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Mahavamsa : the great chronicle of Ceylon

Geiger, Wilhelm, 1856-1943

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mahavamsa, legends, sinhalese, sri lanka -- history sources ancient period

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GIFT OF

THE MAHAVAMSA

THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF CEYLON

i 3Te.tt

THE MAHAVAMSA

•

THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF CEYLON

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH

WILHELM GEIGER, PH:D.,

PROFESSOR OF INDOGERMANIC PHILOLOGY AT ERLANGEN UNIVERSITY

ASSISTED BY MABEL HAYNES BODE, Pn.D.

LECTURER ON PALI AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON

UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON

OLonfcon

PUBLISHED FOR THE PALI TEXT SOCIETY

HENRY FROWDE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMEN CORNER, E.C.

1912

. . . .. : OXFORD

* I I'*: '..'PRINTED BY HORACE HART • • A* THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

EDITOR'S PREFACE

A PEW words are necessary to explain how the present work came to be written ; and one or two points should be men- tioned regarding- the aims it is hoped to achieve. Early in 1908 the Government of Ceylon were contemplating a new and revised edition of Tumour's translation of the Maha- vamsa, published in 1837 and reprinted in L. C. Wijesinha's Mahavamsa published in 1889, and were in correspondence on the subject with the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The Society appointed a numerous and influential Committee, and recommended myself as Editor for Europe.1 By their letter of July 18, 1908, the Government of Ceylon requested me to undertake that post. I took the opportunity at the Congress of Orientalists held at Copenhagen in August, and again at the Congress on the History of Religions held in September at Oxford, to consult my colleagues on the best plan for carrying out the proposed revision. They agreed that the method most likely to lead to a satisfactory result within a reasonable time was to entrust the work to one competent critical scholar who could, if necessary, consult members of the Ceylon Committee, but who should be himself responsible for all the details of the work. I reported to Government accordingly, and recom- mended that Prof. Geiger, who had just completed his edition of the text, should be asked to undertake the task. The Government approved the plan, and asked me to make the necessary arrangements. Those arrangements have resulted in the publication of the present volume.

Professor Geiger has made a translation into German of his own revised critical edition published by the Pali Text Society

1 See the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxi, no. 61, pp. 40-42, 70, 86.

4631^,;

vi Editors Preface

in 1908 ; and added the necessary introduction, appendices, and notes. Mrs. Bode has translated the German into English ; and Professor Geiger has then revised the English translation.

The plan has been to produce a literal translation, as nearly as possible an absolutely correct reproduction of the statements recorded in the Chronicle. It is true there is considerable literary merit in the original poem, and that it may be possible "hereafter to attempt a reproduction also, in English unrhymed verse, of the literary spirit of the poem. But a literal ver- sion would still be indispensable for historical purposes. For similar reasons it has been decided to retain in the translation certain technical terms used in the Buddhist Order. In a translation aiming at literary merit some English word more or less analogous in meaning might be used, regardless of the fact that such a word would involve implications not found in the original. Thus bhikkhu has often been rendered ' priest ' or ' monk*. But a bhikkhu claims no such priestly powers as are implied by the former term, and would yield no such obedience as is implied in the other ; and to discuss all the similarities and differences between these three ideas would require a small treatise. There are other technical terms of the same kind. It is sufficient here to explain that when such terms are left, in the present translation, untranslated, it is because an accurate translation is not considered possible. Most of them are, like bhikkhit, already intelligible to those who are likely to use this version. But they are shortly explained in foot-notes ; and a list of them, with further interpretation, will be found at the end of the volume.

The Ceylon Government has defrayed the expense of this, as it did of the previously published translations of the Maha- vamsa.

T. W. RHYS DAVIDS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

INTRODUCTION ix

Abbreviations Ixiv

I. The Visit of the Tathagata .... 1 II. The Race of Mahasammata . . .10

III. The First Council 14

IV. The Second Council 19

V. The Third Council 26

VI. The Coming of Vijaya . . . .51

VII. The Consecrating- of Vijaya . . .55

VIII. The Consecrating of Panduvasudeva . . 62

IX. The Consecrating of Abhaya ... 65

X. The Consecrating of Pandukabhaya . . 68

XI. The Consecrating of Devanampiyatissa . 77

XII. The Converting of Different Countries . 82

XIII. The Coming of Mahinda .... 88

XIV. The Entry into the Capital .... 91 XV. The Acceptance of the Mahavihara . . 97

XVI. The Acceptance of the Cetiyapabbata-vihara. 114

XVII. The Arrival of the Relics . . . .116

XVIII. The Receiving of the Great Bodhi-tree . 122

XIX. The Coming of the Bodhi-tree . . .128

XX. The Nibbana of the Thera .... 136

XXI. The Five Kings .... .142

XXII. The Birth of Prince Gamani . . .146

XXIII. The Levying of the Warriors . . .155

XXIV. The War of the Two Brothers . . .164 XXV. The Victory of Dutthagamani . . .170

XXVI. The Consecrating of the Maricavatti-vihara . 179 XXVII. The Consecrating of the Lohapasada . . 182

viii Table of Contents

CHAPTER PAGB

XXVIII. The Obtaining of the Wherewithal to build

the Great Thupa 187

XXIX. The Beginning of the Great Thupa . . 191

XXX. The Making of the Relic-Chamber . . 198

XXXI. The Enshrining of the Relics . . .209

XXXII. The Entrance into the Tusita-Heaven . 220

XXXIII. The Ten Kings 228

XXXIV. The Eleven Kings 238

XXXV. The Twelve Kings 246

XXXVI. The Thirteen Kings 256

XXXVII. King Mahasena 267

APPENDICES

A. The Dynasty of Mahasaramata . . . .273

B. The Buddhist Sects 276

C. Campaigns of Pandukabhaya and Dutthagamani . 288

D. List of Pali Terms occurring in the Translation . 292

INDEXES

A. List of Geographical and Topographical Names . 298

B. List of Terms explained in the Notes . . . 299

ADDENDA 300

MAPS

Ancient Ceylon ..... To face page 1 Anuradhapura „ 137

INTRODUCTION

§ 1. Literary questions concerning Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa.

THE LITERARY QUESTIONS connected with the Mahavamsa and the development of the historical tradition in Ceylon have been thoroughly discussed in my book Dipavamsa and Mahdvamsa.1 I believe that I have there demonstrated that the two Ceylonese Chronicles are based upon older materials and for this reason should claim our attention as sources of history.

Now, however, R. O. FRANKE has taken a decided stand against my inferences.2 He disputes the existence of an older historical work as foundation of Dip. and Mah.

The former appears to him to be only a botched compilation of Pali quotations from the Jatakas and other canonical works. But the author of the Mah. has merely copied the Dip. and the same applies to Buddhaghosa and his historical introduction to the Samanta-Pasadika. I have however, I hope, succeeded in combating the doubts and objections raised by FRANKE. 3

The defects of the Dip., which naturally neither can nor should be disputed, concern the outer form, not the contents.

1 Dip. und Mah. und die geschichtliche Vberlieferung in Ceylon, Leipzig, 1905. Translated into English by E. M. COOMARASWAMY, Dip. and Mah., Colombo, 1908. Quotations in the following pages follow the English edition. I may also refer here expressly to OLDEN- BERG'S remarks, Dtp., ed. Introd., p. 1 foil. (1879), as the starting- point for my own.

2 Dip. und Mah. in the Wiener Zeitschr. f. d. Kunde des Morgenl. 21, pp. 203 foil. ; 317 foil.

3 Noch einmal Dip. und Mah. ; Zeitschr. d. D. morgenl. Gesettsch. 63, p. 540 foil. I note that OLDENBERG in the Archivf. Religionswissensch. 13. p. 614, agrees with my inferences against FRANKE.

* Introduction

But that the author of the Dip. simply invented the contents of his chronicle is a thing impossible to believe.

Thus it is our task to trace the sources from which he drew his material. This is made possible for us by the Maha- vamsa-Tika, i. e. the native commentary on our chronicle which, under the title Vamsatthappakasini, was composed by an unknown author.

I will then here briefly sum up the principal results of my labours, referring, for confirmation in detail, to my earlier works.

1. In Ceylon there existed at the close of the fourth century A.D., that is, at the time in which the Dipavamsa was composed, an older work, a sort of chronicle, of the history of the island from its legendary beginnings onwards. The work constituted part of the Atthakatha, i. e. the old commentary-literature on the canonical writings of the Buddhists which Buddhaghosa took as a basis for his illu- minating works. It was, like the Atthakatha, composed in Old-Sinhalese prose, probably mingled with verse in the Pali language.

2. This Atthakathd-Mahdvamsa existed, as did the Attha- katha generally, in different monasteries of the island, in various recensions which diverged only slightly from one another. Of particular importance for the further develop- ment of the tradition was the recension of the monks of the Mahavihara in Anuradhapura, upon which the author of the Mah. Tika drew for his material.

3. The chronicle must originally have come down only to the arrival of Mahinda in Ceylon. But it was continued later and indeed, to all appearance, down to the reign of Mahasena (beginning of the fourth century A. D.), with which reign the Dipavamsa as well as the Mahavamsa comes to an end.

4. Of this work the DIPAVAMSA presents the first clumsy redaction in Pali verses.1 The MAHAVAMSA is then a new treatment of the same thing, distinguished from the Dip.

1 So far as language is concerned, the author's sources have been indicated, for numerous verses, by FRANKE ; and herein lies the merit of his work, although I cannot consent to his conclusions.

Introduction *i

by greater skill in the employment of the Pali language, by more artistic composition and by a more liberal use of the material contained in the original work. While the author- ship of the Dip. is not known the author of the Mahavamsa is known as Mahanama.1

5. It is also on the Dip. that BUDDHAGHOSA bases his historical introduction to the Samantapasadika ; 2 but he completes and adds to its information with statements which could only have been drawn directly from the Atthakatha.

6. The MAHAVAMSA-TiKA brings to the contents of the Dip. and Mah. further additions, taken from the original work. It was certainly not composed till between 1000 and 1250 A. D. But there can be no doubt that the Atthakatha- Mahavamsa lay before the author, as he also supposes it to be known to his readers and accessible to all.3 For this reason his statements as to the original work, its form and its contents, naturally acquire particular importance.

These conclusions are not in any way altered if I am now inclined to consider the relation between Mah. and Dip. as a closer one than in my first work. That the author of the former knew the latter and used it I have naturally never disputed. But I should now wish, in agreement with FLEET, to go much further and regard the Mah. as a conscious and intentional rearrangement of the Dip., as a sort of com- mentary to this latter. I also think now that the quotation of the ' Mahavamsa of the ancients ' in the prooemium of our Mah. refers precisely to the Dip. I have besides already indicated the possibility of this view in my Dip. and Mah., p. 17. FLEET 4 then translates the well-known passage of the later Culavamsa (38. 59) datva sahassam dlpetum Dipa- vamsamsamadisi in very illuminating fashion: fhe (king Dhatusena) bestowed a thousand (pieces of gold) and gave orders to write a dipika on the Dipavamsa/

1 See RHYS DAVIDS, Journ. Roy. As. Soc. 1905, p. 391.

a Edited by H. OLDENBERG, The Vinaya Pitakam, iii, p. 283 foil.

3 I have indicated in Z.D.M.G. 63, p. 549 foil., passages in the Mah. T. which undoubtedly bear this out.

4 J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 5, n. 1.

xii Introduction

The interpretation hitherto given : that this is an allusion to a public recitation of the Dip. must then be abandoned. But this dipika, which was composed by order of Dhatusena, is identified by FLEET with our Mahavamsa. Thus, at the same time, the date of its origin is more precisely fixed. Dhatusena reigned, according to calculations which are to be confirmed further on, at the beginning of the sixth century after Christ. About this time the Mahavamsa was composed.

§ 2. The Trustworthiness of the Ceylon Chronicles.

After these preliminary observations the Ceylonese Chronicles should now be judged particularly with respect to their value as HISTORICAL SOURCES, and the historical data drawn from them should be brought together.

In their character of historical sources the Dip. and Mah. have been very differently appreciated.

FRANKE goes the furthest in scepticism. If he did in the beginning at least admit the POSSIBILITY 1 that the author of the Dip. had some document or other before him, he has lately said most positively : * in the absence of any sources, the last- named work (i. e. the Dipavamsa) must be considered as standing unsupported on its own tottering feet/ 2 And there- fore according to him no historical value can be conceded to the Dip. nor to the Mah. nor finally to the Smp. FRANKE'S scepticism, to which I shall return in discussing the history of the councils, ceases to be well founded as soon as we accept the thesis that the Ceylonese Chronicles are based on the Atthakatha. With this the tradition recedes several centuries, and the probability that it contains historical recollections is correspondingly reinforced, and that thesis must, as I have explained above, be considered as confirmed.

KERNS too expresses himself with great caution on the historical value of Dip. and Mah. He indeed says in his Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 9, ' ... the chronicles

1 Literarisches Centralblatt, 1906, No. 37, column 1275, 1. 2.

2 Journal of the Pali Text Soc. 1908, p. 1.

8 Buddhismus, German translation by Jacobi, ii, p. 283.

Introduction xiii

Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, and Sasanavamsa deserve a special notice on account of their being so highly important for the ecclesiastical history of Ceylon.' But here, however, it is only admitted that the chronicles can be utilized as of value for the period from Devanampiyatissa onwards or perhaps only for a yet later time. For the most ancient times, when the history of continental India is also to be taken into consideration, KERN is hardly inclined to accept them as authentic sources.

A very trenchant verdict is pronounced by V. A. SMITH in his Asoka on the Ceylonese Chronicles. He says in the plainest fashion : ' in this work (i. e. in the Asoka) the Ceylonese chronology prior to B.C. 160 is absolutely and completely rejected, as being not merely of doubtful authority but positively false in its principal propositions/ l

Perhaps V. A. SMITH has since modified his judgement. For he says now: 2 f These Sinhalese stories the value of which has been sometimes overestimated, demand cautious criticism at least as much as do other records of popular and eccle- siastical tradition.' This sounds less cutting. The warning to handle critically, which the excellent historian considers necessary with regard to the Ceylonese Chronicles, is certainly justified. It applies to all historical documents, and I have no intention at all of disputing the justice of it.

The judgement pronounced by RHYS DAVIDS 3 on Dip. and Mah. sounds much more favourable. He says : ' The Ceylon Chronicles would not suffer in comparison with the best of the Chronicles, even though so considerably later in date, written in England or in France.' He also lays stress on the fact that, as is self-evident, those Chronicles contain no pure history. But they represent the traditions of their time and permit us to draw retrospective conclusions as to earlier periods.

Lately H. C. NORMAN* has defended the Ceylonese Chronicles, with complete justice as it seems to me, against

1 Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India, p. 57.

2 Early History of India (2nd ed., 1908), p. 9.

3 Buddhist India, 1903, p. 274.

4 A Defense of the Chronicles of the Southern Buddhists, J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 1 foil.

xiv Introduction

undeserved distrust and exaggerated scepticism. I draw attention expressly to this essay because it naturally has many points of contact with my own researches.

If we next consider the two chronicles as a whole, without any prepossessions, it is not easy to understand whence this widespread doubt of their trustworthiness. The presentation of the subject, taken as a whole, may be called modest and simple, indeed dry. True, there is no lack of fables and marvellous tales. But they appear as outward decoration which can be easily omitted. Besides, we always meet with such stories of miracles in connexion with events of a quite clearly defined category, namely, when it is a question of celebrating the splendour and majesty of the Buddhist Order.

Mahinda arrives in Ceylon in marvellous fashion, flying through the air; miraculous phenomena accompany the 'Establishment of the Doctrine', the arrival of the relics, the planting of the Bodhi-tree, and so forth. None of this can appear strange to us. The ornament with which tradition here decks out the victory of the Order and the true faith enfolds a deeper meaning. The facts in themselves are extra- ordinarily simple ; but to the pious sentiment of the believer they seemed great; and fantasy glorifies them with the many-coloured lights of miracle and legend.

I do not conceal from myself that this judgement of the situation lays itself open to the reproach that our method is simply to eliminate from the tradition all the miraculous stories and consider what is left over as authentic history.1 But I think WINDISCH 2 has shown admirably how, in fact, in the Buddhist tradition, around a relative small nucleus all kinds of additions have collected in time, by which events, originally simple, are withdrawn gradually into the region

1 V. A. SMITH, Asoka, pp. 45-46 : ' Most writers have been content to lop off the miracles and to accept the residuum of the story as authentic history. Such a method of interpreting a legend does not seem to be consistent with sound principles of historical criticism.1

2 Mara und Buddha (Abhandl.d. phil.-hist. Cl. der K. Sachs. Gesellsch. d. Wiss., xv, 4, 1895), Buddha's Geburt (ib., xxvi, 2, 1907), Die Kom- position des Mahavastu (ib., xxvii, 14, 1909).

Introduction *v

of the marvellous. 'But we must not therefore pour away the child with the bath. Here, too, the task of Science is to lay bare the grain of truth; not only this, but she must seek the meaning and significance of the mythical crown of rays that has gathered round the nucleus. For the mythical is often the covering of deep thoughts/ l

We shall, of course, be obliged to begin by removing the mythical additions. But we need by no means take the residue as current coin. Here we are concerned to examine how far the tradition is established as trustworthy, by internal or external evidence, and how far shaken as being untrustworthy.

If we pause first at internal evidence then the Ceylonese Chronicles will assuredly at once win approval in that they at least WISHED to write the truth. Certainly the writers could not go beyond the ideas determined by their age and their social position, and beheld the events of a past time in the mirror of a one-sided tradition. But they certainly did not intend to deceive hearers or readers. This is clear from the remarkably objective standpoint from which they judge even the mortal foes of the Aryan race. That certainly deserves to be emphasized. It is true not only of dominating personalities (such as, to all appearance, Elara was) but also of the two usurpers Sena and Guttika it is said, Dip. 18. 47 and Mah. 21. 11: raj jam dhammena karayum.

Besides, the obvious endeavour to make out a systematic chronology is such as to inspire confidence at the outset. Indeed, whole sections of the Dip. consist entirely of synchronistic connexions of the ecclesiastical tradition with profane history and of the history of India with that of Ceylon.

§ 3. External support of the Chronicles.

The above certainly are, in the first place, only general considerations, the value of which I myself would by no means estimate too highly. Meanwhile it is more important that the Ceylonese tradition has after all found support to a considerable extent from external testimony.

1 WINDISCH, Buddha s Geburt, p. 4.

xvi Introduction

1. First as to the LIST OF INDIAN KINGS BEFORE ASOKA/ the statements concerning Bimbisara and Ajatasattu as con- temporaries of the Buddha agree with the canonical writings and, in respect of the names, with those of the Brahmanic tradition.

The Jaina-tradition has other names ; this, however, does not affect the actual agreement. There can be no doubt that the nine Nandas as well as the two forerunners of Asoka : Candagutta and Bindusara, were altogether historical personages. Here also, in the number of years of Candagutta's reign the Ceylonese tradition agrees completely with the Indian. V. A. SMITH/ too, does not hesitate to accept the number 24 as historical.

Besides the renowned counsellor of Candagutta, the brahman Canakka (Skt. Canakya) is known to the Ceylonese Chronicles. In respect of the length of Bindusara's reign their statements differ from those of the Puranas by three years, in respect of that of Asoka by only one year. The Ceylonese tradition concerning Indian history since the Buddha is, therefore, not unsupported.

2. The CONVERSION OF CEYLON is, according to Dip. and Mah., and finally, according to the unanimous tradition of the country itself, the work of Mahinda, a son of Asoka, and his sister Samghamitta. V. A. SMITH calls the stories relating to this in the Chronicles 'a tissue of absurdities '.3 Asoka himself mentions Ceylon, as he explains, twice in his Inscriptions : in the Rock-Edict XIII, among the countries to which he despatched missionaries, and in Rock-Edict II, among those in which he provides for distribution of medicines.4 Since these Edicts belong to the thirteenth year

1 Cf. the tables to § 9.

a Early History of India, pp. 115-118. Cf. also Asoka, p. 95.

3 Asoka, p. 45. OLDENBERG also (ibid., p. 46) considers the tradi- tion a pure invention.

4 Cf. the translations in V. A. SMITH'S Asoka, pp. 129-133 and pp. 115-116. The expression cikisaka( = Skt. cikitsa, p.tikiccha)» which SENART translates remedes, is rendered by BUHLER (see Z.D.M.G. 48, 1894, p. 50) 'hospitals'.

Introduction

of Asoka's reign there appears to be an error in the Ceylonese tradition which puts the conversion of Ceylon as far on as the eighteenth year. On the other hand Asoka, in the opinion of SMITH, would, if he had really handed over his son Mahinda and his daughter Samghamitta to the Church, and had brought about the conversion of the king of Ceylon, certainly not have neglected to bring it into notice. The name ' Samghamitta ' is, he thinks, from its very meaning, suspicious.

I discuss the arguments in the reverse order. The name Samghamitta is of course that which she herself assumed on entering the Order. That, beside this name, under which she became a renowned saint of the Buddhist Church, the lay-name fell into complete oblivion can certainly not cause any surprise.

That Asoka makes no mention of Mahinda and Sam- ghamitta in his Edicts is an argumentum e silentio. That there is any cogency in such an argument V. A. SMITH will surely not maintain. It is indeed very difficult to say in what connexion the king would be obliged to speak of the matter. It can be perhaps expected chiefly in the so-called Minor Rock-Edict I, the Edict of Rupnath, Sahasram and Brahma- giri. But here the reason would again disappear if with FLEET1 we date this edict in the year 256 A.D. In this case, the sending of Mahinda would be about twenty years earlier than the edict, and would belong to past times.

I certainly do not wish to decide here for or against FLEET'S theory. But it is clear that we are standing on too uncertain ground to allow ourselves to proceed without hesita- tion from an argumentum e silentio.

Now, finally, what as to the mention of Missions to Ceylon in the Asoka Inscriptions earlier than the thirteenth year of the king's reign ?

I may observe that, at the outset, it is not absolutely certain whether by the Tambapanni of the Inscriptions Ceylon is really meant. Possibly the name may designate the

1 < The Conversion of Asoka,' J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 486 foil. ; ' The Last Edict of Asoka,' 16., p. 811 foil. ; 'The Last Words of Asoka,' /&., 1910, p. 1301 foil.

Introduction

Tinnevelli district at the southern extremity of India, where the river Tamraparm flows into the sea.1 But, at the same time, if Tambapanni should be understood to mean Ceylon the authenticity of Dip. and Mah. is not affected in the

ESSENTIAL points.

Let us look at the positive contents of the tradition. We are certain of: (1) the name Mahinda as the apostle of Ceylon. Nor is that disputed by V. A. SMITH. Here the Ceylon ese narrative finds gratifying support from Hiuen- thsang 2 who mentions Mahendra by name expressly as the man by whom the true doctrine was spread abroad in the kingdom of Simhala. It is certain : (2) that this Mahendra was a near relative of king Asoka. The Chinese pilgrims call him the younger brother 3 of this latter, the Ceylon Chronicles call him his son. Here we have two conflicting reports, and it would be simply arbitrary to prefer the statement of the Chinese pilgrims to the Ceylonese tradition.

But at what result do we arrive if we put together these established facts and the mention of Ceylon in the earlier Asoka Inscriptions? Simply and solely that which is self- evident, namely, that before Mahinda relations existed between continental India and Ceylon and efforts were made to trans- plant the Buddhist doctrine to Ceylon.

But with Mahinda this process comes to a successful end. We can understand therefore that all the interest became con- centrated in his person, and that tradition wrought together in dramatic fashion that which was a thing of slow con- tinuous development. I consider that this would always and in all circumstances have been the critical judgment on the

1 Imp. Gazetteer of India, s.v. Cf. on this subject HULTSZCH, J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 1310, n. 4.

8 ST. JULIEN, Memoires sur les contrees occidentales, par Hiouen- ihsang, ii, p. 140 ; BEAL, Si-yu-ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, transl. from the Chinese of Hiuen-thsang, ii, pp. 246-247 ; T. WATTERS, On Yuan Chwang, ii. 93, 230, 234.

a Besides Hiuen-thsang we have mention by Fa-hian (see LEGGE, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms by Fd-hitn, p. 77) of a younger brother of Asoka, who became a monk, without, however, mention of liis name or allusion to the mission to Ceylon.

Introduction *ix

reports of our Chronicles as to the conversion of Ceylon. The fact, in essential respects, holds good, but it is a question of putting it in the right light.

Besides, a hint that Mahinda's mission was preceded by similar missions to Ceylon is to be found even in Dip. and Mah., when they relate that Asoka, sending to Devanampiyatissa, with presents for his second consecration as king, exhorted him to adhere to the doctrine of the Buddha.1

Certainly on chronological grounds this cannot be immedi- ately connected with the notices of the conversion of Ceylon to be found in the inscriptions. But it shows us that, even from the point of view of the Chronicles of Ceylon, Buddhism was not quite unknown in that country already before Mahinda's time.

3. The HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS as related in Dip. and Mah.2 receives most striking confirmation in the inscriptions discovered. On the inner lid of the relic-urn which was found in Tope no. 2 of the Sanchi group there is this inscription : Sapurisa(sa) Majhimasa ' (relics) of the pious man Maj- jhima'. On the outer lid is Sapurisa(sa) Kasapagotasa Hemavatacariyasa' (relics) of the pious man Kassapagotta (i. e. of the Kassapa clan), the teacher of the Himalaya '.3 Now Majjhima is, in fact, named in the Mah. as the teacher who converted the Himalaya region and Kassapagotto thero appears as his companion in the Dip.4

Again in the superscription of a relic-casket from Tope no. 2 of the Sonari group the same Majjhima is mentioned.

On another urn from the same Tope we again find the name of Kassapagotta, this time with the epithet Kotiputta and again with the designation ' Teacher of the whole Himalaya '.

In a third urn-inscription Gotiputta (i. e. Kotiputta Kassapa-

1 Dip. 12. 5-6 ; Mah. 11. 34-35 ; Smp. 3235-8.

2 Dip. 8. 1-13 ; Mah. 12. 1-54. Cf. also Smp. 31417-31825.

3 See CUNNINGHAM, The Bhilsa Topes, p. 287. Cf. RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, pp. 299-301.

4 Mah. 12. 6, 41 ; Dip. 8. 10. Cf. Smp. 31719 ; Mahabodhivamsa (ed. STRONG) 1155, where also Kassapagotta is mentioned together with Majjhima. Cf. also Mah. Tika, 222r.

xx Introduction

gotta) appears in connexion with Dadabhisara. This is evidently the Dundubhissara of the Dip. and the Mahabodhi- vamsa who was also among those theras who won the Himalaya countries to the Buddha's doctrine.1

Finally the name of the thera who, according to tradition, presided over the third council under Asoka's rule, is also shown to be authentic by an inscription in a relic-casket from Tope no. 2 of the Sanchi group.2 There is no doubt that by the Sapurisasa Mogaliputasa is meant the Moggaliputta Tissa of the Ceylonese Chronicles.

4. Moreover, the narrative of the transplanting of a branch of the sacred Bodhi-tree from Uruvela to Ceylon finds interest- ing confirmation in the monuments.

At least GRUNWEDEL, in an ingenious and, to me, con- vincing way,3 points out that the sculptures of the lower and middle architraves of the East Gate of the Sanchi Tope are representations of that event. Since the Sanchi-sculptures belong to the second century B. c. the representation is distant from the event by roughly speaking, only 100 or at most 150 years.

§ 4. Errors in the Chronology of the Earliest Historical Period.

I consider that such objective confirmation of the Chronicles proves at the very least this much : that their statements are not absolutely untenable and are at least worthy of being tested. Naturally they are not infallible and the longer the interval between the time of the events and the time when they are related, the greater the possibility of an objective error, and so much the more will the influence of legend be noticeable.

As regards the oldest period from Vijaya to Devanampiya- tissa we feel a certain distrust of the tradition and traditional

1 CUNNINGHAM, 1. 1., pp. 316-317. 8 CUNNINGHAM, I. Z., p. 289.

3 GRUNWEDEL, Buddhist. Kunst in Indien, pp. 72-73. Cf. also RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 302.

Introduction xxi

chronology from the very fact that Vijaya' s arrival in Ceylon is dated on the day of the Buddha's death.1 This seems to be a biassed account. Besides, there are the round numbers for the length of the single reigns which have in themselves the appearance of a set scheme and involve, moreover, a positive impossibility in respect of the last two kings of that period, PANDUKABHAYA and MUTASIVA.

According to our Chronicles2 Pandukabhaya was born shortly before the death of Panduvasudeva. Then followed the reign of Abhaya, twenty years, and an interregnum of seventeen years. Then Pandukabhaya ascends the throne at the age of thirty-seven years. He reigns seventy years. That would bring his age to 107 years !

This, however, is not enough. Pandukabhaya's successor is his son Mutasiva. He is born of Suvannapali whom Pandukabhaya had already married before the beginning of his reign. Mutasiva must then have been past the prime of manhood when he succeeded to the throne. In spite of this a reign of sixty years is attributed to him.

It seems to me that certain names and events in the tradition may indeed be maintained, but that the last reigns were lengthened in order to make Vijaya and the Buddha contemporaries.

That in respect of certain facts, the tradition is by no means without value for that first period of Ceylonese history, is shown, for instance, by the account of Pandukabhaya's campaigns,3 which decidedly gives an impression of trust- worthiness.

Also after Devanampiyatissa's reign we find matter for doubt.4 A reign of forty years is attributed to the king

1 Mali. 6. 47. In the Dip. 9. 21-22 it is stated, in a somewhat more general way, that at the time of the death of the Buddha (parinib- banasamaye, not precisely on the day of the death) Vijaya landed in Ceylon. The same in Smp. 32020.

2 Dip. 11. 1, 4; Mah. 9. 28; 10. 106. See previously TURNOUK, Mdhciwanso, Introd., p. li.

3 Mah. 10. 26 foil. See below, Appendix C, p. 288 foil.

4 Cf. also on this subject FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 340.

xxii Introduction

mentioned, who is said to have been Mutasiva's second son, although he was no longer young when he ascended the throne. But to him succeeded three younger brothers, Uttiya,1 Mahasiva and Suratissa, each of whom reigned ten (= thirty) years. Nay, after the intervening rule of the two Damilas, Sena and Guttika, which lasted twelve years, a fourth brother, Asela, ascends the throne and also reigns ten years.

The reigns of the sons of Mutasiva, who himself occupied the throne for sixty years, would then cover a period of ninety-two years !

We see clearly that also in the period between Devanampiya- tissa and Dutthagamani there were still gaps in the tradition which were filled in with fictitious construction. For the line of Devanampiyatissa we have again the remarkable round numbers 40 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10.

In the later periods we encounter no such difficulties and impossibilities. The chronology is credible, the numbers appear less artificial and more trustworthy.

But even in that first historical period one fact stands out clearly and distinctly from the wavering traditions concerning the times immediately before and after. That is the reign of Devanampiyatissa and the arrival of Mahinda in Ceylon. And with this we approach the general standpoint from which we have to judge the historical tradition as to the earliest and earlier times in our Chronicles.

§ 5. The Year of the Buddha's Death.

fWe have to do with a monkish tradition. The starting- point of its chronological statements is the year of the Buddha's death. For this tradition naturally not every event iior every historical personage is important to an equal degree, but chiefly in so far as they were of importance for the development of the Buddhist community. There are isolated occurrences and personalities connected, even in early times,

1 The name of Uttiya and his consort is confirmed by an inscription in Periya-Puliyankulam (Northern Province). See Archaeological rey of Ceylon, Annual Report, 1905 (xx. 1909), p. 45.

Introduction

with a certain date which announced the time that had passed since the Buddha's death.1 As for the intervening period the traditions concerning it were far less well established and precise, especially from the chronological point of view.

Here fictions were made, building up and completing the tradition from which subsequently, with those fixed points as framework, the chronological system was developed that we find in the Dip. and Mah., as also in the Introduction to the Snip., and again in the later historical literature of Ceylon. In the Dip., the oldest source accessible to us, this system, appears already complete. It is most certainly not a creation of the author of the Chronicle but only taken over, in all probability, from the Atthakatha.

One of the fixed dates, which was established at a specially early period, and which evidently forms the corner-stone of the whole system, is the number 218 for the consecration (abhiseka) of Asoka. The Dip. 6. 1, says: —

dve satani ca vassani attharasa vassani ca I sambuddhe parinibbute abhisitto Piyadassano II

* 218 years after the Sambuddha had passed into Nirvana Piyadassano (Asoka) was consecrated/ And the Mah. 5. 21:—

Jinanibbanato paccha pura tassabhisekato Sattharasam vassasatadvayam evam vijaniyam.

'After the Nirvana of the Conqueror and before his ( Asoka' s) consecration there were 218 years; this should be known/

1 In the same way, to date the Mahavira in the Jaina tradition the number 155 is evidently decisive as being the sum total of the years between his death and the beginning of Candragupta's reign. See Hemacandra's Parisistaparvan, ed. JACOBI, viii. 339 ; Pref., p. 6. If we accept the year 321 B.C. for this last event we have as result 476 B. c. as the year of Mahavira's death. Certainly this is in contra- diction with the Buddhist reckoning in so far as, according to Majjh. Nik. II. 24318 foil., the ' Nigantha Nataputta ' (i.e. the Mahavira) must have died BEFORE the Buddha. OLDENBERG, Z.D.M.G. 34, p. 749.

Introduction THAT is TO SAY, THAT AFTER A LAPSE OF 218 YEARS, i. e.

SOMETIME IN THE YEAR 219 AFTER THE BUDDHA^S DEATH, THE CONSECRATION OF ASOKA TOOK PLACE.1

Since Asoka had already reigned four years before he per- formed the abhiseka ceremony2 his accession falls 214 years after the Nirvana. According to the Ceylonese tradition the reign of Asoka was preceded by that of Bindusara, lasting twenty-eight, and that of Candagutta lasting twenty-four years (Mah. 5. 18; Dip. 5. 100). Thus Candagutta would have ascended the throne 214 — (28 + 24 years), i. e. 162 years after the Nirvana.3 Now this event is one of the few in the earlier Indian history which we can date with some approach to certainty. It falls in the year 321 B.C. or within two years of this date,4 allowing for error.

THUS THERE RESULTS AS THE PROBABLE YEAS, OF THE

BUDDHA'S DEATH (321 + 162) = 483 B.C. As he died at the age of eighty years the year of his birth should be put at 563 B.C.

But we must emphatically state that this calculation too is hypothetical, that we are only able to give an approximate and not a perfectly exact result. Moreover, we shall see below that, in the Ceylon Chronicles themselves, there is a contradiction which we can hardly pass by.

First of all the whole calculation, as OLDENBERG5 has quite justly insisted, rests on the supposition that the date

1 Slightly different in the Smp., p. 29920, which puts the abhiseka in the year 218 (dvinnam vassasatanam upari attharasarae vasse). On the tradition on Asoka's age of the Northern Buddhists see § 11.

2 Dip. 6. 21-22; cf. Smp. 1. 1. Moreover, Mah. 5. 22 contains the same statement. NORMAN, J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 10, is mistaken when he says that, according to the Mah., accession should be put at the year 218 A.B. and the abhiseka at 222.

3 With this calculation cf. FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1906, pp. 984-986 and 1909, p. 1 foil., and particularly p. 28 foil. See also WICKREMA- SINGHE, Epigraphia Zeylanica, i, p. 142, n. 7.

4 V. A. SMITH, J.R.A.S. 1901, pp. 831-834 ; Early History of India, pp. 38-39.

6 Archiv fftr Religionswissenschaft, 1910, p. 611.

Introduction

218 for Asoka's abhiseka is authentic. It really seems to me that it is just on this very point that scepticism is least necessary. The date is supported by the best testimony and has nothing in it to call for suspicion. The interval of time is certainly not so great that the preserving, within the eccle- siastical world, of a definite tradition as to an event of such great importance should be improbable or indeed impossible.

On the other hand we must not forget that the date 321 for Candragupta's accession, which forms a point of support for the hypothesis, is only approximately correct. A little shifting back or forward is therefore quite possible.

Finally, there is the supposition that the length of Canda- gutta's reign (twenty-four years) and Bindusara's (twenty- eight) is established with certainty. Now it seems indeed that, with regard to the former, scepticism is quite out of place. Here the northern tradition is in agreement with the southern,1 which is certainly an important point. On the other hand there is a difference of three years in respect of Bindu- sara's reign. Here again there is a possibility that the date may be shifted.

Nevertheless it does seem that on the much-disputed ques- tion of the year of the Buddha's death there is a tendency toward unison. Marked differences of view are disappearing, the accepted dates are less far removed one from another.2

The chronology current in Ceylon, Burma, Siam starts out from the middle of the year 544 B.C.3 as the date of the Nirvana. That this date is wrong and contains an error of, roughly speaking, sixty years, is now, we may say, generally admitted. Moreover, FLEET* has pointed out that this reckoning is by no means based on a continuous tradition

1 Cf. below the tables to § 9.

2 For earlier views see FLEET, J.E.A.S. 1909, pp. 4-5; MABEL DUFF, Chronology of India, p. 7 ; KERN, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 107, n. 6.

3 Not 543 ! See WICKREMASINGHE, Epigraphia Zeylanica, i, p. 122, n. 7. The year of Buddha, 2444, began on May 13, 1900.

* « The Origin of the Buddhavarsha, the Ceylonese Reckoning from the Death of Buddha,' J.E.A.S. 1909, p. 323 foil., esp. 332.

xxvi Introduction

from early times. It is rather a relatively late fabrication, which probably does not go back further than the twelfth century A.D.1 How the error of sixty years came into the era certainly still needs explanation.

Again, the date 477 B.C. as the year of the Buddha's death, which was accepted by MAX MULLER and CUNNINGHAM, must be given up. It rests on the erroneous premise that the year of Candragupta's accession was 315 B.C.2

V. A. SMITH3 accepts 487 or 486 B.C. as the year of the Nirvana, GOPALA AIYER,* who starts from 269 as the year of Asoka's coronation, the year 486 B.C. Both attach some im- portance, it would seem, to the so-called 'dotted Record',5 which was continued in Canton up to the year 489 A. D. and marks each year, from the date of the Buddha onwards, with a dot. In the year 489 A. D. the number of dots amounted to 975, which would bring us to the year 486 B.C. as the starting- point.

I would not for my part attach too much importance to this ' dotted Record '. It is singularly improbable that in the course of time — it is a question of nearly a thousand years ! — not a single error or oversight should have occurred. The essential, to my thinking, is that the difference between the various reckonings is already reduced by now to three or four years. But if V. A. SMITH, from his own standpoint, arrives at a result so closely approaching that to which the corrected Ceylon-Tradition brings us, he might well have been led to a somewhat milder judgment as to their trustworthiness and their value.

Finally, the whole difference comes down to this : whether, agreeing with the Puranas, we allow Bindusara a reign of twenty-five years, or, in agreement with the Mahavamsa, allow him twenty-eight years. In the former case we come to the

1 As it now appears (see below) in the eleventh century.

2 S.B.E., x, 2nd ed., 1908, pp. 43-47.

3 Early History of India, pp. 41-43.

4 'The Date of Buddha,' Ind. Ant. xxxvii, 1908, p. 341 foil.

