• A hundred years after
• People & Events
  A construction to beat all constructions
• Sri Lanka's venomous snakes and their habitat
• Sangha at the crossroads
• Elephant lore - in myth, legend, religion and war
  Even today the elephant has a prominent place in Buddhism unlike other animals. It is the only animal possessed of grace to carry the sacred reliquary containing the 'Danta-dhatu' (Tooth-relic) of the Buddha, in the annual Esala Perahera in Kandy. All Buddhist temples follow the same procedure in choosing an elephant to carry the relics in procession, as no major Buddhist procession is complete without at least a single elephant, ornately caparisoned to walk majestically through the streets.
• Don Stanley's moves to the top of the world

The Buddhist has been kept alive, albeit with varying fortunes, by the Colombo Young Men's Buddhist Association from 1902 when the body which had founded it in 1888, the Colombo Theosophical Society, found it too burdensome to carry. The Buddhist congratulates the YMBA on completing a hundred years on 8 January 1998 and wishes it a very long future of use to Buddhist worldwide. This is an appropriate occasion to reflect on times past and present.

Three Christian powers hostile to Buddhism which had successively ruled all or parts of this country for four centuries had reduced Buddhists to the level of second class citizens, or worse, in the land of their birth. Under the last of them when we were, in the nineteenth century, a colony in the British Empire, the day most sacred to the Buddhists, Vesak Poya day did not receive the recognition of a holiday ; rites and ceremonies had to be adjusted to suit the whims of government officials: marriages could be registered only in church; Buddhists had to learn their letters in Christian schools; if they found employment in the lowly levels of government service available to natives the prospects for advancement awaiting Buddhists were virtually nil promotion being reserved for Christians, even nominal ones.

Against this background, C.S. Dissanayake, a clerk in a government office took a seemingly imprudent step. He forsook Christianity and adopted Buddhism the religion of his choice. Then on 8 January 1898 he brought together eighteen other young men, most of them in employment similar to his, at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Maliban Street. There they formed the Young Men's Buddhist Association with the declared aims of the study of Buddhism, the discussion of subjects pertaining to it and the encouragement of the practice of Buddhism.

Some years earlier, Buddhists had woken to their plight and their newly emergent leaders, reinforced by the redoubtable Colonel Olcott from America, had launched a movement for getting back for them what they had long been denied. And they were succeeding. When the young men of Maliban Street chose the third of their aims, the encouragement of the practice of Buddhism, their vision of the future would surely have been of a country with its people holding their heads high not in arrogance but in freedom, guided by the Buddha Dhamma, untainted by vice, corruption or crime.

That crime, disorder and indiscipline were not bothersome factors not so long ago are borne out by writers who have been referred to in these columns before. They bear repeating. Robert Knox reported that stealing and drinking were abhorrent to the people. The diary of L. Liesching, Assistant Government Agent of Nuwarakalawiya dwells on the annual concourse at Poson time of 20,000 pilgrims at Anuradhapura with not a single policeman there and the temptation offered of government money locked up in a box which six men could carry away into the jungle and remain undetected. "...Anything to surpass their and sobriety of conduct it is impossible to conceive... In what part of Christendom would the money-box be safe?" Then there was the Christian clergyman, Rev. S. Langden present at the Panadura Debate. When the last speaker the Ven. Migettuwatte Gunananda sat down there were shouts of "Sadhu" but no demonstration or disturbance whatever, which surprised the Rev. Mr. Langden. " I question if a controversy of that kind could be held in the presence of so many thousands in any country in Europe without some disturbance."

But in the decades that preceded the YMBA's centenary things have gone tragically wrong making a mockery of the efforts of the great leaders of the recent past.

The ills that pervade the land are there for all to see. No listing is necessary. Yet one cannot resist a few comments. Homicide which was never absent, was generally on sudden impulse, in the course of an argument or a fight or under provocation. Premeditated murder was rare. Now we have graduated to gang warfare and contract killings - inexpensive contracts at that.

Most drinking Buddhists did so with a feeling of embarrassment, not making a public display of their weakness. That alone helped to keep the level of imbibing down. Seldom did one see liquor served at functions hosted by Buddhists. Seldom does one now not see such functions where liquor does not flow. In the BPS Newsletter No. 36 the Ven. Bhikku Bodhi reports the drunken behaviour of dayakas who had gone with alms to a hermitage highly respected for the austere, meditative life of its monks. Similar shameful depths are reached when members of Buddhist bodies entertaining fellow members provide spirituous refreshment - enough of it even to make them turn silly.

