The
Muvadev dā vata tells the story of the Bodhisattva who was born
as King Makhādeva, and is mainly based on the Pāli
Makhādeva Jātaka.
According to the story, King Makhādeva realized the consciousness of
impermanence and renounced his household life after being shown a grey hair
from his head by his barber. After practicing an austere life in the Himālaya
forests, he was finally born in the Brahma world.
The original story of King Makhādeva first appears in the Pāli Majjhima
Nikāya
Makhādeva Sutta, and in its commentaries in a more detailed form.
In the Sutta, it clearly states that the only way to attain emancipation is
the realization of the four noble truths and the practice of the eightfold
noble path. In this context, the
Jātaka and
Cariyāpiṭaka, the two other Pāli
sources that describe Makhādewa’s story, run contrary to the Pāli Sutta and
strongly emphasize the idea of renunciation (
nekkhamma) as the way to
attain emancipation. The Sinhalese
Muvadev dā vata also lacks the detailed
explanations of the bodhisattva path, contained in the
Makhādeva Sutta and
Pāli
Jātaka.
This paper analyzes the various differences among the Pāli and Sinhalese
sources (including Pāli chronicles) regarding the Makhādeva story and focuses
on the
Muvadev dā vata and its relation to the king Parākramabāhu the great,
how it influenced and developed the bodhisattva ideal in the medieval period of
Sri Lanka.
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