Cakravartinship of Buddha Maitreya
The Buddha as Chakravarti?
In the story of Brahmadatta Jataka, of the Jatska tales, we learn of a
compassionate king who saves three eggs in a nest, after he accidently
shoots the bird. He takes care of the eggs as a parent. Three birds emerge
from the eggs: an owl, a mayna (starling) and a parrot. They end up giving
the king wise advice which helps him be a great king. Thus, being
compassionate is important.
In Buddhism, a King not just a king but a guardian of morality, he was seen
on both the materialistic and deepest spiritual terms.Compassion is
important to be a great king.
In Buddhism, the king played a key role in preventing anarchy, establishing order and
spreading the Buddhist way. The great king in Buddhist literature was known as
Chakravarti. The Chakra represents the empire: the circumference of the wheel
represents the boundaries and the spokes represent the highways that connect the
capital city to the frontiers. The Chakravarti possessed seven great treasures: the great
wheel of kingship (a symbolic representation of power), a horse, an elephant, the queen,
a commander or minister, a treasury and landholding householders who he protected.
Some of the earliest ideas of what a king should be come to us from the Jataka tales:
tales that speak of Buddha’s previous lives, long before the one in which he
attained nirvana. In many of these lives he was a king, explaining what the Buddhist
idea of kingship was.
We learn the qualities of a great king through these tales. In the Dummedha Jataka, we
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learn a king should be stern, like the king of Banaras who threatens his subjects with
beheading and impaling, if they do not follow the righteous path. In fear, everybody lives
righteously, performing their roles in society and being generous with wise men and
strangers.
Thus, the king uses the threat of violence to create a good society.
In the story of Makhadeva, we learn about a king who knows that everything passes
away. When he finds a single grey hair on his head, he realizes it is time to retire and he
bequeaths his kingdom to his children.
We also learn of the generous king, Shibhi.
When Indra, taking the form of a Brahmin, asks Shibhi for his left eye, Shibhi, without
hesitation, cuts out his left eye and gives it to him. With the right eye, Shibhi observes
the joy on the Brahmin’s face and therefore, offers him the right eye, too. Thus,
generosity is seen as a quality of kingship.
We also learn of a quality which a king should not have: greed. We hear of the great
king, Mandhatta. He ruled a great kingdom for eighty-four thousand years. He was so
great a king that neighbouring kings renounced their thrones and asked him to rule in
their stead. However, he felt dissatisfied, feeling he should rule a larger empire. So, he
rose to a heaven above earth and ruled there for another long period. In time, he wanted
to rule the heaven of the thirty-three Gods. When he goes there, Indra gives him half the
heaven and rules the other half himself. As time passes, Mandhatta again experiences
discontent. He now desires to rule the whole of heaven. He plans to overthrow Indra
and become king. Each time his greatness enabled people to voluntarily give up their
kingdom and make him king of a greater land.
However, this time, rather than wait and let it come to him voluntarily, he tries to grab
power. Consequently, he not only loses his divine glory but his place in heaven and slips
down to earth and dies. This is a cautionary tale against over-ambition: a lesson that we
can learn even in modern times. In the Buddhist scheme of things, it is the duty of the
king not only to spread dhamma amongst his people, but also to protect the dharma
teachings when the world gets corrupt and people become incapable of following
Buddha’s teachings.
CHAKRAVARTIN ASHOKA
That is why Buddhist kings like Ashoka, 2,300 years ago, and Kanishka, 1,900 years
ago, played a key role in gathering Buddhist knowledge and codifying them. Buddhist
lore constantly spoke of how Buddhism will end because of attacks by invaders and
because of infighting amongst various Buddhist teachers. But as long as there was a
good king, the teachings of the Buddha would survive.
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The king, or leader, in the Buddhist scheme of things was thus not just a politician but a
guardian of morality and ethics. He had to be not just brave but also compassionate and
understanding of his people. He had to understand the fragility of his reign and the
dangers of over ambition.
And most importantly, he had to secure what he knew would eventually fade away, so
that what died in the present would revive in the future. The Buddhist king was thus not
just seen in materialistic terms but also in the deepest spiritual terms.
Buddha Ka Chakravarti Saamrajya Paperback – 1 January 2006
Hindi Edition by Rajesh Chandra (Author)
It was believed that once a chakravarti emerged the "Future Buddha" Maitreya would
appear on earth.
In early Buddhist art there are more than 30 depictions, all from the Deccan. In most
the Chakravarti King uses the "Royal Gesture" in which the king "clenches his left hand
at his chest and reaches up with his right hand". He is surrounded by his seven
attributes: the Chakraratna wheel, his state elephant, charger horse, "the octagonal gem
which is so luminous it can light the path of his army by night", his queen, defense
minister and finance minister.
