The History of Buddhist Thought c9.s2.3

c9.s2.3

The *Mahāvaṃsa* has been extended from time to time by continuations, but the original form was in thirty-seven chapters, ending like the *Dīpavaṃsa* with the reign of Mahāsena, king of Ceylon, early in the fourth century A.D. It begins with the resolve which “our Conqueror” made under the Buddha Dīpankara, and the prophecy by Dīpankara about his destiny, repeated by each succeeding Buddha, until in his last life as Gotama he attained complete enlightenment, and began to teach the Doctrine at Benares. The rest of the chapter gives the Sinhalese legend of his three visits to Ceylon, the first of them nine months after his enlightenment, the next five years later, and the third in the eighth year. So far we have purely imaginative legend. The actual history begins with the second chapter, and it is introduced, after the style of the Purāṇas, with the genealogy of Buddha from Mahāsammata, the first king of this age (*kalpa*) down to his father, king Suddhodana. It then continues: