerest hopes that we may all draw on
spiritual ideals to strengthen our resolve to improve our world.

source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sgsm15031.doc.htm

VOICE OF SARVA SAMAJ

AHRC-FOL-006-2013             May 27, 2013

Two-way bilingual system

G.H. Asoka

The use of several languages as medium of instruction was
common in Buddhism based education in Sri Lanka during ancient times.

The model more or less used in ancient Sri Lanka in its
multilingual educational context reflects characteristics of the model
called two-way bilingual education: teaching the same content in both
languages: first in the known language and then in the target language
with the use of ample supplementary material.

From the time of the King Dutugemunu the formal method of
teaching followed by the Religion Ministries established throughout the
country was composed of three stages in its procedure in Dhamma Desana
according to Manorathapurani, the commentary to Anguttara Nikaya.

At the first stage, a priest or an educated layman called Diva
Katika Thera preached bana during the day time using mother tongue.
Then the reciter of the words called ‘Padabhanaka’
explained the same, especially in relation to words/vocabulary: this
situation might have created the opportunity to explain semantically
important aspects related to the concepts depicted in lexemes
(vocabulary). Finally the Chief Preacher preached the Doctrine in
detail: this third stage might have been the core of the lesson with
theories (doctrine) supported by the first two stages which reflects
the possibilities of understanding through language transfer.

In addition to using mother tongue mixing it in various
percentages in the three stages of Damma Desana, it is possible to find
evidence for using various other measures to enrich religious education
through practices related to bilingual or multilingual education.
Commentarial literature consisting three types of Sihalatthakatha is
one among many such used at the beginning.

There were numerous parallel passages available in Sinhala to
Pali Canon, and at the outset, mainly available as oral exegetical
material in early Prakrit tradition in Sri Lanka.

They can be interpreted as adaptations which are used nowadays
in bilingual education when localizing and appropriating learning
contexts written in another language. These commentaries were first
developed to explain the intricacies of the Buddhist doctrine during
the life time of Arhath Mahinda himself.

Samantapasadika mentions that there had been three types of
Sihalaatthakata, Maha (Mula) Atthakatha, Maha Pacccari Atthakatha and
Kurundi Atthakatha which are not physically available today since the
time that Ven Buddhagosha had finalized his retranslations
(subcommentaries) in Pali.

Mahaatthakathanceva
Mahapaccarimevaca,
Kurundincati tissopi
sihalaatthakatha ima.

According to the senior lecturer of the Sinhala Department,
Colombo University, Agalakada Sri Sumana Thera after retranslations of
Sihala Atuwa by Buddhagosha Thera, palm leaf manuscripts high up to the
height of five elephants, were destroyed. These commentaries developed
first in Sinhala can be interpreted as explanations or first
supplementary material to the content available in Pali.

Ample evidence

The content of this supplementary material in Sinhala
consisted of three components: explanations of difficult words and
phrases of the Pali Canon, doctrinal interpretations and judgements on
disputed points of ecclesiastical law.

Today these Sihalattakatha are no more there: Only records are
available about them and retranslations by Buddhagosha Thera provided
ample evidence about them to the world.

Later new Atuwa (commentaries) and, Tika and Tippani developed
as sub-commentaries in Pali using Sihatthakatha have replaced the
latter (commentaries): ‘atuwa’ developed as
subcommentaries to Atthakatha had been introduced in Anuradhapura
period, and ‘Tika’ tradition was introduced in the
Polonnaruwa period. There are four major ‘Atuwas’
developed for Digha Nikaya, Majjima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya, and
Anguttara Nikaya. They were Sumangalavilasani, Papanncasudhani,
Saratthadeepani and Manorathapurani respectively.

Kuddaka Nikaya consists of 15 Atuwas. Sihala Atuwas were the
direct, original commentaries to what had been available in Pali.
‘Atuwas’ in Pali were subcommentaries developed
from Buddhagosha Thera’s work onwards linking Sihalatthakatha
with doctrines of Buddhism originally available in Pali.

The Atuwa written as commentaries in Pali and the
‘Tika’ and ‘Tippani’ developed
in Pali as subcommentaries were bridges between the Sinhala Atuwa and
doctrines originally available in Pali. When an
‘Atuwa’ was developed, three principles had been
followed: relevancy of its content to religious doctrines,
appropriation and localization and justification of the writer for his
interpretations. These three principles read the modern principles in
an adaptation, too.

