The conclusion of the third Bhanawaro.
Note. — A Bhanawaro ought to contain 250 gatha. This section is only equal to 87, and some of the verses are incomplete. I can however detect no want of continuity in the narrative.
The fourth Bhanawaro commences with an account of the first convocation, which is already described in No. 1, of this analysis. This chapter then proceeds with a chronological narrative of the history of India, specifying also the contemporaneous dates of the reigns of the monarchs of Ceylon, and of the death of those inspired Thera, who are considered to have constituted the connecting links of the chain called the Theraparampara or generation of preceptors.
The following are the most important passages of this section:
"The sixteenth year after the nibbanan of the saviour of the world was the twenty-fourth of Ajatasattu, and the sixteenth of Wijayo (the raja of Lanka). The learned Upali was then sixty years old. Dasako entered into the upasampada order in the fraternity of Upali. Whatever may be the extent of the doctrines of the most revered Buddho which had been promulgated by that vanquisher as the nine integral portions of his dispensation, the whole thereof Upali taught. The said Upali thus taught the same, having learnt, in the most perfect manner, the whole of the nine portions of his doctrine, which have been auricularly [hearing] perpetuated, from Buddho himself. Buddho has declared of Upali in the midst of the congregated priesthood, ' Upali being the first in the knowledge of wineyo, is the chief in my religion.' He who had thus been selected and approved in the midst of the assembled priesthood, and who had a numerous fraternity, taught the three Pitako to a fraternity of a thousand bikkhus, of whom Dasako was the chief disciple: he taught them (especially) to Dasako and to five hundred Thera, who had overcome the dominion of sin, were of immaculate purity and morals, and versed in the wada (history of the schisms). The thero Upali who had a great fraternity continued to teach the wineyo for full thirty years after the nibbanan of the supreme Buddho. The said Upali taught the whole of the eighty-four thousand component parts of the doctrines of the divine teacher to the learned Dasako.
"Dasako having learned the whole of the Pitako in the fraternity of Upali, and held the office of Upajjhayo (conferer of the sacerdotal ordination of upasampada) propounded the same. The chief of the great fraternity (Upali) having deposited (tapetwana) the whole wineyo in the charge of the learned Dasako, died. The monarch Udayo reigned sixteen years. It was in the sixth year of his reign that the thero Upali demised.
"A certain trader named Sonako who had come from the Kasi country, and was proud of his high descent, entered the sacerdotal order in the religion of the divine teacher (Buddho) at the Weluwano* [This word signifies the bamboo grove.] wiharo in the mountain-girt city (Rajagahan). Dasako, the chief of the confraternity, sojourned in the mountain-girt city, the capital of the Magadha nation, thirty-seven years, and initiated Sonako into the sacerdotal order. The learned Dasako was forty-five years old, in the tenth year of the reign of the raja Nagadaso, and twentieth of the reign of the raja Pandu (of Lanka).
"The thero Sonako became an upasampada in the fraternity of the thero Dasako and the thero Dasako taught Sonako the nine component parts of the faith; and having learned the same from the preceptor who ordained him, he also taught the same. The thero Dasako having invested Sonako thero, who was the senior pupil in his fraternity, with the office of chief over the wineyo, died in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
"At the expiration of ten years and half a month of the reign of the raja Kalasoko, the thero named Sonako was forty years old, and he had then been a thero learned in the doctrines for fourteen years; and at the period of the expiration of ten years and six months, the thero Sonako, who was the chief of a great fraternity, conferred the upasampada ordination on Siggawo and Chandawo.
"At that period a century had expired from the time that Bhagawa had attained nibbanan, and certain (bikkhus) of Wesali native of Wajji set forth these ten (new) tenets of discipline."
Here follows an account of the schism, and of the second convocation held in consequence, in the tenth year of the reign of Kalasoko, with which the fourth Bhanawaro concludes, the particulars of which are given in the paper, No. 2, and in the Mahawanso. The fifth commences with recapitulating the principal particulars of the first and second convocations and the schisms, and then proceeds:
"In the second year of the reign of Chundagutto, when Siggawo was sixty-four years old, which was the fifty-eighth year of the reign of Pandukabhayo, the raja (of Lanka) Moggaliputto was ordained an upasampada in the fraternity of Siggawo; and the said Moggaliputtatisso, having acquired the knowledge of the wineyo in the fraternity of Chandawajji, was released from the sins inseparable from liability to future regeneration. Both Siggawo and Chandawajji taught the whole of the Pitako, which embraces both (the wineyo, discipline, and dhammo, doctrine), to the pre-eminently endowed Moggaliputto. Siggawo of profound wisdom died at the age of seventy-six, having constituted the pre-eminently endowed Moggaliputto the chief of the wineyo. Chandagutto reigned twenty-four years. In the fourteenth year of his reign Siggawo died.
