Calling the Mahhava.msa "Buddhist scriptures" is, of course, absolutely
correct, as it was surely written by Buddhists. (~_~)

However, it is not included in the Tipitaka AFAIK, unlike the Milinda
Pañha or the Kathaavatthu, both of which clearly derive from after the
Buddha's Mahaparinibbaana, as do a number of other works, the A.t.
thanaagara Sutta, (M. Sutta 52), and the account of the 2nd Buddhist
Council in the Vinaya Cuu.lavagga, for instance.

I was also going to cite the story of Tambadatthika from the Dhammapada
commentary, cited by rjkjp1 in message 4583. This is a better example
of the use of skilful means to allay the guilt and remorse that result
from killing and other evil deeds.

I don't believe that there is any such thing as a just war, or
righteous killing. It is clear from the Tipitaka that killing is always
unwholesome. If that were not the case, why did the Buddha not urge his
relatives to defend themselves from King Vi.ta.tuubha? The Saakyans,
who were by then all Stream-winners, fired their arrows at the
Kosalans, but deliberately missed, and killed none of them. This, not
surprisingly, didn't frighten them off, and the Saakyans were all
killed or captured, and the Saakyan race was wiped out. Better to die,
than to kill others. That is how Noble Ones behave.

However, Noble Ones are few and far between nowadays. People will kill
in warfare or in fear of their lives, due to passion, or even for the
sake of a livelihood. There is a difference between killing virtuous
and innocent victims, and killing criminals or soldiers in warfare.

That the Sri Lankans are again facing this moral dilemma is part of Sri
Lankan history, and a result of previous kamma of all those reborn in
Sri Lanka at the present difficult times. If they again resort to
violence and warfare to resolve the conflict, when will there be any
end to it?

Why did the Saakyans have to face slaughter at the hands of Vi.ta.
tuubha? In a previous life they conspired together to poison all the
fish in a river. In the Buddha's time the Saakyans were too proud of
their race. When asked by King Pasenadi of Kosala for a bride, no one
wished to give a daughter in marriage as they regarded the Kosalans as
as an inferior race. Mahaanaama the Saakyan volunteered to give his
illegitimate daughter by a slave-woman. The Saakyan's were economical
with the truth and told King Pasenadi that she was the daughter of
Mahaanaama, and so directly related to the Blessed One.

When Vi.ta.tuubha found out that his mother was the daughter of a
slave-woman he vowed to wreak vengeance on the Saakyans. Mahaanaama was
still SO proud of his racial superiority that he committed suicide
rather than eat together with his own grandson. How odd that when he
was young, he was not too proud to sleep with Vi.ta.tuubha's
grandmother {>_<)

The moral of the tale is that everyone should humble any pride of race,
and work instead for the full acceptance and integration of immigrant
communities, otherwise there will be endless conflict and warfare.
Nationalism and racism are only a hair's breadth apart.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "John Kelly" <palistudent@...> wrote:
> Dear Christine,
>
> Calling the Mahaava.msa "Buddhist scriptures" is a bit of a
> stretch. I could be wrong, but I understood that this was a later
> chronicle developed in Sri Lanka, and not part of the canon at all.
> Certainly the sentiments expressed are not at all compatible with
> anything else I've read in the canon.
>
> Metta,
> John