Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said he comprehended the essence of Asgiriya Anunayake Thera's recent sermon, but those who failed to understand it went on to make various remarks. 

Speaking to the media outside the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID), Rajapaksa said the remark the Asgiriya Anunayake Thera made on Adolf Hitler was delivered during a private function at his house. 

"I don't know why everyone paid so much attention to that remark. I am an ordinary citizen. But many people, including the President and the Prime Minister, have commented on it. I can't understand why they pay too much attention to a remark made during a private function at my house," he added. 

"Even the Buddha said the words of Sangha would be understood by laymen according to their own intelligence. I think that applies to this remark as well," Rajapaksa said.

Wendaruwe Upali Thera, an Anunayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter in Kandy,  went on record advising the former Defence Secretary to establish a military rule in the country, like Adolf Hitler.