Source:Dailynews
Vesak (Pali: Vesakha, Sanskrit: Vaisakha), known as Buddha Jayanti or Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day is observed by Buddhist communities in and beyond India as the day of the Birth, Enlightenment and Parinirvana of Gautama Buddha.
Mongolians also plan to celebrate Buddha Day today (26) which has been declared a public holiday.
In the seventh century Xuanzang, a Chinese traveller, who was a Buddhist monk and a scholar recorded that while traversing the Gobi Desert on the way to reach the Silk Road, he saw Buddhist temples in the territory of Mongols, where monks were doing puja and studying, as well as chanting in an Indian language.
Also, there is a record that states that in the sixth and seventh centuries an Indian, Pandita Narendra-yashas, and a teacher at a school in Magadha, Baragawara Midara, came to the land of the Mongols.
Historical sources corroborate that Mongolia was indeed the earliest to receive the Bauddha Dharma among the three Dharmic lands after India.
There is archeological evidence to prove the second spread of Buddhism in Mongolia. For instance, a Buddha statue found in the tomb of a Uyghur nobleman is directly related to the time of the Uyghur empire (ninth to tenth century) in Tsagaan–Ovoo soum of Dornod province.
Ancient Indian culture and arts reached Mongolia through its Dharma. Based on these and other records, we can say that our ancestors adopted the Bauddha Dharma from India through Sogdian and Uyghur panditas in ancient past.
Kavyadarsha by Dandini (a Mirror of Poetry) is an ancient systematic methodology of poetry in Sanskrit, which was composed in the seventh century in India. Kavyadarsha plays an important role in oriental literature. This text on Indian theories of poetry was translated into Mongolian languages. Learned lama Gelegjaltsan had translated this text on theories from Tibetan into Mongolian in the 17th century and other lamas wrote commentaries in Sanskrit.
Even nowadays, the young generation of scholars like D. Shirendev, who studied at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, translated 13 volumes of the Pali Tripitaka into Mongolian. Eight volumes of the 13 have already been published. “The Tsogt Khurden” an editorial group is also doing translation and comparative studies of these ancient sutras from the Pali and Sanskrit languages.
Since the 13th century Mongolian emperors invited the spiritual masters and assigned them the tile of “Imperial guru” for enlightening the commoners with Bauddha Dharma. Chinggis Khan exempted Buddhist monasteries from taxes. His successor, Ugedei Khan established a Buddhist monastery in the capital of then Mongolian empire, Khar Korin.
Guyug Khan, Godun Khan, Mongke Khan and Kublai Khan and their descendants disseminated the Bauddha Dharma during their respective times. During the time of Khaisan Khuleg Khan and Buyan Khan, Buddhist sutras such as Pancha Ragsha Sutra, Saddharmapundarika Sutra, Arya Manju Shiri Nama Samgiri and Bodhicaryavartara were translated into the Mongolian languages and Kanjur was casted in gold.
Thus, from Chinggis to Togoontumur all the great Khans were relying on Dharma and Damma Gurus. The monasteries, statues and stupas built during the Yuan dynasty are countless. The manuscripts Shebya Rabsel composed by Phagva Lama at the request of Chingim, a son of Kublai Khan was block-printed. This Sutra, written in the Square script the then formal script of the Yuan dynasty, obviously attracts interests of scholars because Mongolians used all the Buddhist terms and notions that were used in the old Mongol script when they translated Buddhist Sutras.
Prof. B. Rinchen made a catalogue of the texts translated into Mongolian which was partly published during his lifetime. Now Dr. Shashibala of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is editing the remaining part and contemplates publishing them in four volumes.
The Grand White Stupa built in the capital city of the Yuan dynasty by the decree of Kublai Khan is a historical property that provides valuable information of the Yuan dynasty.
The 13th century’s famous annals The Sacred History of Mongols (Chapter 261 to 264) referred to India as Hindu or Hindustan and the river of Indus as Sindhi or a ‘Shine gol’ (new river). This manuscript was first translated into the English language in 1959 at Aligarh Muslim University by noted historian Mohammad Habib.
At the time of Ligden Khan, Mongolian scholars completed translating the entire Kanjur and Tanjur consisting of over 5000 Sutras. By the end of 15th century, Mongolian noblemen extensively contributed to the spread of the Bauddha Dharma. Amongst them, Altan Khan of Tumed invited His Holiness Sonam Gyatso to Mongolia and became his spiritual disciple and bestowed the famous title of ‘Dalai Lama’ (Lama with knowledge as vast as ocean) to His Holiness.
