Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c41.s2.24

v2.c41.s2.24

Translation: “Success. Adoration to the Lord Buddha. In the 14th year of King Māṭhariputa . . . . . For the benefit of the masters and of the fraternities (of monks), of Tambapaṇṇa (Ceylon) who have converted Kashmir, Gandhāra, Cīna, Cilāta (= Skt. Kirāta), Tosali, Avaraṃta (= Skt. Aparānta), Vaṅga, Vanavāsī, Yavana (?), Damila (?), Palura (?) and the Isle of Tambapaṇṇi (Ceylon). At Siripavata (= Śrīparvata) on the east side of Vijayapurī at the Convent on the Lesser Dharmagiri a Caitya hall with a flooring of slabs, with a Caitya and provided with all the necessaries, was caused to be made by the female lay-member Bodhisiri (= Skt. Bodhiśrī) .........” (Dr. Hirananda Sastri in *Epigraphia Indica*, XX, pp. 22, 23). This inscription not only corroborates the Ceylonese tradition that the members of the Theriya Nikāya or the Theravāda sect, who later settled in Ceylon, propagated Buddhism in many countries but also proves that their missionary activity went on unabated and they were able to introduce Buddhism into a few other places like Cīna(?), Tosali (in Kaliṅga), Vaṅga (Bengal), Palura (Dantapura?) and the Tamil countries. In the other inscriptions discovered at Nāgārjunikoṇḍa the names of a few other Buddhist sects are mentioned but they are not given the credit of taking up actively the task of propagation of the religion. In view of the above quoted inscription of Nāgārjunikoṇḍa and the inscriptions on the lid of the relic-urns, we think the Ceylonese tradition about the despatch of missionaries has a historical basis.