An Analysis of Buddhist Principles that Appeared in Cakkavāladīpanī Scripture

Abstract

          Cakkavāladīpanī  is an important buddhist scripture which was written in Pali language by Venerable  Phra Sirimaṅgalācāriya, a Lanna philosopher, in B.E.2063 . This research article consists of 3 objectives, namely: - 1. to study the structure and content of the Cakkavāladīpanī; 2. to study the concept of the principles as appeared in the Cakkavāladīpanī; 3. to analyze the principles that appeared in the Cakkavāladīpanī. This is documentary research with the textual analysis and presenting in a descriptive form.

          The findings showed that: Cakkavāḷadīpanī Scripture has 3 main parts, namely: - 1. Paṇāmagāthā is paying homage to the Triple Gem. 2. Among the 6 chapters, the content in each one has a separate topic depending on stories from the Tipitaka, Commentaries, Sub-commentaries, and Special Texts that mainly mention on the universe. 3. Pacchimagāthā, the latter part, is to emphasize the meaning of the Title, the background and the purposes of the composing, and the detailed history of Venerable Sirimaṅgalācāriya, the author. There are 3 principles that appeared in the Cakkavāḷadīpanī Scripture, namely: dāna, sīla, and kammaṭhānā. The practice of samatha meditation will result in the birth of next life in the world of Brahma. When one continues his practice with vipassanā, he is getting rid of all the worldly desires and his wisdom would be pure, and that is supposed to end the births or deaths of the human beings forever. As for the principles to be followed in everyday life in this Scripture, consisting of: giving (dāna), observing the precepts (sīla), and tranquil-insight meditation (samatha-vipassanā kammaṭṭhānā) for the ultimate fruit is Nibbāna. The Scripture represents the rise and fall of the worldly universe. The emergence of human beings in the first Aeon (kappa) as well as the existence of beings in the abyss, the human realm, the god realm, the way to avoid doing evil things, and the way to uphold the virtue in order to eventually attain to Nibbāna. It also suggests the danger and boredom of the rise and fall of the Universe, not for the sake of the obsession of worldly pleasure or enjoyment. The reason that Cakkavāladīpanī represents only these principles is because these principles are fundamental principles in Buddhism, which should be propagated and accessed. They are useful principles that conform to the context of the society of 2000 years after the enlightenment of the Lord Buddha.