With official encouragement (claimed to be well-intentioned) liquor outlets have increased tremendously. At the same time the manufacture and sale of liquor illicitly prospers and proliferates. It is more than a suspicion that the trade is and has been carried on with powerful backing and protection.

In the crazy pursuit of money no one is any longer embarrassed by labels of liar, cheat or bribe-taker or worse. The virtues of hiri and ottappa have gone with the winds of change that swept over this country in the last twenty years or so.

How are means to be found to get the country out of these degrading depths? Currently there are commissions, committees, task forces and other groups tackling a variety of issues for the government. Some may take a look at some of the issues highlighted here but there is none to tackle comprehensively what may briefly and aptly be described as the dying of decency.

The Sinhala Commission, an unofficial body, is currently dealing with some aspects of our problems. The Buddhist Commission, again an unofficial body, sitting prior to 1956, was able through sincerity of purpose, rational approach and cogent argument to help lead a new government into power and to see some of its recommendations carried out.

It is now time, and no more time should be lost, for the main Buddhist bodies to come together to devise means to stop the rot. Perhaps the advice of another Buddhist Commission may be sought.

(The above article is the Editorial of the special issue of 'The Buddhist' to mark the centenary of the Colombo Young Men's Buddhist Association).

People & Events
A construction to beat all constructions

by Nan
A whirl of talk: rhetoric, poetic praise, acerbic criticism of buildings and builders enveloped me as I sat amidst a group of architecture students.

I am certain they would object strongly to the use of the phrase 'buildings and builders' so I'd better substitute the terms 'constructions and architects.' Names mentioned were I M Pei, Geoffrey Bawa and the Guggenheim Museum in Bulboa, Spain, among many others. I just sat, dazed but involved.

Marking the Millenium
Britain's enormous Millenium Dome is nearing completion and drawing more heated argument and greater adulatory comment.

The British, according to a New Yorker article I read with great interest after the discussion I sat in on, feel a sort of proprietary involvement in the passage of time, having Greenwich, the home of the prime meridian - zero degrees longitude and mean time. So they seem to feel it their duty to keep time for the world and thus, while other countries stuck domes, whether gilded or otherwise on the tops of their buildings, Britain placed a clock on the tallest structure of the Houses of Parliament. Many of us remember hearing the sonorous strokes of Big Ben over BBC radio. The British are presumed to express the sentiment: "We may no longer have an empire, but we still own time."

Thus, given the proprietary pride regards time and time keeping of the British, its previous government gave the architectural firm of Richard Rogers the green light to construct the Millenium Dome to commemorate the passing of the world from the 20th to the 21st century, appropriately siting it in Greenwhich.

The Millenium Dome will be the world's largest dome, the largest fabric covered structure with a circumference of one kilometer, covering twenty acres . The size may be better comprehended with the following comparisons: it can contain 35,000 people at one and the same time; 18,000 double decker London buses. It will cost more then $1.2 billion.

It is being built on a flat marshy peninsular about a mile distant from the Greenwich building tourists visit to stand on the 0 degrees longitude line. David Trenton, director of development, is reported to have said:

"If I don't meet the date, I get hanged and if I don't meet the budget, I get flogged. My aim is to get flogged rather than hanged." It is near complete so hanging is out!

The Dome has no defined purpose, except to mark the new millenium. "Its impractical, extravagant and useless - a great European monument."

Background to the Dome
The first proposal to construct a millenium commemorative structure was mooted in 1994 by Peter Brooke, Secretary of State for the National Heritage in the Conservative government of John Major. The original site selected was burgeoning Birmingham but Michael Heseltine, Deputy Prime Minister, pushed for Greenwich. By 1996, Greenwich it was. Richard Rogers and his partner, Michael Davies, were hired to design some kind of enclosure and it was Davies who came up with the idea of a colossal dome.

When the Conservative government seemed doomed and Labour rising, it was feared the construction of the dome too would be doomed, never mind the couple of millions already spent. But reality turned out different. Tony Blair as the new PM, said he wanted Britain to mark the millenuum with something that would excite and inspire people. So the Dome continued. The article I read says that Richard Rogers is one of Blair's best London friends and the PM enjoys dining at the River Cafe, a fashionable West London restaurant owned by Mrs Rogers.

