Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c14.23

c14.23

Of particular interest are the verses speaking of good and evil craftsmen, and their fate in this life and in lives to come. It must be understood that in the old days a man’s trade was the heaven-ordained work of his caste or guild, and the resulting idea of *noblesse oblige*, together with the sanction for morality which the doctrine of *karma* carries with it, had something to do with the excellence of the old craftsmen’s work.