A tireless teacher of Buddha’s timeless Dhamma-by Most Ven. Prof. Medawachchiye Dhammajothi Thera

Most Ven. Aggamaha Panditha Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayake Thera

Source:Dailynews

Most Ven. Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayaka Thera was admired and appreciated by all Buddhists as one of the most appealing preachers in the country. He had this potential from his younger days, and this he nurtured, taking it into great benefits, making him a much sought-after preacher. For this he used his expertise of the knowledge of the Dhamma and blended it with his well-trained and restrained discipline. He could keep the audience spellbound with his soft, lucid and ear-pleasing intonation of speech.

Sri Lanka has been, from the time of the inception of Buddhism, a very fortunate country. One reason for this is that from time to time there appeared ‘epoch-making religious leaders’ who succeeded in instilling hope in the minds of Buddhists and have also been able to inspire and direct the devotees to follow the right path. In Most Venerable Aggamaha Panditha Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayake Thera, we saw such a great religious dignitary who, with his impeccable and exemplary conduct epitomized the ideal of ‘the fruit of monkhood’. This great religious personality hailed from a comparatively lesser known suburb of the Gampaha District, namely Kotugoda, which has now shot into fame because of this famous Maha Nayake Thera.

The family of Endavitharanage Haramanis Rodrigo and Selestina Rodrigo happened to be a pious well-to-do, respected one with six children – four sons and two daughters. A new member, a boy, joined the family on January 21, 1933, bringing much joy to this family. The elated parents named this child as Endavitharanage Sirimevan Rodrigo. Being the youngest, he was the apple of his parents’ eyes. In spite of being over-indulged, Sirimevan turned out to be extremely obedient, showing a lot of restraint and maturity.

The parents, being ardent devoted Buddhists, had close contact with the village temple. Sirimevan studied under Venerable Kotugoda Pemananda Nayake Thera, the chief prelate of the village temple. His formal primary education commenced with his admission to the Buddhist Mixed School in Kotugoda, run by the Buddhist Theosophical Society. This school is now well-known as Kotugoda Rahula Maha Vidyalaya. This marked a crucial period in his life as it was on August 17, 1948, that Sirimevan obtained admission to the Sangha Community as a novice. This happened as a result of the close friendship between Venerable Kotugoda Wimalaratana Thera and Sri Dharmapalamaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Unavatune Dhammapala Thera. Obtaining discipleship under Venerable Unavatune Dhammapala Thera, the new novice came to be called Kotugoda Dhammawasa and came to reside at Sri Dhamrapalaramaya, Mount Lavinia.

Secondary education

While staying in this Viharaya, he continued his religious studies at the Paramadhamma Cetiya Pirivena. Later he joined the Vidyodaya Pirivena, Maligakanda, where he continued his studies in the Tripitaka and oriental languages such as Pali and Sanskrit. This gave him the opportunity of meeting and receiving instruction from most erudite scholar monks of the time such as Most Venerable Kalukondayawe Pannasekara Thera, Ven. Welivitiye Sorata, Ven. Walane Satthissara and Ven. Parawahera Vajiranana Nayake Theras. His association with the Vajirarama temple and his great admiration for Most Venerable Narada Maha Thera and Venerable Piyadassi Thera made him interested in Buddhist missionary activities.

The young Thera’s higher ordination took place on July 10, 1954. On this occasion, Most Venerable Beruwala Sri Sumangala Siriniwasa Maha Nayake Thera functioned as the ‘Upajjhaya’, while Most Venerable Ambalangoda Dhammakusala Maha Nayake Thera, Most Venerable Moratuwa Sasanaratana Anunayake Thera and Most Ven. Moratuwa Pemaratana Thera served as the ‘Karmacarya’.

Scholarly contribution

Following the higher ordination, Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera focused more on scholarship. He started writing articles on Buddhist subjects. These contributions, initially written to the press around the 1960s, were finally published in book format to reach a wider audience. With the establishment of the Bauddhodaya Association at the Dhammapalaramaya temple in Dehiwala, he began publishing a Vesak Annual to be distributed free.

The Venerable Thera published quite a few booklets to develop the faith of ordinary followers. The well-known titles include Nivanata Maga, Ketumati Rajadhaniya, Kosala Raja Sihina and Dhammo Have Rakkhati Dhammacari. His writing made a great appeal to the common audience because of the serenity embedded in them. He used a lucid language and cited events and insights drawn from the revered Buddhist texts such as the Tripitaka and the Jataka Book.

Missionary activities

Venerable Narada Nayaka Thera influenced Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera to be committed to missionary activities. The Thera visited countries such as India, Nepal, China, Japan, Germany, USA, Pakistan, Thailand and Myanmar to propagate the Master’s teachings. He was also instrumental in reviving the dilapidated temples in Myanmar and Nepal.

Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayake Thera was admired and appreciated by the Buddhists as one of the most appealing preachers in the country. He had this potential from his younger days, and this he cultivated to reap great benefits. He became a much sought-after preacher. He blended his Dhamma expertise with well-trained discipline. He could keep the audience spellbound with his soft, lucid and ear-pleasing speech. He could communicate the most appropriate doctrinal points in a simple manner.

His diary was brimming with invitations to visit temples across the country. The listeners not only appreciated his preaching but generously made donations to establish temples out of respect for him.

He made use of the electronic media too for proper Bana preaching.

Tireless service to the Sasana

With maturity in life, especially following the higher ordination, Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera began his tireless journey to every nook and corner of the island. As far back as the 1980s, Most Venerable Kosgoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayake Thera, who noticed this commitment, invited Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera to accept the position joint-secretary of the Sangha Council. The Thera accepted it humbly and discharged all duties expected of him to the best of his abilities. In appreciation of such blameless services, he was later appointed as the Secretary General.

Most Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera later became the President of the Sangha Council. Then he was made the Mahopadhyaya. As the Maha Nayake position fell vacant following the demise of Most Venerable Davuldena Gnanissara Thera, Venerable Aggamaha Panditha Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayaka Thera was unanimously chosen to hold the office on May 26, 2017.

This long journey to success has been earmarked by various honorific ecclesiastical titles awarded to him. Among these honorific titles are Saddharmakirti Sri Tripitaka Visharada, Pravacana Kirti Sri Sasana Shobhana, Sri Sumangala Vidyavatansaka and Aggamaha Panditha.

The Most. Ven. Maha Nayake Thera passed away at the age of 88, having dedicated much of his life to the Buddha Sasana. May the erudite Maha Nayake Thera attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.