the great vihára Múgasénápati, and gave the village Lajjika to a certain 24 priest, that he might get the services from the tenants thereof. And so that merit might attach to the spirit of the deceased king Mahánága, he built a parivéņa after his name, and bestowed it on the great elder 25 who was versed in the Three Pitakas. But the elder being now free from all earthly desires, gave that vihára to sixty-four mendicant brethren who also, like him, were striving after the attainment of 26 spiritual gifts. Thereupon the king granted unto this same elder who dwelt in the Maháparivéna a spot named Bhinnórudípa from the 27 village Vaṭṭakákárapiṭṭhi. For the Dakkhinagiridalha vihára, the Mahánágapabbata vihára, the Kálavápi vihára, he built upósatha halls also.

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In like manner, he built a bath at the Abhayagiri vihára and another at the Cétiyagiri, which he called Nágasondi (" the Elephants' Pool"), and supplied it with a continual stream of water, and in due course he 29 built the tank Mahindataṭavápi,1 and ordained that the statue of the

théra (Mahinda) should be carried in procession from the bund thereof. 30 And he made an order that when (the statue of) the great Mahinda théra was brought to that place, it should be carried thence along the 31 usual road. To all the three establishments, the Mahávihára, the Jétavana, and the Abhayagiri, he, seven times and eight times, and even nine times, made presents of golden parasols set with gems of 32 great value; and to the great thúpa he made an offering of a golden canopy that was equal to twenty-four bháras in weight. To divers other shrines also he gave jewels of great value.

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And when he had repaired the temple of the tooth-relic, he caused to be wrought for it a casket of gold glittering with gems and jewels of divers colours. And for the Mahápáli alms-hall he built a boat of metal to contain the gruel.

This king also constructed the bund of the tank Manimékhalá1 and opened a great channel into the Manihira tank.

1 Mihintaláveva.

2 There is a little obscurity in the text here, caused by the use of the expression tan racchá éva or the variant reading given in the footnote of the text taracchá éva. The Sinhalese translators use the same word, and construe it to mean that it should be carried by taracchás," which they interpret as "goldsmiths" in their Glossary. But it is not clearly evident that the word taracchá means a goldsmith: neither is there any reason why goldsmiths should have been made to carry the statue of the great Mahinda. The only meaning of taracchá is a hyena; but it is ridiculous to suppose that hyenas were made to draw the statue. I have therefore regarded this word here as a clerical error, and taken the correct reading of the passage to be tan raccháy' éva nentu, which would convey the meaning of "let it be carried on or along the road." I fancy what is meant is that the statue was to be brought to the bund or brink of the tank first, and after this had been done it was thence to be carried along the usual road.

3 Bhára is a weight of gold equal to two thousand palas, and a pala is equal to a little over three tólas.

Now, about this time, a certain great elder, Jótipála by name, carried 35 on a controversy with the Vétulla heretics in the island, and defeated them. And when Dáṭhápabhúti, the governor of the province, who 36 had joined himself unto the heretics, had heard thereof, he was so overcome with rage and shame that he raised his hand to strike the victorious elder, and lo! an abscess broke out at that instant. And 37 the king was so pleased with the elder, that he prevailed on him to dwell at the vihára. And Dáthápabhúti, by reason of his pride, would not go up to the elder (and beg that he would forgive him), and they say he died of the malady wherewith he was afflicted, where- 38 upon the king gave the province to Aggabódhi, his sister's son, and made him governor thereof, and commanded him to protect the elder, which he did accordingly. And last of all the king built the Nílagéha- 39 paricchéda monastery and gave it also to the same elder. And when he had performed many and various good deeds he died in the thirtyfourth year of his reign.

Aggabódhi then became king. And they called him the " Younger," 40 because of the great age of the king who had preceded him. And this 41 king being well acquainted with the customs of the olden times, was enabled to govern the island well. He took to wife the daughter of his mother's brother, and gave her the rank of queen, and made Sangha- 42 bhadda, a kinsman of his queen-consort, his sword bearer. And as he envied not to give power into the hands of others, he bestowed high offices on his subjects according to their deserts. He built the Véluvana 43 vihára and dedicated it to the Ságali Order of monks (the Jétavana brotherhood), and built the Jamburantaragalla and Mátikapiṭṭhi viháras also.

