King
Wessanthara and the cave he lived in exile
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by Anura Jayatunge
(DN Saturday, Dec 1, 2001)
King Dharmashoka constructed,
located and identified 84,000 places of religious worship with the help of
Upaguththa Maha Arahat.
General Cunningham named the Father of
Archeology by the Indians was able to find the rock cave where king Wessanthra
lived.
This cave was visited by two travelling
monks from China in 521 AD and again in 629 AD.
General Cunningham was responsible for
finding the religious places of Sankassa, Kusinara, Srawasthi and famous
Thakshila.
General Cunningham was appointed Director of
Archaeology in charge of India in 1870 and he has published more than 13
research papers about archeological excavations in India. He was born in 1840,
the 2nd son of Alan Cunningham, a Scottish poet, and died in 1893, after being
knighted for his findings in India. He was responsible for finding the religious
places of: "Sankassa, Kusinara, Srawasthi, and famous Thakshila". He
was named the "Father of Archaeology" by the Indians. Sir Cunningham
claimed he was able to find the rock cave where King "Wessanthara"
lived.
Construction of 84,000 places of
worship
It is well known that King Dharmashoka
constructed, located and identified 84,000 places of religious worship with the
help of "Upaguththa" Maha arahat (who was a fourth generation
Buddhist Arahat living during King Dharmashoka’s time. Being a Arahath he was
able to foresee the future as well as the past and on invitation of King
Dharmashoka, showed him places dating back to Lord Buddha Kakusanda and Lord
Budddha Konagama’s time.
King Dharmashoka being true to his word,
constructed more than 84,000 monuments in India and some of them have survived
up to date.
Arahat "UpaGuththa" was a student
of Arahath "Yasa" (who was a 3rd generation Arahath after Lord
Buddha) and his capability to see the future is explained from the following
incidents.
Kunala – son of king Dharmashoka
King "Dharma-shoka’s" queen named
Pad-Mawathi had a son named Dharmawardana, who was fondly called by King
Dharmashoka as Kunala because of his beautiful eyes. Once he want to see
Arahath "Yasa" at Kakuthya-rama temple who saw that Kunala will go
blind in the near future for a sin committed in his previous birth. (He has
removed eyes of five hundred animals to keep them from escaping back to the
Jungle). Arahat "Yasa" asked him remember that "all beautiful
things are of temporary nature and will get destroyed as time passes".
Another young wife of King Dharma-shoka
named Thishyarakshita loved Kunala for his beautiful eyes, and when he refused
to see her secretly, she sent orders under King's seal to remove his eyes. None
came forward to carry out this order, as he was much loved by his men. But
Kunala himself got his eyes removed telling " being the next King to be in
line, he should always follow ruling Kings orders precisely
King Dharmashoka was very sick at this time
and was not able to attend to his royal duties for some time, and he fainted
when he found his son has lost his eye sight. He immediately wanted to destroy
Queen Thishyarakshitha" (whom Kunala pardoned, chiming it was not his wish
to harm even the worst enemy and it is said that Kunala regained his eyesight
thus showing maithree or compassion to his enemies.)
King Dharmashoka kept his Queen in a closed
house arrest thereafter and punished the kingsman who allowed his son
"Kunala" to remove his eyes even after they saw the Kings seal.
King Dharmashoka constructed a large stupa
or a pagoda about 100 feet tall where Kunala lost his sight.
Findings of General Cunningham-
Based on Hue Sean (629 AD)
General Cunningham found this pagoda at
Karmal near Thakshila, following the book of Hue-Sean who was a Chinese
travelling Buddhist monk, who came to India in 629 AD. He lived in India for 16
years and came back to China in 645 AD. The document prepared by Hue-Sean, the
places he visited in India, and monuments constructed by King Dharmashoka
helped General Cunningham to find these places very clearly.
Hue-Sean claims that he came to Siva Rata in
India and saw the following monuments constructed by King Dharmashoka. First
one is the monument constructed to mark the place King Wessanthara was
separated from his family, and again Hue-Sean has also seen a monument where
King Wessanthara handed over his children to a Brahamin named Jujaka. He also
claimed that he saw the cave where king Wessanthara lived.
Confirmation by Sun-Yun (521 AD)
This story is reconfirmed by another
travelling monk named Sun-Yun who came to India in 518 AD and returned there in
521 AD almost 100 years before Hu-Sean.
Sun-Yun says he saw the cave in which King
Wessanthara lived as a Brahamin, in exile, and a large flat stone where King
Wessanthara used to sit. He says King Dharmashoka erected a monument in this
place after being shown by Maha Arahat Upa-guththa.
He also claims that the temple of famous
white elephant was located very closely and inside the temple there was a
picture of King "Wessanthara" handing over his children to poor, a
Brahamin, named Jujaka and all Tarter people weep when they see these pictures!
King Wessanthara who donated his
children
King Wessanthara was the last human form of
Lord Buddha, before elevating to heaven named Thaw-thisha. He was born again as
Siddhartha Kumara in and became Lord Buddha named Govthama. Lord Buddha is the
greatest being of all three worlds and having power to show the path of
enlightenment for suffering human beings.
General Cunningham has published his
findings in Archeological survey reports in India" including a diagram of
the cave he identified, situated close to Sivi-Rata.
According to Buddhist history king
Wessanthara would have been born over a very long period ago according to Budu
Maga published by Upali publications. This completely contradicts the theory of
evaluation where man has evolved from a basic ape and advanced with in a few
years.
A small child enters the world crying, and
leaves the world crying, facing the death as an old man. Any man who has read
"Mahabarath" and "Buddhist Philosophy" (which ranges
between 5000 years to 2500 years) is free to judge whether man is evolving
towards the advancement or becoming an ape day by day.