The Evocative Minor Chords Of ‘Dunno Budunge’ & The Current Discord
By Arun Dias-Bandaranaike –March 4, 2016
Arun Dias-Bandaranaike
One month ago, a bit of musical whimsy staged a century ago was extracted and extrapolated upon a set of circumstances, which, in turn, fostered an outpouring of comment and diatribes. This should be a cause for surprise and it certainly was worrying in that this needless controversy illustrates a fragmented Lankan community and underscores the already existing lines of societal fracture.
On reflection over these recent eruptions of public distaste, poor taste and sullied decorum, one feels a sober analysis is apt. Discussing merits and demerits is outside of my province, but understanding the flow of the tide (and of what is revealed in the times past) would help. There may well be vultures that prey on culture, but that should hardly interest a nation of sentient beings whose real interest, as always, is about getting on and going on.
pic. John de Silva, as always, dapper in his ‘Western’ (!?) three -piece suit and tie, who, with all his affinity with the Sinhala renaissance, never sought to follow the lead of his cohort in adopting a ‘national’ dress or costume
The simple trigger happened to be a song that has the accepted title, “Dunno Budunge”. Context is EVERYTHING in connection with this song! As it stands, the title makes no sense at all. It forms an incomplete thought within Sinhala syntactical norms. These two words are the first in the opening line of verse of the first stanza of the lyric of a song that, by rights, should bear the title “Anurādha Nagaraya“. The subject and content in the lyric is just an idealized evocation of the idyllic grandeur of the capital city of Anuradhapura; and the song (yes, a mere song, not an oratorio, an incantation nor a profound sacred pronouncement nor extract from a philosophical treatise) was included in the stage play “Siri Sangabo“, popular in the first years of the 20th century (c. 1903) after its being staged at the Public Hall in Colombo.[i]
The paean starts with these two words, and continues “Dunno Budunge sri dharma skundha.” [literally: “Those that possess knowledge (dunno) of the weight and value (skundha=Mass/weight) of the Buddha’s teaching …..”]. Beyond these words, the remainder of the song refers not to the Teaching, nor the person of the Teacher, nor alludes to any aspect of the acts of devotion; but it does reveal a ‘pious’ sentiment as generated by seeing the beauteous aspect of the ancient capital city (kingdom) of Anuradhapura, which at the time the play was staged, lay in ruins and almost completely submerged under the jungle tide, save for the initial restorations affected by the Department of Archaeology established by writ of Her Majesty’s Government under Queen Victoria. The setting for the play is what takes matters back to the grandeur lost, when Lanka’s (Sinhala) kings ruled from the north central province.