The early Buddhist Mahāvastu (1.259f) and the Divyāvadāna, as well as
the Theravadin Milindapañha, describe the marks of the chakravarti as
ruler: uṣṇīṣa, chhatra "parasol", "horn jewel" or vajra, whisk and sandals. These were
the marks of the kshatriya. Plastic art of early Mahayana Buddhism
illustrates bodhisattvas in a form called uṣṇīṣin "wearing a turban/hair binding",
wielding the mudras for "nonviolent cakravarti rule".
In Indian History, a chakravarti (Sanskrit: चक्रवर्तिन्) is an ideal universal
ruler, especially one who rules the entire Indian sub-continent (as in the case of
the Maurya Empire, despite not conquering the southern kingdoms). The first
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references to a Chakravala Chakravartin appear in monuments from the time of the
early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference to Chandragupta
Maurya and his grandson Ashoka.
The word cakra-vartin- is a bahuvrīhi compound word, translating to "one whose
wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling everywhere without
obstruction". It can also be analysed as an 'instrumental bahuvrīhi: "through whom the
wheel is moving" in the meaning of "through whom the Dharmachakra ("Wheel of
the Dharma) is turning" (most commonly used in Buddhism- "monarch who controls by
means of a wheel".[
14 Ratnas of Chakravartin, 17th century manuscript
Chakravarti is the secular counterpart of a buddha. The term applies to temporal as well
as spiritual kingship and leadership, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism.
In Hinduism, a chakravarti is a powerful ruler whose dominion extends to the entire
earth.
The Indian concept of chakravarti later evolved [into the concept of devaraja — the divine
right of kings — which was adopted by the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of
Southeast Asia through Hindu Brahmin scholars deployed from India to their courts. It
was first adopted by Javanese Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms such as Majapahit; through
them by the Khmer Empire; and subsequently by the Thai monarchs.
"Devarāja" on the other hand, was the religious order of the "god-king",
or deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia.[1] The devarāja order grew out of both
Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. [2] It taught that
the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of Bhagawan (often attributed
to Shiva or Vishnu). The concept viewed the monarch to possess transcendental quality,
the king as the living god on earth. The concept is closely related to the Bharati concept
of Chakravartin (universal monarch). In politics, it is viewed as the divine justification of
a king's rule. The concept was institutionalized and gained its elaborate manifestations
in ancient Java and Cambodia, where monuments such as Prambanan and Angkor
Wat were erected to celebrate the king's divine rule on earth.
The devaraja concept of divine right of kings was adopted by the indianised Hindu-
Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia through Indian Hindu Brahmins scholars
deployed in the courts. It was first adopted by Javanese kings and through them by
various Malay kingdoms, then by the Khmer empire, and subsequently by the Thai
monarchies.
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JayavarmanII as Chakravarti: Jayavarman II is widely regarded as the king that set the
foundation of the Angkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with the grandiose
consecration ritual conducted by Jayavarman II (reign 790-835) in 802 on sacred
Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence
of Kambuja from Javanese dominion (presumably the "neighboring Chams",
or chvea). At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch
(Kamraten jagad ta Raja in Cambodian) or God King (Deva Raja in Sanskrit).
According to some sources, Jayavarman II had resided for some time in Java during the
reign of Sailendras, or "The Lords of Mountains", hence the concept of Devaraja or God
King was ostensibly imported from Java. At that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over
Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia. [6] An inscription from
the Sdok Kak Thom temple recounts that at Mahendraparvata, Jayavarman II took part
in a ritual by the Brahman Hiranyadama, and his chief priest Lord Sivakaivalya, known
as devaraja which placed him as a chakravartin, Lord of the Universe.
The other Chakravartin was Jayavarman VII (1181 CE-1219 CE), chakravarti (universal
ruler) of the Khmer empire of Angkor, the last great Indianised state, spanning
today’s Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, with footholds in Myanmar and
Malaya. ‘He suffered the illnesses of his subjects more than his own; because it is the
pain of the public that is the pain of kings rather than their own pain,’ proclaims a 12th-
century stele marking the site of a hospital-temple by the Mekong river. Other steles and
other hospital-temples throughout the empire repeat those words in pointed reminder
to rulers that the first call on them is to meet the needs of their people. Jayavarman VII
did not squander Angkor’s resources on idle statues and extravagant civic
reconstruction. He concentrated on public welfare.
A bust of this ‘energetic, ambitious man’ who may have inspired the Bayon temple’s 200
massive faces can be seen in the Musée Guimet in Paris. He was corpulent with heavy
features and wore his hair pulled back into a small bun on his head. His father,
Dharanindravarman II, had ‘found his satisfaction in the nectar that is the religion of
Sakyamuni’, but though Jayavarman was also devoutly Buddhist, his appointment of
Brahmans to high positions anticipated the secularism to which India, Angkor’s distant
mother country, is constitutionally committed. His concepts of the hospital as temple
and of service as worship reflected a deeply held principle common to both Buddhism
and Hinduism. Hospital-temples also dispensed administrative and political justice.