During this king's reign the king of Kálinga, being much moved with 44 horror at the destruction of the lives of men in warfare, and resolving 45 to lead the life of a recluse, came to this island and joined himself to the brotherhood under the great elder Jótipála. The king also minis- 46 tered unto him for a long time, and built for him a cloister for performing austerities at the Mattapabbata vihára. And the queen and the 47 minister also of this royal monk came likewise and received ordination. And when king Aggabódhi's queen heard how she had taken orders, she went up and ministered unto her with great affection, and built for her the convent Rataná. And to the minister, who also had become 48 a monk, the king gave the Vettavása vihára situated at Kandaráji in the east. But he cared not to accept it, and gave it away to the Order to be possessed by them in common. And when, in process of time, he died, the king wept sore and lamented for him; and (so that merit 49 might attach) to his spirit, he built a cloister for the services of religion at Cúlagalla vihára and another at Palannagaraga. Thus did the king 50 perform acts of merit in the name of the deceased elder.

One day, when the elder Jótipála was worshipping at the Thúpá- 51 ráma cétiva, a portion of it broke off and fell before him. And this grieved that elder greatly, and he sent for and informed the king of the 52

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damage that had been done. Whereupon the king, being much astonished at the sight, set workmen forthwith to repair the breach. 53 (And when this had been done) he removed the right collar-bone that had been deposited there into a recess in the Lóhapásáda, and set guards to watch over it, and made offerings to it both day and night. 54 And as the work of repairing the edifice was making but slow progress, the guardian deities of the Thúpáráma appeared to the king in a dream by night, and taking unto themselves the shape of overseers of temple 55 lands, spake angrily to him, saying, "If, O king, there be any longer delay in finishing the repairs to the relic-house, the relics shall we 56 remove, and carry off to some other place." And the king instantly awoke in great fear, and, setting himself to the task at once, made an end of all the work that remained to be done at the relic-house, including the painting and the ornaments thereof.

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And he arranged four images throughout the relic-room, also a throne made of solid stone, and a golden canopy, and other works of 58 art inlaid with stone and ivory. His ministers and the other nobles also made one hundred reliquaries at their own expense, and repaired many of the works that had been built by the king Dévánampiya Tissa. 59 Thus did this king, by every means in his power, cause suitable offerings to be made on a great scale to the sacred receptacle. And with a mind full of devotion he brought out the relic from the Lóhapásáda, 60 accompanied by the priesthood, with the great elder Jótipála at their head, and carried the relic in procession in its casket to the relic-house, 61 and solemnly deposited it there. And he placed himself and the whole island of Lanká at its service, and granted to the warders of that house the village, the profits of which had (up to that time) been enjoyed by 62 the queen. He also built the relic-house Rájáyatana in the Nágadípa,

and the house Unṇalóma, and caused a parasol to be made for the 63 Ámala cétiya. To this vihára he made a grant of the village Tattagáma, that they might obtain their gruel from thence, and to the 64 Abhayagiri vihára he gave the village Angana Sálaka; and he added

a dormitory thereto, and called it Dáṭhaggabódhi, after his queen 65 Dáṭhá and himself. The queen also built an excellent vihára, which she called Kapálanága, and having endowed it with the means of obtaining the four monastic requisites, she made a gift thereof to the 66 priests of the same brotherhood. Moreover, the king built another house surmounted by a silver spire at the Jétavana establishment, and himself took the oversight of the digging of a well near the bodhi tree. He built also the tanks Gangátata, Valáhassa, and Giritața, and improved the Mahápáli alms-hall, after making a receptacle, shaped 68 like a boat, to hold boiled rice. And the queen caused boiled rice to be issued regularly to the order of nuns.

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Having thus performed these works of merit, the king went to heaven in the tenth year of his reign.

Even so, rulers, though they abound in wealth, and are diligent in good works, yield at last to death. The thoughtful man should

therefore ponder well over the ways of this world, and, freeing himself of the thought of an all-controlling fate, wean his mind from the love of earthly things. And taking to himself the robe of the recluse he should go forward without fear on the road to Nirvána (the great goal of salvation).

Thus endeth the forty-second Chapter, entitled "The Reigns of Two Kings," in the Mahávansa, composed equally for the delight and amazement of good men.

THEN

CHAPTER XLIV.

HEN Sanghatissa, the sword bearer, became king. He was a 1 great lover of justice, and gave himself up much to promote religion and the welfare of his country. He conciliated the people also 2 by bestowing offices of state on such as were deserving of them.