3 See TAKAKUSU, J.R.A.S. 1896, p. 436 foil. ; 1897, p. 113; FLEET, ib., 1909, p. 9.

Introduction

year 486 as the year of the Nirvana, in the latter case to 483 B.C. If we then take the 219th year after the Nirvana as the year of Asoka's abhiseka, there results in the former case 268/67 B.C., in the latter 265/64 B.C.

It would be of great importance to us if we might refer the date 256 at the end of the so-called ' Minor Rock-Edict I ' l to the years elapsed from the Nirvana to the publication of the Edict. This opinion was formerly held, represented particu- larly by BUHLEII and FLEET.2

But recently the interpretation of that Edict was cleared up to a certain extent. The merit belongs to F. W. THOMAS. 3 He was the first to point out that the expressions vivuthena and vivas a (vivutha), which appear in connexion with the number 256, should be derived from vi-vas in the sense ' to be absent from home, to dwell far away '. Then in his second article he has ingeniously demonstrated that the number 256 does not denote years but nights, i. e. nights and days. In the Sahasram. text he first discovered the word lati = ratri in duve sapamnalatisata = Skt. dve satpancasaratrisate.

These discoveries were acknowledged both by FLEET and HuLTZSCH.4 But now opinions diverge. F. W. THOMAS takes it to mean that Asoka published the Edict when on a religious journey. The number would refer to the 256 changes of camp in the course of this tour of inspection.

But FLEET interprets vivutha and vivasa in another way. According to him the allusion is to the renunciation of the household life, to the life far from house and family. He takes it to mean that Asoka after a reign of thirty-seven years had renounced the throne and the world to spend the rest of his life in religious retreat. His dwelling was the mountain

1 The Edict is to be found in Rupnath, Sahasram, in Brahmagiri and elsewhere. V. A. SMITH, Asoka, p. 138, n. 3.

2 Cf. BiiHLER, Epigraphia Indica, iii. 138; FLEET, 'The last Edict of Asoka,' J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 811 foil.

3 Ind. Ant. xxxvii, 1908, pp. 22-23, and especially 'Les vivasah d'Asoka ', Journal Asiatique, May-June, 1910, p. 507 foil.

4 FLEET, 'The Last Words of Asoka,1 J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 1302 foil. ; HULTZSCH, 'A Third Note on the Rupnath Edict,' 16., p. 1308 foil.

Introduction

Suvarnagiri near Girivraja in Magadha.1 Hence in the passage which is preamble to the Edict in the Mysore ver- sions Suvarnagiri is named, and not the capital Pataliputra, as the place where the Edict, the 'last word of Asoka', was published.

Moreover, the number 256 has, according to FLEET, a special significance. It was not by chance that Asoka pub- lished the Edict on the 256th day of his life in retreat. At this very time the 256th year since the Nirvana came to an end. Asoka would thus have spent, for each year elapsed since the Buddha's death, one day in religious contemplation as a brahmacarl.

This is a very ingenious idea. But it would be hazardous for the present time to base further conclusions on this bold and seductive combination.

§ 6. Traces of an era in Ceylon reckoned from 483 B.C.

Recently, however, the date 483 seems to have found further support. Here we must take into consideration an important observation of WiCKREMASiNGHE,2 which completes the proof adduced by FLEET and discussed above, of the late origin of the Ceylonese era, that starts from the year 544. Indications are to be found that in earlier times, and indeed down to the beginning of the eleventh century, an era persisted even in Ceylon which was reckoned from 483 B.C., as the year of the Buddha's death. From the middle of the eleventh century the new era took its rise, being reckoned from the year 544, and this is still in use.

In dealing with the question we have to date the immediate predecessors of king Parakramabahu I, beginning with Udaya III (1507 A.B.).3

As to Parakramabahu I, we have information from inscrip-

1 Cf. also on this, FLEET, ' The Conversion of Asoka,' J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 486/otf.

2 See Epigraphia Zeylanica, i, p. 155 foil.

3 The names are given in WIJESINHA, The Mahavansa, Part II, translated, pp. xxii-xxiii.

Introduction

tions, confirmed and completed by literary data, according to which he was crowned when 1696 years had elapsed since the Buddha's death, that is, in the year 1697 A.B. Eight years later, 1705 A.B., a second coronation apparently took place. In the fourth year afterwards, when 1708 years had gone by since the Nirvana, that is, in 1709 A. B., he held a Buddhist Synod.1 According to the Ceylonese era those are the years 1153, 1161, 1165 A. D. But this date for Parakramabahu is supported by an entirely independent source, namely a South- Indian inscription at the Temple of Tiruvalisvara in Arpak- kama. Thus for the second half of the twelfth century the existence of the Ceylon era, reckoned from 544, is established with certainty.

Now according to the Culavamsa 2 (56. 16 foil.) the six predecessors of Parakramabahu, from Parakrama Pandu onwards, reigned 107 years. Thus the accession of the last- named prince falls at 1590 A. B. or, according to the Ceylonese era, 1046 A.D. Moreover, this date is confirmed by the South-Indian Manimahgalam inscription, which is dated in the same year.3

According to the latter, Parakrama Pandu was conquered and killed in this year by the Cola king Kajadhiraja I. It is true the Culavamsa gives Parakrama Pandu a reign of two years, but we must rather take the accession and death of the king as falling in one and the same year, 1590 A. B. = 1046 A. D. Thus it is proved, at the same time, that the Ceylon-era also existed in the middle of the eleventh century.

But from a South-Indian inscription we can also fix a date for Udaya III among the predecessors of Parakrama Pandu, a date which throws a completely new light on the whole reckoning of eras.

1 See the Galvihara-Insc. of Polonnaruwa, 11. 1-4 (ED. MULLER, Ancient Inscr. of Ceylon, pp. 87, 120) ; Nikaya-sangraha, ed. WICK- REMASINGHE, pp. 2026, 226. Cf. Epigr. Zeyl. i, p. 123.

2 I designate thus the later continuation of the Mahavamsa from 37. 51 onwards.

3 HULTZSCH, South Indian Inscriptions, iii, no. 28, p. 53 ; Epigr. Zeyl. pp. 80, 155.

Introduction

Since, according to the Culavamsa,1 the time between the accession of Udaya III and that of Parakrama Pandu amounts to ninety-three years eight days, and, as we saw above, the latter ascended the throne in 1590 A. B., we have consequently for the accession of this former king the date 1497 A. B. But this year, according to the Tanjore inscription of king Rajendra Coladeva, must be about the year 1015 A. D.

The inscription 2 gives an account of a military expedition to Ceylon. This invasion by Cola corresponds as to its details with one which, according to the Culavamsa 53. 40 foil., occurred under Udaya III at the beginning of his reign. KIELHORN has calculated the time of Coladeva's accession as between the end of 1011 and the middle of 1012 A. D. ; the expedition falls between the fourth and sixth year of the reign, that is, between 1015 and 1018. These years must coincide with the years 1497 and 1498 A. B. Of the 1497 years ( — 1015) remain 482, which fall within pre-Christian times. In other words : THE BUDDHA DIED 483 B.C.

So, with WICKREMASINGHE (1. 1., p. 157) we must state the matter thus. The author of that part of the Culavamsa which deals with the kings from Udaya III to Parakrama- bahu I lived at a time when the present era, reckoned from 544 B. c., was in use. He was acquainted with three well- established dates, 1497, 1590, and 1692 A. B., for the accession of Udaya III, Parakrama Pandu, and Parakramabahu I. But he did not know that the first of the three dates was based on quite a different era, reckoned from 483 B.C. The interval between Udaya III and Parakrama Pandu amounted, in his view, to ninety-three years, but was in reality only thirty-one years (1015-1046 A. D.).

Certainly, considering the detail in which the events of the period from Udaya III to Parakrama Pandu are described by the Culavamsa, it is difficult to say at what point we should undertake to strike out the surplus of sixty-two years. The

1 See WIJESINHA, 1. 1., p. xxii.

2 HULTZSCH, South Indian Inscr. ii, no. 9, pp. 90-93; KlELHORN, Epigraphia Indica, vii, p. 7 ; Epigr. Zeyl. i, p. 79.

Introduction

principal part must perhaps fall within the reign of Mahinda V and the interregnum that followed, for which thirty-six years and twelve years are set down. But that the tradition regard- ing the period in question is not well established is easily ex- plained by the unrest and confusion which prevailed at that time.

§ 7. The dates of Devanampiyatissa and Duttha- gamani.

The tradition according to which Asoka was consecrated king 218 years after the Nirvana certainly arose in India. The first envoys of Buddhism brought it to Ceylon with them, and here A CHRONOLOGICAL CONNEXION WAS ESTABLISHED

BETWEEN THE REIGN OF ASOKA AND THAT OF DEVANAM- PIYATISSA, under whom Buddhism made its entry into Ceylon.

That Devanampiyatissa and Asoka were really contempo- raries we have no reason to doubt. On the one hand the Ceylonese tradition concerning the missions is supported by the discoveries in the Bhilsa-topes. On the other hand we know from Asoka's inscriptions that as a matter of fact an eager missionary-activity prevailed in his time.

According to the Dlpavamsa DEVANAMPIYATISSA was con- secrated king 236 years after the Buddha's death,1 i. e. in the 237th year. According to the Mah. 11. 40 the consecrating of Devanampiyatissa took place on the first day of the bright half of the ninth month, Maggasira (October-November).

Now since, according to Dip. 11. 14, the consecration of Tissa was later by a certain number of years — I shall discuss the passage further on — AND six MONTHS later — than the abhisekaof Asoka, this latter event must have taken place

1 Dip. 17. 78 :

dve satani ca vassani chattimsa ca samvacchare sambuddhe parinibbute abhisitto Devanampiyo. Observe that the formula used is the same as in 6. 1 for dating Asoka's abhiseka. See above, p.xxiii. The date 236 is also to be found in the Nikaya-samgraha, ed. WICKREMASINGHE, p. 103, and it results in Dip. and Mah. as the sum total of the reigns of all the kings from Vijaya to Devanampiyatissa.

Introduction

in the third month Jettha (April— May),1 and in fact, as we know, in the 219th year after the Nirvana.

According1 to the tradition prevailing in Ceylon 2 the Buddha died on the full-moon day of the second month of the year Vesakha (March- April), according to our reckoning : of the year 483 B. c. Thus on the same day 265 B. c. the year 218 A.B. would have come to an end. A month later, roughly speaking, Asoka would be consecrated. In the month Vesakha, 247 B.C. the year 236 A.B. came to an end. In the autumn of the same year the first coronation of Devanampiyatissa took place. A second coronation 3 of this king was celebrated in the following Vesakha (March- April), 246 B.C.

But there are certain statements which are not in agree- ment with this reckoning. In a passage in the Dip.4 it is said that Mahinda came to Ceylon 236 years after the Nirvana. And it is said expressly that this arrival took place on the full-moon day of the third month Jettha (April-May).5 But a new Buddha-year had begun in the preceding month. Thus if Tissa's first consecration falls in the 237th year A.B., then Mahinda's arrival falls in the 238th, that is, not 236 but 237 years had elapsed since the Nirvana.

This contradiction was discovered by FLEET 6 who made an ingenious attempt to explain it.

The full-moon day of Vesakha as the day of the Buddha's death is open to doubt. This day recurs only too frequently in the Buddha's life. On the other hand FLEET points out

1 On the names of the months in the Indian calendar see our transl., note to 1. 12.

8 Mah. 3. 2 ; Buddhaghosa in Sum. I. 610 and Smp. 2833, *. Cf. Dip. 5. 1 foil, for the same results.

3 Dip. 11. 39; Mah. 11.42.

4 Dip. 15. 71 :

dve vassasata honti chattimsa ca vassa tafcha Mahindo nama namena jotayissati sasanam. 6 Dip. 12. 44; 17. 88 (thirty days after the second consecration !) ; Mah. 13. 18. At Dip. 11. 40 read tato masam atikkamma. See OLDENBERG, note on this passage.

• 'The Day on which Buddha died.1 J.E.A.S. 1909, p. 1 foil.; particularly 6, 11, 31.

Introduction

that according to a notice in Hiuen-thsang the sect of the Sarvastivadins puts the date of the Nirvana, contrary to the usual statement, at the eighth day of the second half of the eighth month of the year, Kattika (Sept. -Oct.).1 Follow- ing this FLEET reckons the day of the Buddha's death as falling on October 13, 483 B.C.

If we take this day as our point of departure the above- mentioned contradiction disappears. The year 218 A.B. came then to an end on October 13, 265, and Asoka was not crowned in this year, but in the year 264 B.C. in the third month.2 The year 236 A.B. ends on October 13, 247 B.C., a month later in the year 237 A.B. Tissa was consecrated king ; 3 in the same year, five months later, there followed the second 4 coronation, and yet one month later the arrival of Mahinda in Ceylon.

We have then the following dates : —

1. October 13, 265, end of the year 218 A.B.

2. April 25, 264, Asoka's abhiseka.

3. October 13, 247, end of the year 236 A.B.

4. November 6, 247, Tissa's first coronation.

5. April 16, 246, Tissa's second coronation.

6. May 16, 246, Mahinda comes to Ceylon.

But here I must point out a difficulty which shows, to say the least, that our sources are not always exact in their calculation of time supposing we do not accept a variation by even one year. The death of Mutasiva, and therefore also the first crowning of Devanampiyatissa, we find transferred to the seventeenth year of Asoka, in Snip. 321 l, and, as it appears, also in Dip. 11. 14.6

1 See BEAL, Buddhist Records of the Western World, ii, p. 33 ; STANISLAS JULIEN, Memoires, i, pp. 334-335.

2 The day, according to FLEET, is April 25. J.R.A.S. 1909, pp. 26 and 31.

s According to FLEET, L Z., p. 32, on November 6.

4 According to FLEET, 1. L, on April 16.

8 The phrasing in the Smp. Asokadhammarajassa sattara- same vasse idha Mutasivaraja kalam akasi Devanampiya- tisso raj jam papuni is not at all ambiguous. The Dip. expresses

Introduction

But now even if we set out from April 25, 264 (not 265) B c. as the date of Asoka's abhiseka, the seventeenth year is already ended on the same day of 247. Then Tissa's coronation, as the dates 218 and 236 have already shown, falls, without any doubt, in the eighteenth (not seventeenth) year of Asoka.

But that notice in the Smp. is not an isolated example. At Mah. 20. 1 the planting- of the Bodhi-tree in Anura- dhapura is transferred to the eighteenth year of Asoka. This, too, does not agree with the reckoning elsewhere. There can be no doubt that that event falls in the nineteenth year of Asoka.1 Naturally, together with that chronological statement, other dates based upon it and given by the Maha- vamsa 20. 2 foil, are shifted also.

It suffices to point out these discrepancies. They are merely to show that caution is after all not out of place.

2. Further, there is an interesting date connected with the time of VATTAGA.MANI, We have, namely, according to Mah. 33. 80-81, an interval of 217 years 10 months and 10 days between the founding of the Mahavihara by Devanampiya- tissa and that of the Abhayagiri-vihara by Vattagamani.2

The date of the consecration of the Mahavihara can be exactly ascertained by the Ceylon chronology. On the full- moon day of the month Jettha Mahinda came to Ceylon. This was, according to FLEET'S calculation/ May 16 (246 B.C.); A day later, on May 17, Mahinda came to the capital and

itself less clearly; however, by the words tamhi sattarase vasse chamase ca anagate I can only understand that there were six months still to come to complete the seventeenth year.

1 We can hardly use the passage Dip. 12. 42-43 for chronology. But it seems to give the correct reckoning, the nineteenth year of Asoka, for Mahinda's arrival in Ceylon.

, 2 The same date, possibly taken from the Mah., is to be found in the Nik. Samgr., p. II16. The Mah. Tika, p. 115 (on Mah. 5. 11-13), gives as the date of the schism of the Dhammarucika of the Abhaya- giri the round number of 217 years after the founding of the faith in Ceylon.

s J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 28. For the following cf. Mah. 14. 42 ; 15. 11, 24.

Introduction

spent the night in the Mahameghavana. This the king presented to Mahinda and his companions as an arilma on the following day, May 18, 246 B.C. This then is the day of the founding of the Mahavihara. We are brought then to the end of March 28 B. c. for the founding of the Abhayagiri- vihara.

I now believe that we ought to attach special importance precisely to those dates which state generally the interval between two important events. The date number 218 in connexion with Vattagamani was also known in later times.

It is implied in the number 454 of Vattagamani in the Galvihara-Inscription of Polonnaruwa.1 For this has evidently arisen from the addition of 236 (the date of Devanampiya- tissa) to 218.

Moreover, there can be no doubt as to the statement in Mah. 33. 78 foil, that the founding of the Abhayagiri-vihara took place in the second half of the reign of Vattagamani. Therefore I do not hesitate to place the beginning of this second half of Vattaga manias reign at the end of the year 29 or the beginning of the year 28 B.C.

Of course this leads us into certain difficulties when we add up the figures of the individual reigns between Devanampiya- tissa and Vattagamani according to the readings accepted in my edition. From these figures it results that Vattagamani ascended the throne for the second time in the year 39 B.C. We have then a difference, in round numbers, of about ten years.

This difficulty disappears if we read2 Mah. 21. 11, with the Singhalese MSS. (duve) dvavisavassani, not with the Burmese duve dvadasa vassani, to give thus to the Damilas Sena and Guttika twenty -two and not twelve years' reign. To be sure the Dip. (18. 47) has dvadasa vassani, which certainly must be taken into account. On the other hand the later Ceylonese literature (Thupavamsa, Pujavaliya, Raja-

1 ED. MULLER, Ancient Inscriptions of Ceylon, p. 87 (Sara siya supaenaes hawuruddak). See FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 330.

2 In my edition I originally accepted the former reading, however in the ' Corrections ' (p. 368) I have given the preference to dvadasa.

c 2

XXXVI

Introduction

valiya1) only gives the number 22. In any case at the time the Thup. was composed, according to it, the date stood so in the Mah.

Naturally, to be consequent, we must also read Mah. 27. 6 in the prophecy concerning Dutthagamani, with the Sinhalese MSS. cha cattalisa satam '146' or cattalisa satam ' 140 '. From the point of view of textual criticism the latter reading seems to me to be the safer ; also I should be inclined to believe that in this connexion a round number would be more appropriate.

I confess that I only brought myself unwillingly to depart from the reading of the Burmese MSS. They contain else- where, without doubt, the better text. Perhaps we must conclude that, in regard to Sena and Guttika, the Burmese recension adopted the reading of the Dip. and that, in accordance with this,' in Mah. 27. 6, also the number was altered to chattimsasatavassani to do away with the mistake thus caused in the addition total.

Taking as a basis the date 483 B. c. we can provisionally draw up a list of the kings according to Dip. and Mah.2

§ 8. List of the Ancient Kings of Ceylon.

No.

Name

Dip.

Mah.

Length of Reign

Buddh. Era 483 B.C.

Christian Era

Dip.

Mah.

Y. M. D.

2 8

4 5

Viiaya .

9.42 11.9 10.5 10.7 11.11 11.4 11.5 (17.78)

7.74 8.5 9.25 10.52 10.105 10.106 11.4

38 1 — — 30 20 17 70 60

30 20 17 70 60

1-38 38-39 39-69 69-89 89-106 106-176 176-236

488-445 445-444 444-414 414-394 394-377 377-307 307-247

Interregnum . Panduvasudeva Abhaya . . . Interregnum . Pandukabhaya . Mutasiva . . .

236

1 For the passages see Dip. and Mah., p. 120.

1 See FLEET'S list, J.E.A.S. 1909, p. 350. The particular aim of this Introduction obliges me, on my side, to draw up a table to enable the reader of the translation to take a rapid survey.

Introduction

XXXVll

No.

Name

Dip.

Mah.

Length of Reign

Buddh. Era 483 B.C.

Christian Era

Dip.

Mah.

Y. M. D.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17

20 21 22 23 24 (19) 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35

36 37 38 39

Devanampiyatissa. Uttiya . . . .

17.92 17.93 18.45 18.46

18.47

18.48 1849

18.54 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.12 20.13

20.14 20.15-17

20.19 20.22 20.24 2025

20.S6-30

20.35 21-30 21.33

21.37 21.38 21.40 21.41

20.28 20.57 21.1 21.3

21.11

21.12 21.14

(27.6)

32.35, 57 33.4 33.19 33.28 33.29

33.37 33.56-61

33.102 34.1 34.13 34.15

34.18-27

34.30 34.37 34.69

35.1 35.9 35.12 35.14 35.27

40 10 10 10

10 44

40 10 10 10

22l

10 44

236-276 276-286 286-296 296-806

306-328

328-338 338-382

382-406 406-424 424 424-433 433-439

439 2 439-454

454-466 466-480 480-492 492-495

495-499

499-521 521-549 549-561

561-571 571-574 574-575 575 575-578

B.C.

247-207 207-197 197-187 187-177

177-15o

155-145 145-101

101-77 77-59 59 59-50 50-44

44 44-29

29-17 17-3

3B.C.-9A.D. 9A.D.-12A.D.

A. D.

12 16

16-38 38-66 66-78

78-88 88-91 91-92 92 92-95

Mahasiva .... Suratissa .... Sena . ) Guttika \ Asela

Elara

Dutthagamani . . Saddhatissa . . . Thulathana . . . Lanjatissa . . . Khali atanaga . . (Maharattaka) .

Vattagamani . . Five Damilas . Pulahattha (3 y.) Bahiya (2 y.) . . Panayamava (7y.) Pilayamava (7 m.) Da'thika (2 y.) . . Vattagamani . . MahacullMahatissa Coranaga .... Tissa

136 —

24 18 — 1 10 96 — 6 1

24 18 — 1 10

9 — 15 g

57 7 11

57 1 25

— 5 — 14 7 —

12 14 12 3 1 2 — 12 — 11 — — 3 — — 4 —

14 7 —

12 14 12 3 12—) 12 — 1 1 — — 6 — — 4 __'

Siva . . . . % Vatuka . . . Dai-ubhatikatissa \ Niliya .... Anula

Kutakannatissa . Bhatikabhaya . Mahadathikamaha _ -naga . . . Amandagamani Kanirajanutissa Culabhaya . . Slvali ... Interregnum .

60 3 —

22 28 12

98 — 3 1 — 4 —

22 28 12

98 — 3 1

1 According to the Burmese MSS. only 12 years. See p. xxxv.

2 See the same figure Nik. samgr. 1014.

XXXV11L

Introduction

Length of Eeign

Buddh.

Name

Dip.

Mah.

Dip.

Mah.

Era 483 B. c.

Christian Era

Y. M. D.

Ijanaga ....

21.43

35.45

578-584

95-101

Candamukhasiva .

21.45

35.46

87 —

584-593

101-110

Yasalalakatissa . .

21.46

35.50

87 —

78 —

593-601

110-118

Subharaja . . .

21.48

35.56

601-607

118-124

Vasabha ....

22.11

35.100

607-651

124-168

Vaiikanasikatissa .

22.12,27

35.112

651-654

168-171'

Gajabahukagamani

22.14, 28

35115

654-676

171-193

Mahallanaga . *.

22.17, 29

35.123

676-682

193-199

180 2 —

182 3 —

Bhatikatissa .

22.22, 30

36.1

682-706

199-223

Kanitthatissa

22.25, 31

36.6

706-724

223-241

Khujjanaga .

22.32

36.18

724-726

241-243

Kuficanaga .

22.33

36.19

726-727

243-244

Sirinaga I

22.36

36.23

727-746

244-263

Voharikatissa l

22.45

36.27

746-768

263-285

Abhayanaga l

22.38

36.51

768-776

285-293

Sirinaga II .

22.46

36.54

776-778

293-295

Vijayakumara

22.51

36.57

778-779

295-296

Samghatissa .

22.52

36.64

779-783

296-300

Samghabodhi

22.53

36.73

783-785

300-302

Gothakabhaya

22.60

36.98

785-798

302-315

Jetthatissa .

22.65

36.132

798-808

315-325

Mahasena. .

22.66

37.1

808-835

325-352

167

153

Total sum . .

836 9 11

834 7 25

No.

40 41 42 43 44 45

48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Of course the dates set down can only be regarded as having an approximate value. For the Chronicles, mostly, give the reign of each individual king rounded off in whole years. Rajavali and Pujavali reckon the sum total at 844 years, 9 months 25 days, the Nikayasamgraha reckons the time up to Mahasena's accession at 818, and thus the time up to his death at 845 years.2

1 The Dip. places Abhayanaga before Voharikatissa. This appears to be the cause of the mistake in the figures. The same length of reign is ascribed to Voharikatissa as to his predecessor, who is really his successor. According to Nik. samgr. 129 Voharikatissa ascended the throne 752 years, 4 months 10 days after the Buddha's death.

2 Rajavali, ed. B. GUNASEKARA, p. 4222 ; Pujav., ed. idem, p. 23SO ; Nik. S., ed. WICKHEMASINGHE, p. 14l°.

Introduction

From Devanampiyatissa to Mahasena's death 609 years elapsed, according to the later sources.1 But this only proves that the accession of the former should be dated 236 A.B. (609 + 236 = 845), but naturally nothing can be deduced from this statement to aid us in dating the Nirvana itself.

I will now supplement my list with the names and dates of the immediate successors of Mahasena : — 2

62. Siri-Meghavanna 27 years 352-379 A. D.

63. Jetthatissa 9 „ 379-388 „

64. Buddhadasa 28 „ 388-416 „

65. Upatissa 42 „ 416-458 „

66. Mahanama 22 ,, 458-480 „ 67- ( Sotthisena to ) oq , r,n ^ AQ

75. jPithiya W »

76. Dhatusena 18 „ 509-527 ,,

77. Kassapa 17 „ 527-544 „

For this later period we now have an interesting Indian- Ceylonese synchronism which appears to confirm the reckon- ing having as point of departure 483 B.C.

SYLVAIN LEVIS has communicated the following passage from the account of the Chinese Wang Hiuen ts'e. The king of Cheu-tzeu (i. e. Ceylon), by name Chi-mi-kia-po-mo (i. e. Sri-Meghavarman *), sent two bhiksus to India to the monastery erected by Asoka near the sacred tree of the Buddha in Bodh Gay a. They found no lodging here and subsequently told their king. He sent an embassy to the king then ruling over India, San-meou-to-lo-kiu-to (i. e. Samu- dragupta), and sought permission to build on the sacred spot a monastery for Ceylonese pilgrims. Thus the synchronism of king Siri-Meghavanna, the successor of Mahasena, with Samudragupta is confirmed. The latter, according to

1 See Epigr. Zeyl. i, p. 143.

2 Cf. Culav. 37. 99, 104, 178, 208, 247 (according to the numbering of the Colombo edition of 1877: Mah. 37. 49, 54, 128, 158, 197); 38. 1, 112 ; 39. 58. As to numbers 62, 64, 77, it is said that they died in the twenty-eighth (or twenty-ninth or eighteenth) year. So it is possible that the dates have again been made later by one year.

3 Journ. As. 1900, pp. 316 foil., 401 foil.

4 The form of this name, as given by the Chinese narrator, results from a confusion between varna and varman.

xl Introduction

V. SMITH,1 reigned from 326 to (about) 375, the former, according to our reckoning1, from 483 as the year of the Nirvana 352-379 A.D.

According to Chinese sources 2 another embassy came from Ceylon to China, sent by king Kia-che, i. e. Kasyapa, in the year 527 A. D. Evidently this is a reference to Kassapa I whose reign, according to my list, did in fact begin about 527.

§ 9. The Indian Kings from Bimbisara to Asoka.

In the table on the next page I have brought together the names of the kings from Bimbisara, the contemporary of the Buddha, to Asoka, according to the Ceylonese, the Burmese, the Nepalese, and the Jaina tradition. On this I will first make the following observations.

The BURMESE TRADITION 3 is undoubtedly dependent on the CEYLONESE, as represented by Dip. and Mah. Buddhaghosa 4 is also in complete agreement with the Mah. He certainly ascribes a reign of eighteen instead of eight years to Anuruddha and Munda, but the sum total of the reigns of all the kings reckoned up by him at the conclusion is only correct if we alter that eighteen to eight.

The NEPALESE list of the Asoka vadana5 comes perhaps midway between the Ceylonese and the Jaina tradition. It is specially remarkable that in this too appears the name of

1 Early History of India, p. 266 foil. (of. Ind. Ant. 1902, p. 257). See also FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1909, p, 343.

2 SYLVAIN LE.VI, I I., p. 42:3 foil. Cf. now also E. R. AYRTON, J.R.A.S. 1911, p. 1142, on a new fact which speaks in favour of the reckoning from 483 B.C. On the other hand a difficulty presents itself with respect to the embassy of Mo4io-nan (i. e. Mahanama) to China in the year 428 A.D. (SYLV. LEVI, pp. 412, 421). At the time there reigned in Ceylon not Mahanama but his elder brother Upatissa II. The former did not ascend the throne till 458 A.D.

3 See on this BIGAFDET, The Life or Legend of Gaudama the Buddha (1866), pp. 347, 361-363, 371-372, 374-375.

4 Smp. 32 13 foil. Cf. also Sum. 15322 foil., where the kings from Bimbisara to Nagadasa are enumerated.

6 Cf. BURNOUF, Introduction a Vhistoire du Bouddhisme Indien, pp. 358-359, It is noteworthy that the name of Candragupta is missing.

0 •**

O O

1-*

\n o

01 CO

03 M , C fl ,.* 03

Puranas

M fl

•oo

Kakavarna semadharm

12 2 S8S*.S! sSU

-' 103 -M _So3-^.S73fl 730fl

II 1 liltu fi! *§ ^ PWPH Hi

1 |

13 »U3

fl <j pq

JJ5

3 -2

03 fl

1 a

« 5

rj.

3- 10?

fc 2

73 *

i-s

M P

.s i

M *4

103

•i

S LI ^

JH O ^

--^ ct

.g .^^s

i <«

3 5

j^e .§'^

•^ ^2

I |l|j|l

1 |

•

JO 10

co i-i

O "* Ol CO CO TH -<H CO 01 CO 01 01

03 «S 3J

S Jl 03 c« §1 ^1^

TABLJ

Burmese tr

Bimbisar

Ajatassatt Udayabhac

*^H rrt hr _M CD ^ ^ "-"" "^

sf 1 t 1 1? n a

g§' •§ g JS ^M §M^

g* I 1 a J? iss

•flj "^ W fl M) fl O

eS p 03

Bindusar Asoka

CO S

CO •<* CO CO Ol Ol -^ 01 i-t 01 01 01 01

CO t>

01 CO

Mahavamsa

15 os

S!l:

N8 QJ «(

"-5~_x73

«! t>

.fl _| & JS ^J5 I S«

||:^|grf^|p||jig|2

C ^ — .of ^ ""g^gS^fl^o-e.

^j ^ H g 0

Bindusara

(5. 18) Asoka (20. 1-6)

01 «0

"* O Ol t*

o. t**

CO 1-1

01 1-1 01 01

°" CO

c3 73

o^^

2 ^r^

S ^73

c3 cfi c3 "^* ^ o3 "*^

Ifl

1 ft

5 CO ?= t> 05 i pfl Oi 35 O ^3 . j§<0 c3*0

J^CO r

ii I4fll|{i|i |!

73 "~| S .

s-i

^H W Q

xlii Introduction

Munda whom the Jainas do not know but who is mentioned in the Ahguttara-Nikaya.1 Thus the Ceylonese tradition is in this point confirmed by the Northern tradition.

The JAINA list is based on the Parisistaparvan of Hema- candra.2 It is, I think, generally admitted 3 that in this list Srenika and Kunika correspond to the Bimbisara and Ajata- sattu of the Pali sources. On the other hand the names from Anuruddha-Munda downwards to the Nandas are missing-. But among these names those of both Munda and Kalasoka are well established by other testimony, as we shall see presently.

The PURANIC list has the series Bimbisara-Ajatasatru- Udayin ( = Udayabhadda) in common with the Ceylonese. But the Puranas insert yet another king before the last- named, and the Ceylonese Chronicles place those three kings at the head of the whole list; the Puranas range the corresponding four kings in the second half of the list. Moreover, I cannot say that the Purana list inspires me with much confidence. The tradition as to individual names is very unstable in the different Puranas. The same is the case with the dates of the individual reigns, although the totals agree fairly well.4

The question then arises : which list merits the most confidence, the Ceylonese, the Jaina, or that of the Puranas ? JACOBI 5 is disposed to give the preference to the Jaina list. He adheres to the view that Kalasoka, 'the black Asoka/ and Kakavarnin (Kakavarna), 'the crow-coloured/ are one and the same person. That is certainly correct and is con- firmed by the fact that Kalasoka in the Pali sources is named

1 A. III. 5723 foil. OLDENBERG has already, Z.D.M.G. 34 (1880), p. 752, stated this fact.

2 Ed. JACOBI (Bibl Ind.}, I. 22 foil. ; VI. 22 foil., 231 foil. ; VIII. 1 foil., 297 foil. ; IX. 14 foil.

8 JACOBI, The Kalpasutra of Bhadrabdhu (Abhandl. fur die Kunde des Morgenl. vii. 1), Introduction, p. 2. The combination Srenika = Bimbisara occurs ROCKHILL, Life of Buddha (1907), p. 67.

4 See MABEL DUFF, The Chronology of India, Table to p. 322.

5 The Kalpasutra, Introd. ; also Z. D. M. G. 34, pp. 185-186. Cf. OLDENBERG, Z. D. M. G. 34, p. 750 foil. ; and further, JACOBI, Z. D. M. G. 35, p. 667 foil.

Introduction xliii

as the successor of Susunaga and Kakavarna in the Puranas as the successor of Sisunaga.1 Here at least the Southern and the Northern tradition are in agreement.

JACOBI moreover believes Kakavarnin = Kalasoka to be identical with the Udayin of the Jaina tradition, the Udaya- bhadda 2 of the Southern Buddhist sources. The ground for his belief is that it is said of both Udayin and Kalasoka that they removed the royal residence from Rajagrha to Patali- putra. He believes that the Ceylonese tradition has made two kings out of one person, has inserted various new kings between them and has thus artificially filled up the gap of 100 years which, according to the Ceylonese view, had elapsed between the Nirvana and the Second Council. The list of kings as finally drawn up by JACOBI is this : —

Bimbisara (orenika).

Ajatasatru (Kunika).

Munda ( = Darsaka, Harsaka, &c.).

Udayin (Kalasoka, Kakavarnin).

Nanda dynasty.

I confess that, in agreement with OLDENBERG,3 I do not feel convinced by JACOBI'S grounds for identifying Kalasoka with Udayin. The removal of the residence from Rajagrha to Pataliputra is attributed to Udayin by the Jainas,4 and by the Brahmans (in the Puranas), to Kalasoka in the Burmese tradition 5 which, beyond a doubt, comes from Ceylon. Hiuen- thsang attributes it to king Asoka whose lifetime he places a hundred years after the Nirvana. He does in fact know only ONE Asoka whom he names Wu-yau, or, as rendered once phonetically, 'O-shu-kia.6 But to all appearance he combined

1 The identification of Kalasoka with Kakavarna has not been taken into account by V. A. SMITH (J.R.A.S. 1901, p. 839 foil.), who com- pletely denies the existence of Kalasoka.

2 The name is written Udayibhadda, Mah. 4. 1, 2 in the Sinhalese MSS. The same in D. I. 5025 foil.

3 Z.D.M. £.34, p. 751 foil.

4 Parisistaparvan, VI. 33 foil., 175 foil.

5 See RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist Suttas (S. B. E. xi), Introd., p. xiii.

6 BEAL, Buddhist Records, ii, p. 85 foil. ; ST. JULIEN, Memoires, i, p. 414 foil.

Introduction

two different kings in one person. For if he attributes the founding of Pataliputra to an Asoka, this cannot possibly fit in with the historical Dharmasoka of the third century B.C. For we know that Pataliputra was already, under Candra- gupta, the capital of the country. Thus when Hiuen-thsang says that 'O-shu-kia l or Wu-yau founded the city of Patali- putra he repeated a tradition which originally referred not to the Asoka of the third century but to an earlier king, who must have lived before Candragupta.

I shall return once more to this subject. Here I will only observe that Hiuen-thsang, in any case with respect to the removal of the royal residence, is against the tradition of the Jainas and nearer to the Burmese. We can say then that the removal is attributed by the Jainas and Brahmans to Udayin, by the Buddhists to Kalasoka.

Is really the only solution to conclude that the two names were one and the same person ? May it not be conjectured with equal or yet more probability that we have here simply a difference in the tradition among the Jainas and Brahmans on the one hand and the Buddhists on the other? Besides even in the Brahmanic tradition Kakavarna = Kalasoka and Udayin are again two different personages. Here then the same duplication must have occurred as in the Southern Buddhist tradition. It becomes therefore the more difficult to accept JACOBI'S hypothesis. It seems greatly preferable to conclude that the Jaina list is defective. In this list Munda too is missing, who seems to be sufficiently established by the Asokavadana and the mention in the Ariguttara-Nikaya.

If finally the choice lies between the list of the Puranas and that of the Ceylonese Chronicles, which seems to be more probable and trustworthy, I do not hesitate to give the preference wholly and unreservedly to the latter.

In the Puranas, Nandivardhana and Mahanandin 2 must

1 The former in BEAL, p. 90, the latter p. 85. Both names are thus used indifferently in connexion with the same event. This proves that we ought not to conclude, with OLDENBERG (Vin. Pit. i, Introd., p. xxxiii, n. 1), that the two names represent a remembrance of two different Asokas.

2 It seems that Nandivardhana is to represent the ten sons of Kala-

Introduction xlv

fill up some gap or other in the chronology. The reigns of these two together are put down at eighty-five years ! But no deeds whatever are recorded.1

Again, in the Puranas yet another king, called Darsaka, &c., is inserted between Ajatasatru and Udayin. That is certainly an error. The Pali canon indubitably asserts,2 that Udayi- bhadda was the son of Ajatasattu and probably also his successor. Otherwise the reign of the father and son would extend over eighty-three years.

Moreover that the two generations of the Nanda, namely Mahapadma and his eight sons, together reigned for a century is a statement that does not bear the stamp of probability.

The chief difference between the Puranas and the Ceylonese sources lies in the place taken by Kalasoka (Kakavarna) and his father. In the former they are placed at the head of the whole dynasty, in the latter they are ranged after Bimbisara and Ajatasattu and their immediate successors. Thus, before all, the question is which of the two traditions we decide to accept and whether any reasons can be adduced for our decision.

Now we see that the tradition of Ceylon in its details always finds support from without. Its greater fullness of detail, generally speaking, as against the Jaina list finds a parallel in the Puranas.3 In this respect the Southern Buddhist and Brahmanic traditions support each other.