The Dome is expected to reflect new Britain, to proclaim the image of self assured Britain, once again in the forefront of technology and productivity.

Financing
The National Lottery will bear most of the cost, aided by such British giants as British Telecom and British Airways. It is estimated that the Dome must attract twelve million visitors paying pounds 17 per person

during the year 2000 if it is to break even. That works out to 70,000 visitors a day! But one asks: why the hurry? Cannot the costs be covered over the years?

What's Inside the Dome?
Much talk goes on about what will be within the Dome, and much controversy naturally. An exhibition, or exhibitions will be mounted but what the author of the article I read suggests is that it should be left empty - a great space for people to gather in, since the Dome itself is spectacular enough.

One planned sector "The Body Zone" will contain the world's biggest physical representation of the human form - a 170 foot high androgenous sculpture - half man, half woman - with a gigantic baby crawling towards it containing exhibits within of human biology.

The Dome follows a British tradition. The Crystal Palace completed in 1851 marked the triumph of Queen Victoria's rule and was the largest building of the then world. A century later, in 1951, the British Festival was mounted, organised by Herbert Morrison, the maternal grandfather of the present "Dome Secretary" - Peter Mandelson, Minister without Portfolio.

A good precedent is the Eiffel Tower unveiled in 1889. Many strongly protested its construction, among them Guy de Maupassant, who urged the government to stop the building of the "monstrous tower - a black and gigantic factory chimney". But it became the symbol of Paris and of France. It reaches high, while the Dome spreads out.

"...." Says He
I asked my friend's husband, Peter, the person who took me sight seeing to Greenwich some years ago, what he felt about the Dome. He loves Greenwich and the adjacent Royal Naval College, being a leisure time sailor. I remember the sheer delight he took in roaming the area and the pride with which he showed us around. He is a Labourite of the old order, really Labour and not New Labour, and an Irishmen. So naturally he came out strong against the Dome. He disapproves strongly the waste of money and the imposition on the historic site, otherwise how explain his unprintable language!!

By Aryadasa Ratnasinghe
According to Sri Lanka National Museum's Manuscript Series (Vol. VIII) and the Sinhala Palm Leaf Manuscripts Medical Vol. IV (Treatment for snake bites), there are five kinds of venomous snakes in Sri Lanka. They are the Mapila (Cat-snake), the Karawala (Krait), the Naya (Cobra), the Tit-polonga (Russell's viper) and the Kunakatuwa (Humped-nose viper). For purpose of identity, they have been described as follows:

''The mapila's pupil of the eye is vertical and slit-like, the neck is narrower than the head and the body is usually compressed. The row of scales along the top of the back is enlarged, Mapilas are tree-dwelling snakes of which four species are found in Sri Lanka. Some are light-brown, others are dark-brown or light-red, and they either possess dark cross bars or blotches, or lack such markings. They are venomous.

''The karawala is identified by the enlarged row of scales along the top of its back, and by the third upper lip-scale touching the nasal-scale and the eye. It is black in colour with a series of white rings that disappear with age. They are highly venomous.

''The naya possesses an expansible hood carrying a spectacles-shaped marking on its upper surface, and the third upper lip-scale, and touches the nasal-scale and the eye. They are highly venomous. They have cylindrical bodies with long tails and smooth scales.

Tit polonga
''The head of the tit-polonga is wider than the neck and its top is covered with small scales, the nostril is large, and a large scale exists over each eye. Along the back is a row of 22 to 24 elliptical markings up to above the base of the tail, and a row of fig-shaped lateral blotches. It is highly venomous.

''The kunakatuwa has the front half of the top of the head covered with large scales and possesses a pit between the nostril and the eye, a small bump exists at the tip of its snout. Its markings are irregular blotches either on a brown, pink, grey or yellow background. It is venomous but rarely fatal''.

''These snakes as well as other reptilia belong to the natural order Ophidia. They are characterized by an elongated limbless body possibly evolved because it is advantageous in progression through dense vacation. One of the most striking internal modifications is the absence or greatly reduced size of the left lung. It is said that there are some 3,000 species of snakes found in the tropics and temperate zones, but none in New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland and near the poles.

The skin of the snake is covered with scales which are markedly wider underneath where they form, in all except a few species, an essential aid for movement, e.g., a snake is helpless on glass where these scales can effect no grip on the surface. Its progression may be undulant, concerting or creeping, or a combination. Detailed vision is limited at a distance, though movement is immediately seen. Hearing is restricted to ground vibrations, and sound waves are not perceived as with other animals.