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And Moggallána, the general of Aggabódhi the Younger, who then dwelt at Róhana, having heard that Sanghatissa had taken the reins of government into his hands, went up with a great host to make war against him, and pitched his camp at Mahágalla. And Sanghatissa 4 also, when he heard of this, sent forth an army to give him battle. But Moggallána, who commanded the greater force, compelled the king's troops to fall back, and, pushing forward with his elephants and horses, took up his position at Rattiviháraka, where he fortified himself and 5 began to add greatly to his forces. And when these things came to the 6 ears of the king, he set out for Kadalládiniváta, and having sent his army before him encountered and defeated them, and returned to his capital. But Moggallána restored his army again to its former strength, 7 and advanced to Karéhera. And the king's general sent out his own son in command of the king's forces to meet the enemy, and craftily 9 feigned himself to be ill and dispirited, and moved not from his bed as if he were nigh unto death. And when the news of the general's sickness reached the king, he set out at once and visited him, and spake cheerfully unto him, saying, "Grieve not because you are too ill to go with 10 me to the field of battle. But remain here and guard the city, and give counsel to the young prince how he should manage the kingdom." And when all the men who could carry arms had been sent out to the 11 field of battle, and the king's provisions failing him, his attendants served him with food prepared at the Mahápáli alms-hall, which, 12 when the king perceived, he was greatly disgusted, and communed with himself, saying, "It cannot be that I have come to such a pass." Thereupon he mounted his elephant and made haste with his son and 13 a small force of men, and proceeded to the Eastern Tissa mountain, 14 where he met the enemy and engaged them, and was attacked on both flanks by them. The crafty general (whom the king had left in the 15 capital to take care of the kingdom), seeing this went up and attacked

the king's army in the rear. And the king's son, when he saw this 16 deed of the traitor, asked the king's leave to turn and crush him. But

the king prevented him, saying, "Think not of that our army is not equal, by reason of its weakness, for such a work, and it will certainly 17 perish in the end." The king was now hemmed in by two armies, and his

forces were divided, in that they had to contend against the rebel as well 18 as his own general; and as the battle was proceeding the king's elephant took shelter in the shade of a madhuka tree,1 and the king's parasol 19 was caught among the branches, and it fell to the ground. The rebel's men, seeing this, caught it up and gave it to their lord, who raised it 20 and displayed it to all the host from the top of the rock. And the king's forces, who had now been scattered on all sides, seeing this, mistook 21 the rebel chief for their king, and rallied round him. The king being now left alone, dismounted from his elephant, and with his son and his faithful minister fled to the Mérumajjara forest, which was hard by. Moggallána being now victorious, took his army together with the. treacherous general and his wicked son, and arrived at the capital and 23 made himself the lord of the island. But thinking that he was not safe 24 on the throne as long as any rival lived, and having heard that the late

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king had left a son in the city, he became greatly enraged, and ordered that the hands and feet of the young prince should be forthwith cut off. 25 And the officer to whom he had given the command proceeded at once to fulfil it. But the young prince, when he was told thereof, was greatly 26 distressed, and wept sore, saying, "Wherewith shall I eat my cakes

if thou cuttest off these hands of mine, which are wont to serve me 27 with cakes?" The king's servant hearing the lamentation of the prince was exceedingly sorry at the order of the king, but fearing to disobey it, the base man, with tears and sobs, cut off the left hand 28 and the left foot of the prince. Jeṭṭhatissa, another son of the dethroned king, heard of this, and escaped in disguise, and went to a place called Mérukandaraka, in the Malaya country.

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In the meantime the king, his father, with his son and his minister (left the forest of Mérumajjara and) secretly made there way to the Véluvana vihára, where, being advised thereto by the priests, they 30 put on the yellow robe. And being desirous of reaching the province of Róhana in the disguise of a priest, he arrived at Manihira on his journey thither. But the men of the king who was then reigning 31 and who had been placed there, recognised the three fugitives, and seized them and bound them with fetters, and sent word thereof to 32 their master. The king was very much delighted therewith, and gave

orders saying, "Take the captives forthwith to Síhagiri, and there 33 behead the king and his son without any fear or scruple, but bring me 34 the minister alive." And the king's servants who had been so ordered

took the three prisoners to Síhagiri, and prepared to do as they had 35 been commanded. Then the young prince observing it, spake unto

1 Bassia latifolia.