In all forms the tradition as to the series is well estab- lished: nineNandas — Candragupta — Bindusara — Asoka. The succession Bimbisara — Ajatasattu — Udayabhadda is confirmed by the Jaina list and the Asokavadana. Munda, entirely absent from the Jaina list and the Puranas, is named in the

soka. At least the Mahdbodhivamsa (ed. STRONG, p. 98) includes a prince of this name among them. Mahanandin looks like a duplicate of Nandivardhana.

1 Even V. A. SMITH, Early Histot-y of India, p. 36, has to admit that they are mere ' nominis umbrae '.

2 In the Sdmannaphala-suUanta, D. I. 5025 foil. The same accord- ing to the Tibetan tradition. ROCKHILL, Life of Buddha (1907), p. 91.

3 Also in Tibetan sources. See note to the Table.

xlvi

Introduction

Buddhistic canon and in the Asokavadana. And in the same way the Asokavadana puts Kakavarnin AFTER Udayin and Munda as the Ceylon Chronicles place their Kalasoka, not BEFORE them as the Puranas place their Kakavarna.

Thus the greater probability seems to be in favour of placing Kakavarna and with him naturally his father Sisunaga in the second half of the series of kings, not in the first.

I believe then that with respect also to the series of Indian kings before Asoka, the Ceylonese tradition is more valuable than that of the Brahmans and Jainas. The last-named is certainly defective. But as to the Puranas I am compelled to think that when the dynasty before Candragupta had once received the name 6aisunaga, then in order to exalt its great- ness and antiquity, the eponymos and his immediate successors, including Bimbisara and his successors, were placed at the head of the whole series of kings. This would end in a reversal in the order of the first and second half.

At the present time greater stress is laid, and with justice, on the importance of research in Northern Buddhism.1 It is most important for the understanding of the development of Buddhism. Still I believe that if we wish to learn the origins of Buddhism, and especially the history of those origins, we shall have to draw chiefly upon the Pali sources.

The dates of the Indian kings according to the Southern Buddhist tradition are the following :—

(1) Bimbisara2

2. Ajatasattu

3. Udayabhadda

4. Anuruddha)

5. Munda j tf. Nagadasaka

7. Susunaga

8. Kalasoka

9. Ten sons of Kalasoka

11. Nine Nandas

12. Candagutta

13. Bindusara

14. Asoka (a) before and (b) after the abhiseka

1 Cf. e. g. WALLESER, Z.D.M. G. 1910, p. 238, in a discussion of DE LA VALLEE POUSSIN'S Bouddhisme.

* As to the chronological relation between Bimbisara and the

B.B

60— B.B

. 8

B.C. 543— B.C

491

8 -A.B

.24

„ 491—

459

A.B. 24— A.B

.40

„ 459—

9 J

443

9 9

40- „

1 „ 443-

435

48- „

„ 435-

411

72— „

„ 411-

393

90- ,

118

„ 393-

365

118— ,

140

„ 365-

343

140- ,

162

„ 343—

321

162- ,

186

„ 321-

297

186- ,

214

„ 297-

269

214- ,

219

„ 269-

264

219- ,

256

„ 264-

227

Introduction

§ 10. The Acariyaparampara and Indian-Ceylonese synchronisms.

In the chronological system on which the Dip. and Mah. are based the succession of the great teachers from Upali down ta Mahinda plays an important part. This acariya- parampara is of interest because in it there is a continuous synchronological connexion between the history of Ceylon and that of India. Here the system appears carried out in detail and completed.1

Of course the dates must not be considered altogether authentic. Besides, for the most part they fall within the most uncertain period of Indian-Ceylonese history, before the accession of Devanampiyatissa. They only show how in Ceylon the several names and events of tradition were fitted into the framework of the few well-established leading dates.

It seems doubtful too that the theras mentioned, with the exception of Upali and Moggaliputtatissa, were Vinaya- pamokkha if indeed this should be taken to mean one having recognized authority in the Church.

Sonaka did not even take part in the Second Council which took place in his time. The leading personages in this were Revata, Sabbakami, Sambhuta Sanavasi and Yasa. Evidently it was only a question of proving that the ' Succession of Teachers' of Mahinda could be traced back to Upali, the great authority in the Vinaya at the time of the Buddha.

The list is as follows : —

Buddha more precise statements are furnished by Dip. 3. 56 foil, and Mah. 2. 28 foil. According to these the two met for the first time when the Buddha was thirty-five and Bimbisara thirty years of age, i.e. 528 B.C. This was the year 15 of Bimbisara's reign. After that Bim- bisara reigned yet another thirty-seven years (till 491 B. c.). He was suc- ceeded by Ajatasattu. Eight years after his accession the Buddha died. 1 See NORMAN, J.E.A.S. 1908, pp. 5-6. The list of the patriarchs according to the Northern tradition is quite different. In this the succession is : (1) Kasyapa, who presided over the First Council : (2) Ananda ; (3) Sanakavasa ; (4) Upagupta, the president of the Second Council ; (5) Daitika or Dhitika ; (6) Kala, who was principally concerned in the conversion of Ceylon. See BEAL, 'Succession of Buddhist Patriarchs1 (Ind. Ant. ix, 1880, p. 148 foil..).

xlviii Introduction

1. UPALi.1 (a) At the time of the Buddha's death (483 B. c.) he had completed forty-four years from his upasampada. So we should have for this last the date 527 B.C. Buddha's death, according to tradition, coincides in time with the coming of Vijaya to Ceylon and with the 8th year of Ajatasattu. Vijaya dies in the 14th year of Udayabhadda, i.e. 446 B.C., in the 16th year of the same king, i.e. 444 B.C., Panduvasudeva is crowned king in Ceylon.2

(b) Upali after the Buddha's death becomes Chief of the Vinaya and remains so for thirty years. The sum total of his years, reckoned from the upasampada, amounts to seventy-four. He dies therefore 453 B.C. after, as Dip. 4. 38 says, Udaya had reigned six years.

2. DASAKA.3 (a) He is ordained by Upali, when the latter has completed sixty years of his priesthood, or sixteen years after the Buddha's death, i.e. 467 B.C. This agrees with the statement that it happened in the year 24 of Ajatasattu and in the year 16 of Vijaya. According to Mah. 5. 106 he was then twelve years old, thus the year of his birth was 479 B. c.

(3) Dasaka is (after Upali) for fifty years Chief of the Vinaya, i. e. he dies 403 B. c., or according to the Dip., in the year 8 of Susunaga. In Ceylon meanwhile (Dip. 11. 10) Panduvasudeva has died in the year 21 of Nagadasaka, i.e. 414 B. c., and Abhaya has been crowned king.

3. SoNAKA.4 (a) He is ordained a priest by Dasaka when the latter has completed forty-five years from his upasam- pada, therefore 422 B.C. Thus according to Dip. 4. 41. But according to Dip. 5. 78 Dasaka had only been forty years a priest when Sonaka was ordained by him. This brings us to 427 B. c. Here therefore the tradition is uncertain. It also points to the year 10 of Nagadasa or the year 20 of Panduva- sudeva as the year of Sonaka's ordination, i. e. 425 or 424 B.C.

1 Dip. 4. 34, 38 ; 5. 76, 95, 103.

2 Dip. 11. 8. The number of years of Vijaya's reign (38) brings us to 445 as the year of his death. The length of the interregnum is given Dip. 11. 9, Mah. 8. 5, as one year.

3 Dip. 4. 27-28, 43; 5. 91, 95, 96, 98, 104.

4 Dip. 4. 41 ; 5. 78, 79, 92, 95, 96, 99, 105.

Introduction

(b) Sonaka is Chief of the Vinaya for forty-four years and a priest for sixty-six years. Since Dasaka died 403 B. c. Sonaka's death would fall in 359 B. c. This would bring us again to 425 as the year of ordination. The statement that Sonaka died in the year 6 of the reign of Asoka's sons points also to 359 B.C. as the year of his death. The most probable date of Sonaka's ordination is, however, 423 or 422 B.C., as we shall see from Siggava's chronology. According to Mah. 5. 115 Sonaka was fifteen years old when he met Dasaka. He was therefore born in 438 or 437 B.C. In Ceylon 1 the year 11 of the interregnum between Abhaya and Pandukabhaya corre- sponds to the year 10 of Kalasoka (=383 B.C.) and the year 58 of Pandukabhaya to the year 2 of Candagutta (=319 B.C.).

4. SIGGAVA .2 (a) Sonaka confers ordination on Siggava forty years after his own upasampada. At that time Kalasoka had reigned ten years and half a month. In Ceylon eleven and a half years of the interregnum after Abhaya had elapsed. Thus we come to the year 383 (or 382) B. c. and to the year 423 (or 422) as the year of Sonaka's upasampada.

(b) Siggava is a priest for seventy-six years and dies in the year 14 of Candagutta. This coincides with the year 307 B. c. There must be an error in the statement that he was head of the Church for fifty-five years. Since Sonaka's death may be reckoned with all probability as occurring in the year 359, Siggava, if he died in 307, can only have held this office fifty- two years.

The year of Siggava's birth, since he was eighteen years old at the time of his meeting with Sonaka (Mah. 5. 120), falls in the year 401 B.C.

5. (a) MoGGALiPUTTATissA.3 He is ordained by Siggava sixty-four years after the latter's upasampada, in the year 2

i Dip. 5. 69, 81 ; 5. 80.

3 Dip. 4. 44-46 (cf. with this the note in OLDENBERG'S edition) ; 5. 73, 95, 96, 106.

3 Dip. 5. 69, 81, 95, 96, 101, 107. Relics of (Moggaliputta)tissa, attested by an inscription, have been found in the Sanchi-tope no. 2, See CUNNINGHAM, Bliilsa Topes, p. 289.

Introduction

of Candagutta and 58 of Pakundaka (i. e. Pandukabhaya), therefore 319 B.C.

(b) He is Chief of the Vinaya for sixty-eight years after Siggava and dies eighty years after ordination, twenty-six years after Asoka's abhiseka ( = 264 B.C.). The first two statements accord with 239 B.C., the last with 238 B.C. However, if we place the consecration of Asoka as early as the year 265, which results (see above, p. xxxii) from dating the Buddha's death on the full-moon day of Vesakha, then even according to this reckoning Moggaliputta's death should be placed at 239 B.C.

6. MAHINDA.1 (a) Mo^galiputta ordains Mahinda in the year 6 of Asoka, (reckoned from the abhiseka) or the year 48 of Mutasiva. This brings us, in both cases, if we take the spring of 265 as that of Asoka' s abhiseka, to the time between the spring of 259 and 258. Mahinda was born2 204 A.B. i.e. 279 B. c., thus he was ordained at the age of twenty.

Mahinda comes to Ceylon twelve and a half years after his ordination and eighteen years after Asoka' s abhiseka,3 as we have already seen, in the spring 246 B.C.

(I) He dies in the year 8 of Uttiya's reign and on the 8th day of the bright half of the month Assayuja.4 The year of his death is therefore 199 B.C.

I. ACAEIYAPARAMPARA.

Priest

Chief of Vinaya

1. Upali . . .

44 B.B.— 30 A.B. = 527 B.C.— 453 B

from 1 A.B.

2. Dasaka . .

30 A

B.-94 ,

= 467

—403 ,

.. 30 „

3. Sonaka . .

60 ,

-124,

= 423

-359 ,

„ 94 „

4. Siggava . .

100,

-176,

= 383

-307 ,

» 124 „

5. Moggaliputta

164,

-244,

= 319

-239 ,

„ 176 „

6. Mahinda .

224,

-284,

= 259

-199 ,

1 Dip. 5. 82. The time between the ordination of Moggaliputta and that of Mahinda is here stated to be sixty-six years. It would be correct to say sixty, as OLDEXBERG has already observed.

2 Dip. 6. 20 foil. ; 7. 21-22 ; Mah. 5. 209.

3 Dip. 12.42; Mah. 13.1,5.

4 Dip. 17. 93, 95 ; Mah. 20. 32-33.

Introduction

II. CEYLONESE AND INDIAN SYNCHRONISMS

Year of Ceylon King

Year of Indian

King

Year of Christian Era

Vijaya 1 =

Ajatasattu

483 B C.

16 =

467

37 =

Udayabhadda

446

Panduvasudeva 1 =

>»

444

20 =

Nagadasaka

425/4

Abhaya

414

Interregnum 11 =

Kalasoka

383

Pandukabhaya 58 =

Candagutta

819

Mutasiva 1 =

307

, 48 =

Asoka

259

§ 11. The Buddhist Councils.

According to the Southern Buddhist tradition three Councils, as is known, took place, the first immediately after the death of the Buddha, the second a hundred years later under Kalasoka, the third 236 years after the Nirvana in the reign of Dhammasoka.

There has been repeated discussion, especially in recent times, as to the authenticity or non-authenticity of the history of the Councils.1 I am not able, within the limits of this introduction, to go into all the details. I will rather restrict myself, in the first place, to a resume of that which is recorded in the Pali sources as to the Councils. By way of comparison I will then indicate the most important statements of the Northern Buddhist tradition. Finally, I will endeavour to extract the historical kernel which, in my opinion, is con- tained in the Ceylonese tradition concerning- those events.

1 I would refer chiefly to MINAYEFF, Recherches sur le Bouddhisme, p. 13 foil. ; OLDENBERG, ' Buddhistische Studied Z.D.M.G. 52, p. 613 foil. ; KERN, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 101 foil. ; V. A. SMITH J.R.A.S. 1901, p. 842 foil.; L. DE LA VALLEE POUSSIN, 'Les pre- miers Conciles (bouddhiques),' Le Muston, N.S. 6. 1905, p. 213 foil, (cf. ' The Buddhist Councils,' Ind. Ant. 1908, pp. 1 foil., 81 foil.) ; R. 0. FRANKE, 'The Buddhist Councils at Rajaeaha and VesalT,' J.P.T.S. 1908, p. 1 foil. ; RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues of the Buddha, ii. 76, 77. The Chinese accounts of the First Council have been brought together by SUZUKI, ' The first Buddhist Council/ in theMonist, xiv. 2, 1904, p. 253 foil.

lii Introduction

I can only incidentally, where it appears to me to be absolutely necessary, take up a position with regard to views of other inquirers, and must avoid many explanations which suggest themselves, in order not to overstep the space allotted to me.

First, with regard to the SOUTHERN BUDDHIST SOURCES for the history of the Councils, the principal, both in age and importance, are Khandhaka XI and XII of the Cullavagga in the Vinaya-Pilaka l which deal with the First and Second Council.

Then follow the Dip. and Mah. with accounts of the three Councils 2 and also the historical Introduction to Buddha- ghosa's Samantapasadika.3 Moreover, Buddhaghosa treats of the First Council, frequently with the same wording, in the Introduction to his Sumahgalavilasinl.4 As secondary sources we may mention the Mahabodhivamsa fi and Sasanavamsa,6 and also in the Sinhalese language principally the Nikaya- Samgraha.7

The NORTHERN BUDDHIST ACCOUNTS will be mentioned in treating of the several Councils.

The First Council.

The account in C.V. is this :

Mahakassapa, travelling with his disciples from Pava to Kusinara, hears of the death of the Buddha. The monks are profoundly grieved, but Subhadda comforts them with the frivolous utterance that they can now do what they will, and that they are freed from an irksome control.

Thereupon Mahakassapa proposes to undertake a samglti of the Dhamma and the Vinaya, that the doctrine may thus

OLDENBERG, Vin. Pit. ii, p. 284 foil. Cf.S.B.E. xx, p. 370 foil. GEIGEB, Dtp. and Mah. p. 108 foil. In the Dip. there is a double account of each Council.

See OLDENBERG, Vin. Pit. in, p. 283 foil. Ed. RHYS DAVIDS and CARPENTER, i. (P.T.S. 1886), p. 2 foil. Ed. STRONG (P.T.S. 1891), p. 85 foil. Ed. M. BODE (P.T.S. 1897s p. 3 foil. 7 Ed. WICKREMASINGHE, 1890, pp. 3, 4, 8.

Introduction l"i

be kept pure. To this end 500 monks are chosen, among whom, by the wish of the assembly, is Ananda, though he is not yet an Arahant.

The Council takes place in Rajagaha and passes off in the manner described in the Mah.

Some points are to be added from the C.V. namely :

(1) Ananda relates that the Buddha had, in his presence, declared the community of monks empowered after his death to do away with the less important precepts,1 if they wished. Since they are not able to agree in deciding what is to be understood by this expression, they resolve not to do away with any precept.

(2) Certain reproaches are cast upon Ananda, Although he is not conscious of any fault he acknowledges himself guilty from respect for the Assembly.

(3) The thera Purana enters Rajagaha. He is called upon to take part in the work of the Assembly. He renders due acknowledgment to this work but prefers to hold by that which he himself has heard from the Master's lips.

(4) Ananda further relates how the Buddha, before his death, had also pronounced the monk Channa liable to the brahmadanda penance. The fulfilling of this duty is en- trusted to Ananda. Channa is deeply troubled. With zealous endeavour he attains to arahantship, upon which the penance is remitted.2

As regards the time at which the First Council was held, the Dip. 1. 24 ; 5. 4 mentions the fourth month after the Master's death. This was the second Vassa-month, i.e. Savana, the fifth month of the year.3

This reckoning is based on the tradition according to which the Buddha died on the full-moon day of the month Vesakha.

Buddhaghosa and the Mah. agree with this statement.4 The latter certainly mentions the bright half of Asalha the

1 Khuddanukhuddakani sikkhapadani. SeeMahaparinib- banasutta, D. II. 154.

2 I omit the episode of Udena, C.V. XL 13-14.

3 See M.V. III. 2. 2 (OLDENBERG, Vin. Pit. i, p. 137).

4 Smp. 28532 35, 28634; Sum. 610 20, 814 15;'Mah. 3. 14-16.

liv Introduction

fourth month of the year l as the beginning of the Council, but adds that the first month was spent in preparations, thus the proceeding did not begin till the month Savana.

It is an obviously later addition which we find in the Sum., that not only the Vinaya and the Dhamma, in all their details, but also the Abhidhamma are established at the First Council.

The same is found in the later tradition.

Among the NORTHERN BUDDHIST SOURCES dealing with the First Council I mention the Mahavastu.2 Here, in agreement with the Southern tradition Kasyapa is given as the originator of the Council, the number of the bhiksus taking part in it is stated to be 500 and the place the Sapta- parna grotto near Rajagrha.

There is, besides, an account in the second volume of the Dulva, the Tibetan Vinaya of the Sarvastivadin sect.3 The fixing of the Canon took place, according to this source, in the following order : (1) Dharma, by Ananda ; (2) Vinaya, by Upali; (3) Matrka (i.e. Abhidharma) by Mahakasyapa himself. It is worthy of remark that the Dulva puts the accusations brought against Ananda in the time before the beginning of the proceedings, thus before his attainment of arahantship.

Fa-hian and Hiuen-thsang4 also mention the First Council. The former gives the number of the bhiksus as 500, the latter as 1,000; the former speaks in a general way of ' a collec- tion of sacred books', the latter expressly mentions also the redaction of the Abhidharma by Mahakasyapa.

The Second Council.

According to C.V. XII. the Second Council takes place 100 years after the Buddha's death, and is brought about by the das a vatthuni5 of the Vajji monks of Vesull, which

1 The full moon of Asalha of the year 483 fell, according to JACOBI'S reckoning (see FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 20) on June 24.

2 Ed. SEN ART, i, p. 69 foil.

3 See ROCKHILL, Life of the Buddha (1907), p. 148 foil.

4 BEAL, Buddhist Records, i, pp. Ix-lxi ; ii, pp. 162-164 ; LEGGE, Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms, p. 85.

5 On these ten points, according to the Pali-tradition, see below in

Introduction lv

signified a relaxing of monastic discipline. In the further course of its narrative, too, the C.V. agrees with the Mah. and the rest of the SOUTHERN BUDDHIST SOURCES. The contrast comes out distinctly between the city-dwelling monks of Vesalland the Arahants living in solitary retreat (arannaka, Vin. II. 2995) and of strict tendencies.

Yasa's speech in presence of the Yesalian upasakas is given in full extent. The disciple of Revata, whom the Vajji monks bring over to their side (Mah. 4. 30) is called Uttara. It is also characteristic that the orthodox monks before they undertake the refutation of the heresies first assure them- selves of the consent of Sabbakami, the Samghathera at that time.1

The number of those taking part in the Council is given unanimously as 700.2 The Dip. and the Mah. set the time of the Council in the eleventh year of the reign of Kalasoka ( = 383- 382 B.C.), later documents put it in the tenth year.3 The locality is generally considered to be the Valikarama.4 Only the Dip, (5. 29) mentions the Kutagarasala of the Mahavana monastery, I do not think we need attach any importance to this dis- crepancy, which probably takes its rise in some misunder- standing.

Still it is of importance that the Dip. 5. 30 foil, states, to complete the narrative, that the heretical monks held a separate Council, called Mahasamglti, and that they here

the Translation, note to 4. 9. See for further observations L. DE LA VALLEE POUSSIN, Le Museon, N.S. vi (1905), p. 276 foil. ; hid. Ant. 37 (1908), p. 88 foil.

1 C.V. XII. 2. 4-6 = Vin. II, p. 30319 foil.

2 C.V. XII. 2. 9 (= Vin. II. 307s5) ; Dip. 4. 52 ; Mah. 4. 62 ; Smp. 2947. But when the Dip. 5. 20 speaks of 1,200,000 who took part in the Council it does not contradict itself in this. By this naturally exaggerated number the Dip. means those who took part in the General Assembly. Mah. 4. 60 and Smp. 2949 give for this the same number.

3 Dip. 4. 44, 47 ; Mah. 4. 8. Cf. Mahabodhiv. 966 ; Sasanav. 71 3 ; Nik. Samgr. 4".

4 Mah. 4. 50, 63 ; Smp. 9415 ; Mahabodhiv. 9620 ; Sasanav. 613 ; Nik. Samgr. 64.

Ivi Introduction

made out a different redaction of the Canonical Scriptures. With this may be compared the brief notice in Mah. 5. 3-4, according to which the heretical monks of the Second Council, under the name Mahasamghika, formed a separate sect, as the first branching-off from the orthodox doctrine.

In the NORTHERN TRADITION we have accounts of the second Council in the Dulva,1 from the Tibetan historian Taranatha 2, from Fa-hian and Hiuen-thsang.3

As according to the Southern sources so according to these accounts the ten points of the Vajji monks form the starting- point of the movement.

As to the date there is great uncertainty. In the same way, with respect to the place, the tradition wavers between Vaisali and Pataliputra.4 Of the famous theras of the Second Council mentioned in the Southern scriptures we meet the following in the Northern : — Sarvakama = Sabbakami, Yasa = Yasa, Salha = Salha, Sambhuta = Sambhuta Sana- vasi, Revata= Revata, Kuyyasobhita (?) = Khujjasobhita and Ajita = Ajita.

The Third Council.

With respect to the Third Council we must, in the first place, depend on SOUTHERN BUDDHIST SOURCES since it has up to this time been accepted that the Northern Buddhist took no account of this Assembly of the Church. Our oldest source is the Dip. 7. 34-43, 44-59 ; then comes Smp. 30627 foil., then Mah. 5. 228 folk Respecting the course of events we may refer to the translation following below, since no essential differences exist.

The president of the Council was Tissa Moggaliputta, the place Pataliputta^also called Kusumapura * the city of flowers '. As date, the year 236 A. B. = 247 B. c. is given, Dip. 7. 37, 44/>

1 See ROCKHILL, Life of the Buddha, pp. 171-180.

2 Tdran'tthas Geschichte des Buddhismus in Indien, iibersetzt von SCHIEFNER, p. 41 foil. Cf. WASSILJEW, Der Buddhismus, p. 61 foil.

3 BEAL, I. I., i, p. liv ; ii, pp. 74-75 ; LEGGE, I. /., p. 75.

4 On these wavering traditions see below.

6 Cf. Sasanav. i, p. 81. 3 ; Nik. Samgr. 9<. When Dip. 1. 24, 25 says

Introduction Ivii

The Mah. 5. 280 says that the Council was concluded in the seventeenth year of the reign of Asoka. It lasted, accord- ing to both chronicles, nine months. Thus, according to FLEET'S l reckoning, the Council began in the middle of January 247 B.C. and came to an end at the end of October in the same year.

Now with respect to the trustworthiness of the Southern Buddhist accounts of the Councils I have arrived at the following conclusion. Here, as elsewhere, a genuine historical reminiscence underlies the tradition. This holds good of all three Councils. A general framework of facts is given with some few data deeply engraved in memory. But within this framework, even in the oldest form of the tradition, all kinds of details were introduced which correspond to the opinions and circumstances of later times. We must keep to the most general statements if we would come near the historical truth. Everything special and particular should be looked upon with a certain scepticism.

For the FIRST COUNCIL we need not hesitate to extract as the historical kernel of the tradition, the fact that, after the Buddha's death, his nearest disciples assembled in the capital of the country to establish the most important rules of the Order as, according to their recollection, the Master himself had laid them down. This may then have formed the ground- work of the later Vinaya. That the Buddhist canon was established then and there in the form in which we now have it, a form that can only be the fruit of centuries of develop- ment,2 is naturally out of the question. We see indeed how

that the First Council took place four months after the Nirvana and the Third Council 118 years later there is here a manifest error, for which the clumsiness of the author of the Dip. is responsible. The date 118 is evidently reckoned from the Second Council, mention of which has dropped out, and it refers, as in Mah. 5. 100, not to the beginning of the Third Council, but to the birth of Moggaliputta Tissa. See Dip. 5. 55.

1 J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 426.

2 See RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues, i, x-xx ; Buddhist India, p. 161 foil. ; OLDENBEEG, Vin. Pit. i, p. x foil.

Iviii Introduction

the tradition itself adds new details. Speaking at first only of Vinaya and Dhamma it then, in a later form, makes the Abhidhamma also take its rise in the First Council.

In my interpretation I attach special importance to the episode of Purana (see p. liii). It gives the impression of a genuine historical reminiscence, the more so since it is just of such a nature as to diminish the authority of the theras of the First Council. There was therefore certainly no reason to invent this story. As a statement of fact, however, it has no mean- ing unless there had really been beforehand some proposal to establish the teachings of the Buddha.

Certainly not very much more than this can be proved to be historical in the account of the First Council. The narrator in the C.V. adheres in his narrative to the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (D. Sutta XVI = D. II, p. 72 foil.). This has been convinc- ingly demonstrated by OLDENBERG l and in greater detail by FRANKE.2 I should not therefore like to attach most importance, as does L. DE LA VALLEE PoussiN,3 precisely to the episode of Ananda's failings and the punishment of Channa. They may very well have been incorporated in the account only because they exist in the Sutta D. XVI.4 It is not even certain whether it was just the frivolous words of Subhadda that brought about the holding of the Council, here too it may be that the narrator has only followed the Sutta in making this fact a motive for the Council.

In that case OLDENBERG's5 object ion to the historical character

1 Vin. Pit. i,p. xxvi foil. 2 J.P.T.S. 1908, p. 8 foil.

3 Lid. Ant. 1908, pp. 15-16, 18.

4 FRANKS, I.I., p. 18, foil., observes very aptly that in C.V. XI and XII the precept of D. XVI. 6. 2 (= D. II, p. 154) concerning the use of bhante and avuso,has been strictly retained. Here, again, the narrator's dependence, as to form, on the Mahaparinibbana-sutta is evident. Because he found the precept in the sutta, he retains it in his account. But when FRANKE then goes so far as to argue that the accounts of the Council in C.V. were only invented to illustrate that question of etiquette, that they were therefore * more or less readings in " good form " for bhikkhus in all events and circumstances ', there are assuredly few who will follow him. I am quite unable to do so.

6 L. 1. Cf. also RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist Suttas (S.B.E. xi), General

Introduction lix

of the First Council disappears. He is of opinion that, since Subhadda's words are mentioned, in the Mahaparinibbana- sutta, there must also have been some allusion to the Council if it really was brought about by those words. According to my view the Council— or whatever this assembly of monks in Kajagaha may be called — is the established fact (see above). If the introduction of the narrative in the C.Y. really should not be in agreement with the Sutta D. XVI, which I will only assume but without yielding the point, then the fact of the Council itself is not put aside. In that case the narrator, looking for a motive or means of introducing the Council, found it in that passage of the Sutta, a connexion which did not correspond to the reality.1

The SECOND and THIRD COUNCIL must be discussed together.

It is historically confirmed, I think, that the first schism in the Church proceeded from Vesall and that the dasa vatthuniof the Vajji-monks brought it about. But it is doubtful when this separation resulted, where it took place, and whether after this Second Council yet a third took place and at what time.

According to the Southern Buddhist tradition, as we saw, the Second Council was held in Vesall itself under king Kalasoka in the year 383/2 B. c., the third under Dhammasoka in Pataliputta in the year 247 B.C. The first led to the separation of the Mahasamghikas from the Theravada. The second led to the expulsion from the community of certain elements wrongfully intruded there.

My opinion now is that this distinction between two separate Councils is in fact correct. The Northern Bud- dhists have mistakenly fused the two into one as they con- founded the kings Kalasoka and Dhammasoka one with another. But traces of the right tradition are still preserved

Introduction, p. xi foil. JACOBI, Z.D.M.G. 34, p. 185, is, however, not inclined to give such great weight to the argumentum e silentio.

1 RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues, ii. 76,77, has discussed the value of the evidence as to the First Council, and arrived at a somewhat similar conclusion.

Ix Introduction

in the wavering uncertain statements as to the time and place of the Council.

According to the Tibetan tradition in the Dulva1 the first schism occurred 160 years after the death of the Buddha, when king Dharmas'oka reigned in Kusumapura. But the same source (ROCKHILL, p. 186) also records an assembly which took place in Pataliputra 137 years after the Nirvana, under Mahapadma and Nanda.

In Chinese sources 2 we find the same uncertainty. The Council that led to the first schism is in these placed now 100, now 116, now 160 years after the Buddha's death.

As the place of the Council Fa-hian and Hiuen-thsang 3 mention Vaisali. But according to the Dulva (1L, p. 182) the schism arose in Kusumapura (i.e. Pataliputra). Taranatha (p. 41) speaks of the ten points taught by the heretical monks of Vaisali and which gave occasion for a Council that took place in Kusumapura. The Chinese sources too (see St. J., 1. 1.) mention Pataliputra.

Evidently, as has been said, the failure to distinguish between the two Asokas was the cause of the whole confusion. This is plain from the fact that with respect to this king's date we find the same contradictions in the Northern sources. Hiuen-thsang knows only one Asoka, Dharmasoka, the his- torical king of the third century B.C. But he puts him 100 years after the Nirvana, that is, he gives him the period of the earlier Asoka. For hardly any scholar will admit now, I believe, that Buddha died in the fourth century B.C.; moreover, Hiuen-thsang, as we saw (see above, p. xliv), names also Dhar- masoka as the founder of Pataliputra, although we know beyond dispute that Pataliputra was the capital of the country before his time. He has thus transferred to Dharmasoka, the son of Candragupta, a tradition which related to an earlier king.

1 According to Bhavya, in ROCKHILL, Life of the Buddha, p. 182.

2 ST. JULIEN, Journ. As., V. Serie, fc. xiv, pp. 343, 333, 336. Cf. below, Appendix B.

3 See above, p. Ivi, n. 3. Fa-hian, however, does not express himself so definitely as Hiuen-thsang.

Introduction l*i

In the Tibetan sources Asoka is generally dated 100-160 years after the Nirvana. But there is beside this an allu- sion which, in agreement with the Southern tradition, places him 234 years after the Buddha.1

Taranatha says 2 that in the Tibetan Vinaya the date 110 A.B. is given for Asoka, but that in the other sources the dates are 210 and 220.

Lastly, in the Chinese Tripitaka there are, according to TAKAKUSU, four dates for Asoka : 116 A.B., 118 A.B., 130 A.B., and 218 A.B. The last-mentioned date, however, is found apparently only in the Chinese Sudarsana-vibhasa Vinaya, which is a translation of Buddhaghosa's Samantapasadika.3

But there is something more. The Northern writings are very familiar with the ten points raised by the monks of Vaisali and the schism produced by them. But they also know of another division 4 associated with the names of the monks Mahadeva and Bhadra. These latter set up five dogmas which were also expressed in brief aphorisms and which led to a schism. In Vasumitra's account 5 the con- fusion is complete when he relates that somewhat more than 100 years after the Nirvana, under king Asoka in Pataliputra the schism of the Mahasamghikas resulted from the five dogmas, which are then described. Here then, finally, the five dogmas of Mahadeva are confounded with the ten points of the Vajji-monks.

It is perhaps not too daring to conjecture that in this division associated with the name of Mahadeva there is a reminiscence of the proceedings that brought about the Third Council. But this conjecture is now also confirmed by an acute observation of L. DE LA VALLEE POUSSIN. He

1 See ROCKHILL, /. L, p. 233.

2 Transl. by Schiefner, p. 42.

3 A Record of the Buddhist Religion by I-TSING, transl. by TAKA- KUSU, p. 14, n. 1, p. 217.

4 See esp. Taranatha, p. 51 ; Bhavya in ROCKHILL, L L, p. 186 ; WASSILJEW, Der Buddhismus, i, pp. 62-63.

5 See ROCKHILL, L ?., p. 187, n. 1.

Ixii Introduction

establishes the fact l that the five dogmas of Mahadeva belong to those which are combated in the Kathavatthu. But the Kathavatthu was composed (see Mah. 5. 278) by Moggali- putta Tissa on the occasion of the Council of Pataliputta.

Thus a new link has been found between the Northern and Southern tradition of the Third Council.2 I adhere, therefore, to the assumption that a second Council took place under Kalasoka and a third under Dhammasoka.

The course of events at the Second Council may, taken as a whole, be as the Southern and Northern sources relate. The '10 points' are historical, and we must also regard as historical the names of the theras concerned in refuting them.3 Moreover, the division of the community, till then united, into two schools is, as I believe, a fact. But we must not exaggerate our notion of the harshness of this separation.

With the toleration peculiar to the Indians the different sects have always mutually recognized each other and kept up relations with each other. I may refer to the beautiful utter- ance attributed by Vasumitra to the Buddha concerning the

1 Buddhist notes. The five Points of Mahadeva and the Katha- vatthu, J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 413 foil.

2 V. A. SMITH, J.R.A.S. 1901, p. 827 foil, and particularly p. 839 foil., argues thus : As there are two different traditions concerning the time of the Second Council the Southern tradition has invented a second Asoka in addition to the historical one, and out of one Council has made two. It will be seen that my argument follows the exactly opposite course: as there were two Asokas the Northern tradition has confounded the two Councils which took place in their time. SMITH'S argument has the defect of not explaining how the different tradition regarding the Second Council arose.

3 That an extraordinarily great age is attributed of certain theras need hardly be brought forward as testimony against the general trustworthiness of the account (KERN, Manual, p. 105). These are the embellishments by which it was intended to exalt the authority of the theras. In like manner an age of 150 years is attributed to the first Patriarch of the Dhyana Sect in China, Bodhidharma. (SUZUKI, J.P.T.S. 1906-7, pp. 11, 13.) Besides, the Yasa of the Second Council was certainly not the Yasa who in M.V. I. 7 foil, appears as a contem- porary of the Buddha. He is distinguished from this latter by the epithet Kakandakattajo.

Introduction

twelve future schools : ' These schools will be the repositories of the diversified fruits of my scriptures without priority or inferiority — just as the taste of sea-water is everywhere the same — or as the twelve sons of one man all honest and true, so will be the exposition of my doctrine advocated by these schools/ l

We may conjecture that the Second Council contributed to the completion of the Vinaya and the Dhamma, though C.V. XII does not expressly speak of it. That may have been taken as a matter of course. Besides, in the concluding words (C.V. XII. 2. 9) the second Council, like the first, is designated Vinayasamgiti.

At the time of the Third Council the canonical literature of the Dhamma and Vinaya, as we now have it in the Pali recension, was evidently completed in essentials. This is proved by mention of portions of the canon in the inscription of Bairat. Here Asoka recommends seven scriptures for par- ticular study. Of these scriptures six can be pointed out with more or less certainty in the Pali canon.2

And now, besides, the literary movement is proceeding which leads to the compilation of the Abhidhamma. We see this from the allusion, already mentioned above, in Mah. 5. 278, according to which Moggaliputta Tissa in order to refute the errors which brought about the Third Council, composed his Kathavatthuppakarana. But this work belongs to the Abhi- dhamma.

The importance of the Councils, from the standpoint of the orthodox, lay in the elimination of tendencies which could no longer be regarded as consistent with the faith. But of higher importance was the resolve formed in Pataliputra to bear Buddhism beyond the borders of its narrower home. With this Buddhism entered on its victorious progress through the Eastern World.

1 See DEAL, Ind. Ant. ix, 1880, p. 300.

2 OLDENBERG, Vin. Pit. i, p. xl ; Z.D.M.G. 52, p. 634 foil., against MINAYEFP, Recherches surle JBouddhisme, pp. 83-92 ; RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues, i, p. xiii.

LIST OF ABBEEVIATIONS

A. = Anguttara-Nikaya (ed. MORRIS and HARDY, 5 vols., Pali Text

Soc. 1885-1900). Vol. vi, Indexes by Miss HUNT, 1910. Asl. = Atthasalim (ed. E. MULLER, P.T.S., 1897). B.R. = Sanskrit- Worterbuch von BOHTLINGK und ROTH, 7 vols., St.

Petersburg, 1855-1875.

C.V. = Cullavagga (the Vinaya Pitaka, ed. OLDENBERG, vol. ii, 1880). D. = DTgha-Nikaya (ed. RHYS DAVIDS and CARPENTER, 3 vols.,

P.T.S. 1890-191.1).

Dip. = Dipavamsa (ed. andtransl. OLDENBERG, 1879). LA. = Indian Antiquary. J.As. = Journal Asiatique.

Jat. = Jataka (ed. FAUSBOLL, 7 vols., 1877-1897). J. P.T.S. = Journal of the Pali Text Society. J.R.A.S. = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Kamb. Mah. = Kambodja Mahavamsa (s. HARDY, J.P.T.S. 1902-3,

p. 61 foil.). M. - Majjhima-Nikaya (ed. TRENCKNER and CHALMERS, 3 vols., P.T.S.

1888-1899).

Mah. ed. = Mahavamsa (ed. W. GEIGER, P.T.S. 1908). M.Bv. = Mahabodhivamsa (ed. STRONG, P.T.S. 1901). M.V. = Mahavagga (The Vinaya Pitaka, ed. OLDENBERG, vol. i, 1879). P.D. = Dictionary of the Pali Language, by CHILDERS, 1875. Vin. Pit. = The Vinaya Pitaka, ed. OLDENBERG, 5 vols., 1879-1883. S. = Samyutta Nikaya (ed. FEER, 5 vols., P.T.S. 1884-1898 ; vol. 6 ;

Indexes by Mrs. RHYS DAVIDS, 1904). S.B.B. = Sacred Books of the Buddhists. S.B.E. = Sacred Books of the East.

