gold. And he received the Dhamma-dhátu joyfully, and paid great 39 respect and reverence to it. And after he had placed it in a house hard 40 by the king's palace, he was wont to take it yearly to Jétavana, and hold a festival in connection therewith, thinking that the act would benefit his people greatly. Silákála, having in this manner performed 41 many acts of merit, passed away according to his deeds in the thirteenth year of his reign.

On the death of Silákála, Dáthápabhúti, his second son, seized 42 the kingdom. This foolish man caused his own brother (Upatissa) to be put to death, because he spoke against the usurpation, saying it was contrary to the law of succession. And when Moggallána heard 43 of the deed he was very wroth, and said, "He has seized a kingdom that descended not rightfully to him; he has without cause put my younger brother to death, who spake the truth fearing nothing. Now 44 shall I make him to govern a kingdom in very deed." He then gathered together a large army and went against the Rahera mountain. And 45 when the king heard of Moggallána's approach, he prepared to meet him with an army that was ready to battle, and encamped near the Karindaka mountain. And when Moggallána was informed thereof, 46 he sent messengers to the king, saying, "The inhabitants of this island have sinned neither against you nor against me. If one of us die, then 47 will there be no occasion for the kingdom to be divided in twain; wherefore, let not others fight, but let the combat be between us, each on his elephant (before all the army. And it shall be that he who shall be victorious shall be king)." And the king having agreed thereto, 48 armed himself with the five weapons of war, and mounting the elephant went down to the place of battle, like unto Mára as he went against the sage. Moggallána also having armed himself, and having mounted 49 a splendid elephant, went forth (to battle) in like manner. The huge 50 beasts encountered each other in the fight, and lo! the sound of their heads as they beat against each other was heard like the roaring of the thunder, while flames of fire, like unto lightning, went forth from their tusks as they dashed against each other. And with their bodies 51 covered over with blood they seemed like two clouds in the face of the evening sky. At length the king's elephant was pierced by the tusker of Moggallána, and he began to give way. And when the king saw this 52 he proceeded to cut off his own head whereupon Moggallána raised his hands in supplication and besought him, saying, "Do not so." But 53 he gave no heed to the prayer (of Moggallána), and caring rather to obey the promptings of his pride, the king cut his own neck. So this king relinquished the kingdom six months and six days after he had begun to reign. And the powerful Moggallána became king over all 54 the island, and because of his mother's brother, who also bore the same name, the people, to distinguish him, called him Cúla Moggallána ("Moggallána the younger ").

There was no one like to him as a poet, and he was greatly devoted 55 to the three sacred objects (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha), a

habitation wherein dwelt charity, sobriety, purity, tenderness, and the 56 other virtues. By making gifts and by kind words, by seeking after the welfare of the people, and by feeling for others as he did for himself, 57 this king won over his subjects. By giving alms and dwelling-places, food and raiment to the sick, and by giving lawful protection, he won 58 over the priesthood. He made unusual offerings to them that preach the doctrine, and caused them to read the Three Pitakas with their 59 commentaries. This high-minded man, himself a lamp of the law, used to coax his children by giving to them dainty food, such as they 60 loved, and made them to learn the law daily. He was also a man of great talent, and composed many sacred songs, which he caused to be recited by men seated on elephants, at the end of discourses at the 61 services of the church. He threw a dam over the Kadamba river from the middle of the mountain, thinking that such works tended to long 62 life. And from the great love that he bore to his subjects, he built the tanks Pattapásána, Dhanavápi, and Garítara. He also caused sacred books to be written, and made offerings to the sacred objects (Buddha, 63 Dharma, and Sangha). He loved his subjects with the love of a mother for the child of her bosom. He gave with a free hand, and himself took his pleasures heartily, and died in the twentieth year of his reign.

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On the death of Moggallána, his queen caused poison to be given to the king's relatives, and thus put them to death, and, placing her son on the throne, conducted the affairs of the kingdom with her own hand. 65 The king whom she had thus set on the throne, Kittisirimégha by name, commenced his reign by covering the bódhi-house with sheets of 66 lead. He gave alms also to the beggars, wayfaring men, and mendicant

minstrels. Yea, he was like unto a public hall of charity wherein all 67 men were able to partake freely of according to their necessities. But the queen, his mother, took the reins of Government into her hands, 68 and the kingdom was turned upside down. The great officers of state were enslaved by bribery and corrupt acts of a like manner; and the wealthy and powerful became the oppressors of the weak and needy in all the realm.

