Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c23.713

v1.c23.713

On the seventh day after his final victory, he celebrated a water festival at the Tissavāpi and, at its conclusion, built the Maricavaṭṭhi-thūpa (q.v.) on the spot where his spear, containing the relic of the Buddha, given by the monks at Tissamahārāma, remained firmly embedded, no one being able to remove it. From now onwards, consoled by the arahants of Piyaṅgudīpa, who absolved him from blame for the slaughter of his enemies, he began his great works of piety, after having distributed largesse to his generals and soldiers. He first built the Lohapāsāda (q.v.) of nine stories, resembling the palace of Bīraṇī, the plan of which was brought to him from Tusita by arahants. He then began his greatest achievement, the Mahā Thūpa, erected on a site visited by the Buddha during his third visit to Ceylon. The devas, led by Sakka, provided the necessary materials, discovered in various parts of the island, and he began work immediately, on the full-moon day of Vesākha. Great celebrations marked the inauguration of the mighty task, plans of various builders were inspected before the final choice and no free work was allowed to be done. After the relics, obtained by the arahant Soṇuttara from the Nāga-world, had been enshrined in unparalleled splendour and with great feasting, but before the chatta of the cetiya and the plaster work could be finished, Duṭṭhagāmaṇi fell ill. Saddhā-Tissa was summoned from Dīghavāpi, and he covered the cetiya with white cloth and crowned it with a spire of bamboo, that the king, before his death, might visualize his great work in its complete form. Theraputtābhaya, a former general, now become an arahant, and living in the Pañjalipabbata, was at the king's side at the time of his death and consoled him with reminders of the great merit he had accumulated during his life. A record of the king's good deeds was read by his secretary, from which it would appear that the king had erected ninety-nine other vihāras, besides the buildings already mentioned. He had once tried to preach in the Lohapāsāda, but was so overcome by nervousness that, realizing how difficult was the task of the preacher, he ordered special benefactions for those who preached the Doctrine. Two gifts made by him are recorded as of very special merit—one was the sale of his special earrings to procure food for five theras during the Akkhakkhāyika famine, the other was his gift of food during his flight from Cūḷaṅganiya-piṭṭhi.² He was starving, and his minister Tissa procured a meal for him, but as he never ate without offering some of the food to the monks, he wished for a monk to appear before him. When a thera did so appear, he gave him all he had. He was told later, on the death bed, by Theraputtābhaya, that this food was divided among many thousands of arahants so that the merits of the donor might increase manifold.