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The Buddhist The Shailendra Dynasty: Progenitor of Mahayana Buddhism in Indonesia
Shailendra (also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) is a derivative of the
combined Sanskrit words of ‘Śaila’ and ‘Indra’ meaning “King of the Mountain”. The
Shailendra Dynasty, which arose in Java (Indonesia) during the 8 th Century, was
strongly influenced by Indian culture and played a significant role in the cultural
revival of the region. As a strong propagator of Mahayana Buddhism, the Shailendras
built Buddhist monuments across Central Java. One of the monuments, the massive
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stupa of Borobudur, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of
Java’s most popular sites for both pilgrims and tourists today.
The Indonesian archipelago in Southeast Asia, here highlighted in beige, consists of over 17,000
islands. Two of the larger ones are Java and Sumatra. At various points in history, the Shailendra
Dynasty was the ruling family of the Medang Kingdom of Central Java and the Srivijaya Kingdom in
Sumatra.
The Shailendras were seafarers who ruled across the seas of Southeast Asia. Though
they were a maritime empire, this Dynasty was also a cultivator of agriculture, heavily
dependent on rice farming on the Kedu Plain. The Kedu Plain, also known as the
Progo River Valley, lies between Mount Sumbing and Mount Sundoro to the west,
and Mount Merbabu and Mount Merapi to the east. In the present day, these would be
in the Magelang and Temanggung Regency of Central Java, Indonesia.
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The Kedu Plain marked out on a map of Java Island, as it would have appeared during the time of the
Medang Kingdom (8th to 11th Century). Click to enlarge.
At various points in history, this thalassocratic dynasty appears to have been the ruling
family of both the Medang Kingdom of Central Java and the Srivijaya Kingdom in
Sumatra. Key players in the history of the Shailendras include:
Dapunta Selendra, the founder of the Shailendra Dynasty
Sri Sanjaya (disputed; some say he is a member of the Sanjaya Dynasty
instead)
Rakai Panangkaran, the Buddhist (reigned 760 – 775 CE)
Dharanindra, the slayer of courageous enemies (reigned 775 – 800 CE)
Samaratungga, the uniter of kingdoms (reigned 812 – 833 CE)
Pramodhawardhani and Rakai Pikatan (reigned 840s – 856 CE)
Balaputradewa, the Nalanda sponsor (reigned 860 – ? CE)
Sri Kesari Warmadewa, the descendant of the Shailendra Dynasty who became
the ruler in Bali (reigned 882 – 914 CE)
Maharaja Sanggrama Vijayatunggavarman, the last king
This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it finalised because much of the information
about the Shailendra Dynasty is subject to debate by scholars and historians.
Historians have attempted to reconstruct a definitive list of the Shailendra rulers and
their domain, but they have not been able to reach a consensus. Challenges they have
faced include:
1. A lack of information. Information gleaned from inscriptions has often been
very limited and difficult to decipher.
2. The Shailendras appear to have ruled many kingdoms such as Kalingga,
Medang and Srivijaya, and oftentimes the kingdoms and places overlapped.
3. The spellings of names and places also vary widely, due to differences in
language, the use of epithets, political influx and changes, the fact that these
events took place so long ago, etc.
Nevertheless, having an approximate list to refer to is useful when trying to
understand the Shailendras’ vast history and impact on the region and Buddhism.
Historical sources
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A palm leaf text manuscript (lontar) from Indonesia
Abhayagiri stone inscription (dated 792 CE). Click to enlarge.
Most of the historical information on the Shailendra Dynasty may be gleaned from
stone inscriptions found in Indonesia, the Malay peninsula and as far away as India,
where there are historical mentions of the Shailendras spelled in different variations.
An inscription is writing that has been carved into something made of stone or metal;
one famous example that many will be familiar with is the Rosetta Stone.
Inscriptions that document the history of the Shailendras are mainly charters written in
various languages such as Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Balinese, Old Malay and even
in Old Sundanese. These inscriptions provide the basis for the chronological
documentation of Indonesian history. Some inscriptions are copies written a few
centuries after the date of the originals, mostly during the Majapahit period. Although
the originals are lost, the copies are generally considered to carry the historical
accuracy of the originals.
Apart from the inscriptions on stone and copper, there are also texts composed on
palm leaves (known as lontar) which have been found in Java, Bali and Sunda. These
texts are mostly histories written in the style of classical literature.