Smp. = Samanta-Pasadika (Introd. to S. in Vin. Pit. ii, p. 283 foil.). Sum. = Sumangala-Vilasim (ed. RHYS DAVIDS and CARPENTER, vol. i,

P.T.S. 1886). Z.D.M.G. = Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.

Map of ANCIENT CEYLON

«fc>

SCALE OF ENGLISH MlftS

0 10 20 30 40 SO

Ancient Names thus - PanjaK Modern Names thus.- Jaffna

(gama) « Village pHpabbata)- Mountain v?'(vapi)-Tank

THE MAHAVAMSA

CHAPTER I

THE VISIT OF THE TATHAGATA

HAVING made obeisance to the Sambuddha the pure, sprung 1 of a pure race, I will recite the Mahavamsa, of varied content and lacking nothing. That (Mahavamsa) which was compiled 2 by the ancient (sages) was here too long drawn out and there too closely knit ; and contained many repetitions. Attend ye 3 now to this (Mahavamsa) that is free from such faults, easy to understand and remember, arousing serene joy and emotion and handed down (to us) by tradition, — (attend ye to 4 it) while that ye call up serene joy and emotion (in you) l at passages that awaken serene joy and emotion.

On seeing the Sambuddha Dipamkara, in olden times, our 5 Conqueror resolved to become a Buddha, that he might release the world from evil. When he had offered homage to that 6 Sambuddha and likewise to Kondanna and to the sage Mangala, to Sumana, to the Buddha Kevata and likewise to the great sage Sobhita, to the Sambuddha Anomadassi, to 7 Paduma and to the Conqueror Narada, to the Sambuddha Padumuttara and to the Tathagata Sumedha, and to Sujata, 8 to Piyadassi and to the Master Atthadassi, to Dham- madassi and Siddhattha, to Tissa and the Conqueror Phussa, 9 to Vipassi and the Sambuddha Sikhi, and the Sam- buddha Vessabhu, the mighty one, to the Sambuddha

1 Read janayanta, referring the participle to the subject implied in sunotha. The terms pasada * serene joy' and samvega 'emotion' occur also in the postscripts of the single chapters of the Mah. Pasada signifies the feeling of blissfulness, joy and satis- faction in the doctrine of the Buddha, sam vega the feeling of horror and recoil from the world and its misery. See also 23. 62 with note.

2 Mahdvamsa 1. 10

10 Kakusandha, and likewise to Konagamana, as also to the blessed Kassapa, — having offered homage to these twenty-four Sambuddhas and having received from them the prophecy of

1 1 his (future) buddhahood he, the great hero, when he had ful- filled all perfections 1 and reached the highest enlightenment, the sublime Buddha Gotama, delivered the world from suffering.

1 2 At Uruvela,2 in the Magadha country, the great sage, sitting at the foot of the Bodhi-tree, reached the supreme enlighten-

13 ment on the full-moon day of the month Vesakha.3 Seven weeks he tarried there, mastering his senses/ while that he himself knew the high bliss of deliverance and let (others)

14 behold its felicity.5 Then he went to BaranasI and set rolling the wheel of the law ; and while he dwelt there through the rain-months, he brought sixty (hearers) to arahantship.6

15 When he had sent forth these bhikkhus to preach the doctrine, and when he had converted the thirty companions of the

1 The ten parami. Cf. Jat. i, p. 20 foil. The idea is late and not found in the four Nikayas. See RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 177 ; KERN, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 66.

2 Buddh Gaya or Bodh Gaya in Gaya district, Bengal.

3 The second month in the ordinary Indian lunar year, answering in the time of Buddha to part of March and part of April. The names of the Indian lunar months are as follows :—

(1) Citta = February : March or March : April.

(2) Vesakha = March: April or April: May.

(3) Jettha = April: May or May: June.

(4) A sa] ha = May: June or June: July.

(5) S a van a = June : July or July : August.

(6) Potthapada = July : August or August : September.

(7) Assayuja = August: September or September: October.

(8) Kattika = September: October or October: November.

(9) Maggasira = October: November or November: December.

(10) Phussa = November: December or December: January.

(11) Magha = December: January or January : February.

(12) Phagguna = January: February or February : March. See FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1909, p. 6.

4 Vasi. A play on this word and vasi 'he tarried '.

5 With the whole passage cf. Mah. ed., p. iii.

6 Satthim arahatam aka. Arahatam as a gen. plural is dependent on the numeral. Literally : he made sixty arahants.

I. 24 The Visit of the Tathdgata 3

company of Bhadda 1 then did the Master dwell at Uruvela 16 the winter through, for the sake of converting the thou- sand jatilas2 led by Kassapa, making them ripe (for deliverance) .

Now since a great sacrifice by Kassapa of Uruvela was near 17 at hand, and since he saw that this latter would fain have him away,3 he, the victorious over enemies, went to seek alms 18 among the Northern Kurus ; 4 and when he had eaten his meal at evening time near the lake Anotatta,5 the Conqueror, 19 in the ninth month of his buddhahood, at the full moon of Phussa,6 himself set forth for the isle of Lanka, to win Lanka for the faith.7 For Lanka was known to the Conqueror as 20 a place where his doctrine should (thereafter) shine in glory ; and (he knew that) from Lanka, filled with the yakkhas, the yakkhas must (first) be driven forth.8

And he knew also that in the midst of Lanka, on the fair 21 river bank, in the delightful Mahanaga garden, three yojanas long and a yojana wide, the (customary) meeting-place for 22 the yakkhas, there was a great gathering of (all) the yakkhas dwelling in the island. To this great gathering of 23 that yakkhas went the Blessed One, and there, in the midst of that assembly, hovering in the air over their heads, at the 24 place of the (future) Mahiyangana-thupa,9 he struck terror

1 For the conversion of the Timsa Bhaddavaggiya see M.V. 1.14.

2 J a til a, ascetics wearing the hair long and matted. See M.V. I. 15 ff.

3 Lit. after he had known this latter's wish that he should not come.

4 The Uttara Kuru are a half-mythological people, dwelling in the north of India.

5 One of the seven great lakes, situated in the Himalaya mountains.

6 The tenth month of the lunar year. See note on 1. 12.

7 Lit. to purify, to cleanse (visodhetum). Lanka = Ceylon.

8 From the nata (N. Si. F.) in the first line another nata (N. PL M.) must be understood with yakkha nibbasiya (Part. Fut. Pass., Skr. nir-vas, Caus.) in the second line of the verse, to complete the sentence.

9 According to tradition the Bintenne-dagaba (TENNENT, Ceylon, ii, pp. 420-421), on the right bank of the Mahawseliganga,which is called m ah a gang a or simply gang a in the Mah.

4 Mahavamsa 1. 25

25 to their hearts by rain, storm, darkness and so forth.1 The yakkhas, overwhelmed by fear, besought the fearless Van- quisher to release them from terrors, and the Vanquisher,

26 destroyer of fear,2 spoke thus to the terrified yakkhas : ' I will banish this your fear and your distress, O yakkhas, give ye here

27 to me with one accord a place where I may sit down/ The yakkhas thus answered the Blessed One : ' We all, O Lord, give you even the whole of our island. Give us release from

28 our fear/ Then, when he had destroyed their terror, cold and darkness, and had spread his rug of skin 3 on the ground

29 that they bestowed on him, the Conqueror, sitting there, made the rug to spread wide, while burning flame surrounded it. Daunted by the burning heat thereof and terrified, they stood

30 around on the border. Then did the Saviour cause the pleasant Giridipa 4 to come here near to them, and when they had settled

31 there, he made it return to its former place. Then did the Saviour fold his rug of skin; the devas assembled, and in

32 their assembly the Master preached them the doctrine. The conversion of many kotis of living beings took place,5 and countless were those who came unto the (three) refuges and the precepts of duty.6

1 Lit. he made for them a means of terror, consisting of rain, storm, darkness and so forth.

2 Lit. who confers fearlessness (or freedom from peril), a play on the words a b hay a and bhaya. See 37. 30.

3 Lit. piece of hide.

4 It would be a mistake to look for a clear geographical state- ment. The underlying notion here expressed is simply that the yakkhas were driven back to the highlands (giri) in the interior of the island. They are still to be found in Ceylon in later times. The meaning of dip a was formerly a wider one ; a later tradition has brought it to mean 'island' in our sense. Cf. also Nagadipa as name of a part of Ceylon itself (1. 47 with note).

8 The term dhammabhisamaya (see CHILDEKS, P. Z>., s. v.) means ' the attainment by an unconverted man of one of the four paths ' (of sanctification). Koti is an indefinite great number, accord- ing to the Indian system equal to ten millions.

6 Saranesu ca silesu thita is .the expression for the adherence of the laity. They take their refuge (sarana) in the Buddha, his doctrine and his community, and undertake to keep certain binding commandments. See notes to 1. 62.

I. 44 The Visit of the Tathagata 5

The prince of devas, Mahasumana of the Sumanakuta- 33 mountain,1 who had attained to the fruit of entering into the path of salvation,2 craved of him who should be worshipped, something to worship. The Conqueror, the (giver of) good to 34 living beings, he who had pure and blue-black locks, passing his hand over his (own) head, bestowed on him a handful of hairs. And he, receiving this in a splendid golden urn, when he had 35 laid the hairs upon a heap of many-coloured gems, seven cubits round, piled up at the place where the Master had sat, covered 36 them over with a thupa of sapphire and worshipped them.

When the Sambuddha had died, the thera named Sarabhu, 37 disciple of the thera Sariputta, by his miraculous power received, even from the funeral pyre, the collar-bone of the Conqueror and 38 brought it hither (to Lanka), and, with the bhikkhus all around him, he there laid it in that same cetiya, covered it over with 39 golden-coloured stones,3 and (then he), the worker of miracles, having made the thupa twelve cubits 4 high, departed again from thence. The son of king Devanampiyatissa's brother, named 40 Uddhaculabhaya, saw the wondrous cetiya and (again) covered 41 it over and made it thirty cubits high. The king Dutthaga- mani, dwelling there while he made war upon the Damilas, built a mantle cetiya over it eighty cubits high. Thus was 42 the Mahiyangana-thupa completed. When he had thus made 43 our island a fit dwelling-place for men, the mighty ruler, valiant as are great heroes, departed for Uruvela.

Here ends the Visit to Mahiyahgana.

Now the most compassionate Teacher, the Conqueror, 44 rejoicing in the salvation of the whole world, when dwelling

1 Sumanakuta is the Adam's Peak.

2 Sotapatti is the stage of a sotapanna ' who has entered the stream ', who has attained to the first grade of sanctification, a con- verted man. As to the second and third grade see the notes to 15. 18 and 13. 17.

3 On medavannapasana, stones of the (golden, or cream) colour of fat, fat-coloured, see Mah. ed., p. 355.

* See note to 15. 167.

6 Mahavamsa 1. 45

45 at Jetavana l in the fifth year of his buddhahood, saw that a war, caused by a gem-set throne, was like to come to pass

46 between the nagas Mahodara and Culodara, uncle and nephew, and their followers ; and he, the Sambuddha, on the uposatha-

47 day of the dark half of the month Citta, in the early morning, took his sacred alms-bowl and his robes, and, from compassion for the nagas, sought the Nagadlpa.2

48 That same naga Mahodara was then a king, gifted with miraculous power, in a naga-kingdom in the ocean, that

49 covered half a thousand yojanas. His younger sister had been given (in marriage) to the naga-king on the Karma vaddhamana-

50 mountain ; her son was Culodara. His mothers father had given to his mother a splendid throne of jewels, then the naga

51 had died and therefore this war of nephew with uncle was threatening ; and also the nagas of the mountains were armed with miraculous power.

52 The deva named Samiddhisumana took a rajayatana-tree

53 standing in Jetavana, his own fair habitation, and, holding it like a parasol over the Conqueror, he, with the Teacher's leave,

54 attended him to that spot where he had formerly dwelt.3 That very deva had been, in his latest birth, a man in Nagadlpa. On the spot where thereafter the rajayatana-tree stood, he

55 saw paccekabuddhas taking their meal. And at the sight his heart was glad and he offered branches to cleanse the alms-

56 bowl. Therefore he was reborn in that tree in the pleasant Jetavana-garden, and it (the tree) stood afterwards outside at

57 the side of the gate-rampart.4 The God of all gods saw (in this) an advantage for that deva, and, for the sake of the good which should spring (therefrom) for our land, he brought him hither (to Lanka) together with his tree.

58 Hovering there in mid-air above the battlefield the Master,

1 A park and monastery near Savatthi in the Kosala country (see VOGEL, J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 971 foil.), presented to the Master by Anatha- pindika. Jdt. i. 92 foil.

2 Apparently the north-western part of Ceylon. See 20. 25, with the note.

3 I. e. to Nagadlpa.

4 Kotthaka ' battlemented dwelling or gateway '. See M.V. VIII. 15. 5 ; C.V. IV. 4. 6 ; S.B.E. xvii, p. 219, n. 1 ; xx, p. 11, n. 1.

I. 69 The Visit of the Tathagata 7

who drives away (spiritual) darkness, called forth dread darkness over the nagas. Then comforting those who were distressed 59 by terror he once again spread light abroad. When they saw the Blessed One they joyfully did reverence to the Master's feet. Then preached the Vanquisher to them the 60 doctrine that begets concord, and both [nagas] gladly gave up the throne to the Sage.1 When the Master, having 61 alighted on the earth, had taken his place on a seat there, and had been refreshed with celestial food and drink by the naga-kings, he, the Lord, established in the (three) refuges 2 62 and in the moral precepts 3 eighty kotis of snake- spirits, dwellers in the ocean and on the mainland.

The naga-king Maniakkhika of KalyanI,4 mother's brother 63 to the naga Mahodara, who had come thither to take part in the battle, and who, aforetime, at the Buddha's first coming, 64 having heard the true doctrine preached, had become estab- lished in the refuges and in the moral duties, prayed now to the Tathagata: ' Great is the compassion that thou hast 65 shown us here, O Master ! Hadst thou not appeared we had all been consumed to ashes. May thy compassion yet light also 66 especially on me, O thou who art rich in loving-kindness, in that thou shalt come yet again hither to my dwelling-country ,

0 thou peerless one.' When the Lord had consented by his 67 silence to come thither, he planted the rajayatana-tree on that very spot as a sacred memorial, and the Lord of the Worlds 68 gave over the rajayatana-tree and the precious throne-seat to the naga-kiugs to do homage thereto. ' In remembrance that 69

1 have used these do homage to them,5 ye naga-kings !

1 I. e. the Buddha.

2 I. e. buddha, dhamma, samgha'the Buddha, his doctrine and his community'. The Buddhist confession of faith consists in the words buddham saranam gacchami, dhammam s. g., sam- gham s.g. 'I take my refuge in the B. &c.'

8 The pa iic a silani, which are binding on all Buddhists, are abstention from destruction of life, theft, adultery, lying, and from the use of intoxicating liquors. Cf. note to 18. 10.

4 Now Kselani, name of a river which falls into the sea near Colombo.

5 Lit. ' Do homage to them as to a memorial consisting in objects used by me.'

8 Mahavamsa i. 70

This, well beloved, will bring to pass blessing- and happiness

70 for you.' When the Blessed One had uttered this and other exhortation to the nagas, he, the compassionate saviour of all the world, returned to Jetavana.

Here ends the Visit to Nagadipa.

71 In the third year after this, the naga-king Maniakkhika sought out the Sambuddha and invited him, together with the

72 brotherhood. In the eighth year after he had attained to buddhahood, when the Vanquisher was dwelling in Jetavana,

73 the Master, set forth surrounded by five hundred bhikkhus, on the second day of the beautiful month of Vesakha, at the full- moon, and when the hour of the meal was announced the

74 Vanquisher, prince of the wise, forthwith putting on his robe and taking his alms-bowl went to the Kalyanl country, the

75 habitation of Maniakkhika. Under a canopy decked with gems, raised upon the spot where (afterwards) the Kalyam- cetiya was built, he took his place, together with the brother-

76 hood of bhikkhus, upon a precious throne-seat. And, greatly rejoicing, the naga-king with his following served celestial food, both hard and soft, to the king of truth, the Con- queror, with his followers.

77 When the Teacher, compassionate to the whole world, had preached the doctrine there, he rose, the Master, and left the

78 traces of his footsteps plain to sight on Sumanakuta. And after he had spent the day as it pleased him at the foot of this mountain, with the brotherhood, he set forth for Dlghavapi.1

79 And there the Master seated himself with the brotherhood at the place where the cetiya (thereafter) stood, and gave himself

80 up to meditation, to consecrate the spot. Then arose the Great Sage from that place, and knowing well which places were fit and which unfit he went to the place of the (later) Mahamegha-

81 vanarama.2 After he had seated himself with his disciples at

1 The Dlghavapi is probably the Kandiya-kattu tank in the Eastern Province, about 30 miles SSW. from Batticaloa. A large dagaba is Baid to be in the neighbourhood of the tank. PARKER, Ancient Ceylon, pp. 318, 396.

2 The Mahameghavana was a park south of the capital Anuradha-

I. 84 The Visit of the Tathdgata 9

the place, where the sacred Bodhi-tree came afterwards to be, the Master gave himself up to meditation ; and likewise there where the Great Thupa1 stood (in later days) and there also 82 where (afterwards) the thupa in the Thuparama 2 stood. Then when he rose up from meditation he went to the place of the (later) Silacetiya,3 and after the Leader of the assembly (of 83 bhikkhus) had uttered exhortation to the assembly of devas, he, the Enlightened, who has trodden all the paths of en- lightenment, returned thence to Jetavana.

Thus the Master of boundless wisdom, looking to the 84 salvation of Lanka in time to come, and knowing in that time the highest good for the hosts of asuras and nagas and so forth in Lanka, visited this fair island three times, — he, the compassionate Enlightener of the world; — therefore this isle, radiant with the light of truth, came to high honour among faithful believers.

Here ends the Visit to Kalyani.

Here ends the first chapter, called ' The Visit of the Tathagata \ in the Mabavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

pura and was presented to the priesthood as an arama or monastery by the king Devanampiyatissa. See 15. 8 foil, and note to 11. 2.

1 The Ruwanwseli-dagaba of Anuradhapura. SMITHER, Architec- tural Remains, Anurddhapura, p. 23 foil.; PARKER, Ancient Ceylon, p. 279 foil.

2 A monastery in Anuradhapura. SMITHER, 1. c., p. 1 foil. ; PARKER, 1. c., p. 263 foil. Cf. note to 17. 30.

3 1. e. ' Stone-cetiya,' now Selacaitya in Anuradhapura. SMITHER, I. c., p. 55 ; PARKER, I c., p. 297 foil.

CHAPTER II

THE RACE OF MAHASAMMATA

1 SPRUNG of the race of king Mahilsammata was the Great Sage. For in the beginning of this age of the world there

2 was a king named Mahasammata, and (the kings) Roja and Vararoja, and the two Kalyanakas,1 Uposatha and Mandhatar

3 and the two, Caraka and Upacara, and Cetiya and Mucala and he who bore the name Mahamucala, Mucalinda and Sagara

4 and he who bore the name Sagaradeva; Bharata and Anglrasa and Ruci and also Suruci, Patapa and Mahapatapa

5 and the two Panadas likewise, Sudassana and Neru, two

6 and two ; 2 also Accima. His sons and grandsons, these twenty-eight princes whose lifetime was immeasurably (long),

7 dwelt in Kusavatl, Rajagaha, and Mithila.3 Then followed a hundred kings,4 and (then) fifty-six, and (then) sixty,

1 I. e. Kalyana and Varakalyana. Dip. 3. 6.

2 Panada and Mahapanada, Sudassana and Mahasudassana, Neru and Mahaneru.

8 Kusavatl is the later Kusinara. See note on 3. 2. Rajagaha, now Rajgir, was the capital of Magadha, and Mithila, situated in the Bengal district Tirhut, that of Videha.

4 The dynasties from Accima to Kalarajanaka are dealt with in detail in Dip. 3. 14-37. Besides (i) the number of the princes sprung of each dynasty, the (ii) capital cities of each period, and (iii) the last king of each line are mentioned. The numbers and names are these :

100 at Pakula (?) the last being Arimdana. 56 , Ayujjha , „ Duppasaha.

84,COO 36 32 28 22

Baranasi Kapilanagara Hatthipura Ekacakkhu

Ajitajana. Brahmadatta. Kambalavasabha. Purindadadeva.

Vajira „ „ Sadhina.

Madhura „ ,, Dhammagutta.

II. 15

TJie Eace of Mahasammata

eighty-four thousand, and then further thirty-six, thirty-two, 8 twenty-eight, then further twenty-eight, eighteen, seventeen, fifteen, fourteen ; nine, seven, twelve, then further twenty- 9 five ; and (again) twenty-five, twelve and (again) twelve, and yet again nine and eighty-four thousand with Makhadeva 10 coming at the head, and (once more) eighty-four thousand with Kalarajanaka at the head ; and sixteen even unto 1 1 Okkaka; these descendants (of Mahasammata) reigned in groups in their due order, each one in his capital.

The prince Okkamukha was Okkaka's eldest son; Nipuna, 12 Candima, Candamukha and Sivisamjaya, the great king 13 Vessantara, Jali, and Sihavahana and Sihassara: these were his sons and grandsons. Eighty-two thousand in number were 1 4 the royal sons and grandsons of king Sihassara; Jayasena was the last of them. They are known as the Sakya kings 15 of Kapilavatthu.1 The great king Slhahanu was Jayasena's

18 at Aritthapura the last being Sitthi.

, Indapatta „ „ Brahmadeva.

, Ekacakkhu „

Baladatta.

, Kosambi ,,

, Bhaddadeva.

, Kannagoccha ,,

, Naradeva.

, Rojananagara ,,

, Mahinda.

, Campa „

, Nagadeva.

, Mithila „

, Buddhadatta.

, Rajagaha „

, Dipamkara.

, Takkasila

, Talissara.

, Kusinara ,,

, Purinda.

, Malitthiya ,,

, Sagaradeva.

The son of Sagaradeva was Makhadeva ; the dynasty of Makhadeva (84,000) reigned in Mithila. The last prince was Nemiya, father of Kalarajanaka. These were followed by Samamkura, then by Asoka ; this was followed by a dynasty of 84,000 princes reigning in Baranasl. The last was Vijaya. He was followed by Vijitasena, Dhammasena, Nagasena, Samatha, Disampati, Renu, Kusa, Mahakusa, Navaratha, Dasaratha, Rama, Bilaratha, Cittadassi, Atthadassi, Sujata, Okkaka, and so on. The same in Atthakatha, Mah. T. 81n-8333. The Kanib. Mah., v. 729-789, follows the Tika.

1 The site of Kapilavatthu, the capital of the Sakya tribe and Gotama Buddha's birthplace, is probably the present Tilaura Kot in Nepal. See RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 18 n.

12 Mahavamsa 11. 16

16 son, and Jayasena's daughter was named Yasodhara. In

1 7 Devadaha there was a prince named Devadahasakka, Anjana

and Kaccana were his two children. Kaccana was the first

18 consort of Slhahanu, but the Sakka Anjana's queen was Yasodhara. Anjana had two daughters, Maya and Pajapatl,

19 and also two sons, Dandapani and the Sakiya Suppa-

20 buddha. But Slhahanu had five sons and two daughters: Suddhodana, Dhotodana, Sakka-, Sukka-,1 and Amitodana, and Amita and Pamita ; these were the five sons and two daughters.

21 The royal consort of the Sakka Suppabuddha was Amita;

22 she had two children : Bhaddakaccana and Devadatta. Maya and Pajapatl were Suddhodana's queens, and the son of the great king Suddhodana and of Maya was our Conqueror.

23 Of this race of Mahasammata, thus succeeding, was born, in unbroken line, the Great Sage, he who stands at the head

24 of all men of lordly birth. The consort of the prince Siddhattha, the Bodhisatta, was Bhaddakaccana ; her son was Rahula.

25 Bimbisara and the prince Siddhattha were friends, and

26 friends likewise were the fathers of both. The Bodhisatta was five years older than Bimbisara; twenty-nine years old

27 was he when he left (his father's) house. When he had striven six years and thereafter had attained to wisdom, he,

28 being thirty-five years old, visited Bimbisara. The virtuous Bimbisara was fifteen years old when he was anointed king

29 by his own father, and when sixteen years had gone by since his coming to the throne, the Master preached his doctrine.

30 Two and fifty years he reigned; fifteen years of his reign passed before the meeting with the Conqueror, and yet thirty- seven years (of his reign) followed in the lifetime of the Tathagata.

31 Bimbisara's son, the foolish Ajatasattu, reigned thirty-two

32 years after he, the traitor, had slain (his father). In the eighth year of Ajatasattu the Sage entered into nibbana and thereafter did he, Ajatasattu, reign yet twenty-four years.

1 I. e. Sakkodana and Sukkodana.

II. 33 TJie Eace of Mahasammata 13

The Tathagata, who has reached the summit of all virtue, 33 yielded himself up, albeit free, into the power of imperma- nence. He who shall contemplate this (same) dread-begetting impermanence shall attain unto the end of suffering.

Here ends the second chapter, called e The Race of Maha- sammata ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

CHAPTER III

THE FIRST COUNCIL

1 WHEN the Conqueror the incomparable, he who has the five eyes/ had lived eighty-four years and had fulfilled all his

2 duties in the world, in all ways, then at Kusinara2 in the holy place between the two sala-trees,3 on the full-moon day of the month Vesakha, was the light of the world ex- tinguished.

3 Beyond all reckoning in numbers, did bhikkhus assemble there and khattiyas and brahmans, vessas and suddas, and

4 gods likewise. Seven hundred thousand leading bhikkhus were among them, the thera Mahakassapa was at that time the samghatthera.

5 When he had performed all rites due to the (dead) body of the Master and the bodily relics, the great thera, desiring that

6 the doctrine of the Master might long endure, did, seven days after the Lord of the World, gifted with the ten powers,4 had passed into nibbana, bethinking him of the evil words of the

7 aged Subhadda 5 and also bethinking him that he (the Master)

1 The five eyes possessed by the Buddha ara the bodily eyes (mamsacakkhu), the heavenly eye (dibba0) by which he sees every- thing that comes to pass in the universe, the eye of understanding (knowledge), the eye of omniscience, and finally the Buddha-eye by means of which he beholds the saving truth.

2 A town of the clan of the Mallas, in the territory of the present Nepal.

3 Shorea Robusta.

4 On the dasa balani, ten kinds of knowledge, peculiar to a Buddha, see KERN, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 62 ; CHILDERS, P./)., s.v. balam.

0 Vuddha = vuddhapabbajita 'who had not become a monk till he was old '. On the speech of Subhadda, see C.V. XL 1. 1 = Vin. PH. ii. 284. KERN, I I, pp. 101-102.

in. 15 The First Council 15

had given him his garment/ and had (thereby) made him equal with himself, and (bethinking him) that the Sage had com- manded the establishing of the holy truth, and (lastly) that 8 the Sambuddha's consent existed to make a compilation of the holy dhamma2 appointed to this end five hundred eminent 9 bhikkhus, who had overcome the asavas,3 repeaters of the nine- fold doctrine and versed in all its separate parts ; but there was one less (than five hundred) because of the thera Ananda.4 And the thera Ananda also, again and again entreated by 10 the bhikkhus, resolved to (join with them in) that compilation of the dhamma, for it was not possible without him.

When these theras, pitiful toward the whole world, had 11 passed half a month — seven days in the funeral ceremonies and seven in homage of the relics — and had resolved thus : 1 2 ' Spending the rainy season in Rajagaha, we will make a com- pilation of the dhamma, no other (monks) must be permitted to dwell there ' ; and when they had made their pilgrimage 1 3 over Jambudlpa,5 consoling here and there the sorrowing people, they, moved with desire that the good might long 14 endure,6 betook them in the bright half of the month Asalha to Rajagaha, (the city) richly provided with the four things needful.7

After the theras, with Mahakassapa at the head, unwavering 1 5 in virtue, familiar with the thought of the Sambuddha,

1 The Buddha gave his garment to Kassapa. On the second saram depend civaradanam 'the giving of the robe', and samatte thapanam 'putting on a footing of equality ', and then further anuggaham katam and anumatim satim (Ace. Si. F. of Part. Pres. of atthi). Cf. Mah. ed., pp. xxx and li.

2 Katum saddhammasamgitim. Cf. the note on 3. 17.

3 Khinasava 'one in whom the four asavas are extinct' is the epithet of an arahant. On asava, see RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues of the Buddha, i. 92 ; ii. 28.

4 A place must be kept for Ananda.

5 The continent of India.

6 A play upon the word sukkapakkha, used in the sense, 'bright half of the month,' and also ' pure, holy side or party '.

7 The four pace ay a of a bhikkhu are clothing, food given as alms, a dwelling-place, and medicines.

16 Mahavamsa I IT. 16

1 6 had arrived at that place to spend the rainy season there, they busied themselves during the first of the rain-months with repairing all the dwellings, when they had announced this to Ajatasattu.

1 7 When the repair of the vihara was finished they said to the

1 8 king : f Now we will hold the council/ l To the question, ' What should be done ? ' they answered : ' A place (should be pro- vided) for the meetings/ When the king had asked : ' Where (these were to be) ? ' and the place had been pointed out by them,

19 he with all speed had a splendid hall built by the side of the Vebhara Rock by the entrance of the Sattapanni grotto, (and

20 it was) like to the assembly-hall of the gods. When it was adorned in every way he caused precious mats to be spread

2 1 according to the number of the bhikkhus. Placed on the south side and facing the north a lofty and noble seat was prepared

22 for the thera, and in the middle of the hall a high seat was prepared for the preacher,2 facing the east and worthy of the blessed (Buddha) himself.

23 So the king bade them tell the theras : cMy work is finished,' and the theras addressed the thera Ananda, the joy-bringer :

24 t To-morrow, Ananda, the assembly (comes together) ; it be- hoves thee not to take part in it since thou art still preparing thee (for the highest state),3 therefore strive thou, unwearied

25 in good/ Thus spurred on, the thera put forth due effort

1 Dhammasamgiti is the term for assembly of the church, council. The original meaning is general recitation of the canonical texts which, indeed, takes place in an assembly of the church and in the following manner : an eminent thera recites the texts sentence by sentence and the assembly repeats them after him in chorus. In this way dhammasamgiti is connected with dhamma- samgaha, by which we understand a settling or redaction of the canonical texts, which also can only be carried out in the manner stated. Comp. J.P.T.S. 1909, pp. 31, 32.

2 Thera sana is the seat for the president, who directs the assembly; dhammasana the same for the monk who recites, the word uttama is to be taken literally.

3 Still a sekha, i.e. not an arahant, who has reached the highest degree. This is preceded by seven grades of preparation ; he who is still at one of these is sekha 'a learner'. See J.P.T.S. 1909, p. 217.

in. 36 The First Council 17

and reached the state of an arahant without being confined to any one of the four postures.1

On the second day of the second month of the rainy season 26 the bhikkhus met together in that splendid hall. Leaving a 27 fitting place vacant for Ananda, the arahants seated themselves on chairs, according to their rank. The thera Ananda, to make 28 known to them that he had reached the state of an arahant, went not with them thither. But when some asked : Where is the thera Ananda ? he took the seat prepared for him, 29 rising out of the ground or passing through the air.2

Together the theras chose the thera Upali to speak for3 the 30 vinaya, for the rest of the dhamma4 they chose Ananda. The great thera (Mahakassapa) laid on himself (the task) of 3 1 asking questions touching the vinaya and the thera Upali (was ready) to explain it.

Sitting in the thera's chair, the former asked the latter the 32 questions touching the vinaya ; and Upali, seated in the preacher's chair, expounded (the matter). And as this best 33 master of the vinaya expounded each (clause) in turn all (the bhikkhus) knowing the custom, repeated the vinaya after him.

Then the thera (Mahakassapa) taking (the task) upon himself 34 questioned concerning the dhamma, him 5 the chief of those who had most often heard (the word), him the treasure- keeper6 of the Great Seer (the Buddha); and the thera 35 Ananda, taking (the task) upon himself, taking his seat in the preacher's chair, expounded the whole dhamma. And 36

1 Lit. fiee from the iriyapatha; the four postures of an ascetic are understood here. They are described as: standing, sitting, walking, lying down. Ananda became an arahant at the moment when he was on the point of lying down.

2 Lit. ' the path of the light.' Ananda shows that he can use the miraculous powers particular to an arahant.

3 Lit. 'as burden bearer for.' Cf. B.R., Skt. Wib., s.v. dhuram- dhara (4).

4 The vinaya contains the rules of monastic discipline, the dhamma the dogmatic teaching.

5 I. e. Ananda.

6 Kosarakkha, according to the Tika = dhammabhanda- garika, i.e. treasurer of the truth or the true doctrine.

1 8 Mahavam sa I II. 3 7

all the (theras) knowing all that was contained in the doc- trine repeated the dhamma in 'turn after the sage of the Videha country.

37 Thus in seven months was that compiling of the dhamma to save the whole world completed by those (theras) bent on

38 the whole world's salvation. 'The thera Mahakassapa has made the blessed Buddha's message to endure five hundred

39 years/ rejoicing in this thought, at the end of the council,

40 the earth encircled by the ocean trembled six times and many wondrous signs were shown in the world in many ways. Now since the canon was compiled by the theras it was called the

4 1 Thera tradition.1 The theras who had held the First Council and had (thereby) brought great blessing to the world, having lived their allotted span of life, entered, all, into nibbana.

4 2 Also the theras who have overcome darkness with the light of insight, those great shining lights in the conquest of the world's darkness, have been extinguished by the dread tempest of death. Therefore will the wise man renounce the joy of life.

Here ends the third chapter, called ( The First Council ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 The oldest account of the First Council is contained in the C.V. XI (OLDENBERG, the Vin. Pit. ii, p. 284 foil.) ; Vinaya Texts, iii (S.B.E. xx), p. 370 foil.

CHAPTEE IV

THE SECOND COUNCIL

WHEN Ajatasattu's son Udayabhaddaka l had slain him he, 1 the traitor, reigned sixteen years. Udayabhaddaka's son 2 Anuruddhaka slew (his father) and Anuruddha's son named Munda did likewise. Traitors and fools, these (sons) reigned 3 over the kingdom; in the reign of these two (kings) eight years elapsed.

Hun-la's son Nagadasaka slew his father and then did the 4 evildoer reign twenty-four years.

Then were the citizens wroth, saying : ' This is a dynasty 5 of parricides/ and when they had banished the king Nagada- saka they met together and (since) the minister known by the 6 name Susunaga was proved to be worthy, they anointed him king, mindful of the good of all. He reigned as king eighteen 7 years. His son Kalasoka reigned twenty-eight years. At the 8 end of the tenth year of Kalasoka's reign a century had gone by since the parinibbana of the Sambuddha.

At that time in Vesall many bhikkhus of the Vajji-clan 2 9 did shamelessly teach that the Ten Points 3 were lawful, namely ' Salt in the horn', ' Two fingers' breadth', 'Visiting 10

1 In the Sinhalese MSS. this name appears in the form c Udayi- bhaddaka1. Cf. D. 1. 5025 Udayibh0 or Udayabh0 (E. MULLER, J.P.T.S. 1888, p. 14). The Dip. 4. 38, 5. 97, 11. 8 has Uda-ya(bhadda).

2 On the confederacy of the Vajjis see RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, pp. 25-26. On Vesali, ibid., p. 40. According to V. SMITH (Early History of India, p. 27, n. 1 ; J.R.A.S. 1902, p. 267 foil.) its site is the modern Basar (N. lat. 25° 58' 20", E. long. 85° 11' 30") in the District Muzaffarpur, north of Patna.

5 The history of the Second Council is also given in the C.V. XII. Cf. Vinaya Texts, iii (S.B.E. xx\ pp. 386 foil. Here C.V. XII. 1. 9 ; 2. 8) the single points are explained:

(i) Sihgilonakappa, the custom of putting salt in a horn vessel, in order to season unsalted foods, when received.

(ii) Dvangulakappa, the custom of taking the midday meal,

c 2

20 Malidvamsa IV. 11

the village ', ' Dwelling ', ' Consent ', ' Example', ' Unchurned

1 1 milk ', ' Unfermented palm-wine ', ' Seat without fringe ', < Gold and so forth '.

When this came to the ears of the thera Yasa, the son of

12 the brahman Kakandaka, gifted with the six supernormal powers,1 who was wandering about in the Vajji country, he betook himself to the Mahavana (vihara) 2 with the resolve to

13 settle the matter. In the upo?atha-hall those (monks) had placed a vessel made of metal and filled with water and had said to the lay-folk : ' Bestow on the brotherhood kahapanas 3

14 and so on.' The thera forbade them with the words 'This is unlawful ; give nothing ! ' Then did they threaten the thera

even after the prescribed time, as long as the sun's shadow had not passed the meridian by more than two-fingers' breadth.

(iii) Gamantarakappa, the custom of going into the village, after the meal, and there eating again, if invited.

(iv) Avasakappa, the custom of holding the nposatha-feast separ- ately by bhikkhus dwelling in the same district.

(v) Anumatikappa, the carrying out of official acts by an in- complete chapter, on the supposition that the consent of absent bhikkhus was obtained afterwards.

(vi) Acinnakappa, the custom of doing something because of the preceptor's practice.

(vii) Amathitakappa, taking unchurned milk, even after the mealtime.

(viii) Jalogikappa, drinking unfermented palm-wine.

(ix) Adas.akam nisidanam, the use of mats to sit on which were not of the prescribed size, if they were without fringe.

(x) Jataruparajatam, accepting gold and silver.

1 Chalabhinna. The six abhinna are (i) the power of iddhi, (ii) the heavenly ear, i. e. supranormal power of hearing, (iii) the power to read the thoughts of others, (iv) the knowledge of former existences, (v) the heavenly eye. i. e. supranormal power of seeing, (vi) the abandonment of the asavas. The last of these abhinna is one of the signs of an arahant. See RHYS DAVIDS, Dialogues of the Buddha, i. 62; AUNG, Compendium of Philosophy, pp. 60-63; 224 foil.

2 The Mahavana-monastery is mentioned by Fa-Hian. See BEAL, Buddhist Records of the Western World, i, p. 52.

3 Kahapana(Skr. karsapana) is a square copper coin, weighing 1464 grains = 948 grams. See RAPSON, Indian Coins, p. 2 ; RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 100.

iv. 25 The Second Council 21

Yasa with the penance called the Craving of pardon from lay- folk.1 He asked for one to bear him company and went 15 with him into the city proclaiming1 to the citizens, that his teaching was according to the dhamma.

When the bhikkhus heard what (Yasa's) companion had to 16 tell, they came to thrust him out and surrounded the thera's house. The thera left it, rising up and passing through the 17 air, and halting at Kosambl, he forthwith sent messengers to the bhikkhus of Pava and Avanti; 2 he himself went to the 18 Ahogahga-mountain and related all to the thera Sambhuta Sanavasi.3

Sixty great theras from Pava and eighty from Avanti, all 19 free from the asavas,4 came together on the Ahogahga. The bhikkhus who met together here from this and that region 20 were in all ninety thousand. When they had all conferred together they, knowing that the deeply learned thera Revata 21 of Soreyya5 who was free from the asavas, was the chief among them at that time, went thence to seek him out.

