Jetavana vihāra (Sri Lanka)
Jetavana vihāra was a monastery in the ancient Sri Lankan city of Anurādhapura and also the name of the fraternity of Buddhist monks associated with the monastery. The Jetavana vihāra tradition was one of three sects of Buddhist monks that existed for a period in ancient Sri Lanka, the other two being the Abhayagiri Vihāra and the Anurādhapura Mahāvihāra.[1]
Both the Jetavana and Abhayagira traditions had some Mahayana elements; they followed both early scriptures and Mahayana scriptures. The Mahāvihāra tradition rejected the Mahayana scriptures as inauthentic.[2]
According to traditional sources, the monastery at Jetavana was built in the fourth-century CE by the Sinhala king Mahasena (277 to 304 CE) for the elder monk Saṅghamitta.[3] "Saṅghamitta was said to have felt great animosity toward the monks of the Mahāvihāra sect, which prompted him to lobby the king to confiscate its property and pass it on to the Jetavana."[3]
The "Jetavana vihara" tradition came to an end during the reign of King Parakkamabāhu I (1153–1186 CE), who decreed that rival Anurādhapura Mahāvihāra was the only legitimate tradition in Sri Lanka. The king deligitimized the Abhayagiri and Jetavana traditions, and forced the monks from these traditions to give up their vows or follow the Anurādhapura Mahāvihāra.
Notes
- ↑ Warder 2000, p. 280.
- ↑ Dalai Lama & Thubten Chodron 2017, Chapter 1.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Jetavana.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Dalai Lama; Thubten Chodron (2017), Approaching the Buddhist Path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, Volume 1, Wisdom Publications- Warder, A.K. (2000), Indian Buddhism (Third ed.), Dheli: Motilal Banarsidass
