Actually I think there is more to this than contingency Renaldo. The sasana is predicted to last 5000 years and beings are born who have accumulated the merit to be able to assist.
Saccaka met the Buddha but never took refuge. However by hearing the Dhamma this was enough that later he was reborn in Sri Lanka, joined the order and became a master of the Tipitaka and one of the great teachers (Buddharakkhita). His rebirth there and his understanding were due to considering what the Buddha taught hundreds of years earlier..
1 Like
Indeed. Thank you for sharing that.
R
1 Like
The following paper gives an excellent point-by-point analysis of the various apratipatti and duṣpratipatti listed in the Mahāparākramabāhu Katikāvata and the Dambadeni Katikāvata, which led to their enactment by the kings.
This explicatory work is available for free at academia.edu for anyone with an account (all you need is an email to sign up).
"The Polonnaruva period (1055–1232 CE) and the Dambadeni period (1220–1345 CE) are considered as the most powerful periods in Sri Lankan monarchical history. Rulers of these periods gave their priorities to Buddhism because it had significant capabilities that could effect the political authority of the country. To safeguard Buddhism was a duty of the kings in Sri Lanka. Katikāvatas , the supplementary rules for the Order (saṅgha ), have been enacted by the kings in order to preserve Buddhism.
It was various misconducts of the Buddhist monks that caused the kings to enact the Mahāparākramabāhu Katikāvata (1153–1186 CE, MPK) and the Dambadeni Katikāvata (1230–1234 CE, DK). The misconducts, which are performed through ignorance or imperfect knowledge, are described in these Katikāvatas either as apratipatti (“misbehavior” or “bad behavior”) or duṣpratipatti (“inappropriate behavior”).¹
This paper examines various instances of apratipatti and duṣpratipatti that caused the kings to enact the aforementioned Katikāvatas . The reason that the kings considered each type of misconduct as apratipatti and duṣpratipatti shall be clarified in this paper.
2. Apratipatti and duṣpratipatti in Katikāvatas
Both Mahāparākramabāhu Katikāvata and Dambadeni Katikāvata mainly focus on diminishing apratipatti and duṣpratipatti .
[MPK 2; DK 2]
Ajñāna durjñāna mūlaka apratipatti duṣpratipatti viṣa-vega vihata-vā apāyānnavana śāsanāvacara kula-putrayan dākā supariśuddha Buddha-śāsanayehi mā-vāni ājñā-cakravarttiyak-hu me vāni kiluṭak dākā dākā udāsīna vuva-hot Budu-sasna nassī boho sat-hu-du apāya-bhāg-veti… (Wickremasinghe 1928: 269–270)
“The king having seen the sons of the noble families who were to be born in the apāya (purgatory, or bad states in saṃsāra )² influenced by misbehaviors (apratipatti ) and inappropriate behaviors (duṣpratipatti ) through ignorance (ajñāna ) and imperfect knowledge (durjñāna ), thought as follows: Seeing over and over again pollution such as this on immaculate Buddhism, if a mighty emperor like myself remains indifferent, the Buddhist doctrines (Budu-sasna ) will perish, and many living beings will be born in the apāya .”
The king states that misbehaviors and inappropriate behaviors cause the destruction of Buddhism, and that they also cause the followers of Buddhism to be born in bad states in saṃsāra . Letting Buddhism be destroyed by itself is a king’s lethargy. Therefore, the king says that he has a considerable responsibility to protect Buddhism.
As will be shown below, apratipatti and duṣpratipatti stand for two different meanings. Engaging in something that a monk should not engage in is called having apratipatti . For instance, conversation with a woman in a covered place is extremely prohibited by the monastic disciplines, and hence it is regarded in the Katikāvata as apratipatti (see §2.7). Then, engaging in practices in an inappropriate or violative manner, even if it may not violate the monastic discipline, is called duṣpratipatti . For instance, talking while worshipping the Cetiyas and Great Bodhi-trees is regarded as duṣpratipatti (see §2.6). This implies that an activity that is allowed by the monastic discipline should be performed in a prescribed, and not an inappropriate way."
— Dhammasiri Thero, Udayagiriye. “Apratipatti and duṣpratipatti in the Dambadeni Katikāvata and Mahāparākramabāhu Katikāvata.” 比較論理学研究 (The Annals of the Research Project Center for the Comparative Study of Logic) , no. 18, 2021, pp. 157–67.
Hiroshima University
R