and he gnashed his teeth so that he protruded one, and hence he 35 acquired the name of Rakkhasa. And he put to death more than a thousand of them who held offices, and caused the ears and noses of some to be cut off, and also banished many from the land. 36 But when he had afterwards hearkened to the sacred discourses (of Buddha), he was greatly calmed in spirit, and his temper became serene, and then he gave alms in great plenty like unto the cloud that poureth forth its waters over the surface of the earth. 37 Every year he gave alms on the full-moon day of the month Phussa,† and henceforth the custom of giving alms on that day 38 has prevailed over the island even up to this day. And the driver of the chariot who had fed the king his father with fried rice (as he drove him to Kálavápi) took the king's letter (that 39 was given to him) and showed it to Moggallána. And he wept and sorely bewailed himself when he saw it. And after he had spoken of the great love his father had always unto him, he appointed the driver of the chariot to the office of chief of the 40 king's gate. And Migára also, the captain of the army, brought to the king's notice the request that had aforetime been denied unto him, and having obtained the king's leave thereunto, held the feast of the dedication of the Abhiseka-jina, according to his desire. 41 Moreover, Moggallána gave the Dalha and the Dáṭhá-Kondañña Viháras at the Síhagiri rock to the Ságalika and Dhammaruci 42 brethren, and having converted the fortress itself into a vihára, he gave it to Mahánáma,‡ the elder of the Díghasanda Vihára. 43 And being a man of great wisdom, he likewise built a convent called Rájini, and gave it to the Ságalika sisterhood. 44 Moreover, a certain Dáṭhá Pabhuti of the Lambakaṇṇa race, who had been in the service of Kassapa, left it in disgust, and 45 went up to the Mereliya country and settled there. And he had a son, Silákála by name, who, fearing that danger would befall him from Kassapa, accompanied his kinsman Moggallána to 46 Jambudípa, and lived the life of a recluse at the Bodhimanda 47 Vihára and tarried there, serving the Order (as a novice). And 48 he was a man of cheerful disposition and of great skill. And he presented a mango (one day) to the chapter of elders, and they were so pleased with him that they called him (in sport) * See Note B attached to this chapter. January-February. Dhátusena's uncle, the author of the first thirty-six chapters of the Mahávagsa." Amba-Sámanera ('mango-novice'). unto all men by that name. Wherefore he was known And he afterwards obtained the Kesadhátu,* as it is written in 49 the "Kesadhátuvansa," and brought it hither in the reign of Moggallána. And Moggallána gratified him with many favours, 50 and took possession of the Hair-relic, and having placed it in a casket of crystal of great value, he bore it in procession to the beautiful image-house of the Lord Dípańkara. And he kept it 51 there and made great offerings to it. He made statues of 52 gold of his uncle and of his consort, and other images also, and a beautiful figure of a horse,† and placed them there. He caused 53 a casket for the Hair-relic to be made, and a parasol and a (small) pavilion studded with gems, and (the statues) of the two chief disciplest (of Buddha), and a chowrie. (Yea) the king did honour 54 to it greater even than he cared to give to himself. And the charge thereof he gave unto Silákála, whom he appointed swordbearer. Wherefore he came to be known afterwards as Asiggáha 55 Silákála.§ And, over and above, the king gave unto him his own sister in marriage with a portion. But this is a very brief 56 account. The details in full are to be found in the " Kesadhátuvansa," from which those who desire more knowledge may gather information. And (the king) set a guard along the sea coast, 57 and thus freed the island from fear (of invasion). And he purged the religion of the conqueror as well as his doctrines by enforcing the observance of discipline among the priesthood. And it was in this king's reign that Uttara, the captain of the 58 army, built a house of meditation for the brethren, and called it after his own name. And the king having performed these acts of merit, expired in the eighteenth year (of his reign). Even so he who was so exceedingly powerful, and had snatched 59 victory from Kassapa, was not able to conquer death by the reason of his merits being exhausted, but was like unto a slave before him. Wherefore wise men will seek to loose death of its • Hair-relic. †The expression cárukan assa bimbañ ca may mean either that he got made a beautiful image of his (own) or that of a horse. Sáriputra and Moggallána, § Silákála, the sword bearer. See Note 2, chap. XLIV. Padhana-gharan, a house or structure intended for the exercise of monastic austerities, which are supposed to lead to the attainment of supernatural powers and the subjugation of the passions. terrors and be happy. Let him therefore who knoweth himself strive to attain Nirvána, the real state of happiness and the highest immortality. Thus endeth the thirty-ninth chapter, entitled "An Account of two Kings," in the Mahávansa, composed equally for the delight and amazement of good men. NOTE A. THERE can be no doubt that Kásyapa committed suicide in the field of battle, for the text is very clear on the point, and admits of no dispute whatever; but there is some obscurity as to the manner in which he did it. The words of the text run as follows:: Sisan ukkhipiyákásan churikan kosiyan khipi. (Chap. XXXIX., The order of the words in Páli prose would be So rájá nikaranena sísan chetvá ákásan ukkhipiya churikan kosiyan khipi; the literal translation of which would be, "The king having cut off (his) head with (his) knife, threw it (the head) into the air, and put the knife into its sheath." This is clearly absurd, at least the throwing by him of his head into the air after it had been cut off, and the sheathing of the knife subsequently. The only way of avoiding