The Pali Literature of Ceylon c8.2

c8.2

MAHĀ-SENA’S son and successor, Siri Meghavaṇṇa, did all that lay in his power to make amends for the mischief which his father had committed. He assembled all the monks of the Mahā-vihāra, who had been scattered abroad by the measures of Mahā-sena and reverentially asked them how best he could make up for the sacrileges of which his father had been guilty. Acting under their advice, he rebuilt the Brazen Palace, which was the proudest building in the capital; he reconstructed all the pariveṇas (the temple-schools) which had been demolished and restored all the lands that had been endowed for their maintenance. Meghavaṇṇa was evidently a student of history, and when he learnt of Mahinda, who had converted the island to Buddhism, he caused an image of the Thera to be made and held a great festival in his honour. For the ceremony of dedication he sent messengers and summoned to the city all the monks from the various parts of the country; the Mahā-vaṃsa gives a glowing description of the rejoicings that marked the event.¹ He also decreed that a similar festival should be held annually at the conclusion of the rainy season. This order was for a very long time carried out; but, like many another institution, it has now perished.² But the most outstanding event of the reign was the bringing over to Ceylon of the Right Eye-Tooth, the Dāṭhādhātu, from Kalinga. In the introductory verses of the Dāṭhā-vaṃsa the author tells us that his work was based on an ancient poem in Sinhalese (Elu) verse, called the Daḷadā-vaṃsa. And this poem appears to have been composed in the ninth year of Meghavaṇṇa’s reign—the very year of the arrival of the tooth relic in Ceylon—by the king’s express command. It is said to have contained a history of the relic from the death of the Buddha to its arrival in Ceylon. There seems to have been another work, called the *Dāṭhā-dhātu-vaṃsa*, composed either at this time or shortly after and mentioned in *Mahā-vaṃsa* XXXVII. In a footnote to his translation of this chapter Turnour mentions that the work was still extant at the time (1837).¹ In spite of diligent search I have not been able to see a copy. Major Forbes identifies the *Daḷadā-vaṃsa* with this work, but gives no reason for his conclusions.²