The Ordination
It is the dying desire of the Founder of the Maha Bodhi Society to be ordained into the Higher Order of Bhikkhus, and in accordance there with Eleven Chief Priests and four Bhikkhus with Mr. Rajah Hewavitarna, are leav- ing Ceylon on the 9th inst. to take part in the holy ordination which is to take place at Holy Isipatana, Sarnath, Benares on the 16th January 1933. It is the first historic ordination that is going to take place where The Blessed Lord Buddha Gautama established the Dharmarajya 2521 years ago. For nearly 800 years there had been no ordination ceremony held at the hal- lowed site. On the same day the Viceroy, Earl of Willingdon will visit the Mulagandhakuti Vihara and enshrine the Holy Relic of the Lord Buddha in a gold casket. It is proposed to erect a Torana similar to the one at Sanchi in commemoration of His Excellency’s visit. In height it will be 36 feet high and 12 feet wide. The design has been prepared by the well-known architect Mr. Chat- terjee. It is said in the Buddhist scriptures that when a person enters the holy Order of Bhikkhus that the Devatas rejoice because a Bhikkhu is expected to “Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim and seek out him who knows still less than thou.
“The Lion of the Law, the Lord of Mercy perceiving the true cause of human woe, imme- diately forsook the sweet rest of quiet wilds, and He became the Teacher of Mankind.
“To benefit mankind is the first step. “It is from the bud of Renunciation of the Self that springeth the sweet fruit of final Liberation.
“Yes, if he conquers, Nirvana shall be his. Know that the Bodhisatvas who liberation changes for Renunciation to don the miseries of Secret Life is called “Thrice Honoured”. A Saviour of the World is he. “Voice of the Silence”.
The death announcement
We deeply regret to announce to our readers the death of our beloved guide and leader, Sri Devamitta Dhammapala 29.4.1933 who founded this journal in 1893 and edited it for nearly 40 years.
The Buddhist world has suffered an ir- reparable loss by the death of the Ven’ble Sri Devamitta Dhammapala who passed away on April 29 at Sarnath. The loss has not merely been to the followers of Buddhism all the world over, but his death will be mourned by all men and women who have ever responded to the call of religion. For Sri Devamitta Dhammapala was not merely the greatest leader of Buddhism in modern times but a saint whose life and activities could not but influence millions of people who, without being Buddhists, were yet inspired by his complete identification with a great movement which aimed at service to, and uplift of, humanity.
Born in Ceylon in September, 1864 Sri Devamitta Dhammapala was educated at St. Thomas College, Colombo, where he showed exceptional aptitude for the study of the Bible. He himself belonged to a well-to-do Buddhist family which enjoyed a pre-eminent position in the Island for its traditional piety and leadership in different spheres of life. He took service under the Government which he gave up in 1886. Al- ready he had come into personal contact with Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky, who exercised a powerful influence on his young mind, and stimulated his discontent with the existing order of things, later crystallizing into definite shapes of humanitarian and constructive work. His resignation of a lucrative post thus became the starting point of a career of great renunciation and service, the like of which is to be rarely met with in the modern world with its insensate craze for power and domination.