this ridiculous supposition is to construe the passage in the way I have translated it, viz. : So rájá sísan ákásan ukkhipiya, nikaranena chetvá, churikan kosiyan khipi; which would be, "The king having raised his head towards the sky (i.e. raised his head up), cut it (the neck) with a knife, and put the knife into the sheath." As no grammatical difficulty stands in the way of such a construction, I have, after much consideration, and with due deference to the opinions of others who hold otherwise, adopted this rendering. It would appear that the commission of suicide by kings and princes in despair after defeat, or at the prospect of defeat, in the field of battle, was common at this period, and that it was generally regarded as an act of chivalry. When Prince Kásyapa, the noble son of the old blind King Upatissa, made his last gallant and desperate stand in defence of his father, seeing that the elephant he rode on was giving way through sheer fatigue, and that there was no hope of escape, it is said that he killed himself by cutting his own neck. Here, too, a construction that would appear plausible at first sight would launch us into a sea of absurdity. The incident is narrated in the 24th and 25th verses of chapter XLI., thus— Hatthárohassa datvána, chinditvá sísam attano A strictly literal translation of this passage would run thus :"Having cut off his own head and given it to the elephant-driver, he wiped off the blood from the sword, and after putting it into the scabbard rested both hands on the head of the elephant and extended himself." In order to avoid the absurdity which such a rendering would involve, we are bound to put a somewhat forced but very reasonable and natural construction on this passage, viz., "Having given the elephant in charge of its rider, he cut his neck and wiped off the blood from the sword," &c. Such a rendering requires only the supply of an ellipsis to make the construction grammatically and strictly accurate, viz., Hatthárohassa (hatthin) datvána. A third instance of suicide on the field of battle occurs later on in chapter XLIV. Jeṭṭhatissa defeated and dethroned Aggabodhi' III. surnamed Siri Sanghabodhi, who fled to India and returned five years afterwards with a Tamil army to recover his throne. A pitched battle was fought between these two rivals near the great tank Kaláve̟va. Jeṭṭhatissa's army was worsted, and although he displayed marvellous feats of valour to retrieve the day, fighting single-handed with many a Tamil warrior, yet all his heroic efforts were of no avail; and at last, seeing a warrior by the name of Veluppa advance to fight him, Jetthatissa, who was quite exhausted, took out the knife which he had kept carefully hidden in his betel-purse, and cut his own throat. The incident is thus described in verses 111 and 112 of chapter XLIV.:— Veluppa Damilan náma disvá yujjhitum ágatan Tambúlatthaviyan hatthe rakkhanto churikan tadá Tato nikkaranin sammá gahetvá sisam attano Chetva hatthimhi appetvá churikan kosiyan khipi. 66 Seeing a Tamil named Veluppa coming forward (to the combat), he drew out a knife which he carried carefully in his betel-purse, and cut his neck, and having laid himself down on the back of the elephant, returned the knife into its sheath." Here, too, it is quite possible, and even correct, to translate, "He cut off his head, and having laid it on the back of the elephant, returned theknife into its sheath." But I do not think that any person, having a due regard to the possible and the impossible, will venture on such a translation. The next instance of an act of suicide in the field of battle is that of Prince Mahinda, related in chapter L. The prince did his best to stem the torrent of the wild horde of Tamils that was advancing against the capital, but, finding himself overpowered, and being unwilling to fall into the hands of the enemy, he cut his own neck; and his immediate retinue followed his example : (Verses 23, 24.) Tasmá varan me maraṇan mayá eveti cintiya Hatthikkhandha-gato yeva chindi so sisam attano Tan disvá bahavo sise tattha chindiņsu sevaká. "Better is it, therefore, that I should die by my own hand.' So saying, he cut off his head (cut his neck) even as he sat upon his elephant, and many of his faithful followers seeing this cut off their heads also." This is clear enough, and presents no difficulty whatever. The last instance which I shall quote is the famous single combat between the two brothers, Dátháppabhuti and Moggallána II., wherein the former was defeated and cut his own neck. This passage is important, as it gives us a clue to understand the usual expression Altano sisan chindi, 'he cut off his own head.' Rájá árabhi tan disvá chinditun sisam attano "And when the king saw this he proceeded to cut off his own head. Whereupon Moggallána raised his hands in supplication and besought him saying, 'Do not so'; but he gave no heed to the prayer, and, caring rather to obey the promptings of his pride, cut his neck." Here the expression Sisan chinditun, to cut off the head,' is used in the same sense as kandharan chindi, 'cut the neck.' I have entered into some detail in this matter, as I am aware that the learned editors of the "Mahávaņsa differ from me in their rendering of the Sinhalese version. It might perhaps be objected that my construction of the three first passages is somewhat forced. Granting this for the sake of argument, I think it better to put even a forced construction on an obscure passage, and elicit sense out of it, wherever it is practicable, than to translate it in such a manner as to obtain, what might rightly be called, incredible nonsense. NOTE B. THIS as well as the two chapters immediately preceding, and a few that follow, are couched in language so brief and terse as to be almost oracular in some passages; and the one we are about to consider is not the least among them. The difficulty of attaching a definite meaning to it is rendered still greater by there being a variant reading of an |