When the thera heard this resolution (by his divine ear) he 22 set out at once, wishing to travel easily,6 upon the way to Vesall. Arriving day by day in the evening at the spot 23 whence the sage had departed in the morning (the theras) met him (at last) at Sahajati.

There the thera Yasa, as the thera Sambhuta had 24 charged him to do, at the end of the recital of the sacred word, addressing himself to the great thera Revata, ques- tioned him on the Ten Points. The thera rejected them, and 25

1 Patisaraniyakamina, see KERN, Manual, p. 87, note 8.

2 Kosambi on the Yamuna was the capital of the Vatsas or Vamsas. Pava that of the Mallas ; Avanti was the region of Ujjeni ; RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, pp. 36, 26, 28. Instead of Paveyyaka some of the Sinhalese MSS. read Patheyyaka. But also at M.V. VII. 1. 1 ( = Ftn. Pit. i. 2535) the Burmese MSS. have Paveyyaka.

3 See Fin. Texts, iii (S.B.E. xx), p. 394, note 2.

4 Anasava, see p. 15, n. 3.

5 Not far from Takkasila in W. India, see Parajika, 1. 4 (Fm. Pit. iii, p. 11) ; KERN, Manual, p. 36.

6 Cf. for the detailed description, C.V. XII. 1. 9 = Fm. Texts, iii (S.B.E. xx), p. 396.

22 MaMvamsa IV. 26

when he had heard the matter, he said : ' Let us make an end (of this dispute)/

26 The heretical bhikkhus, too, in order to win support, sought the thera Revata. Preparing in abundance the things needful

27 for ascetics/ they took ship with all speed and went to Saha- jati, bestowing food sumptuously when the mealtime came.2

28 The thera Salha, free from the asavas, who lived at Sahajati, having thought on the matter, perceived : ' Those of Pavii

29 hold the true doctrine/ And the great god Brahma drew near to him and said : ( Stand thou firm in the doctrine/ and he replied that he would ever stand firm in the doctrine.

30 They3 took those needful things (that they had brought as gifts) and sought the thera Revata, but the thera did not take their part and dismissed (the pupil) who took their part.4

31 They went thence to Vesali, shameless they went from there

32 to Pupphapura,5 and told king Kalasoka : ( Guarding our Master's perfumed chamber we dwell in the Mahavana-vihara

33 in the Vajji territory; but bhikkhus dwelling in the country are coming, great king, with the thought : We will take the vihara for ourselves. Forbid them ! '

34 When they had thus misled the king they went (back) to Vesali. Here in Sahajati eleven hundred and ninety thou-

35 sand bhikkhus were come together under the thera Revata,

36 to bring the dispute to a peaceful end. And the thera would not end the dispute save in the presence of those with whom

1 Samanaka parikkhara (as a gift to Revata) is that which a monk is allowed to call his own, such as robes, the alms-bowl, &c. Cf. CHILDERS, s.v. parikkharo.

2 The underlying meaning is that they indulged in riotous living on their journey. Vissagga has the implied sense of something rich and luxuriant. The Tika paraphrases bhattavissaggam with bhattaparivesanam, bhattaparibhogam.

3 I. e. the Vajjian monks.

4 On this passage see Mah. ed., pp. xxv-xxvi. However, I now prefer the reading pakkhagahim, since the passage evidently refers to Revata's disciple Uttara (C.V. XII. 2. 3), who allowed himself to be won over by the Vajjian monks.

5 Pupphapura, the City of Flowers, a name of Pataliputta (now Patna), capital at that time of the kingdom of Magadha.

iv. 48 The Second Council 23

it had begun ; l therefore all the bhikkhus went thence to Vesall.

The misguided king likewise sent his ministers thither, but 37 led astray by the design of the devas they went elsewhere. And the monarch, when he had sent them, saw himself 38 in a dream, that night, hurled into the hell called Loha- kumbhi. The king was sorely terrified and, to calm his fears, 39 his sister, Nanda, the theii free from the asavas, came to him, passing through the air.

' An ill deed is this that thou hast done! Reconcile thee 40 with these venerable bhikkhus, the true believers. Placing thyself on their side, protect thou their faith. If thou dost 41 so, blessed art thou ! ' she said, and thereon vanished. And forthwith in the morning the king set out to go to Vesali. He went to the Mahavana (monastery), assembled the con- 42 aTeo-ation of the bhikkhus there, and when he had heard what

£"> O •*

was said by both of the (opposing) sides, and had decided, himself, for the true faith, when moreover this prince was 43 reconciled with all the rightly believing bhikkhus and had declared that he was for the right belief, he said : ' Do what 44 ye think well to further the doctrine/ and when he had pro- mised to be their protector, he returned to his capital.

Thereafter the brotherhood came together to decide upon 45 those points ; then, in the congregation (of monks), aimless 2 words were spent. Then the thera Revata, who went into the 46 midst of the brotherhood, resolved to settle the matter by means of an ubbahika.3 He appointed four bhikkhus from 47 the East, and four from Pava, for the ubbahika to set the dispute to rest. Sabbakami and Salha, one named Khujjaso- 48 bhita, and Vasabhagamika, these were the theras from the

1 Mulatthehi vina, lit. ' without those who were at the root.'

2 Anaggani bhassani 'aimless' or 'inexact' speeches. The reading anaggani bhassani (Ed. Col. nantani bh°) is confirmed by C.V. IV. 14. 19 and XII. 2. 7.

5 Ubbahikaya 'by means of a Eeferat\ the settlement of a dis- pute being laid in the hands of certain chosen brethren. For the rule on this, see C.V. IV. 14. 19 ff. ; Vin. Texts, iii (S.B.E. xx), p. 49 ff.

24 Mahavamsa IV. 49

49 East; Revata, Sanasambhuta, Yasa, the son of Kakandaka, and Sumana, these were the four theras from Pava.

50 Now to decide on those points the eight theras who were free from the asavas betook them to the quiet and solitary

5 1 Valikarama. There, in the beautiful spot prepared for them by the young Ajita,1 the great theras took up their abode, they who

52 knew the thoughts of the Greatest of Sages. And the great thera Revata, skilled in questioning, questioned the thera

53 Sabbakami successively on each one of those points. Questioned by him the great thera Sabbakami thus gave judgment : ' All

54 these points are unlawful, according to tradition/ And when, in due order, they had ended (their task) in this place, they did all again, in like manner, with question and answer, in the

55 presence of the brotherhood. And thus did the great theras refute the teaching of those ten thousand heretical bhikkhus who maintained the Ten Points.

56 Sabbakami was then the samghatthera on the earth, one hundred and twenty years did he number since his upasam- pada.

57 Sabbakami and Salha, Revata, Khujjasobhita, Yasa, the son of Kakandaka, and Sambhuta Sanavasika, the six theras,

58 were pupils of the thera Ananda; but Vasabhagamika and

59 Sumana, the two theras, were pupils of the thera Anuruddha. These eight fortunate theras had beheld the Tathagata in

60 time past. One hundred and twelve thousand bhikkhus had come together, and of all these bhikkhus the thera Revata then was the chief.

61 At that time the thera Revata, in order to hold a council, that the true faith might long endure, chose seven hundred

62 out of all that troop of bhikkhus ; (those chosen were) arahants endowed with the four special sciences, under- standing of meanings and so forth,2 knowing the tipitaka.

1 The reading daharenajitenettha is confirmed by C.V. XII. 2. 7: atha kho samgho ayasinantam pi Ajitam sammanni theranam bhikkhunam asanapannapakam (Vin. Pit. ii. 30534).

8 Pabhinnatthadinananam is explained in the Tika as atthapatisambhidadipabhedagatanananam; atthadippa- bhedagatehi patisambhidananehi samannagatanam ti

TV. 66 TJie Second Council 25

All these (theras met) in the Valikarama protected by 63 Kalasoka, under the leadership of the thera Revata, (and) compiled the dhamma.1 Since they accepted the dhamma 64 already established in time past and proclaimed afterward, they completed their work in eight months.

When these theras of high renown had held the Second 65 Council, they, since in them all evil had perished, attained in course of time unto nibbana.

When we bethink us of the death of the sons of the 66 Universal Teacher, who were gifted with perfect insight, who had attained all that is to attain, who had conferred blessings on (the beings of) the three forms of existence,2 then may we lay to heart the entire vanity of all that comes into being 3 and vigilantly strive (after deliverance).

Here ends the fourth chapter, called ' The Second Council ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

attho; adiggahanenettha dhammapatisambhidadini na- nani gahitani. The compound means therefore literally, 'who possess the specialized knowledge of the attha and so forth,1 that is, the four patisambhida. By this term is understood 'a transcendent faculty in grasping the meaning of a text or subject (attha) ; in grasping the Law of all things as taught by the Buddha (dhamma) ; in exegesis (nirutti); readiness in expounding and discussion (patibhana) '. See Patisambhida-magga 1. 88.

1 Akarum dhammasamgaham. See note to 3. 17.

2 The three forms of existence are kamabhava, rupabhava, arupabhava 'sensual existence, corporeal existence, formless exist- ence1 (CHILDERS, P.D. s. vv.), that is, existences in the three worlds so named, which together form that part of the universe called the sattaloka, 'world of beings.' In this the kamaloka includes the eleven lowest worlds, the rupaloka the sixteen higher, and the arupaloka the four highest, celestial worlds.

3 Samkhatasarakattam : samkhata is a synonym of sam- khara, and means in the widest sense the material and transitory world. See CHILDERS, s. v. samkharo.

CHAPTER V

THE THIRD COUNCIL

1 THAT redaction of the true dhamma, which was arranged at the beginning by the great theras Mahakassapa and others,

2 is called that of the theras. One and united was the school of the theras in the first hundred years. But afterwards

3 arose other schools of doctrine.1 The heretical bhikkhus, subdued by the theras who had held the Second Council,2 in

4 all ten thousand, founded the school which bears the name Mahasamghika.3

From this arose the Gokulika and Ekavyoharika (schools).

5 From the Gokulika arose the Pannatti sect and the Bahulika, from these the Cetiya sect. (Thus) there are six, with

G the Mahasamghika, and yet two more (groups) parted from the followers of the Thera-doctrine : the Mahimsasaka and

7 the Vajjiputtaka bhikkhus. And there parted from them likewise the Dhammuttariya and the Bhadrayanika bhikkhus, the Chandagarika, the SammitI and the Vaj jiputtiya bhikkhus.

8 From the Mahimsasaka bhikkhus two (groups) parted, the bhikkhus who held by the Sabbattha-school and the Dhamma-

9 guttika bhikkhus. From the Sabbattha sect arose the Kassa- piya, from these arose the Samkantika bhikkhus, from these

10 last the Sutta sect. These are twelve together with (those of) the Thera-doctrine; thereto are added the six schools named and these together are eighteen.

11 Thus in the second century arose seventeen schools, and

12 other schools arose afterwards. The Hemavata and the

1 Aoariyavada stands in contrast to theravada. This latter is the true and orthodox church community, the other expresses collectively the various sects which arose in the course of time.

2 Tehi samgitikarehi therehi dutiyehi, lit. 'by those the second council-holding theras '.

8 I. e. the ' Great Community '.

v. 21 Hie Third Council 27

Rajagiriya and likewise the Siddhatthaka, the first Seliya bhikkhus, the other Seliya, and the Vajiriya : these six 13 separated (from the rest) in Jambudipa, the DhammarucI and the Sagaliya separated (from the rest) in the island of Lanka.1

Here ends the Story of the Acariya-schools.

The sons of Kalasoka were ten brothers, twenty-two years 14 did they reign. Afterwards, the nine Nandas 2 were kings in 15 succession ; they too reigned twenty-two years.

Then did the brahman Canakka 3 anoint a glorious youth, 1 G known by the name Candagutta, as king over all Jambudipa, 1 7 born of a noble clan, the Moriyas, when, filled with bitter hate, he had slain the ninth (Nanda) Dhanananda.

Twenty-four years he reigned, and his son Bindusara reigned 18 twenty- eight. A hundred glorious sons and one had Bindu- sara; 4 Asoka5 stood high above them all in valour, splendour, 19 might, and wondrous powers. He, when he had slain his 20 ninety-nine brothers born of different mothers, won the undivided sovereignty over all Jambudlpa. Be it known, 21 that two hundred and eighteen years had passed from the nibbana of the Master unto Asoka's consecration.

1 The Nikaya-samgraha (ed. WICKREMASINGHE, pp. II32 and 139j informs us that the DhammarucI branched off from the Thera- vTiclins 454 years A. B., and the Sagaliya from the former 795 years A. B. The former event took place under Vala-gam-ba (Vattagamani Abhaya, see Mah. 33. 95 ff.), and the latter under Gothabhaya (see Mah. 36. 110 if.).

2 The Mah. Tika, pp. 117-119, gives a detailed account of the Nanda dynasty; also Kamb. Mah. V. 953-994.

3 On the Moriya dynasty and on Canakka and Candagutta see Mah. Tfka, pp. 119-123; Kamb. Mah. V. 995-1090. Candragupta's minister, Canakya, is also known to play an important part in the Mudraraksasa. See SYLVAIN LEVI, Le Theatre Indien, pp. 226 ff. A work on politics, ascribed to him, the Kautiliyasastra, still exists. HILLEBRANDT, Uber das Kautiliyasastra und Verwandtes. Cp. also LA. 38, 1909, pp. 257 ff.

4 On Bindusara and on Candagutta's death see Mah. Tika, pp. 124, 125; Kamb. Mah. V. 1092-1128.

5 On Asoka's birth and early youth, see Mah. Tika, pp. 125-128 ; Kamb. Mah. V. 1129-1198.

28 MaJiavamsa V. 22

22 Four years after the famous (Asoka) had won for himself the undivided sovereignty he consecrated himself as king in

23 the city Pataliputta. Straightway after his consecration his command spread so far as a yojana (upward) into the air and downward into the (depths of the) earth.1

24 Day by day did the devas bring eight men's loads of water of (the lake) Anotatta ; the king dealt it out to his people.

25 From the Himalaya did the devas bring for cleansing the teeth twigs of naga-creeper, enough for many thousands,

26 healthful fruits, myrobalan and terminalia and mango- fruits from the same place, perfect in colour, smell, and

27 taste. The spirits of the air2 brought garments of five colours, and yellow stuff for napkins, and also celestial drink

28 from the Chaddanta-lake.3 Out of the naga-kingdom the nagas (brought) stuff, coloured like the jasmine-blossom and without a seam, and celestial lotus-flowers and colly rium and

29 unguents; parrots brought daily from the Chaddanta-lake

30 ninety thousand waggon-loads of rice.4 Mice converted this rice, unbroken, into grains without husk or powder, and

3 1 therewith was meal provided for the royal family. Perpetually did honey-bees prepare honey for him, and in the forges bears

32 swung the hammers. Karavika-birds, graceful and sweet

33 of voice, came and made delightful music for the king. And being consecrated king, Asoka raised his youngest brother Tissa, son of his own mother, to the office of vice-regent.

Here ends the Consecration of the pious Asoka.

34 ( Asoka' s) father had shown hospitality to sixty thousand

1 The sense of this passage, not rightly understood up to the present time, is evidently this : not only men upon the earth but also the spirits of the air and the earth heard and obeyed Asoka's command.

2 The marii (Skt. marut) in contrast to the deva in 24.

3 Hera follow two spurious verses, 'To die(?) in this city there came gazelles, boars, birds into the kitchens and willingly perished. Leopards were used to take the herds to pasture and lead them to their stalls, gazelles and boars were used to watch over fields, plots, and ponds and so forth.'

4 On parrots furnishing hill paddy, see Jdt. i, pp. 3251-3, 3276 foil. ; MORRIS, J.P.T.S. 1884, p. 107.

V. 46 Hie Tliird Council 29

brahmans, versed in the Brahma-doctrine, and in like manner he himself nourished them for three years. But when he 35 saw their want of self-control at the distribution of food he commanded his ministers saying : ' (Hereafter) I will give according- to my choice.' The shrewd (king) bade (them) 36 bring the followers of the different schools into his presence, tested them in an assembly, and gave them to eat, and sent them thence when he had entertained them.

As he once, standing at the window, saw a peaceful ascetic, 37 the samanera Nigrodha, passing along the street, he felt kindly toward him. The youth was the son of prince 38 Sumana, the eldest brother of all the sons of Bindusara.

When Bindusara had fallen sick Asoka left the govern- 39 ment of Ujjeni conferred on him by his father, and came to Pupphapura,1 and when he had made himself master of 40 the city, after his father's death, he caused his eldest brother to be slain and took on himself the sovereignty in the splendid city.

The consort of prince Sumana, who bore the same name 41 (Sumanfi), being with child, fled straightway by the east gate and went to a candala village, and there the guardian 42 god of a nigrodha-tree 2 called her by her name, built a hut and gave it to her. And as, that very day, she bore a 43 beautiful boy, she gave to her son the name Nigrodha, enjoying the protection of the guardian god. When the 44 headman of the candalas saw (the mother), he looked on her as his own wife, and kept her seven years with honour. Then, 45 as the thcra Mahavaruna saw that the boy bore the signs of his destiny,3 the arahant questioned his mother and ordained 46 him, and even in the room where they shaved him4 he

1 See note to 4. 31. UJJENI, Skr. Ujjayini, now Ujjain in the Gwalior State, Central India, was the old capital of Avanti. RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 3 foil.

2 Nigrodha = Ficus Indica, banyan-tree.

3 Upanissaya includes all those qualities, aptitudes and marks of an individual, which show that he is qualified to attain ara- hantship.

4 The shaving of the hair is one of the ceremonies at the reception of a novice into the order.

30 Mahavamsa v. 47

attained to the state of arahant. Going thence to visit his

47 royal mother, he entered the splendid city by the south gate, and following the road that led to that village, he passed

48 (on his way) the king's court. Well pleased was the king by his grave bearing, but kindly feeling arose in him also by reason of a former life lived together.

49 Now once, in time past, there were three brothers, traders in honey ; one was used to sell the honey, two to get the

50 honey. A certain paccekabuddha was sick of a wound; and another paccekabuddha, who, for his sake, wished for honey,

51 came even then to the city on his usual way for seeking alms. A maiden, who was going for water to the river-bank, saw

52 him. When she knew, from questioning him, that he wished for honey, she pointed with hand outstretched and said : ' Yonder is a honey-store, sir, go thither.1

53 The trader, with believing heart, gave to the buddha who came there a bowlful of honey, so that it ran over the edge.

54 As he saw the honey filling (the bowl) and flowing over the edge, and streaming down to the ground, he, full of faith,

55 wished: 'May I, for this gift, come by the undivided sove- reignty of Jambudipa, and may my command reach forth a yojana (upward) into the air and (downward) under the earth.

56 To his brothers as they came, he said: ' To a man of such and such a kind have I given honey ; agree thereto since the

57 honey is yours also/ The eldest brother said grudgingly : ( It was surely a candala, for the candalas ever clothe them-

58 selves in yellow garments.' The second said: 'Away with thy paccekabuddha over the sea ! ' But when they heard his promise to let them participate of the reward, they gave their

59 sanction. Then the (maid who) had pointed out the store wished that she might become the royal spouse of the (first), and (desired) a lovely form with limbs of perfect outline.1

60 Asoka was he who gave the honey, the queen Asamdhi- mitta was the maid, Nigrodha he who uttered the word ' candala', Tissa he who had wished him away over the sea.2

61 He who had uttered the word ' candfila' lived (in expiation

1 Adissamanasamdhi means literally ' with invisible joints '.

2 Paravadi, lit. ' who had spoken of the further shore.'

v. 69 The Third Council 31

thereof) in a candala village, but because he had desired deliverance, he also, even in the seventh year, attained unto deliverance.1

The king, in whom kindly feelings had arisen towards that 62 same (Nigrodha), summoned him in all haste into his presence; but he came staidly and calmly thither. And the king said 63 to him : ' Sit, my dear, upon a fitting seat.' Since he saw no other bhikkhu there he approached the royal throne. Then, 64 as he stepped toward the throne, the king thought : ' To-day, this sfimanera will be lord in my house ! ' Leaning on the 65 king's hand he (the monk) mounted the throne and took his seat on the royal throne under the white canopy. And seeing 66 him seated there king Asoka rejoiced greatly that he had honoured him according to his rank.2 "When he had refreshed 67 him with hard and soft foods prepared for himself he questioned the samanera concerning the doctrine taught by the Sambuddha. Then the samanera preached to him the 'Appamadavagga'.3 68

And when the lord of the earth had heard him he was won to the doctrine of the Conqueror, and he said to (Nigrodha) : 69 ' My dear, I bestow on thee eight perpetual supplies of food/ And he answered : ' These will I bestow on my master.' 4

1 The stop should be put after a si. Pa tthesi refers to the existence as m a d h u v a n i j a. When the eldest b rother had transferred the p a 1 1 i ('reward') to his younger brothers each one of them uttered a patthana, that of the third was mokkha, i.e. the attainment of arahantship.

2 Sambhavetvana gunato is an allusion to 63. The king leaves it to Nigrodha to choose his own place since he does not know his rank. From the fact of Nigrodha's seating himself on the throne Asoka perceives that a monk of the highest rank is before him, and he rejoices that he did not assign a lower place to him.

3 I. e. the section entitled ' unwearying zeal '. There are eleven minor vaggas in the Samyutta-Nikaya, bearing this title, and nine Appamadasuttas.

4 Upajjhayassa. Every novice on his entrance into the order chooses an upajjhaya ' a master', and an acariya 'teacher'. It appears from M.V. 1. 25. 6 ff., 32. 1 if., that there is no difference between the functions of the two. The acariya seems, according to M.V. I. 32. 1, to be only the deputy or substitute of the upaj- jhaya.

32 Mahdvamsa v. 70

70 When again eight (supplies) were bestowed on him he allotted these to his teacher ; and when yet eight more were bestowed

71 he gave them to the community of bhikkhus. And when yet again eight were bestowed, he, full of understanding, consented to accept them. Together with thirty-two bhik-

72 khus, he went on the following day, and when he had been served by the king with his own hands, and had preached the doctrine to the ruler, he confirmed him with many of his train in the refuges and precepts of duty.1

Here ends the Visit of the samanera Nigrodha.

73 Thereon the king, with glad faith, doubled day by day (the number) of bhikkhus (receiving bounty), till they were

74 sixty thousand. Putting aside the sixty thousand teachers of false doctrine,2 he bestowed alms perpetually on sixty thousand bhikkhus in his house.

75 Having commanded costly foods, hard and soft, to be prepared speedily, in order to feast the sixty thousand bhik-

76 khus, and having caused the town to be gaily decked, he went to the brotherhood and bade them to his house ; and after he had brought them thither, had bestowed hospitality on them and largely provided them with the things needful

77 for ascetics,3 he questioned them thus: ' How great is (the content of) the dhamma taught by the Master ? ' And the thera Moggaliputta-Tissa answered him upon this matter.

78 When he heard : * There are eighty-four (thousand) sections of the dhamma/ the king said : ' Each one of them will I honour with a vihara.'

79 Then bestowing ninety-six kotis (of money) in eighty-four

80 thousand towns, the ruler bade the kings all over the earth

1 See note to 1. 32.

2 Titthiyanam. Those whom his father (according to v. 34) had already supported and whom Asoka did in fact entertain, with certain changes. He now gradually substituted Buddhist monks. Verses 73 and 74 are suspicious, since the Tlka does not comment on them.

3 Sam a naka, see note to 4. 26.

v. 92 The Tliird Council 33

begin (to build) viharas and he himself began to build the Asokarama.1

With the grant for the three gems,2 for Nigrodha and for 81 the sick, he bestowed in (support of) the faith for each of them a hundred thousand (pieces of money) each day. With the 82 treasure spent for the Buddha the (priests) held thupa-offerings 3 of many kinds continually in many viharas. With the treasure 83 spent for the dhamma the people continually prepared the four things needful for the use of bhikkhus who were learned in the doctrine. Of the loads of water borne from the 84 Anotatta-lake he bestowed four on the brotherhood, one every day to sixty theras who knew the tipitaka ; but one he had 85 commanded to be given to the queen Asamdhimitta, while the king himself had but two for his own use. To the sixty 86 thousand bhikkhus and to sixteen thousand women (of the palace), he gave day by day those tooth-sticks called naga- lata.4

When, one day, the monarch heard of the naga-king 87 Mahakala of wondrous might, who had beheld four Buddhas, who had lived through one age of the world, he sent for him 88 to be brought (into his presence) fettered with a chain of gold ; and when he had brought him and made him sit upon the throne under the white canopy, when he had done homage 89 to him with (gifts of) various flowers, and had bidden the sixteen thousand women (of the palace) to surround him, he (the king) spoke thus : * Let us behold the (bodily) form of the 90 omniscient Great Sage, of Him who hath boundless know- ledge, who hath set rolling the wheel of the true doctrine.' The naga-king created a beauteous figure of the Buddha, 91 endowed with the thirty-two greater signs and brilliant with the eighty lesser signs (of a Buddha), surrounded by the 92

1 The Asoka monastery in the capital Pataliputta.

2 Ratanattayam. The three gems are Buddha, dhamma, samgha: Buddha, his doctrine and community, see note on 1. 32.

5 Thupapuja. The tope (thupa) is never missing from a Buddhist monastery. Festivals of which a tope is the centre are frequently mentioned in the Mahavamsa.

* The naga-creeper. See 5. 25.

34 Mahavamsa v. 93

fathom-long rays of glory and adorned with the crown of flames.1

At the sight thereof the king was filled with joy and amaze-

93 ment and thought : f Even such is the image created by this (Mahakala), nay then, what (must) the (real) form of the Tathagata have been ! ' And he was more and more uplifted

94 with joy, and for seven days without ceasing did he, the great king of wondrous power, keep the great festival called the ' Feast of the eyes '.2

Here ends the Entrance (of Asoka) into the doctrine.

95 Now the mighty and believing king and thera Moggaliputta had already in former times been seen by the holy ones.3

96 At the time of the Second Council, the theras, looking into the future, saw the downfall of the faith in the time of that

97 king. Looking around in the whole world for one who should be able to stay that downfall, they saw the Brahma Tissa4

98 who had not long to live (in the Brahma heaven). To him they went and prayed him, the mighty in wisdom, to bring this downfall to nought by being reborn himself among men.

99 And he granted their prayer, desiring that the doctrine should shine forth in brightness. But to the youthful Siggava and

100 Candavajji the sages spoke thus: 'When a hundred and eighteen years are passed the downfall of the religion will

101 begin. We shall not live to see that (time). You, bhikkhus,

1 On the signs of a Buddha, see the Lakkhana Suttanta in D. Ill, p. 142 foil., and GRUNWEDEL, Buddhistische Kunst in Indien, p. 138 foil.

2Akkhipuja. It corresponds to our 'consecration'. See Vin. iii. 300.

3 Vaslhi = ' by those who have the senses under control '. In the Kamb. Mahav. follows here (vv. 1276-1338) an episode relating to Asamdhiinitta. Asoka puts his consort to the test, she having boasted of merit acquired. He requires of her that she shall provide, between one day and another, robes for the 60,000 monks. With the help of the god Kubera, who remembers the kindness shown by her to the paccekabuddha (see above, vv. 51 foil.), she accomplishes what the king demands of her.

4 Tissa, a dweller in the Brahma heaven.

V. 112 The TJiird Council 35

have had no part in this matter x therefore you merit punish- ment, and your punishment shall be this: that the doctrine 102 may shine forth in brightness, the Brahma Tissa, mighty in wisdom, will be reborn in the house of the brahman Moggali. As time passes on one of you shall receive the boy into the 103 order, another shall carefully instruct him in the word of the Sambuddha.

There was a thera Dasaka— disciple of the thera Upali. 104 Sonaka was his (Dasaka's) disciple, and both those theras were disciples of Sonaka.

In former times there lived in Vesall a learned brahman 105 named Dasaka. As the eldest of three hundred disciples he 106 dwelt with his teacher, and at the end of twelve years having come to the end of (studying) the vedas, he, going about with the (other) disciples, met the thera Upali, dwelling at the Valika-monastery, after he had established the sacred 107 word (in council), and sitting down near him he questioned him concerning hard passages in the vedas, and the other expounded them to him. ' A doctrine is come after all the 108 doctrines, O brahman, yet all doctrines end in the one doctrine; which is that one?'

Thus spoke the thera concerning the name (of the true 109 doctrine), but the young brahman knew it not. He asked : 1 What manta is this ? ' and when the answer was given : ' The manta of the Buddha,' he said: ' Impart it to me,' and the 110 other answered : ' We impart it (only) unto one who wears our robe.'

And he (Dasaka) asked his teacher and also his father and mother on behalf of that manta.2 When he with three 111 hundred young brahmans had received from the thera the pabbajja the brahman in time received the upasampada. Then to a thousand (disciples) who had overcome the asavas,3 112

1 Imam adhikaranam, that is, in the work of the Second Council.

2 That is, he asked if he might be permitted to learn it under the condition mentioned.

3 By khinasava in v. 112 (see note on 3. 9) are understood the arahants; by ariya in v. 113, all the Buddha's hearers (Vibhanga

D 2

3 6 Mahdvamsa v. 1 1 3

among whom was the thera Dasaka, did the thera Upali teach

113 the whole tipitaka. Past reckoning is the number of the other Ariyas, and of those who yet stood outside (the religion), by whom the pitakas were learned from the thera.

114 In the land of the Kasi * lived the son of a caravan-guide, named Sonaka. With his father and mother he had come

115 trading, to Giribbaja.2 He went, youth as he was, fifteen years old, into the Veluvana 3 (monastery) ; fifty-five young brahmans, his companions, came with him.

116 When he saw the thera Dasaka there with his disciples around him, faith came to him and he asked him for the pabbajja- ordination. (The thera) said: f Ask thy teacher.'

117 Afterwards, the young Sonaka, having fasted three meal-times and won his parents' leave to enter the order, came again,

118 and then, when he had received from the thera Dasaka the pabbajja and the upasanipada, together with those other

119 youths, he learned the three pitakas. Amid the company of the thousand disciples of the thera, who had overcome the asavas, who were versed in the pitakas, the ascetic Sonaka was the foremost.

120 In the city that bears the name of the patali flower4 there lived the wise Siggava, son of a minister. He, when eighteen

121 years old and dwelling in three palaces fitted for the three seasons of the year, went, in company with his friend

122 Candavajji, a minister's son, and surrounded by five hundred followers, to the Kukkutarama,5 and visited the thera Sonaka.

123 And when he perceived that (the thera) sat sunk in a trance

372), by puthujjana the remaining multitude who still stand outside the way leading to perfection.

1 The Kasis (Skr. kasi) are one of the sixteen tribes of northern India, settled in the district round Benares. Kasi is also the old name of Benares. RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 24.

2 The old capital of Magadha, Skr. girivraja 'Mountain Strong- hold '. It was situated on the top of a hill, at the foot of which afterwards Rajagaha was built. RHYS DAVIDS, I c., p. 37.

8 I. e. Bamboo-grove.

4 I.e. Pataliputta. See note to 4. 31. Patali Bignonia suave- olens.

6 A monastery in Pataliputta. V. A. SMITH, Asoka, pp. 183, 193, 194.

v. 135 The Third Council 37

with senses restrained * and did not answer his greeting, he asked the brotherhood about this matter. They said : ' Those 124 who are deep in a trance give no reply.' (So he asked) f How come they forth from (the trance) ? ' And the bhikkhus said : c At a call from the master, or a call from the brotherhood, or 125 when the allotted time is ended, or at the approach of death they come forth (from the trance).' 126

As they saw, speaking thus, that these (youths) were destined for holiness,2 they caused the call from the brother- hood to be given ; and (the thera) awoke from the trance and went to them. The youth asked : 'Wherefore didst thou not 127 speak to me, venerable one ? ' The (thera) answered : ' We were enjoying that which is for us to enjoy.' The (young man) said: ' Let us also enjoy this.' He answered: 'Those 128 only can we cause to enjoy it who are like unto us.'

Then, with their parents' leave, the young Siggava and 129 Candavajji and their five hundred followers likewise received the pabbajja and (afterwards) the upasampada-ordination from the thera Sonaka. With him as their master the two eagerly 130 studied the three pitakas and attained to the six supernormal powers.3

Thereafter when Siggava knew that Tissa had been born 131 into this world, the thera, from that time, frequented his house for seven years. And not for seven years did it befall 132 him to hear the words ' Go further on ' (said to him). But in the eighth year did he hear those words t Go further on ', in that house. As he went forth the brahman Moggali, who was 133 even then coming in, saw him and asked him : ' Hast thou received aught in our house ? ' And he answered : ' Yes.' When (Moggali) went into his house he heard (what had 134 befallen) and when the thera came to the house again, on the second day afterwards, he reproached him with the lie. And 135

1 Samapattisamapannam. 'There are eight samapattis, attainments or endowments, which are eight successive states induced by the ecstatic meditation,' CHILDERS, P.D. s.v. See SPENCE HARDY, Manual of Buddhism, p. 170, and J.P.T.S., 1909, p. 61.

a See note to 5. 45.

3 On the six abhinna, see note to 4. 12.

38 Mahdvamsa v. 136

when he had heard the thera's words the brahman, full of

136 faith, gave him continual alms of his own food, and little by little did all of his household become believers, and the brahman continually offered hospitality (to the thera), giving him a seat in his house.

137 So as time passed the young- Tissa gradually came to the age of sixteen years and reached the further shore of the

138 ocean of the three vedas. The thera, thinking that he might have speech with him in this way, made all the seats in his

139 house to vanish, save the seat of the young brahman. Being come from the Brahma-world (this latter) loved cleanliness, and therefore were they used to keep his chair hung up for better care thereof.1

140 Then the people in the house, finding no other seat, full of confusion, since the thera had to stand, prepared the seat

141 of the young Tissa for him. When the young brahman re- turned from his teacher's house and saw (the thera) sitting there he fell into anger and spoke to him in unfriendly wise.

142 The thera said to him: 'Young man, dost thou know the manta ? ' And the young brahman (for answer) asked him the

143 same question again. Since the thera replied : ' I know it/ he asked him concerning hard passages in the vedas. The thera

144 expounded them to him; for, when leading the lay life, he had already studied the vedas even to the end. How should he not be able to expound them since he had mastered the four special sciences ? 2

145 ' For him whose thought arises and does not perish, thought shall perish and not arise (again) ; but for him whose thought shall perish and not arise, thought shall arise (again) and not perish/3

1 This verse is suspicious ; the Tika makes no comment on it.

2 Pabhinnapatisambhida, see note to 4. 62.

3 A play on the double meaning of cittam and nirujjhati. Whosoever thinks aright and whose thought does not go astray, i. e. whosoever knows the truth, his intellect comes unto nibbana never to return again. But on the other hand, he who does not think aright and does not follow the true doctrine will enter into a new existence and will not reach deliverance.

v. 155 The Third Council 39

The wise thera asked this question from the (chapter called) 146 Cittayamaka.1 And it was as the (darkness of) night to the other, and he said to him: 'What kind of manta is that, 147 O bhikkhu ? ' < The manta of the Buddha/ answered (the thera) ; and when the other said : ' Impart it to me/ he said : ' I impart it (only) to one who wears our robe.' 2

So with the leave of his father and mother (the young man) 148 received the pabbajja-ordination, for the sake of the manta, and the thera, when he had ordained him, imparted to him duly the (method of the) kammatthanas.3 By practice of 149 meditation this highly gifted man soon won the fruit of sota- patti,4 and when the thera was aware of this he sent him to 150 the thera Candavajji that he might learn the suttapitaka and abhidhammapitaka of him. And this he learned (from Candavajji).

And thereafter the monk Siggava, having conferred on him 151 the upasampada, taught him the vinaya and again instructed him in the two other (pitakas). When, afterwards, the young 152 Tissa had gained the true insight,5 he attained in time to the mastery of the six supernormal powers and reached the rank of a thera. Far and wide shone his renown like the sun and 153 moon. The world paid heed to his word even as to the word of the Sambuddha.

Here ends the Story of the thera Tissa, the son of Moggali.

One day the prince6 (Tissa) when hunting saw gazelles 154 sporting joyously in the wild. And at this sight he thought : 4 Even the gazelles sport thus joyously, who feed on grass in 155

1 I. e. ' The double thought/ The reference is to the Yama- kappakarana of the abhidhamma.

2 Cf. 5. 109, 110.

s Kammatthana 'The foundations of (right) acting'. By this is meant the right method for the practice of meditation. See CHILDERS, P.D. s. v.

4 I. e. the first stage of sanctification. See note to 1. 33.

5 The vipassana is one of the signs of the arahant. It is tenfold. See the details in AUNG, Compendium of Philosophy, pp. 65 foil., 180.

6 U p a r a j a, viceregent.

40 MaMvamsa V. 156

the wild. Wherefore are not the bhikkhus joyous and gay, who have their food and dwelling1 in comfort ? '

156 Returned home he told the king his thought. To teach him the king handed over to him the government of the

157 kingdom for one week, saying : 'Enjoy, prince, for one week, my royal state ; then will I put thee to death.' Thus said the ruler.

158 And when the week was gone by he asked : ' Wherefore art thou thus wasted away ? ' And when (Tissa) answered : ' By reason of the fear of death/ the king spoke again to him

159 and said: 'Thinking that thou must die when the week was gone by, thou wast no longer joyous and gay; how then can ascetics be joyous and gay, my dear, who think ever upon death ? '

160 And (Tissa) when his brother spoke thus, was turned toward faith in the doctrine (of the Buddha). And afterwards when

161 he once went forth hunting, he saw the thera Mahadham- marakkhita, the self-controlled, sitting at the foot of a tree,

162 and fanned by a cobra with a branch of a sala-tree. And that wise (prince) thought: 'When shall I, like this thera, be ordained in the religion of the Conqueror, and live in the forest-wilderness ? '

163 When the thera, to convert him, had come thither flying through the air, standing on the water of the pond in the

164 Asokarama, he, leaving his goodly garments behind him in the

165 air, plunged into the water and bathed his limbs. And when the prince saw this marvel he was filled with joyful faith, and the wise man made this wise resolve: 'This very day will

166 I receive the pabbajja-ordination.' He went to the king and respectfully besought him to let him receive the pabbajja. Since the king could not turn him from (his resolve) he took

167 him with him and went with a great retinue to the vihara. There (the prince) received the pabbajja from the thera

168 Mahadhammarakkhita and with him four hundred thousand persons, but the number of those who afterwards were ordained

169 is not known. A nephew of the monarch known by the name Aggibrahma was the consort of the king's daughter

170 Samghamitta and the son of these two (was) named

V. 182 The Third Council 41

Sumana.1 He (Aggibrahma) also craved the king's leave and was ordained together with the prince.

