Dhammalok Mahasthavir
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Dhammalok Mahasthavir () (born Das Ratna Tuladhar) (16 January 1890 – 17 October 1966) was a Nepalese Buddhist monk who worked to revive
Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...
in
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
in the 1930s and 1940s. For this act, he was expelled from the country by the tyrannical Rana regime. Dhammalok was also a writer who contributed to the
Nepal Bhasa renaissance Nepal Bhasa renaissance (Nepal Bhasa: नेपालभाषा पुनर्जागरण) was the movement to revive and modernize the Nepal Bhasa language during the period 1909 to 1941. The movement was spontaneous and not orchestrated. ...
. He worked to promote Theravada Buddhism and Nepal Bhasa braving government persecution.


Early life

Dhammalok (alternative names: Bhikkhu Dhammalok Mahathero, Dharmaloka) was born Das Ratna Tuladhar at
Asan Asan (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It borders the Seoul Capital Area to the north. Asan has a population of approximately 400,000. Asan is known for its many hot springs an ...
Dhalasikwa,
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
to a trading family. His father was Kesh Sundar and his mother Bekha Laxmi Tuladhar. Das Ratna engaged in business in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
during his early years and was known by the nickname Baran Sahu (बारां साहु). He was married to Dibya Laxmi with whom he had two sons and a daughter. Grief at the death of his wife and his association with Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan of India drew him towards religion. His elder son Gaja Ratna too became a Buddhist monk, taking up the name Aniruddha Mahathera.


Imprisonment and ordination

In 1929, Das Ratna went to Sri Lanka for religious study. Returning to Nepal, he lived at the monastery of
Kindo Baha Kindo Baha (), also known as Kinnu Bāhā, Kindol Bāhāl or Kimdol Bāhāl, is a vihara in Kathmandu which was the hub for the resurgence of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal from the 1920s to the 1940s. Located at the southern foot of Swayambhu, ...
near
Swayambhu Svayambhu () is a Sanskrit word that means "self-born", "self-manifested", "self-existing", or "that that is created by its own accord". Various deities and entities featured in Hindu literature and tradition are regarded to be svayambhu, such as ...
where he conducted regular prayer meetings and distributed pamphlets written in Nepal Bhasa appealing for donations. On 6 November 1931, he was arrested and imprisoned for seven days as it was illegal to write in Nepal Bhasa or propagate Buddhism. Subsequently, Das Ratna went to Rangoon, Burma (now
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
,
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
) where he lived a year. Returning from Burma, he went to Kusinagar where he became a novice monk and took the name Dhammalok in 1933. Dhammalok returned to Kindo Baha, where he began writing a series of books in Nepal Bhasa that challenged traditional thinking. ''Lokay Kuchal Kubyabahar Sudhar'' ("Reforming Ill Practices and Customs in Society") and ''Dharmaya Namay Pap'' ("Sinning in the Name of Religion") published from
Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
, India are some of his well-known works. Dhammalok has also translated ''Buddha Charita'', a biography of the Buddha by Asva Ghosh, into Nepal Bhasa from the Sanskrit. Among his notable books, the travelogue ''Mahachin Yatra'' ("A Journey to Great China") was published from
Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...
in 1950. Dhammalok received higher ordination in
Sarnath Sarnath (also known as Deer Park, ''Sarangnath'', ''Isipatana Deer Park'', ''Rishipattana'', ''Migadaya'', or ''Mrigadava'')Gabe Hiemstra, "Buddha Chronicle 24: Kassapa Buddhavaṃsa". ''Wisdom Library'', 14 September 2019. is a town nort ...
in 1935.


Into exile

In 1943, Dhammalok established Ananda Kuti Vihar, the first Theravada monastery in modern Nepal, at Swayambhu. It became the center for the Theravada community. The government declared that the activities of the Theravada monks of spreading Buddhism and writing in Nepal Bhasa were illegal, and on 30 July 1944, eight monks including Dhammalok, Pragyananda Mahasthavir and Kumar Kashyap Mahasthavir were expelled from Nepal for refusing to sign a pledge to stop doing so. The exiled monks first went to
Kushinagar Kushinagar (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India, east of Gorakhpur on National Highway 27, Kushinagar is a Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha died. Etymology Acc ...
, India and then to Sarnath. On the full moon day of 31 November 1944 in Sarnath, they founded Dharmodaya Sabha (Society for the Rise of the Teaching) which published books and a magazine on Buddhism titled ''
Dharmodaya ''Dharmodaya'' () was a monthly magazine in Nepal Bhasa on Theravada Buddhism. It was launched from Kalimpong, India, in 1947 to counter the ban on publication in Nepal. ''Dharmodaya'' was published by Dharmodaya Sabha, an organization form ...
''. Dhammalok spent his exile in India, Tibet and Bhutan, and returned to Kathmandu on 5 June 1946 after the ban was lifted. From 1946, following pressure from Indian Buddhist societies, the government also allowed publication of literature in Nepal Bhasa after being censored. Dhammalok devoted his later years to writing. He also worked to develop
Lumbini Lumbinī (, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. The Buddhist commentaries state that Maya Devi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini around 624 BCE. Gautama is bel ...
and Kapilavastu, the Buddha's birthplace and family home in southern Nepal. Dhammalok died at Ananda Kuti Vihar.


Gallery

File: Statue of dhammalok.jpg,
Statue of Dhammalok at Ananda Kuti Vihar.
File: Ananda kuti vihar.jpg,
Ananda Kuti Vihar, Kathmandu.
File:Kindo baha.jpg,
Kindo Baha, Kathmandu.


See also

* Aniruddha Mahathera * Banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal *
Buddhism in Nepal Buddhism in Nepal started spreading since the reign of Ashoka through Indian and Tibetan missionaries. The Kiratas were the first people in Nepal who embraced the Buddha’s teachings, followed by the Licchavi (kingdom), Licchavis and Newar peop ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhammalok Mahasthavir 1890 births 1966 deaths People from Kathmandu Nepalese Theravada Buddhists Theravada Buddhist monks Nepalese Buddhist monks Theravada Buddhism writers Nepalese male writers Newar-language writers Nepal Bhasa movement Persecution of Buddhists Nepalese exiles 20th-century Buddhist monks