"Did you locate it?"
"No I am still looking for that."
"Keep looking for that. I am sure you will locate it."
"Here you go... We got it."
The disciple unearthed a stack of papers from the dust mountain. They slowly deciphered Ven. Dharmasena's handwriting.
Excerpt 1:
I read Amavathura and Dhammapadatta katha once again. I think I enjoyed Dhammapadattakatha most. I think my life is full of stories like those in Dhammapadattakatha. They actually brim with life.
The peasant I met today was sharing his food dearth. I know a famine is around the corner. I asked him to come to our temple's storehouse. These people give us food out of devotion, and they have no idea when they will run out of supplies. Isn't our tradition so precious?
What do our elderly monks do, other than writing down in bombastic language extracted from other books? They will be tossed into bookshelves forever and ever. I am aching to write a book to my people. My people who come to see me every evening to listen to a story or sermon.
Excerpt 2:
I had a pep talk with one of our novice monks. We had sort of an argument whether it is all right for a monk to engage in literary things, when he is supposed to concentrate on religions affairs. Halfway I agree with him. But I am so fond of these people. They do everything for the sake of us. I always feel we should give them something in return.
I have seen people doze off when I drone on sometimes. They like stories more than sermons. Can't stories be a good sermon that moulds the heart of a devotee, I started wondering. I shared my ideal with the novice monk. He seemed so bright at the idea.
I told him I want to rewrite some stories of Dhammapadattakatha. He was gladly saying he would copy them down. When would I start it, I wonder. Well probably today itself. We both worked on a title for the book.
The title will come out, perhaps when we already work on the book. That's what, I told my student, I enjoy as a monk. Sometimes I wonder if I have given up the idea of Nibbana for this service.
Excerpt 3:
It simply surprises me to think how inspiring this society is. The very same society with hypocrisy provides ample metaphors and similes. I realized this is the best way to reach my folks. They would probably remember me forever, and that means they would read the morals forever.
Title of the book dawned upon me, almost by accident. Sadhdharmaratnavaliya, chain of Dhamma gems.
Excerpt 4:
Sometimes incidents make me warm. They make me smile too. Whenever someone brings me something happens in the village, it creates vivid images in my mind. Listening to someone recount, I have already fleshed out a story in my book.
"What do you think?"
"I think there's more to decipher. I mean it takes time."
"Do you know what Martin Wickramasinghe said about the monk?"
"That he is chubby or something like that?"
"Yes, because he laughed every time."
"How did Wickramasinghe know that? I mean how did he imagine that?"
"By reading Saddharmarathnavliya. Most of the stories are full of sarcasm."
"But he never laughed at innocent people."
"He could smile without insulting anyone. He was in a way sympathizing with common human errors."
"Where else can we study about Dharmasena Hamuduruwo?"
"Best work is Sadhdharmaratnavliya itself. Anyway Professor M. B. Ariyapala has written a book trying to fathom how the monk life could have been in Dambadeniya era."
"He was a monk with a light way of thinking, I think. That's why he could reach common man. Why did Amavathura and Butsarana authors failed?"
"Because they were sort of snobbish. They did not want to fall into ground. I think they liked to float in air."
"And their books are still celebrated. And our modern people find it a little difficult to read Saddharmaratnavaliya too."
"That's something to do with time. But you try to read all three and compare. Bet anyone can understand Dharmasena Hamuduruwo's work better, though it may be hard." "Agreed. And also I think if we suit that style to the modern audience, then it will appeal them too."
"But you have to be very careful. We have to retain his use of similes and metaphors. See he was also concerned about that."
"Now what are we going to do with this stack?"
"We'll take it out. There's no one claim rights for this. We'll get them deciphered and get them published. We can send some excerpts for a paper, probably..."