The sense of touch is acute. Besides the sense of smell through the nasal passages, the flickering tongue picks up airborne particles which are then passed on to special organs in the mouth for investigation. Some snakes, e.g., the rattlesnakes have a cavity between eye and nostril which is very sensitive to infra-red rays, useful in locating warm-blooded prey in the dark. All snakes are carnivorous, and often camouflaged for better concealment in hunting as well as their own protection. Some snakes are oviparous and others ovoviviparous (the eggs are retained in the oviducts until development is complete). In both cases the young are immediately self-sufficient.

The majority of snakes belong to the family Colubridae. They are chiefly harmless, e.g., the 'garandiya' (rat-snake) which even enters into houses to feed on rats that live on the roofs. Its bite is not venomous but has some toxicity requiring medical attention. According to the native method of treatment for snake bites, the 'sarpa-vederala', who has specialised in the art, makes prognostications by studying the messenger who comes to summon him, his behaviour and costume, and whether the victim will arrive or not.

Cure
The realm of treatment of the native physician in regard to snake bites is known as 'agada-tantra', which includes medicine, charms, herbal preparations, poultices, fomentation, medicaments, errhines, medicinal oils, 'gulis', 'kalkas' etc. used to neutralize the effects of venom ingested into the body by venomous reptilia. Their families includes the Elapidae, (the cobra, the coral snakes and the death adder). The Viperidae belongs to the family of vipers. The Hydrophydae are the aquatic sea-snakes.

Among the snakes found in Sri Lanka, the most venomous and the most feared is the cobra, popularly known as the 'naya', which is highly respected, sometimes honoured and even worshipped by those who consider cobras with high esteem. If a person were to come across a cobra by accident, he speaks to it nicely to move away from the path, and never attacks it or tries to chase it away. There is a saying that a cobra never bites a blind man, even if he were to tread upon it by accident. This is said to be a sublime quality of cobras.

Cobra belongs to the genus 'Naja' because of its ability to dilate its broad hood. The Indian cobra (Naja Naja tripudians) or cobra de capello, as the Portuguese knew it, attains a length of about seven feet. The king cobra (Naja hannah bungarus), mostly found in the African wilderness, grows to a length of about fourteen feet, and it is said to be the fiercest and the most aggressive of snakes. It is yellowish-brown or olive in colour, with black crossbands, and feeds on other reptilia. African cobras include the asp (Naja haje) and the black-necked cobra (Naja nigricollis).

The cobras, generally, bite during daytime or as dusk falls, and rarely or never by night. As night falls they move into their shelters. During the day, they lie under grass or jungle undergrowth awaiting for prey, and ready to attack at any moment when they are disturbed or harmed. Vipers roam in the dark for prey and go into their hiding places at dawn. This natural instinct is woven into the fabric of folklore to prove that they are antagonistic towards each other. The Sinhala proverb 'Nayayi polongai vage' (Like cobra and wiper) refers to those who hate each other. As vipers move by night, they never meet cobras unless by accident.

Robert Knox
Robert Knox, writing in 1681, what he had heard during his stay in the Kandyan kingdom for 20 years, about the folklore, says ''The reason and original of this fatal enmity between these two Serpents, is this according to a Fable among the Chingulays (Sinhalese). These two chanced to meet in a dry season, when water was scarce. The Polonga (viper) being almost famished for thirst, asked the Naya (cobra) where he might go to find a little water.

''The Naya a little before had met with a bowl of water in which a child lay playing. As it is usual among this people to wash their children in a bowl of water, and there leave them to tumble and play in it. Here the Noya quenched his thirst, but as he was drinking, the child that lay in the bowl, out of his innocence and play, hit him on the head with his hand, which the Noya made no matter of, but bare patiently, knowing it was not done out of any malice: and having drunk as much as sufficed him, went away without doing the child any harm.

''Being minded to direct the Polonga to this bowl, but desirous withal to preserve the child, he told him, that he knew of water but that he was such a surely hasty creature, that he was fearful to let him know where it was, lest he might do some mischief; making him therefore promise that he would not, he then told him that at such a place there was a bowl of water with a child playing in it, and that probably the child might, as he was tumbling give him a pat on the Head, as he had done to him before, but charged him nevertheless not to hurt the child, which the Polonga having promised went his way towards the water, as the Noya had directed him.

