A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.156

v2.c19.s5.156

Also all the later works of ecclesiastical history of Ceylon are founded on the Aṭṭhakathās. Buddhaghosa drew on them for the historical introduction, already mentioned, to his Samanta-Pāsādikā.2) This introduction, and the Nidāna-Kathā and the Mahāvaṃsa, are, in their turn, the foundation of the historical works, if we may call them so—for they contain more legendary lore than history—namely the Bodhivaṃsa, Dāṭhāvaṃsa and Thūpavaṃsa, which in later centuries were translated into Pāli or remodelled after Singhalese models. The Mahābodhivaṃsa or Bodhivaṃsa,3) "the History of the Bodhi Tree," is a prose work (only at the ends of the chapters and towards the end of the whole work do we find Gāthās) which was written probably in the first half of the 11th century by a monk Upatissa. The Dāṭhāvaṃsa, "the History of (Buddha's) Tooth,"4) is an epic in five cantos, in partly Sanskritised Pāli (with long compound words), written by the monk Dhammakitti at the beginning of the 13th century. The Thūpavaṃsa,5) "the History of the Topes," is also a work of the 13th century. The work is available in both the Singhalese and Pāli languages. Vācissara calls himself the author. All these works are made after one pattern; they commence with the history of the former Buddha Dīpaṅkara, then of Gotama Buddha, the three councils, and so on, until finally they relate the history of the sanctuaries of which they treat. Similar works were also written in Burma, such as the Chakesadhātuvaṃsa,¹ “the History of the Six Hair Relic Shrines.” Even so modern a work as the Sāsanavaṃsa, “the History of the Doctrine,”² which was written in Burma in 1861, by the monk Paññasāmi, follows the old pattern faithfully. Yet it is interesting to see from this work how Pāli literature continues even down to our own times. The Sāsanavaṃsa as well as the equally modern Gandhavaṃsa, “the History of the Books,”³ written in Burma by a certain Nandapañña, are of great value from the point of view of the history of Pāli literature. The Gandhavaṃsa gives, in five chapters, a description of the canon according to the three Piṭakas and nine Aṅgas, the titles and sometimes the names of the authors of the later Pāli works, a description of the birth-places of the writers, information about the causes which led to the writing of the books, and finally an account of the writing down of the canon.