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Now, in the days of Silákála, there dwelt in the village Sangilla a certain person called Abhayasíva, who was descended from the Moriya 70 race. And he had a son whom he called Aggabódhi. He had also a

nephew known to all the country as Mahánága, and this nephew was 71 even as fair as Aggabódhi. But being a powerful man, and ambitious 72 withal, he abandoned the pursuits of the field, and lived the life of a robber in the forests. One day, this Mahánága sent unto his aunt an 73 iguana that he had caught in the forest, and she, perceiving thereby what it was that he stood in need of, sent unto him a basket of grain. Likewise he sent a hare to the village blacksmith, who also made to him the same return (as his aunt had done). 74 sister also, and asked some grain of her. a slave also (who might take him his food

And he sent word unto his She gave him the grain and when it was necessary). And

she furthermore gave him in secret meat and drink, and whatsoever else was necessary for his support.

In those days there was a famine in the land, and a certain man 75 skilled in necromancy went about the country asking alms in the disguise of a Buddhist mendicant, that so he might meet with favour in the eyes of the faithful. And having entered that village, and receiving 76 alms of no man therein, he went by the wayside trembling and sore stricken with hunger. And when Mahánága saw him, his heart was 77 filled with compassion for him, and taking the alms-bowl into his own hands, went about the village to get food for him. But no man gave 78 aught unto him—no, not so much even as a little gruel. He then took his own upper-garment, and gave it in exchange for some food, which he gave unto the mendicant, who ate it; and being pleased with Mahánága 79 he thought thus within himself: "This youth must I make worthy of a throne in the island." And in a moment (by the divine power that he had) he conveyed him to the great sea at Gókannaka. And he set him 80 down there, and when, according to rule, he had conjured up the Nága chief by the power of his spell on the night of the month Phussa, when the moon was in her full, he bade Mahánága to touch the great Nága. But Mahánága feared to do this, and touched not the Nága, who 81 'appeared to him in the first watch of the night, and also in the middle watch. But when the last watch came, and the Nága appeared 82 unto him again, he raised it by the tail with three of his fingers, and dropped it. And when his friend the mendicant saw that, he made 83 this prophecy, and said: "My labour has been rewarded. Thou wilt make war with three kings, and the fourth will be killed by thee, and 84 after that wilt thou become king in thy old age, and live for three years. Three of thy descendants also will likewise become kings. Go thy way now and serve thy king. Hereafter shalt thou see my power (when my 85 prophecy comes to pass):" Having spoken these words he dismissed Mahánága, who went on his way and made his appearance before the king, and entered his service. And the king made him his collector of 86 revenue in the Róhaṇa country. And he raised much revenue from that country. Thereupon the king was well pleased, and conferred on 87 him the office of Andha Sénápati, and sent him thither again. And 88 he took with him this time Abhayasíva's son (Aggabódhi) and his own sister's son, and departed thence. And when he had taken up his 89 dwelling there he stirred up the people against the king, and took to himself the possession of the whole Róhana country, and collecting a large army he went forth thinking to make war against Dáthápabhúti. But fearing Moggallána, he went back to Róhana, and dwelt there. 90 But when he heard afterwards that Kittisirimégha was king, and that it was a good opportunity for him to take possession of the throne, he thought to himself: "The time is now come for me to take the 91 kingdom." So saying, he departed forthwith from the Rohana country, and putting the king to death on the nineteenth day, ascended the throne. And when he had restored order in the kingdom, he wrote 92

93 letters to his nephew inviting him to the capital, who, when coming, met with an ill-omen on the way, and returned to his country and died there. Whereupon Mahánága, remembering the kindness that had been shown to him, appointed his uncle's son Aggabódhi to the office of 94 sub-king. This king built a basin of water wherewith to water the bódhi tree, and covered the golden house, and placed images of Buddha 95 around the bodhi. He renewed the plaster work of the great cétiyas (the Ratanávali, the Jétavana, and the Abhayagiri), and constructed new circlets for them. He put up also the elephant rampart, and 96 built many works for ornament. He made a grant to the Mahávihára of the weavers' village called Jambela, in the north, and the village 97 Tintiníka. To the establishment at the Jétavana he gave the village Vasabha in the Uddhagáma, and to all the three other establishments 98 he made offerings of cloth. He bestowed three hundred fields on the Jétavana vihára, and ordained that alms also of gruel should be given 99 daily for ever to the monks of that monastery. And to the dwellers at

the Mahavihára he gave one thousand fields from the Dúratissa tank, 100 and ordained an alms of gruel to them for ever. And being greatly minded to do good works, he gave them the Círamátika water-course, 101 and repaired (for their use) the Mayúra parivéņa. He repaired also the Mahá-déva-rattankuráva vihára in the district of Kásikhanda, and the Anuráráma vihára.

