The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.50

c29.50

Communication between the king of Ceylon and Samudragupta had been established accidentally about a.d. 360. Siri Meghavanna (Meghavarṇa), the Buddhist king of Ceylon, whose reign of twenty-seven years is assigned approximately to the period from a.d. 352 to 379, had sent two monks, one of whom is said to have been his brother, to do homage to the Diamond Throne and visit the monastery built by Asoka to the east of the sacred tree at Bōdh Gayā. The strangers, perhaps by reason of sectarian rancour, met with scant hospitality, and on their return to the island complained to the king that they could not find any place in India where they could stay in comfort. King Meghavarṇa recognized the justice of the complaint, and resolved to remedy the grievance by founding a monastery at which his subjects, when on pilgrimage to the holy places, should find adequate and suitable accommodation. He accordingly dispatched a mission to Samudragupta laden with the gems for which Ceylon has always been renowned, besides other valuable gifts, and requested permission to found a monastery on Indian soil. Samudragupta, flattered at receiving such attentions from a distant power, was pleased to consider the gifts as tribute, and gave the required permission. The envoy returned home, and, after due deliberation, King Meghavarṇa decided to build his monastery near the holy tree. His purpose, solemnly recorded on a copper plate, was carried out by the erection of a splendid convent to the north of the tree. This building, which was three stories in height, included six halls, was adorned with three towers, and surrounded by a strong wall 30 or 40 feet high. The decorations were executed in the richest colours with the highest artistic skill, and the statue of Buddha, cast in gold and silver, was studded with gems. The subsidiary *stūpas*, enshrining relics of Buddha himself, were worthy of the principal edifice. In the seventh century, when Hiuen Tsang visited it, this magnificent establishment was occupied by a thousand monks of the Sthavira school of the Mahāyāna, and afforded ample hospitality to pilgrims from Ceylon. The site is now marked by an extensive mound.¹