It was the great monks who have eradicated all defilements (Arahant Theros) that protected the Dhamma by memorizing them after the first convocation. They will never deface the teachings of Buddha. Therefore, the Dhamma was protected without any damage to its content. Since a lot of Bhikkhus bore the Dhamma as it was, none of it was slipped away. In the meantime, Sri Lanka was also fortunate to receive Dhamma. After the Sri Lankan people accepted Dhamma, it was well spread throughout the country. As a result, a large number of Arahants were born. They also bore Dhamma by heart in each generation without letting it to vanish. They reminded Dhamma frequently and never let it be disappeared from their minds. They preached it and taught others. This is why Dhamma was never destroyed or altered.

In that era, Buddhism was continued to exist for hundreds of years by conveying Dhamma in its pure from one generation of Monks to another. However, there were really awful times that Buddhism faced catastrophic blows. The famine occurred throughout the country in King Walagamma’s time was one such time period. Because of the food shortage at that time period, it was difficult for Buddhist monks to find something to eat. As a result, thousands of Arahant Theros died in their meditation stances with hunger. The rest of the Arahant Theros did not let the teachings of the Buddha disappeared. They remembered how the disciples of Buddha even sacrificed their own lives to save Dhamma in the past. With a great effort, these monks protected Dhamma again just by feeding themselves on the liquid of screwpine. At one point, a part of these monks went to India with the intention of keeping the Dhamma in their minds, just in case if they could not survive the drought. Finally, the drought went away after few years. The country started to rise once again with prosperity. The group of monks who went to India came back to Sri Lanka. Both groups of monks who went to India and who lived in Sri Lanka during the drought preached Dhamma as they remembered to check the accuracy of their memories. Like a miracle, both parts remembered Dhamma in its pure form without any alterations. After escaping from that dreadful time period, the Arahants decided to protect Dhamma by writing it down. Thus, with the participation of King Walagamba and under the admiration of deities and humans, the teachings of Buddha were written down on scriptures. These Dhamma scriptures were inherited from generation to generation brightening the Order of the Buddha. Therefore, Dhamma has been protected in its pure form until now. It is that untainted teachings of the Buddha we are presenting to you here.