In the 16th century, there were three great Buddhist figures spreading Dharma. At the grace of Neij toin from Inner Mongolia, Venerable Zanabazar (Gyani Vajaru) from Khalkha and Jaya Pandit Namkhaijamtso from Oirad, the Gelugpa tradition flourished in its full zenith. At this time, all Mahayana manuscripts were entirely translated into the Mongolian language. Many if not all of them, are preserved in the Gandantegchilin monastery and Public Library of Mongolia.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his official visit to Mongolia in 2015 presented saplings of a Banyan tree and pledged to help in building a statue of the Buddha and his two disciples as well as digitalizing these ancient and rare Buddhist manuscripts. His offer was deeply appreciated as a vivid indication of our bonds of Dharma and common civilizational affinities.
Two years back, the Government of India built and gifted statues of Buddha and his two main disciples, beautifully crafted by well-known sculptors Ram and Anil Sutar, to the Gandantegchilin Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. And 108 volumes of Mongol Kanjur, a compilation of the Buddha’s teachings, have also been republished by the National Mission for Manuscripts, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, along with the International Academy of Indian Culture to present to Mongolia on the upcoming Buddha Day.
Teachings of Buddha and Buddhism have become an inseparable part of the Mongolian way of life. The Middle Path or Noble Eightfold Path, consisting of perfect view, perfect thought, perfect speech, perfect action, perfect mode of living, perfect endeavour, perfect mindfulness and perfect consciousness helped to form our thoughts and turned into a philosophy that has huge impact on our state policy. Henceforth, Mongolians attach the highest value to gyan (knowledge), dharma (realization) and karma (action). Though, sitting on the northern and southern fringes of Buddhist Asia, Mongolia and India have been intertwined with such spiritual legacies which has grown into a solid basis of our state-to-state relations. Recently, we jointly marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Since Buddhism adopted in my country came from India, many of our learned scholars studied at the ancient centres of Buddhist studies such as Nalanda. Returning to Mongolia after the attainment of high religious order, they significantly contributed to the promotion of humane values in their native land. Mongolian Buddhist scholars wrote a large number of sacred texts on the tradition of the Dharma. With enormous suffering and great sacrifices Mongolians have preserved their national culture and Buddhist heritage.
I wish to note that the majority of Mongolians practise Buddhism, not only as religion, but also as a philosophy of empowerment and contentment. Even nowadays a large number of novitiates are cloistering in monasteries in India. Thus, Bharat is regarded as a sacred land of Dharma and a source of wisdom and knowledge. These spiritual ties constitute another pillar of our close cultural and educational exchanges.
On this auspicious occasion, I pay heartfelt tributes to those Buddhist masters who cultivated the Dharma and brought our two nations as closer as strategic partners.
Both of us, peace-loving nations, free from any military alliances, are constructively collaborating within the framework of the Asian Buddhist for Peace Conference for over 50 years and International Buddhist Confederation to avoid conflicts and facilitate understanding and amity. Undoubtedly, the contemporary world needs more spiritual and moral empowerment for sustainable development. It is worth underlining here that the Teachings of the Gautama Buddha are more relevant today. They not only inspire the people for cultivation of wisdom but also for peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and togetherness.
Our collaborations are exponentially growing in multiple areas including information and communication technology, agriculture and mining industry. Collaboration between Mongolia and India have ample room for growth and will play a substantive role in their economies.
Mongolia exports primarily commodities such as minerals and agricultural products. These account for about 80 percent of our exports. However, the Government pursues policies supporting investors who export not just raw material, such as ores and concentrates, but bring in deep processing and produce value-added products. There is immense potential still available to increase non-mineral exports, especially of agriculture-based Mongolian brand products. Today, 80 million heads of animals have been counted which constitute untapped resources of ecologically clean hides, dairy, cashmere and wool.
To bolster sustainable growth, Mongolia has undertaken a comprehensive set of initiatives over the past years in such areas as taxation, visa regime and trade policy that provide for a stable investment and legal environment and clear guidelines for the role of Government in major projects.
Mongolia currently offers a range of tax concessions for export-oriented industries and priority sectors of the economy. Foreign investment is encouraged in tourism. Indian tourism companies that used to work in the area of studying the market and legal environment are now showing interest to ramp up their presence and increase their operations in Mongolia.
Given the promising initiative of the Hunnu Air, a Mongolian company, to launch scheduled flights connecting Ulaanbaatar and New Delhi and the new international airport in Khoshigt valley, in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar coming into operation, I am optimistic that India’s involvement in the field of tourism and hospitality industry would be enhanced.
Considering that 590,000 eligible citizens of Mongolia have been fully vaccinated, Mongolia reopened for international air travellers on May 10, 2021, and resumed scheduled flights with countries that recognize its immunization certificate for COVID-19, named ‘International Travel Health Certificate’ (ITHC). I believe that Mongolia would be another favourable destination for brothers and sisters in the Dharma. (WION)
