Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c23.637

v1.c23.637

Dīpavaṃsa.—The oldest extant Pāli Chronicle of Ceylon. Like the Mahāvaṃsa, it was based on the Aṭṭhakathā handed down in the Mahāvihāra of Ceylon. It gives the impression not of an evenly worked out whole, but rather of a stringing together of fragments, a composition of whole lines, sometimes whole stanzas, borrowed from the Aṭṭhakathā. It is generally agreed that the Dīpavaṃsa assumed its present form about the fourth century A.C.¹ It is stated² that Dhātusena made endowments for the regular recital of the Dīpavaṃsa.