Sri Lankan religious group congratulate Hon. Indian PM Modi

[​IMG]Rule India like Cakkavatti Dharmasoka – Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka Appeals to Narendra Modi
Posted on May 24th, 2014
Senaka Weeraratna
In a congratulatory message addressed to Shri Narendra Modi, Ven. Banagala Upatissa Nayaka Thero, President, Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka, has while noting with supreme joy that Shri Modi has been the first leader of modern India to represent the timeless and ancient city of Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, called on Shri Modi to lead India like the great Cakkavatti Emperor Ashoka and in a manner that will illuminate our part of the world as it did in Ashokan times.
In offering prayers for the success of Narendra Modi’s epochal mission of heralding India to new heights in global leadership similar or on par with that attained by Ashoka, who ushered in the first state in world history dedicated to rule by righteousness over 2300 years ago.

Ven.Banagala Upatissa Nayaka Thero concludes his brief message by

invoking the blessings in the verse Devo Wassathu Kalena” being blessings to the world – and blessings that have withstood the test of time in Sinhala Buddhist culture beginning from the time of the Anuradhapura era.

Cakkavatti (pali) or Chakravartin / Chakraborty (sanskrit) basically means the ideal universal ruler, who rules ethically and benevolently over the entire world. It has also been interpreted as “through whom the wheel is moving” or ‘wheel turner’ in the meaning of “through whom the Dharmacakra (“Wheel of the Dharma) is turning” (most commonly used in Buddhism and Hinduism).

Dharmashoka is the best example of a Cakkavatti ruler.

A Chakravatin (possibly Ashoka the Great), 1st century BCE/CE. Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. Preserved at Musee Guimet. 

Upon his conversion to Buddhism, Ashoka dedicated himself to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia. Ashoka saw in Buddhism a highly enlightened metaphysical doctrine that could also address moral and ethical concerns of society and serve as a cultural basis for the political unity of India and Asia.

  • Ashoka is also referred to as Samraat Chakravartin – the ‘ Emperor of Emperors Ashoka’. His name ‘ ashoka’ means “painless, without sorrow“.
  • The noted writer H.G. Wells referred to Ashoka in his book ‘ The Outline of History’ as follows:
  • “Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Ashoka shines, and shines, almost alone, like a star.”
  • Senaka Weeraratna 

LankaWeb – Rule India like Cakkavatti Dharmasoka – Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka Appeals to Narendra Modi

Source: Pakistan Defence