''The Noya knowing his touchy disposition went after him, fearing he might do the child a mischief, and that thereby he himself might be deprived of the like benefit afterwards. It fell out as he feared. For as the Polonga drank, the child patted him on the head, and he in his hasty humour bit him on the hand and killed him. The Noya seeing this resolved to be revenged, and so reproaching him for his baseness, fought him so long till he killed him. And after that devoured him, which to this day they ever do, always fight when they meet, and the conqueror eats the body of the vanquished''. This enmity is said to be an everlasting phenomenon between the two.

Dr. John Davy, writing in 1821, about snakes says: ''Whilst I was in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), my professional pursuits led me to pay particular attention to the snakes of the island, especially to those whose bite is poisonous. It is the common belief that the country abounds in snakes and that they are very dangerous. All this is greatly exaggerated. I have procured twenty different kinds of snakes and of them, sixteen were harmless, though the majority has the character of being venomous. The four poisonous snakes were all of the coluber kind''.

Writing about the cobra, he says ''This coluber naja of Linnaeus, is too well known to require description. The natives in general rather venerate this snake than dread it. They believe that it belongs to another world, i.e., the nagaloka, and when it appears on earth, it is merely a visitor. Frequent exhibitions are made of this snake by men called 'snake-charmers'. They irritate the snake by striking it, and avoid with great agility the attacks aimed at them and thus play without dread, and with impunity, with danger.''

Common belief
The common belief is that the poisonous fangs of the cobras, exhibited by the snake-charmers, have been extracted for purpose of safety. But, Dr. Davy says ''I have examined the snakes, I have seen exhibited, and have found their poisonous fangs in and uninjured. These men do possess a charm, and it is the confidence and courage, acquainted with the habits and disposition of cobras. Any one possessing the confidence and agility of these men may imitate them, and I have made the trial more than once.

''The reputation that many Indian medicines for snake bites have snake-stones still exists. I have examined them carefully and found them to be pieces of partially burnt bones, some of chalk and some resembled bezoars, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter.'' Bezoars are stony concretions found in the stomachs of goats, antelopes, llamas, chamois, etc., formerly esteemed as an antidote to all poisons.

Venom involves multiple toxic reactions in man occurring simultaneously. Accordingly to medical opinion, most viper venoms are vasculotoxic, causing a rapidly swelling of the area around the portal entry of venom. This swelling is presumably due to diffused venom passing through the tissues and affecting vascular permeability. ''Local necrosis in viper bites is mainly ischaemic. The clotting of blood blocks the blood vessels causing dry gangrene, but in cobra bites it causes wet gangrene with a putrid smell''.

Among most victims bitten by venomous snakes, shock is believed to be the cause of death, when they become aware that their lives are at stake. This fear is followed by emotional symptoms, such as faintness, stupor, feeble pulse and shallow breathing, which are distinguished from systemic envenoming. These symptoms appear rapidly within minutes after the bite, whereas systemic poisoning is delayed by one hour or more. However, early collapse is sometimes due to high potency of the venom ingested and not due to fear of death.

First signs
It has been pointed out that ptosis (drooping of the upper eye-lids) is usually the first sign of a cobra bite. In viper bite poisoning, the earliest sign is blood spit which becomes stained within 15 minutes after the bite. Bleeding from gums and discolouration of blood may follow within 3 hours. Urine becomes discoloured due to the presence of myoglobin and death may occur due to cardiac arrest or renal failure.

According to native clinical pathology pertaining to snake bites the symptoms are: ''discoloration of the body, finger-nails and faeces; pain at the joints; teeth become discoloured; yawns too often, mucous flows from mouth; neck becomes lifeless; body pain develops with a burning sensation; low urine flow; headache, vomiting, redness in eyes; lack of appetite giddiness; hiccough, thirstiness, dryness of mouth, altered voice, constipation; exudations from mouth, eyes and ears, and other symptoms associated with envenoming. Swelling due to cobra bite develops more slowly than viper bite.

Public opinion still holds that native treatment is better than western treatment to save victims from the danger of being bitten by venomous reptilia. In most rural areas, the 'sarpa-vederala' has his place as the saviour of mankind bitten by snakes and on the verge of death. ''In western treatment broad spectrum antibiotics are used to minimize the risk of local infection, and antivenom injections are given, diluted with isotonic saline, to inactivate the venom. Specific antivenom is desirable, but if the snake is unknown, polyvalent serum may be given''. So says Dr. Stamm.