"In the sixth year of the reign of Dhammasoko, Moggaliputto was sixty-six years old. Mahindo was then ordained an upasampada in his fraternity, and acquired a knowledge of the Pitako.
"Upali attained his seventy-fourth, Dasako his sixty-fourth, the thero Sonako his sixty-sixth, Siggawo his seventy-sixth, and Moggaliputto his eightieth year. The following are the periods that all of these theros were upasampada, of whom at all times the learned Upali was recognized as the first chief, viz.; Dasako was an upasampada fifty, Sonako, forty-four, Siggawo five* [This is evidently a mistake.], and Moggaliputto, sixty-eight years.
"Udayo reigned sixteen years, and in the sixth year of Udayo's reign, Upali died.
"Susanago, the opulent monarch, reigned ten years, in the eighth year of Susanago's reign, Dasako died.
"At [The reign of Kalasoko is omitted, who was the father of the Nandos who are here designated the brothers of Susanago.] the demise of Susanago he had ten brothers, who collectively reigned twenty-two years, in great celebrity. In the sixth year of their reign Sonako died.
[BREAK IN LINEAGE? WHERE DID CHANDAGUTTO COME FROM?]
The Buddhistic accounts of Asoka, as given by the two great schools of Buddhism — Mahayana and Hinayana— not only differ from each other, but also from the accounts given of Asoka, the grandson of Candragupta Maurya, by the Puranic accounts of the Hindus. "There is a good deal of confusion in these Buddhistic works as regards the very family and genealogy of Asoka, the Buddhistic king, and one can easily trace that the life and time of Asoka must have been constructed by the Buddhistic writers who flourished several hundreds of years after him, by jumbling up the lives of three different Indian kings, viz., (1) of Asoka, (Dharmasoka), the third in ascent from Kanishka belonging to the First Gonanda Dynasty of Kasmir kings as described in the First Book of Kalhana's Raja-Tarangini who is said to have freed himself from sins by embracing the faith of Gautama Buddha and by constructing numerous Viharas and Stupas, and by building the town of Srinagari with its ninety-six lakhs of houses resplendent with wealth, (2) of Asokavardhana (Chandasoka) the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, as described in the Puranas, and (3) of Samudragupta or Asoka the Great, (Mahasoka) the son of Chandragupta the Founder of the Gupta Dynasty, described by Mr. Vincent A. Smith himself as the Indian Napoleon, as narrated by his biographer Harishena, and in the Kaliyuga Raja Vrittanta, and as corroborated by his numerous coins and inscriptions recently unearthed by European scholars themselves."
The Mahavamsa, (according Wijesinha's revised edition of Turnour translation) says, "One Kalasoka had ten sons, who after his death ruled the kingdom righteously for 22 years. They were succeeded by other nine brothers, who likewise, in order of seniority, ruled the kingdom for 22 years. A Brahman named Chanakya, who had conceived an implacable hatred against Dhana Nanda, the last survivor of the nine brothers, put that king to death, and placed upon the throne Chandragupta, a member of the princely Moriya clan descended from the line of the Sakyas, who ruled the country for 34 years. He was succeeded by his son Bindusara, who ruled the land for 28 years. The sons of Bindusara, the offspring of sixteen mothers, numbered one hundred and one, of whom the eldest was named Sumana, and the youngest Tishya. A third son, Asoka, uterine brother of Tishya, had been appointed Viceroy of Ujjain by his father. On receiving news of King Bindusara's mortal illness, Asoka hastened to Pataliputra, slew his eldest brother Sumana and his 98 other brothers, and ruled the country for 37 years."
The Dipavamsa, on the other hand, substitutes Susunaga for Kalasoka and makes Asoka, the son of Susunaga himself, and omits all mention of the nine Nanda brothers.
The Asokavadana (according to the prose version in the Divyavadana) gives the following account of the lineage and family of Asoka: —"(1) King Bimbisara reigned at Rajagriha. His son was (2) Ajatasatra, whose son was (3) Udayibhadra, whose son was (4) Munda, whose son was (5) Kakavarnin, whose son was (6) Sahalin, whose son was (7) Tulakuchi, whose son was (8) Mahamandala, whose son was (9) Prasenajit, whose son was (10) Nanda, whose son was (11) Bindusara. King Bindusara reigned at Pataliputra and had a son named Susima. To him was born of Subhadrangi, the daughter of a Brahman, two sons, the elder named Asoka, and the younger named Vigatasoka. Asoka secured the throne by putting to death the legitimate prince Susima by a stratagem devised by Radhagupta by which Susima was inveigled while marching against the capital, so that he fell into a ditch full of burning fuel and there miserably perished."