‘Tikas’ were documents more or less
similar to glossaries nowadays, but with paraphrasing. It is evident
that the vocabulary had been given a prominent place in second or
foreign language learning.

Low competency in vocabulary in studying Thripitakaya is
similar to a blind elephant which walks step by step with doubt.

Classification of the supportive material (supplementary) of
ancient literary works in Sinhala to the Pali and Sanskrit literature
were found in seven types of texts: Vyakyana (explanatory texts to
explain Pali literature), Gadya (prose texts), Padaya (Verse texts),
Chandolankara (rhetorical texts), Waidya and Jotis (medical and
astrological texts), Vyakarana (grammatical texts) and Kosa (lexicons).

These seven types of literary and language texts have been
used for bridging the difficulty-gap between Sinhala and Pali and
Sinhala and Sanskrit using the known language-support for understanding
the content written in another foreign language (Pali and/or Sanskrit).

Agalakada Sumanasiri Thera mentions several types of
vyakyanas: ‘getapda’ which provided meaning for
difficult words, ‘Sanya’ which provided meaning for
all the words in a text, ‘Parikatha’ that provides
details for a selected number of words as a critique (the best
‘Parikatha’ is Dharmapradeepikawa composed by
Gurulugomi with the nature of a literary work written by an eminent
scholar of the 12th Century AD, and the first text on Sinhala
literature with explanations for difficult words of the Dhammapada
Atthathakatha available in Pali), ‘Winisa’ which is
a complete critique to a text and, ‘Pitapoth’ which
is an addition to a previously produced text by the same author.

Educational purposes

He has identified that the ‘Sanya’
developed by the King, Pandith Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya era who
was awarded the title ‘Kalikala Sahitya Sarvangna Pandit for
his erudition, is the most significant ‘Sanya’.
These efforts indicate ancient Sri Lankans’ efforts of using
their bilingual or multilingual capacities for expanding education
using language and language related talents to promote cognition based
on Buddhist doctrines.

Localization of Buddhism

Later with the development of communication in Sinhala in its
use in secondary skills with the influence of its mother languages,
Pali and Sanskrit, retranslations from Sinhala to Pali were introduced
as both commentaries and sub-commentaries because of deviations found
in religious aspects due to use of idiomatic expressions when
appropriation and localization of Buddhism in Sri Lankan context.

In addition, few other linguistically important reasons also
caused the need for retranslations (adaptations) in Pali: importance of
Pali over Sinhala out of the country for popularity of Theravada
Buddhism and the contemporary use of Pali as a world lingua franca.

Sararthadeepani and Rasavahini by Vedeha Thera in the 12th
Century AD are some such sub commentaries rewritten in Pali to Sinhala
and religious content.

Thus both commentaries in Sinhala and sub-commentaries in Pali
had been available side by side for educational purposes up to the 12th
Century AD. Yet absence of the Sihala Atuwa from the 5th Century AD to
10th Century AD in macro use in education in the country might have
closed paths for Sinhala language to be developed in its literature and
use of it among the erudite in the presence of using Pali as a lingua
franca.

When studying this situation, it can be interpreted that
Buddhism based and Buddhism related education in the ancient Sri Lanka
had been in a model reflecting bilingual education which caused
plurilingualism (individual capacity of using several languages) and
biliteracy (capacity of using several languages for reading and
writing) which in return reflect additive aspects of bilingual
education.

Thus it is clear that bilingual or multilingual education and
its various characteristics in pedagogy and androgogy are not something
totally new for today’s Pirivena Education: it had been in
the country since formal education under traditional authority was
established with introduction of Buddhism and practices such as
extensive use of rote learning, discussions and lecture method.

Use of Sinhala

Pali or Sanskrit which had been foreign languages by that time
had not been used as the medium of instruction for learning Pali and
Sanskrit or content of Buddhism.

Instead Sinhala had been used with its developments for using
it in secondary skills, reading and writing with the emergence of
Sinhala script in the Eighth Century AD as a result of undergoing a
process of slow evolution. Consequently learners were able to shift
from the known to the unknown, the unfamiliar to the familiar, the
simple to complex and from the general to specific in education.

Thus there had been balanced bilingualism among the erudite or
the learnt with positively addressing relevant cognitive demands. Yet
equity of access to education was an issue in the past.

The writer is National Institute of Education Language
Coordination Unit’s Head of the Languages, Humanities and
Social Sciences

source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/08/fea03.asp