The prince's ordination, whence flowed blessing to many 171 folk, was in the fourth year of (the reign of) king Asoka. In 172 the same year he received the upasampada-ordination, and since his destiny was holiness2 the prince, zealously striv- ing, became an arahant, gifted with the six supernormal powers.

All those beautiful viharas (then) begun they duly finished 173 in all the cities within three years; but. by the miraculous 174 power of the thera Indagutta, who watched over the work, the arama named after Asoka was likewise quickly brought to completion. On those spots which the Conqueror himself 175 had visited the monarch built beautiful cetiyas here and there. On every side from the eighty-four thousand cities came letters 176 on one day with the news : ( The viharas are completed.'

When the great king, great in majesty, in wondrous power 177 and valour, received the letters, he, desiring to hold high festival in all the aramas at once, proclaimed in the town 178 with beat of drum : ' On the seventh day from this day shall a festival of all the aramas be kept, in every way, in all the provinces. Yojana by yojana on the earth shall great largess 179 be given ; the aramas in the villages and the streets shall be adorned. In all the viharas let lavish gifts of every kind be 180 bestowed upon the brotherhood, according to the time and the means (of givers), and adornments, such as garlands of lamps 181 and garlands of flowers, here and there, and all that is meet for festivals,3 with music of every kind, in manifold ways. And all are to take upon themselves the duties of the 182 uposatha-day and hear religious discourse, and offerings of

1 In my edition of the text the stop should be deleted after samiko and put after namato. So pi in v. 170 refers to Aggi- brahma.

2 He was sampannaupanissayo. Cf. note to 5. 45.

3 Upahara. The Tika explains this word thus: sabbe gan- dhabba sakasakaturiy abhandam gahetva tattha tattha viharesu gandhabbam va karontu ti attho 'Let all the minstrels taking each his own instrument of music play in the viharas everywhere'.

42 Mahavamsa V. 183

183 many kinds must they make on the same day.' And all the people everywhere held religious festivals of every kind, glorious as the world of gods,1 even as had been commanded and (did) yet more.

184 On that day the great king wearing all his adornments with the women of his household, with his ministers and sur-

185 rounded by the multitude of his troops, went to his own arama, as if cleaving the earth. In the midst of the brotherhood he

186 stood, bowing down to the venerable brotherhood. In the assembly were eighty kotis of bhikkhus, and among these

187 were a hundred thousand ascetics who had overcome the asavas. Moreover there were ninety times one hundred thou-

188 sand bhikkhums, and among these a thousand had overcome the asavas. These (monks and nuns) wrought the miracle called the ' unveiling of the world ' to the end that the king

189 Dhammasoka might be converted. — Candasoka (the wicked Asoka) was he called in earlier times, by reason of his evil deeds ; he was known as Dhammasoka (the pious Asoka) after-

190 wards because of his pious deeds. — He looked around over the (whole) Jambudipa bounded by the ocean and over all the

191 viharas adorned with the manifold (beauties of) the festival — and with exceeding joy, as he saw them, he asked the brethren, while taking his seat : f Whose generosity toward the doctrine of the Blessed One was ever (so) great (as mine), venerable sirs?'

192 The thera Moggaliputta answered the king's question : ' Even in the lifetime of the Blessed One there was no generous giver like to thee.'

193 When the king heard this he rejoiced yet more and asked : 'Nay then, is there a kinsman of Buddha's religion2 like unto me ? '

194 But the thera perceived the destiny of the king's son

1 The Tika understands the word devalokamanorama thus, and adds: nakkhattaghutthe devanagare devagana viya manussa manorama mahapuja patiyadesum ti attho 'As the multitudes of gods in the celestial city, where festival has been proclaimed, so did men arrange splendid offerings'.

2 Sasanadayada: evidently the term is a title of honour.

V. 206 The Third Council 43

Mahinda1 and of his daughter Samghamitta, and foresaw the 195 progress of the doctrine that was to arise from (them), and he, on whom lay the charge of the doctrine, replied thus to the king : ' Even a lavish giver of gifts like to thee is not 1 96 a kinsman of the religion; giver of wealth2 is he called, O 197 ruler of men. But he who lets son or daughter enter the religious order is a kinsman of the religion and withal a giver of gifts/

Since the monarch would fain become a kinsman of the 198 religion he asked Mahinda and Samghami£ta, who stood near: ' Do you wish to receive the pabbajja, dear ones? The 199 pabbajja is held to be a great (good).' Then, when they heard their father's words, they said to him : ' This very day we 200 would fain enter the order, if thou, O king, dost wish it ; for us, even as for thee, will blessing come of our pabbajja/

For already since the time of the prince's (Tissa's) pabbajja 201 had he resolved to enter the order, and she since (the ordina- tion) of Aggibrahma.3 Although the monarch wished to confer 202 on Mahinda the dignity of prince-regent, yet did he consent to his ordination with the thought : ' This (last) is the greater dignity/ So he permitted his dear son Mahinda, distin- 203 guished (above all others) by intelligence, beauty and strength, and his daughter Samghamitta, to be ordained with all solemnity.4

At that time Mahinda, the king's son, was twenty years 204 old, and the king's daughter Samghamitta was then eighteen years old. On the very same day did he receive the pabbajja- 205 and also the upasampada-ordination, and for her the pabbajja- ordination and the placing under a teacher 5 took place on the same day.

The prince's master6 was the thera named after Moggali; 7 206

1 See note to 5. 45.

2 Paccayadayaka. On paccaya see note to 3. 14.

3 Cf. 5. 167, 170.

4 The Tlka explains samaham by sapujasakkaram.

5 This was necessary as Samghamitta was not of the prescribed age.

6 Upajjhaya, see note to 5. 69.

7 That is, Moggaliputtatissa, ' Tissa, the son of Moggali.1

44 Mahavamsa V. 207

the pabbajja-ordination was conferred on him by the thera

207 Mahadeva, but Majjhantika pronounced the ceremonial words,1 and even in the very place where he (received) the upasam- pada-ordination this great man reached the state of an arahant together with the special kinds of knowledge.2

208 The directress of Samghamitta was the renowned Dhamma- pala, and her teacher was Ayu,pala ; in time she became free

209 from the asavas. Those two lights of the doctrine, who brought great blessing to the island of Lanka, received the pabbajja in the sixth year of king Dhammasoka. The great

210 Mahinda, the converter of the island (of Lanka), learned the three pitakas with his master in three years. This bhikkhum,

211 even like the new moon, and the bhikkhu Mahinda, like the sun, illumined always the slcy, the doctrine of the Sambuddha.

212 Once in time past, a dweller in the forest, who went forth into the forest from Pataliputta, loved a wood-nymph named

213 Kunti. Owing to the union with him she bore two sons, the elder was Tissa and the younger was named Sumitta. After-

214 wards both received the pabbajja-ordination from the thera Mahavaruna and attained to arahantship and the possession of the six supernormal powers.

215 (Once) the elder suffered pains in the foot from the poison of a venomous insect, and when his younger brother asked (what he needed) he told him that a handful of ghee was the

216 remedy. But the thera set himself against pointing out to the king what things needful in sickness,3 and against going

217 in search of the ghee after the midday meal.4 ' If , on thy begging-round, thou receivest ghee, bring it to me/ said the

218 thera Tissa to the excellent thera Sumitta. When he went

1 Kammavacam aka: i.e. he was president of the chapter when Mahinda was ordained. Kammavaca 'is the name of the proceedings at a ka mm a or ecclesiastical act, by which some question is decided by vote'. CHILDERS, P.D. s. v.

2 See note to 5. 144.

3 Gilanapaccaye is a ' locative of aim ', which concurs with the ' final dative ' (SPEYER, Ved. and Skr. Syntax, para. 81 b), and refers tonivedanam 'informing, announcement'.

4 The begging-round of the mendicants must be carried out in the forenoon, according to the rules of the order.

v. 228 TJie Third Council 45

forth on his begging-round he received not one handful of ghee, and (in the meanwhile) the pain had come to such a pass that even a hundred vessels of ghee could not have cured it. And because of that malady the thera was near to death, 219 and when he had exhorted (the other) to strive unceasingly he formed the resolve to pass into nibbana.

Lifted up in the air as he sat, and winning mastery of his 220 own body by the fire-meditation,1 according to his own free resolve, he passed into nibbana. Flantes that broke forth 221 from his body consumed the flesh and skin of the thera's whole body,2 the bones they did not consume.

When the monarch heard that the thera had died in this 222 wise he went to his own arama surrounded by the multitude of his troops. Mounted on an elephant the king brought 223 down the bones,3 and when he had caused due honour to be paid to the relics, he questioned the brotherhood as to (the thera's) illness. Hearing about it he was greatly moved, 224 and had tanks made at the city gates and filled them with remedies for the sick, and day by day he had remedies be- 225 stowed on the congregation of the bhikkhus, thinking : might the bhikkhus never find remedies hard to obtain.

The thera Sumitta passed into nibbana even when he was 226 walking (in meditation) in the cahkama-hall,4 and by this also was a great multitude of people converted to the doctrine (of the Buddha). Both these theras, the sons of Kunti, who 227 had wrought a great good in the world, passed into nibbana in the eighth year of Asoka.

From that time onwards the revenues of the brotherhood 228

1 Tejojhanavasena. The meditating ascetic concentrates all his thoughts on the concept 'fire' (tejo) which is one of the ten kasinani or divisions of kammatthana (see CHILDERS, s.v. kasino, and note to 5. 148) ; the effect is that a fire arises within his body which consumes him.

2 Nimmamsaccharikam dahi sakalam kayam, literally, ' burned the whole body into a fleshless and skinless one.'

3 Which were still floating in the air.

4 A cankama belongs to each vihara. It is 'a straight piece of ground cleared and levelled for the purpose of walking up and down upon for exercise and meditation '. See S.B.E. xx, p. 103, n. 1.

46 Mahavartisa V. 229

were exceeding great, and since those who were converted

229 later caused the revenues to increase, heretics who had (thereby) lost revenue and honour took likewise the yellow robe, for the

230 sake of revenue, and dwelt together with thebhikkhus. They proclaimed their own doctrines as the doctrine of the Buddha and carried out their own practices even as they wished.

231 And when the thera Moggaliputta, great in firmness of soul, saw the coming-out of this exceedingly evil plague-boil

232 on the doctrine, he, far-seeing, deliberated upon the right time to do away with it. And when he had committed his great company of bhikkhus to (the direction of) the thera Mahinda,

233 he took up his abode, all alone, further up the Ganges on the Ahogahga-mountain, and for seven years he gave himself up to solitary retreat.

234 By reason of the great number of the heretics and their unruliness, the bhikkhus could not restrain them by the law ;

23,5 and therefore the bhikkhus in Jambudlpa for seven years held no uposatha-ceremony nor the ceremony of pavarana in all the aramas.

236 When the great king, the famed Dhammasoka, was aware of this, he sent a minister to the splendid Asokarama, laying

237 on him this command: ' Go, settle this matter and let the uposatha-festival be carried out by the community of bhikkhus

238 in my arama.' This fool went thither, and when he had called the community of bhikkhus together he announced the king's command : ' Carry out the uposatha-festival/

239 'We hold not the uposatha-festival with heretics,'' the community of bhikkhus replied to that misguided minister.

240 The minister struck off the head of several theras, one by one, with his sword, saying, ' I will force you to hold the uposatha-

241 festival/ When the king's brother, Tissa, saw that crime he came speedily and sat on the seat nearest to the minister.

242 When the minister saw the thera he went to the king and told him (the whole matter).

243 When the monarch heard it he was troubled and went with all speed and asked the community of bhikkhus, greatly disturbed in mind : ' Who, in truth, is guilty of this deed that has been done ? '

V. 256 The Third Council 47

And certain of them answered in their ignorance : ' The guilt 244 is thine/ and others said : * Both of you are guilty ' ; but those who were wise answered : ' Thou art not guilty/

When the king heard this he said : ' Is there a bhikkhu who 245 is able to set my doubts to rest and to befriend religion?' ' There is the thera Tissa, the son of Moggali, O king/ 24G answered the brethren to the king. Then was the king filled with zeal.

He sent four theras, each attended by a thousand bhikkhus 247 and four ministers, each with a thousand followers, that same 248 day, with the charge laid on them by (the king) himself to bring the thera thither; but though they prayed him he came not.

When the king heard this he sent again eight theras and 249 eight ministers each with a thousand followers, but even as before he came not.

The king asked : ' Nay then, how shall the thera come? ' 250 The bhikkhus told him how the thera could be moved to come: f O great king, if they shall say to him, "be our helper, 251 venerable sir, to befriend religion/' then will the thera come/

Again the king sent (messengers) sixteen theras and sixteen 252 ministers, each with a thousand followers, laying that (same) charge upon them, and he said to them : c Aged as he is, the 253 thera will not enter any wheeled vehicle ; bring the thera by ship on the Ganges.'

So they went to him and told him, and hardly had he heard 254 (their message) but he rose up. And they brought the thera in a ship and the king went to meet him. Going down even 255 knee-deep into the water the king respectfully gave his right hand to the thera, as he came down from the ship.1 The 256

1 According to Smp. 310, 12 foil, the king had dreamed a dream, the night before, which the soothsayers interpreted thus, that a samananaga, a great ascetic, would touch his right hand. As the thera now laid hold of the king's hand the attendants were about to kill him. For to touch the king's hand was a crime punishable by death. However, the king restrained them. But the thera laid hold of the king's hand as a sign that he accepted him as his pupil.

48 Mahavamsa v. 257

venerable thera took the king's right hand l from compassion toward him, and came down from the ship.

257 The king led the thera to the pleasure-garden called Rati- vaddhana, and when he had washed and anointed his feet and

258 had seated himself the monarch spoke thus, to test the thera's

259 faculty : ' Sir, I would fain see a miracle/ And to the ques- tion which (miracle he desired) he answered : * An earthquake/ And again the other said to him: 'Which wouldst thou see,

260 of the whole (earth shaken) or only of a single region ?' Then when he had asked : ' Which is the more difficult ?' and heard (the reply) : ' The shaking of a single region is the more diffi- cult/ he declared that he desired to see this last.

261 Then within the boundary of a yojana (in extent) did the thera place a waggon, a horse and a man, and a vessel full of

262 water at the four cardinal points, and over this yojana by his miraculous power he caused the earth to tremble, together with the half of (each of) these (things) and let the king seated there behold this.2

263 Then the monarch asked the thera whether or not he him- self shared the guilt of the murder of the bhikkhus by the

264 minister. The thera taught the king : ' There is no resulting guilt 3 without evil intent/ and he recited the Tittira-jataka.4

265 Abiding a week there in the pleasant royal park he in-

266 structed the ruler in the lovely religion of the Sambuddha. In

1 Here there is a play on the words d a k k h i n a ' right ' and d a k k h i- neyya 'venerable*.

2 The expressions are difficult to render but the sense is clear. On the boundaries of a space measuring a mile in diameter, there were placed at N., S., E., and W. a waggon, a horse, a man, and a vessel full of water. The earthquake was so strictly limited in its action that these objects were affected by the quaking only as to the half on the inner side, the other half remained unmoved.

3 In paticcakamma the term kamma is employed in the technical sense as the sum of all good and evil deeds that bring of necessity reward or punishment as their result, and if not balanced lead inevitably to a new existence after death. Paticca means * fol- lowing on something, conditioned by something '. The formation of the compound is the same as in paticcasamuppada, paccayakara.

4 FAUSBOLL, Jdtaka III. 64 foil. The Kamboclian Mah. inserts here a metrical version of the story.

V. 278 Tlie Third Council 49

this same week the monarch sent out two yakkhas and assembled together all the bhikkhus on the earth. On the 267 seventh day he went to his own splendid arama and arranged an assembly of the community of bhikkhus in its full numbers.

Then seated with the thera on one side behind a curtain the 268 ruler called to him in turn the bhikkhus of the several con- fessions and asked them : * Sir, what did the Blessed One 269 teach ? ' And they each expounded their wrong doctrine, the Sassata-doctrine and so forth.1 And all these adherents of 270 false doctrine did the king cause to be expelled from the order ; those who were expelled were in all sixty thousand. And now 271 he asked the rightly-believing bhikkhus : ' What does the Blessed One teach ? ' And they answered : ( He teaches the Vibhajja-doctrine/ 2

And the monarch asked the thera: ' Sir, does the Sam- 272 buddha (really) teach the Vibhajja-doctrine ? ' The thera answered : ' Yes/ And when the king knew this he was glad at heart and said : c Since the community is (henceforth) puri- 273 fied, sir, therefore should the brotherhood hold the uposatha- festival/ and he made the thera guardian of the order and 274 returned to his fair capital ; the brotherhood held thenceforth the uposatha-festival in concord.

Out of the great number of the brotherhood of bhikkhus 275 the thera chose a thousand learned bhikkhus, endowed with the six supernormal powers, knowing the three pitakas and versed in the special sciences,3 to make a compilation of the 276 true doctrine. Together with them did he, in the Asokarama, make a compilation of the true dhamma.4 Even as the thera 277 Mahakassapa and the thera Yasa had held a council so did the thera Tissa. In the midst of this council the thera Tissa set 278

1 The different ditthiyo or heretical doctrines, reckoned as sixty- two in all, are frequently mentioned in the canonical books, thus in the Brahmajalasuttanta of the Dighanikaya (D. 1, 13 foil.).

2 CHILDERS (P. D. s. v. vibhajati) renders the sense appropriately with 'religion of Logic or Reason'. Vibhajjavada is identical with theravada. KERN, Manual, p. 110.

3 See the notes to 4. 62 and 4. 12.

4 Katum saddhammasamgaham. See note to 3. 17.

50 MaMvamsa v. 279

forth the Kathavatthuppakarana,1 refuting the other doc-

279 trines. Thus was this council under the protection of king Asoka ended by the thousand bhikkhus in nine months.

280 In the seventeenth year of the king's reign the wise (thera) who was seventy-two years old, closed the council with a great

281 pavarana-ceremony.2 And, as if to shout applause to the re- establishment of doctrine, the great earth shook at the close of the council.

282 Nay, abandoning the high, the glorious Brahma-heaven and coming down for the sake of the doctrine to the loathsome world of men, he, who had fulfilled his own duty, fulfilled the duties toward the doctrine. Who else verily may neglect duties toward the doctrine?

Here ends the fifth chapter, called ' The Third Council ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 A work of the Abhidhamma. Kathavatthu, ed. by A. C. TAYLOR, vol. i, ii, P.T.S. 1894, 1897. 8 See note to 12. 2.

CHAPTEE VI

THE COMING OF VIJAYA

IN the country of the Vangas l in the Vanga capital there l lived once a king of the Vangas. The daughter of the king of the Kalingas was that king's consort. By his spouse the 2 king had a daughter, the soothsayers prophesied her union with the king of beasts. Very fair was she and very amorous 3 and for shame the king and queen could not suffer her.

Alone she went forth from the house, desiring the joy of 4 independent life ; unrecognized she joined a caravan travelling to the Magadha country. In the Lala country a lion attacked 5 the caravan in the forest, the other folk fled this way and that, but she fled along the way by which the lion had come.

When the lion had taken his prey and was leaving the spot 6 he beheld her from afar, love (for her) laid hold on him, and he came towards her with waving tail and ears laid back. Seeing him she bethought her of that prophecy of the sooth- 7 sayers which she had heard, and without fear she caressed him stroking his limbs.

The lion, roused to fiercest passion by her touch, took her 8 upon his back and bore her with all speed to his cave, and there he was united with her, and from this union with 9 him the princess in time bore twin-children, a son and a daughter.

The son's hands and feet were formed like a lion's and there- 1 0 fore she named him Sihabahu, but the daughter (she named) Slhaslvali. When he was sixteen years old the son questioned 1 1 his mother on the doubt (that had arisen in him) : ' Where- fore are you and our father so different, dear mother ? ' She 1 2 told him all. Then he asked : ' Why do we not go forth (from here) ? ' And she answered : ' Thy father has closed the cave up with a rock/ Then he took that barrier before the great 13

1 I.e. E 2

52 Mahavamsa VI. 14

cave upon his shoulder and went (a distance of) fifty yojanas going and coming in one day.

14 Then (once), when the lion had gone forth in search of prey, (Slhabahu) took his mother on his right shoulder and his

15 young sister on his left, and went away with speed. They clothed themselves with branches of trees, and so came to a border- village and there, even at that time, was a son of the

1 6 princess's uncle, a commander in the army of the Vaiiga king, to whom was given the rule over the border-country ; and he was just then sitting under a banyan-tree overseeing the work that was done.

17 When he saw them he asked them (who they were) and they said: 'We are forest-folk ' ; the commander bade (his

18 people) give them clothing; and this turned into splendid (garments). He had food offered to them on leaves and by reason of their merit these were turned into dishes of gold.

1 9 Then, amazed, the commander asked them, ' Who are you ? '

20 The princess told him her family and clan. Then the com- mander took his uncle's daughter with him and went to the capital of the Vangas and married her.

21 When the lion, returning in haste to his cave, missed those three (persons), he was sorrowful, and grieving after his

22 son he neither ate nor drank. Seeking for his children he went to the border-village, and every village where he came was deserted by the dwellers therein.

23 And the border-folk came to the king and told him this: f A lion ravages thy country ; ward off (this danger) O king ! '

24 Since he found none who could ward off (this danger) he had a thousand (pieces of money) led about the city on an elephant's back and this proclamation made: 'Let him

25 who brings the lion receive these ! ' And in like manner the monarch (offered) two thousand and three thousand. Twice

26 did Slhabahu's1 mother restrain him. The third time without asking his mother's leave, Slhabahu took the three thousand gold-pieces (as reward) for slaying his own father.

27 They presented the youth to the king, and the king spoke

1 Sihabhuja in the text (metri causa!) which means the same as Slhabahu 'Lion-arm'.

VI. 43 TJie Coming of Vijaya 53

thus to him : ' If thou shalt take the lion I will give thee at once the kingdom.' And he went to the opening of the 28 cave, and as soon as he saw from afar the lion who came forward, for love toward his son, he shot an arrow to slay him.

The arrow struck the lion's forehead but because of his 29 tenderness (toward his son) it rebounded and fell on the earth at the youth's feet. And so it fell out three times, then 30 did the king of beasts grow wrathful and the arrow sent at him struck him and pierced his body.

(Slhabahu) took the head of the lion with the mane and 31 returned to his city. And just seven days had passed then since the death of the king of the Vangas. Since the king 32 had no son the ministers, who rejoiced over his deed on hearing that he was the king's grandson and on recognizing 33 his mother, met all together and said of one accord to the prince Slhabahu ' Be thou (our) king '.

And he accepted the kingship but handed it over then to 34 his mother's husband and he himself went with SlhasTvall to the land of his birth. There he built a city, and they called 35 it Slhapura, and in the forest stretching a hundred yojanas around he founded villages. In the kingdom of Lala, in that 36 city did Slhabahu, ruler of men, hold sway when he had made Slhaslvall his queen. As time passed on his consort bore twin 3 7 sons sixteen times, the eldest was named Vijaya, the second 38 Sumitta ; together there were thirty-two sons. In time the king consecrated Vijaya as prince-regent.

Vijaya was of evil conduct and his followers were even (like 39 himself), and many intolerable deeds of violence were done by them. Angered by this the people told the matter to the 40 king; the king, speaking persuasively to them, severely blamed his son. But all fell out again as before, the second 41 and yet the third time ; and the angered people said to the king : ' Kill thy son.'

Then did the king cause Vijaya and his followers, seven 42! hundred men, to be shaven over half the head1 and put them 43

1 The shaving of the hair signifies loss of freedom. In Sinhalese midi (= Skr. mundita ' shaven ') means ' slave '.

54 Mahavamsa VI. 44

on a ship and sent them forth upon the sea, and their wives

44 and children also. The men, women, and children sent forth separately landed separately, each (company) upon an

45 island, and they dwelt even there. The island where the children landed was called Naggadipa l and the island where

46 the women landed Mahiladlpaka.2 But Vijaya landed at the haven called Supparaka,3 but being there in danger by reason of the violence of his followers he embarked again.

47 The prince named VIJAYA, the valiant, landed in Lanka, in the region called Tambapanni on the day that the Tathagata lay down between the two twinlike sala-trees to pass into nibbana.

Here ends the sixth chapter, called * The Coming of Vijaya \ in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 That is, ' Island of children,1 from nagga ' naked '.

2 That is, ' Island of women.'

8 Skt. $urparaka, situated on the west coast of India, now Sopara in the Thana District, north of Bombay. See Imp. Gazetteer of India, s.v.

CHAPTER VII

THE CONSECRATING OF VIJAYA

WHEN the Guide of the World, having accomplished the 1 salvation of the whole world and having reached the utmost stage of blissful rest, was lying on the bed of his nibbana, in the midst of the great assembly of gods, he, the great sage, 2 the greatest of those who have speech, spoke to Sakka x who stood there near him : ' Vijaya, son of king Sihabahu, is come 3 to Lanka from the country of Lala, together with seven hundred followers. In Lanka, O lord of gods, will my 4 religion be established, therefore carefully protect him with his followers and Lanka/

When the lord of gods heard the words of the Tathagata 5 he from respect handed over the guardianship of Lanka to the god who is in colour like the lotus.2

And no sooner had the god received the charge from 6 Sakka than he came speedily to Lanka and sat down at the foot of a tree in the guise of a wandering ascetic. And all 7 the followers of Vijaya came to him and asked him : ' What island is this, sir?' 'The island of Lanka/ he answered. 1 There are no men here, and here no dangers will arise.' 8 And when he had spoken so and sprinkled water on them from his water- vessel, and had wound a thread about their hands 3 9 he vanished through the air. And there appeared, in the form of a bitch, a yakkhim who was an attendant (of Kuvanna).4

1 A name of Indra, king of the gods.

2 Devass' uppalavannassa, that is Visnu. The allusion is to the colour of the BLUE lotus (uppala).

3 As a paritta, that is as a protecting charm against the influence of demons.

4 The Tika says: Kuvannaya Slsapati-namika paricari- kayakkhini. The Kambodian Mah. also gives the same name Sisapatika.

56 Mahavamsa vii. 10

10 One (of Vijaya's men) went after her, although he was forbidden by the prince (for he thought), f Only where there

1 1 is a village are dogs to be found.' Her mistress, a yakkhim named Kuvanna, sat there l at the foot of a tree spinning, as a woman-hermit might.

1 2 When the man saw the pond and the woman-hermit sitting there, he bathed there and drank and taking young shoots of

1 3 lotuses and water in lotus-leaves he came forth again. And she said to him : f Stay ! thou art my prey ! ' Then the man

1 4 stood there as if fast bound. But because of the power of the magic thread she could not devour him, and though he was entreated by the yakkhim, the man would not yield up

15 the thread. Then the yakkhim seized him, and hurled him who cried aloud into a chasm. And there in like manner she hurled (all) the seven hundred one by one after him.

1 6 And when they all did not return fear came on Vijaya ; armed with the five weapons 2 he set out, and when he beheld

17 the beautiful pond, where he saw no footstep of any man coming forth, but saw that woman-hermit there, he thought :

1 8 f Surely my men have been seized by this woman/ And he said to her, ' Lady, hast thou not seen my men ? ' ' What dost thou want with thy people, prince ?' she answered. ' Drink thou and bathe/

1 9 Then was it clear to him : ' This is surely a yakkhim, she knows my rank/ and swiftly, uttering his name, he came at

20 her drawing his bow. He caught the yakkhim in the noose about the neck, and seizing her hair with his left hand he

2 1 lifted his sword in the right and cried : f Slave ! give me back my men, or I slay thee ! ' Then, tormented with fear

22 the yakkhim prayed him for her life. ' Spare my life, sir, I will give thee a kingdom and do thee a woman's service and other service as thou wilt.'

23 And that he might not be betrayed he made the yakkhim swear an oath, and so soon as the charge was laid on her, ' Bring hither my men with all speed,' she brought them to

1 There, that is where Vijaya's man followed the bitch.

2 Naddhapancayudho. The five weapons are, according to CLOUGH, sword, bow, battle-axe, spear, and shield.

VII. 35 The Consecrating of Vijaya 57

that place. When he said, 'These men are hungry,' she 24 showed them rice and other (foods) and goods of every kind that had been in the ships of those traders whom she had devoured.

(Vijaya's) men prepared the rice and the condiments, and 25 when they had first set them before the prince they all ate of them.

1 When the yakkhim had taken the first portions (of the 26 meal) that Vijaya handed to her, she was well pleased, and assuming the lovely form of a sixteen-year-old maiden she 27 approached the prince adorned with all the ornaments. At the foot of a tree she made a splendid bed, well-covered 28 around with a tent, and adorned with a canopy. And seeing this, the king's son, looking forward to the time to come, took her to him as his spouse and lay (with her) blissfully on 29 that bed ; and all his men encamped around the tent.

As the night went on he heard the sounds of music and 30 singing, and asked the yakkhim, who was lying near him : 1 What means this noise?' And the yakkhim thought: 'I 31 will bestow kingship on my lord and all the yakkhas must be slain, for (else) the yakkhas will slay me, for it was through me that men have taken up their dwelling (in Lanka).' 2

And she said to the prince : ' Here there is a yakkha-city 32 called Sirisavatthu ; the daughter of the chief of the yakkhas 3 33 who dwells in the city of Lanka has been brought hither, and her mother too is come.4 And for the wedding there is 34 high festival, lasting seven days ; therefore there is this noise, for a great multitude is gathered together. Even to-day 35

1 Instead of verses 26-84 the later (Sinhalese) recension has a some- what divergent reading, the text of which is printed in my edition, p. 326 foil. Appendix A. Cf. ibid., Introd., p. xxxiv.

2 To manussavasakarana 'because of (my) bringing about a settlement of men', the Tika adds the words imasmim dipe 'in this island '.

3 Lit. ' of the eldest yakkha.'

4 The Tika calls the bride's father Mahakalasena, the bride Pola- mitta, the mother Gonda. The names Kalasena and Polamitta occur also in the Kamb. Mah.

58 Mahavamsa vil. 36

do thou destroy the yakkhas, for afterwards it will no longer be possible.'

He replied : ' How can I slay the yakkhas who are in-

36 visible ? ' ' Wheresoever they may be/ she said, ' I will utter cries, and where thou shalt hear that sound, strike ! and by my magic power shall thy weapon fall upon their bodies/

37 Since he listened to her and did even (as she said) he slew all the yakkhas, and when he had fought victoriously he

38 himself put on the garments of the yakkha-king and bestowed the other raiment on one and another of his followers.

When he had spent some days at that spot he went to

39 Tambapanni. There Vijaya founded the city of Tambapanni and dwelt there, together with the yakkhim, surrounded by his ministers.

40 When those who were commanded by Vijaya landed from their ship, they sat down wearied, resting their hands upon the

41 ground — and since their hands were reddened by touching the dust of the red earth l that region and also the island were

42 (named) Tambapanni.2 But the king Sihabahu, since he had slain the lion (was called) Sihala and, by reason of the ties between him and them, all those (followers of Vijaya) were also (called) Sihala.

43 Here and there did Vijaya's ministers found villages. Anuradhagama was built by a man of that name near the

44 Kadamba river ; 3 the chaplain Upatissa built Upatissagama 4 on the bank of the Gambhira river, to the north of Anu-

45 radhagama. Three other ministers built, each for himself, Ujjem, Uruvela, and the city of Vijita.5

1 The soil of Ceylon is composed of latent which crumbles into a red dust.

2 A play on the word tambapani, red hand.

8 Now Malwatte-oya which flows by the ruins of Anuradhapura.

4 This is probably to be sought on one of the right-bank tributaries of the lower Malwatte-oya. According to Mah. 28. 7 the Gambhira-nadi flows 1 yojana (i. e. 7-8 miles) north of Anuradhapura.

B According to tradition the remains of the city of Vijita exist as those ruins which lie not far from the Kalu-waewa (Kalavapi) about 24 miles south of Anuradhapura in the jungle. TENNENT, Ceylon, ii, p. 602 foil. I think the tradition is right, although PARKER,

vii. 58 The Consecrating of Vijaya 59

When they had founded settlements in the land the ministers 46 all came together and spoke thus to the prince : ( Sire, consent to be consecrated as king/ But, in spite of their demand, 47 the prince refused the consecration, unless a maiden of a noble house were consecrated as queen (at the same time).

But the ministers, whose minds were eagerly bent upon the 48 consecrating of their lord, and who, although the means were difficult, had overcome all anxious fears about the matter, 49 sent people, entrusted with many precious gifts, jewels, pearls, and so forth, to the city of Madhura l in southern (India), to 50 woo the daughter of the Pandu king for their lord, devoted (as they were) to their ruler ; and they also (sent to woo) the daughters of others for the ministers and retainers.

When the messengers were quickly come by ship to the 51 city of Madhura they laid the gifts and letter before the king. The king took counsel with his ministers, and since he was 52 minded to send his daughter (to Lanka) he, having first received also daughters of others for the ministers (of Vijaya), 53 nigh upon a hundred maidens, proclaimed with beat of drum : ' Those men here who are willing to let a daughter depart for Lanka shall provide their daughters with a double store of 54 clothing and place them at the doors of their houses. By this sign shall we (know that we may) take them to ourselves/

When he had thus obtained many maidens and had given 55 compensation to their families, he sent his daughter, bedecked with all her ornaments, and all that was needful for the journey,2 and all the maidens whom he had fitted out, accord- 56 ing to their rank, elephants withal and horses and waggons, worthy of a king, and craftsmen and a thousand families of 57 the eighteen guilds, entrusted with a letter to the con- queror Vijaya. All this multitude of men disembarked at 58

Ancient Ceylon, p. 237 foil., identifies Vijitapura with a suburb of Polannaruwa mentioned in the twelfth century A. D. As to the site of Uruvela see 28. 36 and note.

1 Now Madura, in the south of the Madras Presidency.

2 The Tika explains saparicchadam by paribhogabhandikam samakutappasadhanikam va. Cf. Skt. paricchada.

60 Mahavamsa VII. 59

Mahatittha ; for that very reason is that landing-place known as Mahatittha.1

59 Vijaya had one son and one daughter by the yakkhim; when he now heard that the princess had arrived he said to

60 the yakkhim : ' Go thou now, dear one, leaving the two children behind ; men are ever in fear of superhuman beings/

61 But when she heard this she was seized with fear of the yakkhas ; then he said (again) to the yakkhim : ' Delay not ! I will bestow on thee an offering 2 by (spending)

62 a thousand (pieces of money)/ When she had again and again besought him (in vain) she took her two children and departed for Lankapura, though fearing that evil should come of it.

63 She set the children down outside and went, herself, into that city. When the yakkhas in the city recognized the

64 yakkhim, in their terror they took her for a spy and there was great stir among them ; but one who was violent killed the yakkhim with a single blow of his fist.

65 But her uncle, on the mother's side, a yakkha, went forth from the city and when he saw the children he asked them :

66 ( Whose children are you?' and hearing that they were Kuvanna/s he said : ' Here has your mother been slain, and they will slay you also if they see you: (therefore) flee swiftly ! '

67 Fleeing with speed they went from thence to the Sumana- kuta.3 The brother, the elder of the two, when he grew up

68 took his sister, the younger, for his wife, and multiplying with sons and daughters, they dwelt, with the king's leave, there in Malaya.4 From these are sprung the Pulinda.5

1 I. c. ' the great landing-place ' ; now Mantota opposite the island Manaar.

2 Since Kuvanna is a yakkhim, she must receive like the devatas a bali or religious offering, oblation.

3 I. e. Adam's Peak.

* The central mountain-region in the interior of Ceylon.

6 Pulinda, a designation of barbarous tribes, is here evidently a name of the Wseddas. The tract of countiy inland between Colombo, Kalutara, Galle and the mountains is now called Sabaragamuwa from Skt. s*abara; p. savara, a synonym of pulinda.

vii. 74 The Consecrating of Vijaya 61

The envoys of the Pandu king delivered up to the prince 69 Vijaya the gifts and the (maidens) with the king's daughter at their head. When Vijaya had offered hospitality and bestowed 70 honours on the envoys he bestowed the maidens, according to their rank, upon his ministers and retainers. According to 71 custom the ministers in full assembly consecrated Vijaya king and appointed a great festival.

Then king Vijaya consecrated the daughter of the Pandu 72 king with solemn ceremony as his queen; he bestowed wealth 73 on his ministers, and every year he sent to his wife's father a shell-pearl worth twice a hundred thousand (pieces of money).

When he had forsaken his former evil way of life, Vijaya, 74 the lord of men, ruling over all Lanka in peace and right- eousness reigned, as is known, in the city of Tambapanni, thirty-eight years.

Here ends the seventh chapter, called ' The Consecrating of Vijaya', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

CHAPTEE VIII

THE CONSECRATING OF PANDUVASUDEVA

1 THE great king Vijaya, being in the last year (of his life), bethought him : ' I am old and there lives no son of mine.

2 The kingdom peopled with (such great) difficulty may come to naught after my death ; therefore would I fain have my brother Sumitta brought here (that I may give) the govern-

3 ment (into his hands).' When he had taken counsel with his ministers he sent a letter to him, and within a short time after Vijaya had sent the letter he passed away to the celestial world.

4 When he was dead the ministers ruled, dwelling in Upatissa-

5 gama while they awaited the coming of the prince. After the death of king Vijaya and before the coming of the prince was oar island of Lanka kingless for a year.

6 In Slhapura, after the death of king Slhabahu, his son

7 Sumitta was king ; he had three sons by the daughter of the Madda1 king. The messengers coming to Slhapura handed

8 the letter to the king. When he had heard the letter the king spoke thus to his three sons : ' I am old, dear ones ; one

9 of you must depart for the greatly favoured and beauteous Lanka belonging to my brother, and there, after his death, assume (the sovereignty of) that fair kingdom.'

10 The king's youngest son, the prince Panduvasudeva, thought : ' I will go thither/ And when he had assured himself

1 1 of the success of his journey 2 and empowered by his father, he took with him thirty-two sons of ministers and embarked

1 2 (with them) in the disguise of mendicant monks. They landed

1 Madda = Skt. Madra, now Madras.

2 Natva sotthim gatimhi ca (by asking the soothsayers). Tika: nemittikavacaneneva janitva 'knowing from the word of the soothsayers '.

viii. 22 The Consecrating of Panduvasudeva 63

at the mouth of the Mahakandara l river ; when the people saw these mendicant monks they received them with due respect.

When they had inquired about the capital, they arrived 13 gradually approaching (the city), at Upatissagama, protected by the devatas. Now a minister there, charged by the 14 (other) ministers, had questioned a soothsayer concerning the coming of the prince, and he had furthermore 2 foretold him : 'Just on the seventh day will the prince come and one who 15 shall spring of his house shall establish (here) the religion of the Buddha/ Now when the ministers saw the mendicant monks 16 arrive there, just on the seventh day, and inquiring into the matter recognized them, they entrusted Panduvasudeva with 1 7 the sovereignty of Lanka ; but since he lacked a consort he did not yet receive the solemn consecration.