Here it will be observed that Candragupta is altogether omitted, and Bindusara, the father of Asoka, is represented as being the son of Nanda. The metrical Asokavadana, on the other hand, substitutes Mahipala for Ajatasatru, and exhibits numerous other variations, which deprive these Buddhistic accounts of historical worth. The conquests ascribed to Asoka in the various Buddhistic accounts are no doubt taken from the conquests of Samudragupta or Asoka the Great, and the embassy of the Ceylon king is also traceable to the same origin. The story of his having embraced the faith of Buddha, of his having built stupas and Viharas, of his having reconstructed the city of Pataliputra and of his having introduced several reforms in the affairs of the kingdom and in the matter of the appointment of officers of state, are all taken from the accounts of Asoka and his successors as given by Chhavillakara ["Referring to an earlier Rajatarangini recorded by Chhavillakara, Kalhana has stated that Kashmir was held after Asoka by his son, Jalauka, who was followed by a ruler named 'Damodara,' who was none else than Demetrius, 'Regis Indorus,' [Demetrius I, called Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus I, king of Macedon, 337-283 BC] as the classical references indicate. (Vide my article, "The Chavillakara Fragment in Kalhana's Rajatarangini" -- JBRS (Journal of the Burma Research Society), Vol. 36 (1950), pp. 71-75 + i-vi.) -- Reviewed Work: Beginnings of Life, Culture and History: (Study of Indian History and Culture : Vol. I) by S. D. Kulkarni, Review by: S. V. Sohoni, Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 70, No. 1/4 (1989), pp. 338-343 (6 pages)] and by Kalhana in his Rajatarangini.
-- "Sandrocottus", "History of Classical Sanskrit Literature", by Kavyavinoda, Sahityaratnakara M. Krishnamachariar, M.A., M.I., Ph.D., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of London (Of the Madras Judicial Service), Assisted by His Son M. Srinivasachariar, B.A., B.L., Advocate, Madras, 1937
"Chandagutto reigned twenty-four years, and in the fourteenth year of his reign Siggawo died.
"The celebrated Dhammasoko the son of Bindasaro reigned thirty-seven years. In the twenty-sixth year of his reign, Moggaliputto died, having caused religion to be glorified, and having completed the full measure of human existence.
"The learned Upali, the chief of a great fraternity died at the age of seventy-four, having appointed his learned disciple Dasako to the office of chief wineyo.
"Dasako, died at the age of sixty-four, having appointed his senior learned disciple Sonako to the office of chief of the wineyo.
"Sonako, who was endowed with the six abinna, died at the age of sixty-six, having appointed his arahat son (disciple) Siggawo to the office of chief of wineyo.
"Siggawo who was endowed with the six abinna, died at the age of seventy-six, having appointed his son (disciple) Moggaliputto to the office of chief of wineyo.
"Moggaliputtatisso died at the age of eighty, having appointed his disciple Mahindo to the office of chief of wineyo.
The conclusion of the fifth Bhanawaro.
"Piyadassano [Having erroneously written this name "Piyadasino" in a former paper, Vol. VI. p. 1056, you have been led to suppose it was the genitive case of Piyadasi.] was inaugurated in the two hundred and eighteenth year after the death of the supreme Buddho. At the installation of Piyadassano preternatural manifestations took place."
In the present note I shall confine myself to a critical examination of the first sentence only of the northern inscription, which will serve to show how rigidly I have designed to adhere to the rules of the Pali grammar in my translation of these inscriptions; and then proceed to explain the historical authority I have recently discovered for identifying Piyadasi, the recorder of these inscriptions, with Dhammasoko, the supreme monarch of India, the convert to, and great patron of, Buddhism, in the fourth century before our era....
In cursorily running over the book, at the opening of the sixth Bhanawaro or chapter, which should contain the history of Dhammasoko, I found the lines quoted from my note to you in page 791.
This Dipawanso extends to the end of the reign of Mahasino, which closed in A.D. 302. As the Mahawanso, which quotes from this work, was compiled between A.D. 459 and 477, the Dipawanso must have been written between those two epochs. I have only cursorily run over the early chapters to the period where the Indian history terminates without collecting from that perusal any new matter, not found embodied either in the Mahawanso or its Tika, excepting the valuable information above mentioned, and a series of dates defining the particular year of each sovereign's reign, in which the several hierarchs of the Buddhistical church died, down to Moggaliputtatisso the chief priest who presided at the third convocation in the reign of Dhammasoko. These dates may remove some of the incongruities touched upon in my second paper on Buddhistical annals.
