Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c4.58

c4.58

**Early Life.** Much romance has gathered round the origin and early life of Chandragupta, because so little is known of them. Legend grows in obscurity. It is fond of making hero of a man who rises to greatness from lowly origin. The details of Chandragupta’s early life we owe to Buddhist legends. The chief sources of these legends are the two works already mentioned, viz., (1) the *Mahāvaṁsa Ṭīkā*, also known as *Vaṁsatthappakāsinī* (of about first half of the 10th century A.D.) and (2) the *Mahābodhivaṁsa* written by Upatissa (of about 2nd half of 10th century A.D.). Both these texts draw upon older sources known as the *Sīhalaṭṭhakathā* and the *Uttaravihāraṭṭhakathā*. The former is supposed to be the work of Thera Mahinda (Asoka’s son) and his companion monks from Magadha, who were chosen for the Mission to Ceylon by the Head of the church. Asoka added to it laymen like Bodhigupta and Sumitra who were brothers of his first wife, Devī. The king of Ceylon, Devānāṁpriya Tishya, appointed both of them as chief writers on the Conquest of Ceylon by the Bodhi Tree (*Laṅkājaya-Mahālekhaka*). Their work, which is no longer extant, appears to have been partly incorporated into the *Uttaravihāraṭṭhakathā*. This work gives some details about Maurya history not contained in the *Sīhalaṭṭhakathā*. These were probably supplied by the aforesaid historians from Magadha and incorporated into the work of the dissenting and heterodox Uttaravihārins or Dhammaruchikas [Appendix I].