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And having in this manner performed many and divers works that tended to heaven, he departed from this world in the third year of his reign to join the company of the king of the gods.

And these eight kings, cheerful in disposition, and possessing boundless wealth, like unto Kuvéra, the king of kings, with their gorgeous array of men, and horses, and elephants, and chariots, and brave hosts, left all these splendours at last behind them, and ascended the funeral pile alone and unattended. Let him who is wise, and who seeks his own welfare, ponder this, and be as one who is anxious to vomit out the pleasures of existence.

Thus endeth the forty-first chapter, entitled "The Reigns of Eight Kings," in the Mahávansa, composed equally for the delight and amazement of good men.

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CHAPTER XLII.

AGGABÓDHI, the son of Mahánága's mother's brother, then

became king. He was a man highly favoured by fortune, and he aimed steadfastly at the attainment of the highest knowledge. 2 Surpassing the sun in glory, the full-orbed moon in gentleness, the 3 mount Méru in firmness, the great ocean in depth, the earth in stability, the breeze in serenity, the teacher of the immortals in knowledge, the 4 autumn sky in spotless purity, the chief of the gods in the enjoyment

6

To his 10

of pleasure, the lord of wealth in riches, the holy Vasiṭṭha in righteousness, the king of beasts in courage, Vessantara in generosity, an universal 5 monarch in the justice of his rule and the extent of his dominions,this king soon became very famous among his people. He made his mother's brother viceroy, his brother king with him, and his uncle's son the rájá of the Malaya country. Rich men and nobles also he appoint- 7 ed to high offices according to their deserts, and by his great liberality and other kingly virtues, and the right exercise of the duties of the kingly office, he won the love and goodwill of his people. He made 8 over the southern country, and all the men thereof who owed service in time of war, to the young king, his brother, who thereupon took up his abode there, and built the Sirivaḍdhamána tank. This great king 9 also caused the Sanghikagiri vihára to be built, and granted it with two hundred fields to be enjoyed by the Order in common. nephew, the rájá of the Malaya country, he gave his own daughter, Dáṭhá, in marriage, and built the parivéņa called Siri Sanghabódhi. He also erected the parivéna called after his own name for the use of the 11 great elder Mahásíva. Those also who were in attendance on him were, like him, given up to works of merit. Thus, by continually keeping 12 the company of good men, he was able to restore the wholesome customs of their ancestors; and so that all dangers might be avoided, he repaired everything that had fallen into decay. Poets also, who 13 composed many elegant and beautiful verses in the Sinhalese language, lived in his reign. To the Southern Vihára he made an addition of an 14 edifice of great and surpassing beauty, and in the ninth year of his reign he freed the island from all the thorns of strife. He built also the 15 Kurunda vihára, and dedicated it to the monks of all the fraternities. And to it he added a tank of the same name, and a plantation of coco- 16 nuts three yójanas in extent, and also two large tracts of defined land to be turned into rice fields. He attached to it payments, and honours, and privileges, and appointed one hundred keepers to watch over it. And in the vicinity thereof he built the Ambilapassava vihára, and 17 gave it to the Thériya brotherhood of hermits with the village of the same name. To the Unnavalli vihára he granted the village Ratana 18 of great and long-standing fame, and he placed there a solid stone statue of the Teacher. In the Keliváta country he built a hill, to 19 which he gave the name Sumana, and also a basin at the bódhi-house for holding oil. He built also a terrace there supported with stones. He repaired the Lóhapásáda, and at the feast that was held he made 20 offerings of the three robes to six and thirty thousand monks. He 21 gave also for the use of this vihára a village that was held in the name of his daughter, and appointed guards for the protection of the building. This wise and learned king built, moreover, another edifice at the Hatthikucchi vihára.

And he took counsel at all times of the good priest Dáthásíva and 22 ruled his conduct according to the precepts of religion, and ministered unto that priest as became him. Furthermore, he built 23