Other sources about the Shailendra Dynasty come from Chinese, Muslim, and Indian
texts. From China, the Shailendras are referred to in the Imperial Annals (Pen Chi),
which are the Imperial Court’s detailed records of gifts or tributes received by the
Emperor of China from various foreign emissaries. The Chinese Court’s officials
recorded the names of foreign kings or heirs and/or the envoys, the gifts received, and
the dates received.
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Another source of information from China are the Dynastic Histories where Notices
(Chuan) written in dedication to respective countries were recorded. The Pen
Chi and Chuan are often independent of each other and thus provide greater recorded
accuracy on the events that took place. The Chinese records play an important role in
recording the history of Indonesia, especially for the period before the 8th Century
when most historical information about Java and Bali can trace their origins to these
Chinese records.
A painting of Borobudur, the temple complex built by the Shailendras. It is now a world-famous tourist
and pilgrimage location, and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In contrast to the Chinese who recorded events, the Muslim records (mostly in Persian
and Arabic) were often written by travellers and geographers who took more interest
in the nature of the land rather than the events documented. As such, these records
provide a different perspective on the lands of ancient Indonesia.
From India, copper inscriptions provide important information on Java and Sumatra
from the 9th to the 11th Centuries. Early documents, written in Sanskrit and Pali, also
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exist from as far back as the beginning of the Christian Era; these mention parts of the
Indonesian archipelago, indicating that India knew of them well.
Sojomerto inscription (dated 725 CE). Click to enlarge./ The Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy (c.
100 – 170 CE). Click to enlarge.
Some documents from Cambodia and Vietnam provide little but important
information about ancient Indonesia and finally, some Greek sources, such as those
from the geographer Claudius Ptolemy (also known as Claudius Ptolemaeus; c. 100 –
170 CE), also mention a few names of places in Indonesia.
Aside from the above foreign information sources, there are still many historical
inscriptions and documents that have not yet been deciphered and translated, such
as the stone inscriptions found in Sumatra which remain partially translated. There is
no doubt that the richness of Indonesian history would unravel further if more
historians and the Indonesian government were to play a greater role in
their translations.
The Shailendra Dynasty represents a grand era in Indonesian history, when their
seafarer ways conquered much of the Indonesian archipelago and expanded trade and
bilateral relations to India, China, and Southeast Asia. In his foresight, King Sri
Sanjaya requested for his heir Rakai Panangkaran’s (also known as Rakai Panaraban)
conversion into Mahayana Buddhism, which had a lasting effect that spanned the
period of the Shailendra Dynasty’s rule and beyond. During this period, the
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Shailendra Dynasty established many holy and historical sites, such as the Borobudur
Temple complex, along with producing many religious artefacts.
The stone inscriptions
According to recovered stone inscriptions from Sumatra, the Shailendra Dynasty may
have ruled the Medang Kingdom of Central Java, as well as the Srivijaya Kingdom in
Sumatra. The Shailendras created stone inscriptions using three languages: Old
Javanese, Old Malay and Sanskrit, in either the Kawi alphabet or pre-Nāgarī script.
This use of different languages has generated speculation of the Shailendras’ possible
origins. The use of Old Javanese seems to establish them politically in Java, whereas
their use of Old Malay seems to place them with Sumatran origin; meanwhile, their
use of Sanskrit strongly indicates the official and/or religious nature of the events
described on the inscription stones.
The Sojomerto inscription (c. 725 CE) found in the Batang Regency of Central Java
had the names ‘Dapunta Selendra’ and ‘Selendranamah’ inscribed. The name
‘Selendra’, a different spelling of ‘Shailendra’, suggests that Dapunta Selendra could
be the founder of the Shailendras in Central Java. The inscription suggests that the
family were originally Hindu Shaivites, a dominant school in the Hindu tradition that
worships Shiva as their main deity. This practice took place before their conversion to
Mahayana Buddhism.
The Kalasan inscription (c. 778 CE) is the earliest dated inscription found in Central
Java. With the mention of Shailendras as ‘Śailēndravamśatilaka’, we learn of Rakai
Panangkaran, the ruler who commemorated the inauguration of Candi Kalasan (or
Kalasan Temple), a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Goddess Tara.
The Kelurak inscription (c. 782 CE) and the later Karangtengah inscription (c. 824
CE) also mention the name ‘Śailēndravamśatilaka’.
The Ligor inscription (also known as the Chaiya inscription; c. 775 CE), which was
found on the Malay peninsula, and the Nalanda inscription (c. 860 CE), which was
found in India, carry within them the inscribed name ‘Shailendra’. Their contents
indicate the possibility of Rakai Panangkaran as the creator of the Ligor inscription
and the conqueror of the Srivijaya Kingdom, which was based in Sumatra but
influenced most of Southeast Asia.
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