A son of the Sakka Amitodana was the Sakka Pandu. 18 Since he heard that the Sakyas would (shortly) be destroyed 3 he took his followers with him and went to another tract of 1 9 land on the further side of the Ganges and founded a city there and ruled there as king. He had seven sons.

His youngest daughter was called Bhaddakaccana. She 20 was (even as) a woman made of gold,4 fair of form and eagerly wooed. For (love of) her did seven kings send precious gifts 2 1 to the king (Pandu), but for fear of the kings, and since he was told (by soothsayers) that an auspicious journey would 22

1 Not identified. Probably one of the rivers falling into the sea north of Manaar.

2 That is, besides the fact of Panduvasudeva's coming he had fore- told the details that follow.

3 The Sakyas were annihilated in war by the Kosala king Vidu- dabha, shortly before the death of the Buddha ; see RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 11. This catastrophe is foretold to Pandu by soothsayers. Tika: Vidudhabhayuddhato puretaram eva nemittikavacaneneva Sakyanam bhavitabbam vinasam janitva ti attho 'Since he knew, even before the war with Vidudabha, by the word of the soothsayers the future destruction of the Sakyas '.

4 The golden colour of the skin always, in Sinhalese poems, counts for a mark of particular beauty. Kusajat. 172: ran-ruwak kara- gena. As a designation of beautiful women ran-liya 'golden creeper' is employed at Sselalihinisandesa 55 ; Kusajat. 557.

64 Maliavamsa VIII. 23

come to pass, nay, one with the result of royal consecration, he placed his daughter speedily upon a ship, together with

23 thirty-two women-friends, and launched the ship upon the Ganges, saying: ' Whosoever can, let him take my daughter/ And they could not overtake her, but the ship fared swiftly thence.

24 Already on the second day they reached the haven called

25 Gonagamaka J and there they landed robed like nuns. When they had inquired about the capital, they arrived gradually approaching (the city), at Upatissagama, protected by the devatas.2

26 One of the ministers who had heard the saying of a soothsayer, saw the women come, and inquiring into the

27 matter recognized them and brought them to the king. So his ministers, full of pious understanding, consecrated as their king PANDUVASUDEVA, whose every wish was fulfilled.

28 When he had consecrated Subhaddakaccana, of noble stature, as his own queen, and had given those (maidens) who had arrived with her to the followers who had come with him, the monarch lived happily.

Here ends the eighth chapter, called ' The Consecrating of Panduvasudeva', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 At the mouth of the Mahakandara-nadi. Cf. 8. 12.

2 The wording is exactly like v. 13, in order to lay stress on the parallel in the proceedings. In the same way v. 26 is based on vv. 14 and 16.

CHAPTER IX

THE CONSECRATING OF ABHAYA

THE queen bore ten sons and one daughter : the eldest of I all was named Abhaya, the youngest (child, the) daughter was named Citta. When the brahmans skilled in sacred texts saw 2 her they foretold : ' For the sake of sovereignty will her son slay his uncles/ When the brothers resolved : ( let us kill our 3 young sister/ Abhaya restrained them.

In due time they lodged her in a chamber having but one pillar, and the entry thereto they made through the 4 king's sleeping-chamber ; and within they placed a serving- woman, and a hundred soldiers without. But since she 5 (Citta) drove men mad by the mere sight of her beauty, the name given to her was lengthened by an epithet f Umma- dacitta \l

When they heard of the coming of the princess Bhadda- 6 kaccana to Lanka her brothers also,2 except one, urged by their mother, departed thither.

When on arriving they had visited the ruler of Lanka, 7 Panduvasudeva and their youngest sister too and had lamented with her,3 they, hospitably received by the king and having 8 the king's leave, went about the island of Lanka and took up their abode wheresoever it pleased them.4

The place where Rama settled is called Ramagona, the 9 settlements of Uruvela and Anuradha (are called) by their names, and the settlements of Vijita, Dighayu, and Rohana 10 are named Vrjitagama, Dighayu, and Rohana.5 Anuradha 11

1 The allusion is to ummadeti ' makes mad '.

2 Putt a, literally : ' the sons,' that is, of the Sakya Pandu. 5 Probably over the fate of Ummadacitta.

* Carimsu belongs to carikam and nivasam both.

5 Of. 7. 43 foil, where the names Anuradha, Uruvela, and Vijita also appear. Evidently we have to do with a different tradition as to the foundation of the same cities.

66 Mahavamsa IX. 12

built a tank and when he had built a palace to the south of

1 2 this, he took up his abode there. Afterwards the great king Panduvasudeva consecrated his eldest son Abhaya as vice- regent.

1 3 When the son of prince Dlghayu, Dighagamani, heard of

1 4 Ummadacitta he went, driven by longing for her. to Upatissa- gama, and there sought out the ruler of the land. And this

I (latter) appointed him together with the vice-regent, to service at the royal court.

15 Now (once) Citta saw Gamani in the place where he stood opposite her window, and, her heart on fire with love, she

1 6 asked her serving-woman : ' Who is that ?' When she heard : ' He is the son of thy uncle/ she trusted the matter to her

1 7 attendant and he, being in league with her, fastened a hook- ladder to the window in the night,1 climbed up, broke the window and so came in.

18 So he had intercourse with her and did not go forth till break of day. And he returned there constantly, nor was he discovered, for there was no entry (to the chamber).

1 9 And she became with child by him, and when the fruit of her womb was ripe the serving-woman told her mother, and

20 the mother, having questioned her daughter, told the king. The king took counsel with his sons and said : ' He too 2 must be received among us; let us give her (in marriage) to him/

2 1 And saying : ( If it is a son we will slay him ' ; they gave her to him.

But she, when the time of her delivery was come near,

22 went to the lying-in-chamber. And thinking: ' These were accomplices in the matter/ the princes, from fear, did to death

23 the herdsman Citta and the slave Kalavela, attendants on Gamani, since they would make no promise.3 They were

1 Gavakkhamhi dasapetva rattim kakkatayantakam, lit. ' making a crab-machine to bite on to the window '. For explanation of this passage see Mah. ed., Iiitrod., p. xxvi.

2 So pi, namely, Dighagamani.

8Patinnamadente, that is, they would not fall in with the design of the brothers to kill the boy who might perhaps come i the world. Cf. Mah. ed., Introd., p. xvi.

ix. 29 The Consecrating of Abhaya 67

reborn as yakkhas and both kept guard over the child in the mother's womb. And Citta made her attendant find another 24 woman who was near her delivery. And Citta bore a son but this woman bore a daughter. Citta caused a thousand (pieces 25 of money) to be handed over to (the other) together with her own son, and the latter's daughter to be then brought to her and laid beside her. When the king's sons heard fa daughter 26 is born ', they were well pleased ; but the two, mother and grandmother, joining the names of the grandfather and the 27 eldest uncle gave the boy the name Pandukabhaya.

The ruler of Lanka, Panduvasudeva, reigned thirty years. 28 When Pandukabhaya was born, he died.

When the ruler was dead, the king's sons all assembled 29 together and held the great festival of consecration of their brother, the safety-giving ABHAYA.1

Here ends the ninth chapter, called ' The Consecrating of Abhaya ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 A play on the word abhaya 'the fearless', and abhayada ' bestowing fearlessness, freedom from danger, or security '.

F 2

CHAPTER X

THE CONSECRATING OF PANDUKABHAYA

1 (As) commanded by Ummadacitta the serving-woman took the boy, laid him in a basket and went with him to Dvara- mandalaka.1

2 When the princes, who had gone a-hunting in the Tumbara forest saw the serving- woman they asked her : ' Where art

3 thou going ? What is that ? ' She answered : ' I am going to Dvaramandaiaka ; that is a sweet cake for my daughter.'

4 The princes said to her : ' Take it out.' Then Citta and Kalavela who had come forth to protect (the boy) caused a

5 great boar to appear at that moment. The princes pursued him ; but she took (the boy) and went thither and gave the boy and a thousand (pieces of money) secretly to a certain

6 man who was entrusted (with the matter). On that very day his wife bore a son, and he, declaring : ' My wife has borne twin sons/ reared that boy (with his own).

7 The (boy) was already seven years old when his uncles found out (where he was) arid charged followers of theirs to kill (with

8 him) the boys playing in a certain pond. Now the boy was used to hide, by diving, in a certain hollow tree standing in the water and having the mouth of the hollow hidden under

9 water, entering by the hollow, and when he had stayed long within he would come forth in the same way, and being again among the other boys, however much they questioned him, he would mislead them with evasive words.

10 On the day the (princes') people came2 the boy with his clothes on dived into the water and stayed hidden in

1 1 the hollow tree. When those men had counted the clothes and

1 According to Mah. 23. 23 the village is situated near the Cetiya- mountain (Mihintale), east of Anuradhapura. 8 See Mah. ed., Introd., p. liii.

x. 25 The Consecrating of Pandukalhaya 69

killed the other boys they went away and declared : ' The boys have all been killed ! ' When they were gone that (boy) went 12 to his foster-father's l house, and comforted by him he lived on there to the age of twelve years.

When his uncles again heard that the boy was alive they 1 3 charged (their followers) to kill all the herdsmen. Just on 14 that day the herdsmen had taken a deer and sent the boy into the village to bring fire. He went home, but sent his foster- 1 5 father's son out saying : ' I am footsore, take thou fire for the herdsmen ; then thou too wilt have some of the roast to eat/ 1 6 Hearing those words he took fire to the herdsmen: and at 17 that moment those (men) despatched to do it surrounded the herdsmen and killed them all, and when they had killed them they (went and) told (the boy's) uncles.

Then, when he was sixteen years old, his uncles discovered 18 him ; his mother sent him a thousand (pieces of money) and a command to bring him to (a place of) safety.2 His foster- 19 father told him all his mother's message, and giving him a slave and the thousand (pieces of money) he sent him to Pan- dula. The brahman named Pandula, a rich man and learned 20 in the vedas, dwelt in the southern district in (the village) Pandulagamaka. The prince went thither and sought out the 2 1 brahman Pandula. When this latter had asked him : ( Art thou Pandukabhaya, my dear?' and was answered ' Yes', he 22 paid him honour (as a guest) and said : { Thou wilt be king, and full seventy years wilt thou rule ; learn the art,3 my dear ! ' 23 and he instructed him, and by his son Canda 4 also that art was mastered in a short time.

He gave him a hundred thousand (pieces of money) to enrol 24 soldiers and when five hundred men had been enrolled by him (he said) : ' The (woman) at whose touch leaves turn to gold 25

1 Ayuttaorayuttaka* the man entrusted (with the bringing-up) '.

2 Tassa rakkham cadis i, lit. 'and disposed (or commanded) his protection '.

3 Sippam ugganha, in this case 'the art' is the knowledge needed by a reigning prince.

4 Candena cassa puttena belongs, according to the Tika, to sippam samapitam.

70 Mahavamsa x. 26

26 make thou thy queen, and my son Canda thy chaplain/ When he had thus said and given him money he sent him forth from thence with his soldiers. Proclaiming his name he, the

27 virtuous prince, fared forth and when in the city of Pana near the Rasa-mountain l he had gathered together seven hundred

28 followers and provision for all, he went thence, followed by one thousand two hundred men to the mountain called Giri- kanda.

29 An uncle of Pandukabhaya, named Girikandasiva, drew his revenues from this district that Panduvasudeva had handed

30 over to him. This prince was even then on the point of reap- ing (a field) measuring a hundred karlsas ; his daughter was

31 the beautiful princess named Pall. And she, with a great retinue, had mounted her splendid waggon, and came bring-

32 ing food for her father and for the reapers. The prince's men, who saw the princess there, told the prince (about

33 her) ; the prince coming thither in haste and dividing her followers into two bands, drove his own waggon, followed by his men, near her and asked : ' Where art thou going ? '

34 And when she had told him all the prince, whose heart was fired with love, asked for a share of the food.

35 She stepped down from the waggon and, at the foot of a banyan-tree, she offered the prince food in a golden bowl.

36 Then she took banyan-leaves to entertain the rest of the people (with food) and in an instant the leaves were changed into

37 golden vessels. When the prince saw this and remembered the brahman's words he was glad (thinking) : * I have found the

38 maiden who is worthy to be made queen/ So she entertained them all, but yet the food became not less ; it seemed that but

39 one man's portion had been taken away. Thus from that time onward that youthful princess who was so rich in virtues and merit was called by the name Suvannapall.

40 And the prince took the maiden and mounted his waggon and fared onward, fearless and surrounded by a mighty army.

1 Probably near the modern Kahagalagama 'village of the Kaha mountain ', about 18 miles SE. from Anuradhapura, and 10 miles WNW. from the mountain Ritigala. See also 25. 50, and the Appendix C on Pandukabhaya's campaigns.

x. 53 The Consecrating of Pandukalhaya 71

When her father heard this he despatched all his soldiers, and 41 they came and gave battle and returned, defeated by the 42 others ; at that place (afterwards) a village was built called Kalahanagara.1 When her five brothers heard this they (also) departed to make war. And all those did Canda the son of 43 Pandula slay ; Lohitavahakhanda 2 was their battle-field.

With a great host Pandukabhaya marched from thence to 44 the further shore of the Gahga 3 toward the Dola-mountain. Here he sojourned four years. WThen his uncles heard that he 45 was there they marched thither, leaving the king behind, to do battle with him. When they had made a fortified camp 46 near the Dhumarakkha-mountain they fought a battle with their nephew. But the nephew pursued the uncles to this side 47 of the river, and having defeated them in flight he held their fortified camp for two years.

And they went to Upatissagama and told all this to the 48 king. And the king sent the prince a letter together with a thousand (pieces of money) saying : ' Keep thou possession of 49 the land on the further shore, but come not over to this shore/ When the nine brothers heard of this they were wroth with the king and said : ' Long hast thou been, in truth, a helper 50 to him I Now dost thou give him the kingdom. For that we will put thee to death/ He yielded up the government to 51 them, and with one accord they appointed their brother named Tissa to be regent.

This safety-giving Abhaya4 had reigned as king in Upatis- 52 sagama twenty years.

Now a yakkhinl named Cetiya, who dwelt on the Dhuma- 53

1 I. e. Battle-town. A Kalahagala lies to the south of Mineri-Tank (Manihira), not far from the left bank of the Ambanganga, Which Hows into the Mahawseliganga lower down. Census of Ceylon, 1901, iv, pp. 468-469.

2 Lit. perhaps ' Field of the stream of blood '.

3 I. e. Mahagangl, now Mahawaeliganga. Paraganga means, from the standpoint of the narrator (at Anuradhapura), the right, oraganga 'this side ', the left bank of the Mahawseliganga. As to the Dolapabbata (now Dolagal-wela), see Appendix C.

4 See note to 9. 29.

72 MaMvanisa X. 54

rakkha-mountain T near the pond (called) Tumbariyangana, used to wander about in the form of a mare.

54 And once a certain man saw this beautiful (mare) with her white body and red feet and told the prince : ' Here is a mare whose appearance is thus and so — '

55 The prince took a noose and came to capture her. When she saw him coming up behind her she fled for fear of his majestic

56 aspect. She fled without rendering herself invisible and he pursued her swiftly as she fled. Seven times in her flight she

57 circled round the pond, and plunging into the Mahaganga and climbing forth again to the shore she fled seven times around

58 the Dhumarakkha-mountain ; and yet three times more she circled round the pond and plunged yet again in the Ganga,

59 near the Kacchaka-ford,2 but there he seized her by the mane and (grasped) a palm-leaf that was floating down the stream ;

60 by the effect of his merit this turned into a great sword. He thrust at her with the sword, crying : ' I will slay thee.' And she said to him : ' I will conquer the kingdom and give it to

61 thee, lord ! Slay me not ! ' Then he seized her by the neck and boring her nostrils with the point of his sword he secured her thus with a rope; but she followed wheresoever he would.

62 When the mighty (hero) had gone to the Dhumarakkha- mountain, bestriding the mare, he dwelt there on the Dhuma-

63 rakkha-mountain four years. And having marched thence with his force and come to the Arittha-mountain 3 he sojourned there seven years awaiting a fit time to make war.

64 Eight of his uncles, leaving two behind,4 drew near to the

65 Arittha-mountain in battle array, and when they had laid out a fortified camp near a small city and had placed a commander at the head they surrounded the Arittha-mountain on every side.

1 According to v. 62 foil, not far from the Kacchakatittha (see note to v. 58), on the left bank of the Mahawaeliganga. The Dhuma- rakkhapabbata is also mentioned, Mah. 37.203 (= 163 of the Colombo edition ii).

2 Cf. 23. 17 and 25. 12. Now Mahagantota, a ford below the place where Ambanganga and Mahawseliganga join. See note to 35. 58.

3 Now Ritigala, North-Central Province, north of Habarana.

4 Namely, Abhaya and Girikandasiva.

x. 79 The Consecrating of Pandukabhaya 73

After speech with the yakkhim, the prince, according to 66 her cunning counsel, sent in advance a company of his soldiers taking with them kingly apparel and weapons as presents and the message: 'Take all this ; I will make peace with you/ (>7 But as they were lulled to security thinking: ' We will take 68 him prisoner if he comes/ he mounted the yakkha-mare and went forth to battle at the head of a great host. The 69 yakkhinl neighed full loudly and his army, inside and outside (the camp) l raised a mighty battle-cry. The prince's men 70 killed all the soldiers of the enemy's army and the eight uncles with them, and they raised a pyramid of skulls. The 71 commander escaped and fled (for safety) to a thicket ; that (same thicket) is therefore called Senapatigumbaka. When 72 the prince saw the pyramid of skulls, where the skulls of his uncles lay uppermost, he said : ( 'Tis like a heap of gourds ' ; and therefore they named (the place) Labugamaka.2

When he was thus left victor in battle, Pandukabhaya 73 went thence to the dwelling-place of his great-uncle Anuradha. The great-uncle handed over his palace to him and built 74 himself a dwelling elsewhere; but he dwelt in his house. When he had inquired of a soothsayer who was versed in the 7o knowledge of (fitting) sites, he founded the capital, even near that village. Since it had served as dwelling to two Anuradhas, 76 it was called Anuradhapura, and also because it was founded under the constellation Anuradha. When he had caused the 77 (state) parasol of his uncles to be brought and purified in a natural pond that is here,3 PANDUKABHAYA kept it for himself and with the water of that same pond he solemnized 78 his own consecration ; and Suvannapali, his spouse, he con- secrated queen. On the young Canda, even as he had agreed, 79

1 I. e. the soldiers he had sent in advance into the enemy's camp and the army approaching now with him.

2 I. e. 'Village of Gourds/ Even now we find on the map, to the north-west of the Ritigala, a place called Labunoruwa = p. labuna- garaka. Cf. Return of Architectural and Archaeological Remains . . . existing in Ceylon, 1890, p. 76 ; Census of Ceylon, 1901, vol. iv, p. 464.

3 I dh a, i.e. in Anuradhapura, the residence of the chronicler.

74 Mahdvamsa x. 80

he conferred the office of his chaplain and other appointments on his other followers according to their merits.

80 Because his mother and he himself had been befriended by him, he did not slay the king Abhaya, his eldest uncle, but

81 handed over the government to him for the night-time: he became the 'Nagaraguttika' (Guardian of the City). From that

82 time onward there were nagaraguttikas in the capital. His father-in-law also, Girikandasiva, he did not slay but handed

83 over to this uncle the district of Girikanda. He had the pond l deepened and abundantly filled with water, and since he had taken water therefrom, when victorious (for his consecration), they called it Jayavapi.2

84 He settled the yakkha Kalavela on the east side of the city, the yakkha Cittaraja at the lower end of the Abhaya-

85 tank.3 The slave- woman who had helped him in time past and was re-born of a yakkhim, the thankful (king) settled at

86 the south gate of the City. Within the royal precincts he housed the yakkhinl in the form of a mare. Year by year he

87 had sacrificial offerings made to them and to other (yakkhas); but on festival-days he sat with Cittaraja beside him on a seat of equal height, and having gods and men to dance before

88 him, the king took his pleasure, in joyous and merry wise.

He laid out also four suburbs as well as the Abhaya-tank,

89 the common cemetery, the place of execution, and the chapel of the Queens of the West, the banyan-tree of Vessavana 4 and

90 the Palmyra-palm of the Demon of Maladies,6 the ground set apart for the Yonas and the house of the Great Sacrifice ; all these he laid out near the west gate.6

1 I. e. the pond in Anuradhapura, mentioned in v. 77. Since the old name has been changed, it is impossible to identify the JayavSpi.

2 I. e. the tank of victory.

8 See v. 88. The Abhaya-vapi which was laid out by the king Pandukabhaya himself, is the tank now called Basawak-kulam. PARKER, Ancient Ceylon, p. 360 foil.

4 I. e. of Kubera, god of wealth (Skt. Vaisravana), who perhaps is here considered as a chthonian god.

8 Or the God of the Huntsmen, according to the reading vyadha- devassa.

6 On the various buildings and foundations mentioned in 89 and 90,

x. 104 The Consecrating of Pandukabhaya 75

He set five hundred candalas to the work of cleaning1 the 91 (streets of the) town, two hundred candalas to the work of cleaning the sewers, one hundred and fifty candalas he em- 92 ployed to bear the dead and as many candalas to be watchers in the cemetery. For these he built a village north-west 93 of the cemetery and they continually carried out their duty as it was appointed.

Toward the north-east of the candala-village he made the 94 cemetery, called the Lower Cemetery, for the candala folk. North of this cemetery, between (it and) the Pasana-mountain, 95 the line of huts for the huntsmen were built thenceforth. Northward from thence, as far as the Gamani-tank,1 a her- 96 mitage was made for many ascetics; eastward of that same 97 cemetery the ruler built a house for the nigantha2 Jotiya. In that same region dwelt the nigantha named Giri and 98 many ascetics of various heretical sects. And there the lord 99 of the land built also a chapel for the nigantha Kumbhanda ; it was named after him. Toward the west from thence and 100 eastward of the street of the huntsmen lived five hundred families of heretical beliefs. On the further side of Jotiya's 101 house and on this side of the Gamani-tank he likewise built a monastery for wandering mendicant monks, and a dwelling 102 for the ajivakas and a residence for the brahmans, and in this place and that he built a lying-in shelter and a hall 3 for those recovering from sickness.

Ten years after his consecration did Pandukabhaya the 103 ruler of Lanka establish the village-boundaries over the whole of the island of Lanka. With Kalavela and Cittaraja, 104

see Mah. ed., Introd., p. liv. Since the Tika leaves us in the lurch it will be difficult to add anything further.

1 The Gamanivapi is perhaps the Karambawa-tank which lies somewhat more than a mile north from the Bulan-kulam. PARKER, however, identifies it with the Peramiyan-kulam. Ancient Ceylon, p. 364.

2 Name of a sect of ascetics (the Jaina) who went about naked.

3 According to the Tika we have to take sivikasotthisalam as sivikasalam ca sotthisalam ca. The former word is explained by vijayanaghara 'house of delivery', the latter by gilanasala 'hall for the sick'.

76 Mahdvamsa x. 105

who were visible (in bodily form) the prince enjoyed his good

105 fortune, he who had yakkhas and bhutas J for friends. Be- tween the king Pandukabhaya and Abhaya were seventeen years without a king.

106 When the ruler of the earth, Pandukabhaya, the intelligent, being thirty-seven years oLd, had assumed the rule over the kingdom, he reigned full seventy years in fair and wealthy 2 Anuradhapura.

Here ends the tenth chapter, called ' The Consecrating of Pandukabhaya' in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 That is, ghosts ; but the expression is ambiguous. It could also mean * he who had those that had become yakkhas (namely Kalavela and Citta) for friends '.

2 Tika: samiddhe ti, sampattiya purite addhe va 'filled with prosperity or wealthy '.

CHAPTEE XI

THE CONSECRATING OF DEVANAMPIYATISSA

AFTEE his death his son, known by the name of MUTASIVA, 1 the son of Suvannapali, succeeded him in the government, which was (then) in a peaceful state. The king laid out the 2 beautiful Mahameghavana-garden, rich in all the good qualities that its name promises l and provided with fruit- trees and flowering-trees. At the time that the place was 3 chosen for the garden, a great cloud, gathering at an unwonted season, poured forth rain ; therefore they called the garden Mahameghavana.

Sixty years king Mutasiva reigned in splendid Anuradha- 4 pura, the fair face of the land of Lanka. He had ten sons, 5 each thoughtful of the other's welfare, and two daughters equal 2 (in beauty), worthy of their family. The second son, 6 known by the name Devanampiyatissa, was foremost among all his brothers in virtue and intelligence.

This DEVANAMPIYATISSA became king after his father's 7 death. Even at the time of his consecration many wonders came to pass. In the whole isle of Lanka treasures and 8

1 Following the reading of the Burmese MSS. and the Tika nama- nugagunodito 'eminent in the qualities corresponding to the name'. Mahameghavana means 'grove of the great cloud'. The qualities which it possesses are such as accompany abundant rainfall: streams, trees with thick foliage, shade, coolness and so forth. Cf. the explanation of the Tika, Mah. ed., note on this passage. The Mahameghavana was situated south of the city of Anuradhapura, where now the Mahavihara stands. Between it and the southern wall of the city was another park, called Nandana or Jotivana. See 15. 1, 8; PARKER, Ancient Ceylon, pp. 272-274.

2 Tika: anukula ti, samanavanna; ayam surupa ayam virupa ti vacanapacchinditum anaraha samanarupa ; annamanna-anukularupasampattiya samannagata ti a- dhippayo. The sense is : they were of equal beauty.

78 Mahavamsa XI. 9

jewels that had been buried deep rose up to the surface of the

9 earth. Jewels which had been in ships wrecked near Lanka and

those which were naturally formed there (in the ocean) issued

10 forth upon the land. At the foot of the Chata-mountain there grew up three bamboo-stems, in girth even as a waggon-

11 pole.1 One of them, ' the creeper-stem/ shone like silver; on this might be seen delightful creepers gleaming with a golden

12 colour. But one was the ' flower-stem ', on this again might be seen flowers of many kinds, of manifold colours, in full

1 3 bloom. And last, one was the ' bird-stem ' whereon might be seen numbers of birds and beasts of many (kinds) and of

1 4 many colours, as if living. Pearls of the eight kinds, namely horse-pearl, elephant -pearl, waggon-pearl, my robalan -pearl, bracelet-pearl, ring-pearl, kakudha fruit-pearl, and common

1 5 (pearls) came forth out of the ocean and lay upon the shore in heaps.

16 All this was the effect of Devanampiyatissa's merit. Sap- phire, beryl, ruby, these gems and many jewels and those

17 pearls and those bamboo-stems they brought, all in the same week, to the king.

When the king saw them he was glad at heart and thought:

1 8 ' My friend Dhammasoka and nobody else is worthy to have these priceless treasures ; I will send them to him as a gift/

19 For the two monarchs, Devanampiyatissa and Dhammasoka already had been friends a long time, though they had never seen each other.

20 The king sent four persons appointed as his envoys : his nephew Maharittha, who was the chief of his ministers, then

21 his chaplain, a minister and his treasurer,2 attended by a body of retainers, and he bade them take with them those priceless

22 jewels, the three kinds of precious stones, and the three stems (like) waggon-poles, and a spiral shell winding to the right, and

1 This must be the meaning of rathapatoda, although patoda properly means ' goad, whip '.

2 The Tika also tells us the names of Arittha's three companions, namely Talipabbata (in Kamb. Mah. Hali°), Tela and Tissa. These names are, we may conjecture, taken from the original source of the Mah., the old Atthakatha.

XT. 30 The Consecrating of Devanampiyatissa 79

the eight kinds of pearls. When they had embarked at Jambu- 23 kola 1 and in seven days had reached the haven 2 in safety, and from thence in seven days more had come to Pataliputta, 24 they gave those gifts into the hands of king Dhammasoka. When he saw them he rejoiced greatly. Thinking: ' Here 25 I have no such precious things/ the monarch, in his joy, bestowed on Arittha the rank of a commander in his army, on the brahman the dignity of chaplain, to the minister he 26 gave the rank of staff-bearer, and to the treasurer that of a guild-lord.3

When he had allotted to the (envoys) abundance of (all) 27 things for their entertainment and dwelling-houses, he took counsel with his ministers considering (what should be sent as) a return-gift ; and he took4 a fan,5 a diadem, a sword, 28 a parasol, shoes, a turban, ear-ornaments,6 chains,7 a pitcher, yellow sandal wood, a set of garments that had no need of 29 cleansing, a costly napkin, unguent brought by the nagas, red-coloured earth, water from the lake Anotatta and 30 also water from the Ganges, a (spiral) shell winding in

1 A landing-place in northern Ceylon. See chiefly 19. 25.

2 The haven of Tamalitti. See note to 11. 38.

8 Very characteristic, and throwing light on court-life in India, chiefly in the fifth century A. D. The complimentary bestowing of titles and dignities was then the custom, just as at the present day.

4 The accusatives in the text are all dependent on v. 33. From this point the things enumerated are merely either the insignia of a royal prince or such as are used for the ceremony of consecrating a king.

6 Valavijani is a fly-whisk (Skt. camara) made of the hair of a yak's tail.

6 The Tika explains vatamsa (Skt. avatamsa) by kannapi- landhana. See Vinaya Texts, ii, p. 347, note on C.V. I. 13. 1. In Thupav., p. 1723 pupphavatamsaka is rendered in Sinhalese malkada.

7 That pamanga must be a band or chain is clear from the simile in Thupav. 317~19. The Buddha Dlpamkara winds the girdle round his red garment as one might wind a golden pamanga about a bunch of flowers. The same simile occurs Mahabodhiv., ed. STRONG, p. 6210 ; cf. also C.V. 5. 2. 1 ; Sum. Vil. I. 8012 on D. 1. 1. 10. (To be read thus, Mah. ed., p. 355, line 29.)

80 Mahavamsa XI. 31

3 1 auspicious wise,1 a maiden in the flower of her youth, utensils as golden platters, a costly litter, yellow and emblic myro-

32 balans and precious ambrosial healing1 herbs, sixty times one hundred waggon loads of mountain-rice brought thither by parrots, nay, all that was needful for consecrating a king,

33 marvellous in splendour; and sending these (things) in due time as a gift to his friend the lord of men sent envoys also

34 with the gift of the true doctrine, saying : ' I have taken refuge in the Buddha, his Doctrine and his Order, I have declared myself a lay-disciple in the religion of the Sakya son; 2

35 seek then even thou, O best of men converting thy mind with

36 believing heart refuge in these best of gems ! ' and saying moreover : ( Consecrate my friend yet again as king,' he dismissed his friend's ministers, with many marks of honour.

37 When the ministers had stayed five months, highly honoured they set forth with the envoys, on the first day of the bright

38 half of the month Vesakha.3 Having embarked at Tamalitti4 and landed at Jambukola they sought out the king, when

39 they arrived here on the twelfth day. The envoys handed the gifts to the ruler of Lanka ; the ruler of Lanka made them welcome with great hospitality.

40 But the envoys most faithful to their king consecrated the ruler of Lanka, whose (first) consecration had been held in the month Maggasira5 on the day when the moon first shows

4 1 itself, fulfilling the charge of Dhammasoka, yet again as king, they rejoicing in the salvation of their king (consecrated) him who rejoiced in the good fortune of Lanka.

1 Winding towards the right, dakkhinavatto ; cf. v. 22.

2 I.e. of Buddha, sprung from the tribe of the Sakyas. See 2. 15 foil.

3 See note to 1. 12.

4 Skt. Tamralipti, a harbour in the region at the mouth of the Ganges, now Tamluk. At Tamralipti the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien embarked for Ceylon in the beginning of the fifth century A. D. See LEGGE, Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, p. 100.

8 According to the Dip. 11. 14 and 38, the first coronation of D. was held in the second winter month under the Nakkhatta Asalha, iind the second coronation on the twelfth day of the bright half of the Vesakha month. Cf. Introduction, para. 7.

xi. 42 TJie Consecrating of Devanampiyatissa 81

Thus on the full-moon day of the month Vesakha the ruler 4 2 of men, in whose name was contained the words ' friend of the gods',1 bestowing1 good upon his people, held his con- secration (as king) in Lanka, where in every place they held high festival.

Here ends the eleventh chapter, called f The Consecrating of Devanampiyatissa' in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 Devanampiyatissa means 'Tissa, friend of the gods'.

CHAPTER XII

THE CONVERTING OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

1 WHEN the thera Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the re- ligion of the Conqueror, had brought the (third) council to an

2 end and when, looking into the future, he had beheld the founding of the religion in adjacent countries, (then) in the

3 month Kattika l he sent forth theras, one here and one there. The thera Majjhantika he sent to Kasmira and Gandhara, the

4 thera Mahadeva he sent to Mahisamandala. To Vanavasa he sent the thera named Rakkhita, and to A.parantaka the Yona

5 named Dharnmarakkhita ; to Maharattha (he sent) the thera named Mahadhammarakkhita, but the thera Maharakkhita he

6 sent into the country of the Yona. He sent the thera Maj jhima to the Himalaya country, and to Suvannabhumi he sent the

7 two theras Sona and Uttara. The great thera Mahinda, the theras Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasala his dis-

8 ciples, these five theras he sent forth with the charge : f Ye shall found in the lovely island of Lanka the lovely religion of the Conqueror/

9 At that time in Kasmira and Gandhara 2 did the naga-king of wondrous power, Aravala, cause the rain called ' Hail ' to

1 0 pour down upon the ripe crops, and cruelly did he overwhelm everything with a flood. The thera Majjhantika went thither

1 1 with all speed, passing through the air, and wrought (miracles such as) walking on the surface of the water in Aravala's lake and so forth. When the nagas beheld it they told their king with fury about this thing.

12 Then full of fury the naga-king brought divers terrors to

1 See note to 1. 12. As to the time of the third council, cf. the Introduction.

8 Gandhara comprises the districts of Peshawar and Rawal Pingli in the northern Punjab. Kasmira is the modern Kashmir.

xii. 25 Tlie Converting of Different Countries 83

pass; fierce winds blew, a cloud gave forth thunder and rain, thunder strokes crashed, and lightning- flashed here and there, 1 3 trees and mountain-tops were hurled down. Nagas in grisly 14 forms terrified (beholders) on every side, he himself spat forth smoke and fire threatening in different ways.

When the thera by his wondrous power had brought all 15 these terrors to naught, he said to the naga-king, showing his eminent might: 'Even if the world together with the gods 16 came seeking to terrify me, they would not be equal to me (in strength) whatever fears and dread (they may arouse) in this place.1 Nay, if thou shouldst raise the whole earth with the 17 ocean and the mountains, thou mighty naga, and shouldst hurl them upon me, thou couldst in no wise arouse fear and 18 dread in me. It were surely but thy own destruction, thou lord of serpents.'

Then to him, humbled by these words the thera preached 19 the doctrine, and thereupon the naga-king came unto the (three) refuges and the precepts of duty,2 and this likewise 20 did eighty-four thousand serpents and many gandhabbas, yakkhas and kumbhandakas 3 in the Himalaya. But a yak- 2 1 kha named Pandaka with (his wife) the yakkhim Harita and his five hundred sons obtained the first fruit (of sanctification).4

'Henceforth let no anger arise as of old; work no more 22 harm to the harvest, for living beings love their happiness ; cherish love for beings, let men live in happiness.' Thus 23 were they taught by him and they did according to (this teaching). Then the lord of serpents made the thera sit upon 24 a jewel-throne and he stood near, fanning him. But the 25 dwellers in Kasmira and Gandhara who had come to worship

1 The right reading appears to be yam ettha bhayabheravam. The construction of the sentence is, however, very difficult. For the explanation of the Tlka see Mah. ed., note on the passage.

2 See note to 1. 32 and 62.

3 Skt. kumbhanda, name of a class of supernatural beings under the rule of Virulhaka. The gandhabbas (= Skr. gandharva) are a class of demigods who are the attendants of Dhatarattha. Viru- lhaka, and Dhatarattha are two of the four great kings of the world (lokapala), the regents of the south and north.

4 I. e. the sotapattiphala. Cf. note to 1. 33.

G 2

84 Mahavamsa XII. 26

the naga-king acknowledged the thera as the mightier in 26 working wonders,1 and when they had paid the thera reverence

they seated themselves on one side near him. The thera

expounded to them the dhamma, (namely) the Asivisupama.2 2 7 The conversion of eighty thousand persons took place 3 and

a hundred thousand persons received the pabbajja from the

28 thera. Since then Kasmira and Gandhara shine with yellow robes and prize above all the three things.4

29 The thera Mahadeva who had gone to the Mahisamandala 5 country preached in the midst of the people the Devaduta-

30 suttanta.6 Forty thousand (persons) made pure (in themselves) the eye of the truth and yet forty thousand received from him the pabbajja-ordination.

3 1 The thera Rakkhita, who had gone to Vanavasa,7 preached, floating in the air in the midst of the people, the Anamatagga-

32 samyutta.8 The conversion of sixty thousand persons took place, thirty-seven thousand in number received the pabbajja

33 from him. Five hundred viharas were founded in the

1 Cf. Mah. ed., note on this passage, also 14. 20 with note. The positive mahiddhika stands for the comparative.

2 The asivisa-sutta of S. IV, pp. 172-175, or the aslvisopama 'simile of the serpent' of A. II, pp. 110-111.

3 See note to 1. 32.

4 Namely buddha, dhamma, samgha, the Buddha, his doctrine and his order. See note to 1. 62.

5 Mahisamandala is generally taken as the modern Mysore. But FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 429 foil., has shown that this identification is hardly correct. He himself takes Mahisamandala as ' territory of the Mahisha ' of which the capital was Mahishmati. Agreeing with PAROITER he places this capital on the island of the Narbada river, now called Mandhata. See Imperial Gazetteer of India, s. v. Mahisa- mandala is, therefore, a district south of the Vindhyan mountains.

6 I. e. ' Discourse on the Messengers of God.' See M. Ill, pp. 178-187 ; A. I, pp. 138-142. The suttanta deals with old age, disease, and death as messengers of Yama the god of death.

7 The Vanavasaka or Vanavasin are mentioned in the Maha- bharata, 6. 366, and Harivamsa, 5232, as a people dwelling in southern India. See B.R., Skt. Wtb. s.vv. There is also a modern town Banavasi in North Kanara which seems to have preserved the old name. Imp. Gaz. of India, s.v.

• S. II, pp. 178-193.

xii. 41 The Converting of Different Countries 85

country. Thus did the thera establish there the religion of the Conqueror.

The thera Dhammarakkhita the Yona, being gone to 34 Aparantaka l and having preached in the midst of the people the Aggikkhandhopama-sutta,2 gave to drink of the nectar of 35 truth to thirty-seven thousand living beings who had come together there, he who perfectly understood truth and untruth. 36 A thousand men and yet more women went forth from noble families and received the pabbajja.

The wise Mahadhammarakkhita, who had gone to Maha- 37 rattha/ related there the jataka called Mahanaradakassapa.4 Eighty-four thousand persons attained to the reward of the 38 path (of salvation), thirteen thousand received from him the pabbajja.

The wise Maharakkhita who went to the country of the 39 Yona 5 delivered in the midst of the people the Kalakarama- suttanta.6 A hundred and seventy thousand living beings 40 attained to the reward of the path (of salvation) ; ten thousand received the pabbajja.

The wise Majjhima7 preached in the Himalaya region whither 4 1

1 Skr. Aparanta'the western ends', comprising the territory of northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachchh, and Sind. FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 427.

2 I. e. ' The discourse on the parable of the flames of fire.' A. IV, pp. 128-135.

3 Skr. Maharastra, the country of the Marathi.

4 FAUSBOLL, Jat. vi, pp. 219-255.

5 The Yonas (Skt. Yavana) are also mentioned, together with the Kambojas, in the Rock Edicts V and XIII of Asoka. They ' must mean the clans of foreign race (not necessarily Greek) on the north- western frontier, included in the empire (of Asoka) '. V. A. SMITH, Asoka, p. 132, n. 2. It is remarkable that just at that time (246 B.C.) the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was founded by Diodotos. See SPIEGEL, Eran. Alterthumsk., Ill, p. 49 foil.

6 Probably by this title is meant the suttanta 24 of the Catukkani- pata in A. II, pp. 24-26. The Kalakaraina is supposed to be the place where Buddha delivered this discourse.

7 The companions of Majjhima, according to Dip. 8. 10, Snip. 317", MBv. 115s, and Tlka 2225, were the theras Kassapagotta, Muladeva (Alakadeva), Sahadeva, and Dundubhissara. See the Introduction.

86 MaMvamsa xn. 42

he had gone with four theras, the Dhammacakkappavattana-

42 suttanta.1 Eighty kotis of living beings attained to the reward of the path (of salvation). The five theras separately con-

43 verted five kingdoms ; from each of them a hundred thousand persons received the pabbajja, believing in the doctrine of the Sammasarpbuddha.

44 Together with the thera Uttara the thera Sona of wondrous

45 might went to Suvannabhumi.2 Now at this time, when- ever a boy was born in the king's palace, a fearsome female demon who came forth out of the sea, was wont to devour (the

46 child) and vanish again. And at that very moment a prince was born in the king's palace. When the people saw the theras they thought : ' These are companions of the demons/

47 and they came armed to kill them. And the theras asked : * What does this mean ? ' and said to them : ' We

48 are pious ascetics, in no wise companions of the demon/ Then the demon came forth from the ocean with her follow-

49 ing, and when the people saw them they raised a great outcry.

50 But the thera created twice as many terrifying demons and therewith surrounded the demon and her following on every side. She thought : ' This (country) is come into possession of these (people)/ and, panic-stricken, she took to flight.

51 When the thera had made a bulwark round the country he pronounced in the assembly the Brahmajala(suttanta).3

52 Many were the people who came unto the (three) refuges and the precepts of duty ; sixty thousand were converted to

1 I. e. ' The discourse of the setting in motion the wheel of the doctrine.' See M.V. I. 6. 17 foil. (= Vin. Pit. i, p. 10 foil.); S.V, pp. 420-431 ; S.B.E. xi, p. 146 foil.

a The general opinion was, until recently, that Suvannabhumi 'the gold-land' is lower Burma with adjacent districts. But this is very doubtful, since it is a fact that Buddhism reached Burma from China in the Mahayana-form and not before the fourth century A. D. FLEET, J.R.A.S. 1910, p. 428, suggests that Suvannabhumi might be the country in Bengal called by Hiuen-tsang ' Ka-lo-na-su-fa-la-na ' = Karnasuvarna, or else the country along the river Son, a river in Central India, and tributary of the Ganges on its right bank, which is also called Hiranyavaha ' the gold-bearer '.

3 I. e. ' The Net of the Religious/ D. I, p. 1 foil.

xii. 55 The Converting of Different Countries 87

the true faith. Three thousand five hundred sons of noble 53 families received the pabbajja and one thousand five hundred daughters of noble families received it likewise. Thenceforth 54 when a prince was born in the royal palace the kings gave to such the name Sonuttara.

Since they did even forbear to enter into the bliss already 55 won — (such was) also the renunciation of the all-compassionate Conqueror — they bestowed blessing on the world,1 (going) here and there. Who should grow weary in (striving for) the salvation of the world ?

Here ends the twelfth chapter, called ' The Converting of Different Countries ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 The sense is this : The theras had already attained to arahant- ship and were in possession of nibbana. Nevertheless they forebore to pass into nibbana, in order that they might first show the way salvation to the world. They thus followed the example of the Buddha who had practised the same renunciation (kaddhana). See M.V. I. 5. 2 foil. (= Yin. Pit, i, p. 4 foil.).

CHAPTEE XIII

THE COMING OF MAHINDA

1 THE great thera Mahinda, of lofty wisdom, who at that time had been twelve years (a monk), charged by his teacher

2 and by the brotherhood to convert the island of Lanka, pon- dered on the fitting time (for this) and thought : ( Old is the king Mutasiva ; his son must become king/

3 When he had resolved to visit in the meantime his kinsfolk, he bade farewell to his teacher and the brotherhood and

4 having asked the leave of the king he took with him the four theras 1 and also Samghamitta/s son, the miraculously gifted

5 samanera Sumana,2 mighty in the six supernormal powers; and he went to Dakkhinagiri 3 to confer on his kinsfolk (the) grace (of his preaching). While he was so doing six months passed away.

6 When he came in time to Vedisagiri 4 the city of his mother

7 Devi, he visited his mother and when Devi saw her dear son she made him welcome, and his companions likewise, with foods prepared by herself, and she led the thera up to the lovely vihara Vedisagiri.

8 When the prince Asoka, while ruling over the realm of Avanti, that his father had bestowed on him, halted in the

9 town of Vedisa, before he came to UjjenI, and met there a

1 0 lovely maiden named Devi, the daughter of a merchant, he made her his wife ; and she was (afterwards) with child by

1 1 him and bore in UjjenI a beautiful boy, Mahinda, and when two years had passed (she bore) a daughter, Samghamitta. At

1 See 12. 7. 2 See 5. 170.

3 A vihara in UjjenI, Skr. Uj jay in I. See note to 5. 39.

4 Vedisa is the modern Bhilsa in Gwalior State, situated 26 miles north-east of Bhopal. See Imp. Gazetteer of India, s. v. ; E. MULLER, J.P.T.S. 1888, p. 87 ; RHYS DAVIDS, Buddhist India, p. 288.

XIIL 20 The Coming of Mahinda 89

that time 1 she lived in the city of Vedisa. The thera who then 1 2 sojourned there, perceiving (that) the time (was come), thought thus : ' In that great festival of consecration commanded by 1 3 my father shall the great king Devanampiyatissa take part, and he shall know the splendour of the three things2 when he has heard it from the envoys. He shall climb the Missaka- 14 mountain 3 on the uposatha-day of the month Jettha.4 On that same day we will go to the beauteous isle of Lanka.'

The great Indra5 sought out the excellent thera Mahinda 15 and said to him : ' Set forth to convert Lanka ; by the Sam- buddha also hast thou been foretold (for this) and we will be 16 those who aid thee there.'

The son of a daughter of Devi's sister, (a youth) named Bhanduka, who had heard the doctrine preached by the thera 1 7 to Devi, and who had obtained the reward of one who shall return no more unto life 6 remained with the thera.

When he had stayed there a month the thera, on the upo- 18 satha-day of the month Jettha, with the four theras and Sumana,7 and the lay-disciple Bhanduka also, to the end that 19 they might be known for human beings,8 rose up in the air (and departed) from that vihara ; and he, the (thera) of won- drous powers, coming hither with his following alighted on 20

1 Namely, at the time of Mahinda's visit.

2 Cf. note to 12. 28.

3 Now the mountain Mihintale (= 'plain of Mahinda', according to A. GUNASEKARA), 8 miles to the east of Anuradhapura.

4 See note to 1. 12.

6 A play upon the name Mahinda.

6 The stage of anagaml is the third and last stage but one, on the path of salvation leading to nibbana. Such an one will not be re-born, either in the world of gods or of men, but only in a Brahma- world, where he will attain nibbana. See CHILDERS, s. v.

7 It seems almost as if v. 18 were an interpolated verse. If we omit it 19 follows perfectly well on 17 : ' . . . remained with the thera ; with this lay-disciple ... he rose up, &c.' That, besides, the four theras and Sumana were Mahinda's fellow-travellers is already known from 12. 7 and 13. 4.

8 With this cf. 14. 31, also Mah. ed., note to 13. 19 b and Album Kern 205-206.

90 Mahavamsa xiii. 21

the pleasant Missaka-mountain, on the Sila-peak on the open and fair Ambatthala.1

21 He who was foretold by the Sage, in the hour of death, as bringing salvation to Lafika,2 by his merit in converting Lanka, he, who for Lanka's salvation had become like to the Master,3 alighted there, extolled by the gods of Lanka.

Here ends the thirteenth chapter, called ' The Coming of Mahinda', in the Mahavamsa, compile;! for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 Cf. TENNENT, Ceylon, ii, p. 605 foil. The Silakuta is the northern peak of the Mihintale-mountain. Immediately below it lies the little tableland on which the Ambatthala-dagaba stands.

2 Lit. ' For the blessing of L.'

3 The allusion probably is to the Buddha's legendary visit to the island.

CHAPTER XIV

THE ENTRY INTO THE CAPITAL

THE king Devanampiyatissa who had arranged a water- 1 festival for the dwellers in the capital, set forth to enjoy the pleasures of the chase. Attended by forty thousand of his 2 men he went on foot to the Missaka-mountain. The deva of 3 the mountain who desired to show the theras to him, appeared there in the form of an elk-stag browsing in the thicket. When the king saw him, he thought : ' It is unseemly to kill 4 an unheeding (creature) ' and he struck out a sound from his bowstring; the stag fled towards the mountain. The king 5 pursued, but the stag in his flight drew near to the thera. When the thera came into the prince's view the (deva) himself vanished.

Thinking : ' If he sees too many (people) he will be too 6 much afraid/ the thera let (the king) see him alone. When the king beheld him he stood still terrified. The thera said to 7 him : ' Come hither, Tissa/ Then, from the calling him by his name, Tissa, the king thought forthwith : ' (That is) a yakkha/ ( Samanas are we, O great king, disciples of the 8 King of Truth. From compassion toward thee are we come hither from Jambudlpa/ thus said the thera. When the king 9 heard this fear left him. And remembering the message of his friend, and persuaded that these were samanas, he laid bow 1 0 and arrow aside and approaching the sage he exchanged greet- ing with the thera and sat down near him.

Then came his people and surrounded him and the great thera 1 1 caused the others who had come with him to become visible. When the king beheld' these too he said : ( When did these come 12 hither ? ' The thera answered : ' (They came) with me/ And

9 2 MaMvamsa XI V. 1 3

1 3 he asked moreover : ' Are there in Jambudipa other ascetics like to these ? ' The other said : ' Jambudipa is gleaming with

14 yellow robes; and great is the number there of arahants learned in the three vedas, gifted with miraculous powers, skilled in reading the thoughts of others, possessing the heavenly ear: l the disciples of the Buddha/

1 5 (The king) then asked : ' By what way are you come ? ' And since the answer was : ' Neither by land nor by water- are we come,' he understood that they had come through the air.

1 6 To test him that most wise (thera) now asked a subtle ques- tion, and even as he was questioned the monarch answered the questions severally.

1 7 ' What name does this tree bear, O king ? ' ' This tree is called a mango/

' Is there yet another mango beside this ? ' ' There are many mango-trees/

1 8 ' And are there yet other trees besides this mango and the other mangoes ? '

' There are many trees, sir ; but those are trees that are not mangoes.'

19 'And are there, beside the other mangoes and those trees which are not mangoes, yet other trees ? '

' There is this mango-tree, sir/

' Thou hast a shrewd wit, O ruler of men ! '

20 < Hast thou kinsfolk, O king ? ' * They are many, sir/

' And are there also some, O king, who are not kinsfolk of thine ? '

' There are yet more 2 of those than of my kin/

21 'Is there yet any one besides the kinsfolk and the others ? ' ' There is yet myself, sir/

' Good ! thou hast a shrewd wit, O ruler of men ! '

22 When he had known that he was a keen-witted man, the

1 Iddhi, cetopariyanana and dibbasota are three of the six abhinna. See note on 4. 12 (No. I, III, II).

2 The positive bahu, with the abl. natito, stands instead of the comparative. See 12. 25 (with note) also Mah. ed., Introd., p. liv.

xiv. 32 Tlie Entry into the Capital 93

wise thera preached to the monarch the Culahatthipadupama- suttanta.1 At the end of the discourse he, with the forty 23 thousand men, came unto the (three) refuges.2

In the evening1 they brought the king's meal to him. 24 Although the king knew that these (bhikkhus) would not eat then he invited the sages to the meal, with the thought : ' It 25 were seemly at least to ask them/ When they told him: ' We do not eat now/ he asked concerning the time. And 26 when he was told the time, he said : ' We will go into the city/

1 Go thou, great king, we will stay here/

' If that be so, then must this young man 3 come with us/ 2 7

' This (youth) is one who has attained the goal,4 has grasped the doctrine and waits for the pabbajja, (therefore) must he 28 abide near us. We wish to bestow on him the pabbajja now; depart then, O king/ Then, when he had taken leave of the 29 theras with the words : ( To-morrow I will send a waggon, do you enter it and come into the city,' he took Bhandu aside and asked him what the theras intended (to do). And he 30 told the king all. When (the king) heard the thera's name he was full of joy and thought : ' This is blessing for me/ And now the king, whose fear had left him because Bhandu 31 was a layman, knew that these were human beings.5 Saying : 'Let us bestow on him the pabbajja/ the thera bestowed on 32 young Bhanduka, within the boundaries of that village and within that group (of bhikkhus),6 both the pabbajja and the

1 I.e. 'The lesser discourse on the simile of the elephant's foot- print.' M. I, pp. 175-184.

2 See notes to 1. 32 and 62. 8 Namely Bhandu. 4 Agataphala is a synonym of anagamiphala. See 13. 17.

8 See the note to 13. 19. The king's remaining fears that he was in the presence of supernatural beings, were only overcome by the details communicated by Bhandu.

6 Every monastery has its parish, the bounds of which (sima) are strictly fixed according to M.V. II. 11 foil., and within these the ecclesiastical proceedings take place. Since there were as yet no monasteries in Ceylon the boundaries of the village situated on Mis- saka served as a parish. But the chapter (gana) which carried out the ordination was formed by Mahinda and his companions.

94 Mahavamsa xiv. 33

33 upasampada-ordination, and even in the same moment he attained to the state of arahant.

34 Then the thera ordered the samanera Sumana: 'Announce ye the time of preaching the dhamma/ He asked : f How far, sir,

35 shall I make the time to be heard when I announce it?' When the thera answered : ' Over all Tambapanni,' he announced the time of (preaching- the) dhamma, making it to be heard, by his miraculous power, over the whole of Lanka.

36 When the king, who was seated by the rock-basin at the Nagacatukka1 and was taking his repast, heard the loud

37 summons, he sent a message to the thera asking: 'Has any misfortune come to pass ? ' He answered : ' No misfortune has come to pass ; the time was proclaimed for hearing the word of the Sambuddha.'

38 When the earth-gods heard the summons of the samanera they echoed it and so the call rose up gradually to Brahma's

39 heaven. Because of the summons there came together a great assembly of devas ; and the thera preached before this gather- ing the Samaeitta-sutta.2

40 Devas without number were converted to the doctrine and many nagas and supannas 3 came unto the (three)

41 refuges. Even as when the thera Sariputta uttered this discourse so did the devas gather together to hear it from Mahinda.

42 On the morrow the king sent a waggon. The driver came and said : ' Mount into the waggon, we will drive to the city/

43 'We will not mount into the waggon; go thou, we will follow thee.' Saying this they, full of holy desires,4 sent the

44 driver away; and they rose into the air and by their miraculous power they descended to the east of the city in the place

1 By this is probably meant the Nagapokuna situated some distance below the Ambatthala. See GEIGER, Ceylon, p. 204.

2 By Samacitta-sutta we have to understand Sutta 5-6 of the Samacitta-vagga in the Dukanipata of A. I, pp. 63-65. The subject is spiritual calm.

8 See note to 19. 20.

4 In sumanoratha a play on the words ratha 'waggon' and sarathi 'driver' is intended. The ratha of the theras is sum anas 4 pious feeling '.

xiv. 58 The Entry into the Capital 95

where the first thupa (afterwards stood). And thenceforward 45 to this day the cetiya that was built on the spot where the theras first alighted * is called the Pathamacetiya.2

Since the women of the royal household, hearing from the 4(i king of the virtues of the theras, desired to see them, the monarch had a lovely pavilion built for them within the royal 4 7 precincts, covered with white stuffs and with flowers and beautifully adorned.

And since he had heard from the thera that they would not 48 sit upon raised seats, he pondered doubtfully : ' Will the thera indeed sit upon a raised seat ? ' In the meantime the driver 49 saw the theras standing there 3 putting on their robes and in wonderment he came and told the king. Hearing all (this) it 50 became clear to the king that they would not sit on chairs. And commanding : ' Let the finest carpets be spread upon the 5 1 ground/ he went to meet the theras, greeted them reverently, took the almsbowl from the great thera Mahinda's hand and 52 led the thera into the city, as is the custom in hospitable welcome and homage.

And the soothsayers, when they saw the seats prepared, 53 foretold : f The earth is occupied by these (bhikkhus) ; they will be lords upon the island.' Showing them honour the king 54 led the theras into the palace. There, according to their rank, they took their seat on chairs covered with stuffs. The king 55 himself served them with rice-soup and with foods hard and soft. And when the meal was finished, he himself sat down at their feet and sent for Anula, the consort of his younger 56 brother, the sub-king Mahanaga, who dwelt in the royal palace. When the queen Anula had come with five hundred 57 women and had bowed down and made offerings to the theras, she stepped to one side. The thera preached the Petavatthu, 58

1 Cf. the same construction in 10. 10. See also Mah. ed., Introd., p. liii.

2 The Pathamacetiya ' the First cetiya' has not been found in the ruins of Anuradhapura. It stood, no doubt, outside the eastern gate of the city. PARKER, Ancient Ceylon, p. 275.

3 Namely at the spot where they had alighted from the air, and where the driver only arrived after them.

96 Mahuvamsa xiv. 59

the Vimanavatthu l and the Sacca-samyutta.2 The women attained to the first stage of sanctification.3

59 And many people from the city, hearing- from persons who had seen them the day before, of the virtues of the theras,

60 came together desirous to see the theras and made a great stir at the palace-gates. When the king heard that and had been told, on asking, (why it was so,) he said, thoughtful for their

61 welfare : ' Here there is not enough space for all these men ; let them cleanse the hall of the state-elephant, there shall

62 the townspeople be able to look upon the theras. When they had cleansed the elephant's hall, and had adorned it speedily with canopies and so forth, they prepared seats

63 there (for the theras), according to their rank. The great thera went thither with the (other) theras and when he had taken his seat, he, the eminent preacher, preached the Deva-

64 duta-suttanta.4 When the townspeople, who were come together, heard it, they were filled with faith and a thousand persons among them attained to the first stage of salvation.

65 When thus in the isle of Lanka the peerless thera, like unto the Master in the protection of Lanka, had preached the true doctrine in two places, in the speech of the island, he, the light of the island, thus brought to pass the descent of the true faith.

Here ends the fourteenth chapter, called ' The Entry into the Capital ', in the Mahavamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.

1 The Petavatthu and the Vimanavatthu are books of the Khuddaka-nikaya in the Sutta-pitaka. The former contains stories of ghosts that dwell in the ghost-world, as a punishment for sins committed, the latter contains descriptions of the marvellous palaces that serve as dwellings for happy ghosts. Both texts have been edited by EDM. HARDY, P.T.S. 1889, 1886.

2 See S. V, pp. 414-478.

3 I. e. the sotapatti. Cf. note to 1. 33.

4 See note to 12. 29.

CHAPTER XV

THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MAHAVIHABA

WHEN they saw that the elephant's hall was also too small, 1 the people who had assembled there, full of pious zeal, prepared seats for the theras outside the southern gate, in the pleasant 2 Nandana-garden l in the royal park, thickly shaded, cool and covered with verdure. The thera went forth by the south gate 3 and seated himself there. Numbers of women of noble families who came thither sat at the thera' s feet filling the garden. 4 And to them the thera preached the Balapandita-suttanta.2 A 5 thousand of the women attained to the first stage of salvation. So, there in the grove, evening fell.

Then the theras set forth saying : ' We will go hence to 6 the mountain.' And they told the king, and the king came with all speed. Approaching the thera he said to him : ' It is 7 evening-time, and the mountain is far away ; but here in the Nandana-garden is a pleasant place to rest/ When they 8 answered : ' It is not fitting (for us) being too near the city/ (he said) : ' The Mahamegha-park is neither too far nor too near ; pleasant (is it), and water and shade abound there ; 9 may it please you to rest there ! Thou must turn back, lord ! ' Then the thera turned back.

The cetiya (afterwards) built on the spot where he turned 1 0 back, near the Kadamba-river, is called therefore Nivatta- cetiya.3

Southwards from Nandana the lord of chariots himself led 1 1 the thera to the Mahamegha-park, at the east gate. When 12

1 See note to 11.2.

2 I. e. ' the discourse of the fool and the wise man.' Probably the suttanta S. II, pp. 23-25, or perhaps A. I, 101-105.

3 I.e. the turning-back cetiya. The thupa was probably not far from the Pathamacetiya. See note to 14. 45.

98 Mahavamsa XV. 13

the king had bidden them prepare fine beds and chairs in fitting wise, in the pleasant royal dwelling, and had taken

13 leave of the theras, saying: ' Dwell here in comfort/ he returned to the city, surrounded by his ministers ; but the theras sojourned there that night.

14 As soon as the morning came, the ruler of the land took flowers and visited the theras, greeting them and offering

1 5 flowers in homage, and he asked them : ' Was (your) rest pleasant ? Is the garden fitting (for you) ? '

' Pleasant was our rest, O great king, and the garden is fitting for ascetics.'

1 6 And he asked (moreover) : { Is an arama allowed to the brotherhood, sir ? ' ' It is allowed/ replied the thera, who had knowledge of that which is allowed and that which is not

17 allowed. And he related the accepting of the Veluvanarama.1 When the other heard it, he rejoiced greatly and (all) the people were pleased and joyful.

1 8 But the queen Anula, who had come with five hundred women to greet the theras, attained to the second stage of salvation.2

19 And the queen Anula with her five hundred women said to the king : ' We would fain receive the pabbajja-ordination,

20 your Majesty/ The king said to the thera, ' Bestow ye on them the pabbajja ! ' But the thera made answer to the king : (It is not allowed (to us), O great king, to bestow the

21 pabbajja on women. But in Pataliputta there lives a nun, my younger sister, known by the name Samghamitta. She,

22 who is ripe in experience, shall come hither bringing with her the southern branch of the great Bodhi-tree of the king of samanas, O king of men, and (bringing) also bhikkhums

23 renowned (for holiness) ; to this end send a message to the king my father. When this then is here she will confer the pabbajja upon these women/

1 The Veluvana 'Bamboo-grove' near Rajagaha was a present of the Magadha-king Bimbisara to the Buddha. M.V. I. 22. 17-18 (= Vin. Pit. i, p. 39, S.B.E. xiii, p. 143) ; Jat. i, p. 85, 1 foil.

2 I.e. the sakadagamiphala. A sakadagami is one who will only once be reborn in the world of men before attaining to nibbana.

xv. 34 TJie Acceptance of the MaJiavihdra 99

1 It is well/ said the king1, and taking a splendid vase he 24 poured water (in token) of giving1, over the hand of the thera Mahinda with the words : ' This Mahamegha-park do I give 25 to the brotherhood.'

As the water fell on the ground, the great earth quaked. And the protector of the earth asked the (thera) : ' Wherefore 26 does the earth quake ? ' And he replied : ' Because the doctrine is (from henceforth) founded in the island/

The noble (king)1 offered jasmine-blossoms to the thera, 27 and the thera went to the royal dwelling and scattered eight handfuls of blossoms about the picula-tree 2 standing3 on the 28 south side of it. And then again the earth "quaked and when he was questioned he gave this reason : l Already in the life- 29 time of three Buddhas there has been here a malaka4 for carrying out the duties of the brotherhood, O king, and now will it be so once more/

Northward he went from the royal dwelling to the beautiful 30 bathing-tank, and there also the thera scattered as many blossoms. And then again did the earth quake, and being 31 asked (the thera) gave this reason : f This, O ruler of the earth, will be the tank with the room for warm baths.' 5

Then the wise (thera) went to the gateway of the same 32 king's dwelling and did homage to the spot with (the offering of) as many flowers. And here again the earth quaked; and 33 quivering with joy the king asked the reason, and the thera told him the reason: ' Here the south branch of the Bodhi- 34

1 A play on the words jatimant 'of high birth' (jati), and jati 1 the great flowered jasmine '.

2 Tamarix Indica.

9 I would prefer the reading thite agreeing with picule instead of thito. Certainly B2 is the only one in the collated MSS. that has this reading, but it is supported by the Tlka.

4 Malaka is a space marked off and usually terraced, within which sacred functions were carried out. In the Mahavihara (Tissarama) at Anuradhapura there were 32 malakas. Dip. 14. 78; Mah. 15. 192. The sacred Bodhi-tree for instance was surrounded by a malaka.

6 On the jantaghara ('a bathing-place for hot sitting-baths', S.B.E. xiii, p. 157, n. 2) see M.V. I. 25. 12-13; C.V. V. 14. 3 foil.; VIII. 8. 1 foil.

H 2

100 Mahdvamsa xv« 35

tree of the three Buddhas1 of our age was planted, when

35 they had brought it hither, O king, and the south branch of the Bodhi-tree of our Tathagata will likewise have its place on this same spot, lord of the earth.'

36 Then the great thera went to the Mahamucalamalaka and

37 scattered on that spot as many flowers. And then again the earth quaked, and being questioned he told (the king) the reason: 'The uposatha-hall of the brotherhood will be here, O lord of the earth/

38 Afterwards the wise thera went to the place of the Panham- bamalaka.

A ripe mango- tree, excellent in colour, fragrance and taste

39 and of large size, did the gardener offer to the king, and the

40 king offered the splendid (fruit) to the thera. The thera, bringer of good to mankind, let the king know that he would fain rest seated and forthwith the king had a fine carpet

41 spread. When the thera was seated the king gave him the mango-fruit. When the thera had eaten it he gave the kernel

42 to the king to plant. The king himself planted it there and

43 over it, that it might grow, the thera washed his hands. In that same moment a shoot sprouted forth from the kernel and grew little by little to a tall tree bearing leaves and fruit.

44 When those who were present with the king beheld this miracle, they stood there doing homage to the thera, their hair raising on end (with amazement).

45 Now the thera scattered there eight handfuls of flowers and then again the earth quaked. And being asked he gave the

46 reason : ' This place will be the place where many gifts shall be distributed, which shall be given to the brotherhood, (the bhikkhus) being assembled together, O ruler of men/

47 And he went up to the place where (afterwards) the Catus- sala 2 was, and there he scattered as many flowers, and then

1 The three Buddhas who preceded the historical Buddha in the present age of the world (kappa, lasting many millions of years), are named Kakusandha, Konagamana and Kassapa. According to the legend they all, like Gotama, visited Ceylon and the events always followed the same course. GEIGER, Dlpavamsa and Mahavamsa, p. 8 foil., and Hah. 15. 57 foil.

2 I. e. a quadrangular hall which served as a refectory for the monks.

xv. 60 The Acceptance of the MahaviJifiva l:0'i

again did the earth quake. And when the king asked the 48 reason of the earthquake the thera made answer : ' On the occasion of the receipt of a royal park by the three former 49 Buddhas,1 on this spot the gifts brought from all parts by the dwellers in the island being laid down, the three Blessed Ones and their communities accepted them. And now again 50 the Catussala will stand here and here will be the refectory of the brotherhood, O lord of men/

From thence the great thera Mahinda, the friend 2 of the 5 1 island, knowing what was a fitting place, and what unfitting, went to the spot where the Great thupa 3 (afterwards) stood.

At that time there was within the enclosure of the royal 52 park a little pond called the Kakudha-pond ; at its upper end, on the brink of the water, was a level spot fitting for the 53 thupa.

When the thera went thither they brought the king eight baskets of cam paka- flowers.4 The king offered the campaka- 54 flowers to the thera and the thera did homage to the spot with the campaka-flowers. And then again the earth quaked, the 55 king asked the reason of the earthquake and the thera gave in due order the reasons for the earthquake.

( This place, O great king, which has been visited by four 56 Buddhas is worthy of a thupa, to be a blessing and happiness to beings.

' In our age of the world there lived first5 the Conqueror 57 Kakusandha, a teacher versed in all truth, compassionate toward all the world. At that time this Mahamegha-grove 58 was known as Mahatittha ; the capital called Abhaya lay east- ward on the other side of the Kadamba-river,6 there Abhaya 59 was king. This island then bore the name Ojadlpa.

' By (the power of) the demons pestilence arose here among 60

1 See note to 15. 34.

2 Dlpavaddhana, lit. furtherer, increaser of the island.

3 I. e. the Ruwanwseli-dagaba = pali Hemamali, see 15. 167.

4 Michelia Champaka, Lin., belonging to the Magnoliaceae. 6 Cf. 15. 91 foil., and 125 foil.

6 I now prefer to refer Kadambanadiya pare to the preceding phrase, therefore Mah. ed. the comma after ahu (58 d.) should be deleted and placed after pare (59 a).

Maliavamsa xv. 61

the people. When Kakusandha, who was gifted with the ten G 1 powers,1 knew of this misery, then, to bring- it to an end and to achieve the converting of beings and progress of the doc- trine in this island, he, urged on by the might of his compas-

62 sion, came through the air surrounded by forty thousand

63 (disciples) like to him,2 and stood on the Devakuta-mountain. By the power of the Satnbuddha, O great king, the pestilence ceased then here over the whole island.

64 ' Standing there, O king of men, the King of the Wise, the Great Sage, proclaimed his will : " All men in Ojadlpa shall

65 see me this day, and if they only desire to come (to me) all men shall draw near to me without trouble and speedily/''

66 f When the king and the townsfolk saw the Prince of the Wise, shining and making the mountain to shine, they came swiftly thither.

07 ' The people, who were going thither to bring offerings to the devatas, believed the Guide of the World with the brotherhood

68 to be (such) devatas. And when the king, greatly rejoicing had greeted the King of the Wise, had invited him to a repast

09 and had brought him into the city, the monarch then thinking : " This stately and pleasant place is fitting for the resting-place of the Prince of the Wise, with the brotherhood, and not too

70 small/' made the Sambuddha and the brotherhood sit here on beautiful seats in a fine pavilion raised (by him).

71 'When the people in the island saw the Guide of the world with the brotherhood sitting here they brought gifts hither

72 from every side. And the king served the Guide of the World together with the brotherhood with his own food, both hard and soft, and with such (foods) as were brought by sundry other folk.

73 < While the Conqueror was seated, after the meal, on this very spot,3 the king offered him the Mahatitthaka-garden as a

74 precious gift. When the Mahatitthaka-grove, gay with

1 See note to 3. 6.

2 Tadi, i.e. like him, blessed like (the Buddha) himself; by ex- tension, a synonym of araha. Cf. Therag. 62, 205, 206; Suttanip. 86, 957, &c.

3 Idheva, that is, ' here, just where we now are.'

XV. 87 The Acceptance of tine Maliavihara 103

blossoms at an unwonted season, was accepted by the Buddha the great earth quaked. And sitting even here, the Master 75 preached the doctrine ; forty thousand persons attained to the fruit of the path (of salvation).

' When the Conqueror had stayed the day through in the 76 Mahatittha-grove he went in the evening to that plot of ground which was fitting f o r the place of the Bodhi-tree, and after he, sit- 7 7 ting there, had sunk in deep meditation the Sambuddha, rising from thence again, thought, mindful of the salvation of the island-people : " Bringing the south branch of my Bodhi-tree, 78 the sirlsa,1 with her, the bhikkhunl Rucananda shall come hither with (other) bhikkhunls."

' When the then knew his thought2 she forthwith took the 79 king of that country3 with her and went to the tree. Then 80 when the then of wondrous power had drawn a line with a pencil of red arsenic around the south branch she took the Bodhi-tree thus separated and set it in a golden vase, and this, 8 1 by her miraculous power she brought hither, O great king, with (company of her) live hundred bhikkhunis, surrounded by the devatas, and she placed it, with its golden vase, in the out- 82 stretched right hand of the Sambuddha. The Tathagata received the Bodhi-branch and gave it to the king Abhaya to 83 plant; the lord of the earth planted it in the Mahatittha- garden.

' Then the Sambuddha went northwards from this place, and 84 sitting in the beautiful Sirlsamalaka the Tathagata preached 85 the true doctrine to the people. Then, O prince, the conversion of twenty thousand living beings took place.4 Thereupon the 86 Conqueror went yet further north to that plot of ground where (afterwards) the Thuparama5 stood, and after he, sitting there, had sunk into meditation, the Sambuddha rising from thence 87 again preached the doctrine to those around him, and even at that place did ten thousand living beings attain to the fruit of the path (of salvation).

1 Acacia Sirissa. 2 By means of her omniscience.

3 According to the Tika king Khema of Khemavati (in Jambudipa). See Buddhavamsa (ed. MORRIS, P.T.S. 1882) XXIII. 8.

4 See note to 1. 32. 5 See below, note to 17. 30.

104 Mahavamsa XV. 88

88 ( Giving his own holy drinking- vessel for the homage of the people and leaving the bhikkhuni here with her following and

89 also his disciple Mahadeva with a thousand bhikkhus, the

90 Sambuddha went eastward from thence, and standing on the place of the Ratanamala, he delivered exhortations to the people ; then rising in the air with the brotherhood the Conqueror returned to Jambudlpa.

9 1 t Second l in our age of the world was the Lord Konagamana, the all-knowing Teacher, compassionate toward all the world.

92 < At that time this Mahamegha-grove was known as Maha- noma, the capital called Vaddhamana, lay to the south.

93 Samiddha was the name of the king of that region then. This island then bore the name Varadipa.

94 f At that time the misery of drought prevailed here in Vara- dipa. When the Conqueror Konagamana knew of this misery,

95 then, to bring it to an end, and afterwards to achieve the con- verting of beings and progress of the doctrine in this island,

96 he, urged on by the might of his compassion, came through the air, surrounded by thirty thousand (disciples) like to him-

97 self, and stood upon the Sumanakutaka-mountain. By the power of the Sambuddha the drought came to an end, and from the time that the decline of the doctrine ceased rainfall in due season now began.

98 ' And standing there, O king of men, the King of the Wise, the Great Sage, proclaimed his will : " All men in Varadipa

99 shall see me this day, and if they only desire to come (to me) all men shall draw near to me without trouble and speedily/'

100 ( When the king and the townsfolk saw the Prince of the Wise, shining and making the mountain to shine, they came swiftly thither.

101 'The people who were going thither to bring offerings to the devatas believed the Guide of the World with the

102 brotherhood to be (such) devatas. And when the king, greatly rejoicing, had greeted the King of the Wise, had

103 invited him to a repast, and had brought him to the city, the monarch then thinking : " This stately and pleasant place is

1 Cf. 15. 57 foil., and 15. 125 foil.

xv. 117 Tlie Acceptance of the Mahavihara 105

fitting for the resting-place of the Prince of the Wise with the brotherhood and not too small," made the Sambuddha and 104 the brotherhood sit here on beautiful seats in a fine pavilion raised (by him).

'When the people of the island saw the Guide of the World 105 with the brotherhood sitting here, they brought gifts hither from every side. And the king served the Guide of the 106 World together with the brotherhood with his own food, both hard and soft, and with such (foods) as were brought by sundry other folk.

'While the Conqueror was sitting, after the meal on this 107 very spot, the king offered him the Mahanoma-garden as a precious gift. And when the Mahanoma-grove, gay with 108 blossoms at an unwonted season, was accepted by the Buddha the great earth quaked. And sitting even here, the Master 109 preached the doctrine ; then thirty thousand persons attained to the fruit of the path (of salvation).

'When the Conqueror had stayed the day through in the 110 Mahanoma-grove, he went in the evening to that plot of ground where the former Bodhi-tree had stood, and after 111 he, sitting there, had sunk in deep meditation, the Sambuddha, rising from thence again, thought, mindful of the salvation of the island-people : " Bringing the south branch of my Bodhi- 112 tree, the udumbara1 with her, the bhikkhuni Kantakananda shall come hither with (other) bhikkhums."

( When the then knew his thought she forthwith took the 113 king of that region 2 with her and went to the tree. Then 114 when the then of wondrous power had drawn a line with a pencil of red arsenic around the south branch, she took the Bodhi-tree thus separated, and set it in a golden vase, and 115 this, by her miraculous power, she brought hither, O great king, with (her company of) five hundred bhikkhums, surrounded by the devatas, and she placed it, with its golden 116 vase, in the outstretched right hand of the Sambuddha. The Tathagata received it and gave it to the king Samiddha to 1 1 7

1 Ficus glomerata.

2 According to the Tika king Sobhana (Buddhavamsa XXIV. 16 : Sobha) in the city Sobhavatl.

106 Mahavamsa xv. 118

plant ; the lord of the earth planted it there in the Mahanoma garden.

118 ' Then the Sambuddha went northward from the Sirisamala and preached the doctrine to the people, sitting in the Naga-

119 malaka. When they heard the preaching of the doctrine, O king, the conversion of twenty thousand living beings took

120 place. When he had gone yet further northward to the place where the former Buddha had sat, and after he, sitting there,

121 had sunk into meditation, the Sambuddha, rising from thence again, preached the doctrine to those around him, and even at that place did ten thousand living beings attain to the fruit of the path (of salvation).

122 ' Giving his girdle as a relic for the homage of the people,

123 and leaving the bhikkhum here with her following and also his disciple Mahasumba with a thousand bhikkhus, the Sam-

124 buddha, standing on this side of the Ratanamala in the Sudassanamala, delivered exhortations to the people; then rising with the brotherhood into the air, the Conqueror returned to Jambudipa.

125 * Third l in our age of the world was the Conqueror of the Kassapa clan, the all-knowing Teacher, compassionate toward the whole world.

126 'The Mahamegha-grove was called (at that time) Mahasa-

127 gara; the capital, named Visala, lay toward the West. Jayanta was the name of the king of that region then, and this isle bore then the name of Mandadipa.

128 ' At that time a hideous and life-destroying war had broken

129 out between king Jayanta and his younger royal brother. When Kassapa, gifted with the ten powers,2 the Sage, full of com- passion, knew how great was the wretchedness caused to

130 beings by this war, then, to bring it to an end and afterwards to achieve the converting of beings and progress of the doctrine

131 in this island, he, urged on by the might of his compassion, came through the air surrounded by twenty thousand (disciples) l

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