The treasure to Anuradhapura

 

        For three nights now, the pirates trailed

        The ship in Kalinga Sea,

        There was word, it held a prize

        From the rich Tampralipi

 

        Kanalal, the pirate lord,

        Couldn’t wait to lay on it, his hands

        He wondered though what were the gems

        Being sent to the Lankan lands

 

        The most precious gift it was,

        To Anuradhapura and its king,

        What was it, the pirate thought,

        Sceptre, crown or ring

 

        The slaves rowed fast, and very soon,

        They had caught up with the ship,

        And Kana led his savage men

        With a curly sword and whip

 

        ‘There has to be a hundred troops,’

        Kana shouted to his lot,

        There would be blood, it would be worth

        For the prize that he had sought

 

        But what wonder then, when the pirates all

        Clambered on the deck,

        Not a single sentry could be seen –

        Was there no wealth at stake?

 

         The few sailors all, ran for their life,

        While the pirates made a cry,

        Until a monk in orange came

        With calmness in his eye

 

       ‘Hand us all,’ then Kana said,

        ‘The riches that you hold,

        ‘We know there’s treasure in this ship

        In Silver, gems and gold.’

 

        But that was all, then nothing more

        That Kana had to say,

        The monk bowed, and with folded hands

        He turned to show the way

 

        They both then walked inside the ship

        And the monk stopped at a door

        The pirate barged inside the room

        To see a tub upon the floor

 

        But what a trick it seemed to be -

        Inside there was no gold,

        Just a branch, with a bunch of leaves –

        A sapling in the hold

 

        ‘Where’s the gift?’ the pirate screamed,

        ‘Show me what you store’

        ‘This is all’ the monk replied

        No riches here anymore.’

        ‘Where is the treasure, tell the truth

        To Anuradhapura and its king’

        ‘This is all,’ he spoke again,

        ‘That we were asked to bring.’

 

        ‘The riches that you seek are bound,

        By the limits of your mind,

        But this treasure can you only see

        If you leave them all behind’

 

        Kanalal was vexed and cross,

        This was something unseen,

        ‘How can an ugly plant be gift,

        To a mighty southern king?’

 

        ‘This is how the Enlightened One

        Helps to set you free,

        For this is but a sapling of

        The sacred Bodhi tree.’

 

        ‘The Buddha lives inside its veins

        Bigger riches can be none,

        Don’t you see, you came this far

        To be an Enlightened One?’

 

        Kanalal then felt a change

        Deep within his heart,

        For he could see the wheel of time

        From end up to the start

 

        He felt a purpose to his life,

        To ship the sapling on,

        For this was how the Buddha’s word

        Would time again be born

     

        The Sangha saw ahead of time,

        And now, he too could see,

        What treasure could be richer than

        The message of the Tree?

 

        26^th March 2022

 

We all know of the Sacred Bodhi tree today at Buddha’s seat of awakening – Bodh Gaya. But the tree, the embodiment of the Enlightened One has stories of its own. Over time, we have definitely lost a lot of its tales, but from the fragments that survive, we do know that many a time was it assaulted by the opponents of Buddhism. The original tree died and new ones – not necessarily its descendants - were planted to keep the spirit of the Bodhi tree alive. But there are records that one scion of the original tree survived. Gifted by Piyadasi Ashoka to the then Lankan monarch Devanampiya Tissa, a branch of the original tree was shipped in 288 BC from the ancient port of Tampralipi all the way to Tissa’s capital city in Anuradhapura. Known as the Jaya Shri Mahabodhi tree, it is the oldest human-planted tree anywhere in the world. It is from this tree that many other saplings have been taken to other parts of the world to keep alive the sacredness of the original Bodhi Tree.

It is said that when Sir Alexander Cunningham, father of Indian Archaeology, excavated the Bodhi temple complex in the late 19^th century, he completed this circle of life, by bringing a sapling from Anuradhapura to grow into what is the Bodhi tree today at Bodh Gaya.

The poetry above is fictional and is a rendition inspired by these legends of the Bodhi Tree.