This Burmese copy, however, of the Dipawanso is very imperfect. Each Bhanawaro ought to contain 250 verses. Several chapters fall short of this complement; and, in some, the same passage is repeated two and even three times.
It will be highly desirable to procure, if possible, a more perfect copy, together with its commentary, (either Tika or Atthakatha) from the Burmese empire.
On my return to Kandy, and production of the Dipawanso to the Buddhist priests, who are my coadjutors in these researches, they reminded me that there was a Pali work on my own shelves, which also gave to Dhanmasoko, the appellation of Piyadaso. The work is chiefly in prose, and held in great estimation for the elegance of its style: hence called "Rasawahini" — "sweetly flowing" or the "harmonious stream."
The Singhalese version, of which this Pali work is a translation, was of great antiquity, and is no longer extant. The present copies in that language are merely translations of this Pali edition. I am not able to fix the date of this Pali version, as the author does not give the name of the sovereign in whose reign he flourished — but the period is certainly subsequent to A.D. 477, as he quotes frequently from the Mahawanso. The author only states, that this work is compiled by Koratthapalo, the pious and virtuous incumbent of the Tanguttawankapariweno attached to the Mahawiharo (at Anuradhapura); and that he translates it from an ancient Singhalese work, avoiding only the defects of tautology and its want of perspicuity.
In one of the narratives of this book, containing the history of Dhanmasoko, of Asandhimitta his first consort after his accession to the Indian empire, of his nephew Nigrodho, by whom he was converted to Buddhism, and of his contemporary and ally Dewananpiyatisso, the sovereign of Ceylon, — Dhanmasoko is more than once called Piyadaso, viz.:"Madhudayako pana wanijo Dewalokato chawitwa, Pupphapure rajakule uppajitwa Piyadaso kumaro hutwa chhattan ussapetwa sakala-jambadipa eka-rajjan akasi*." [Vide page 24 of the Mahawanso for an explanation of this passage.]
"The honey-dealer who was the donor thereof (to the Pache Buddho) descending by his demise from the Dewaloko heavens; being born in the royal dynasty at Pupphapura (or Patilipura, Patna); becoming the prince Piyadaso and raising the chhatta, [Parasol of dominion.] established his undivided sovereignty over the whole of Jambudipo'' — and again —
"Anagate Piyadaso, nama kumaro chhattan ussapetwa Asoka nama Dhanma Raja bhawissati."
"Hereafter the prince Piyadaso having raised the chhatta, will assume the title of Asoka the Dhanma Raja, or righteous monarch."
It would be unreasonable to multiply quotations which I could readily do, for pronouncing that Piyadaso, Piyadasino [Piyadassino is the genitive case of Piyadasi, [x]: — Ed.] or Piyadasi, according as metrical exigencies required the appellation to be written, was the name of Dhanmasoko before he usurped the Indian empire; and it is of this monarch that the amplest details are found in Pali annals. The 5th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th chapters of the Mahawanso contain exclusively the history of this celebrated ruler, and there are occasional notices of him in the Tika of that work, which also I have touched upon in my introduction to that publication. He occupies also a conspicuous place in my article No. 2, on Buddhistical annals. His history may be thus summed up.
He was the grandson of Chandagutto (Sandracottus) and son of Bindusaro who had a numerous progeny, the issue of no less than sixteen consorts. Dhanmasoko, who had but one uterine brother, named Tisso, appears to have been of a turbulent and ambitious character; Bindusaro consigned him to an honorable banishment by conferring on him the government of Ujjeni (Oujein)* [Introduction to the Mahawanso, p. xlii.] "in his apprehension arising from a rumour which had prevailed that he (Asoko) would murder his own father; and being therefore desirous of employing him at a distance, established him at Ujjeni, conferring the government of that kingdom on him."
While administering that government he formed a connection with Chetiya Dewi a princess of Chetiyagiri, and had by her a son and daughter, Mahindo and Sanghamitta, who followed their father to Patilipura, subsequently entered into the sacerdotal order, and were the missionaries who converted Ceylon to Buddhism. Chetiya Dewi herself returned to her native city. On his death-bed, Bindusaro sent a "letter" recalling him to his capital, Patilipura. He hastened thither, and as soon as his parent expired, put all his brothers, excepting Tisso, to death, and usurped the empire. He raised Tisso to the dignity of Uparaja, — which would appear to be the recognition of the succession to the throne.
In the 4th year after his accession, being the year of Buddho 218, and before Christ 325, [The second paper on "Buddhistical Annals" notices the discrepancy of about 60 years between this date, and that deduced from the date of European classical authors connected with Alexander's invasion.] he was inaugurated, or anointed king. In the 3rd year of his inauguration, he was converted to Buddhism by the priest Nigrodho the son of his eldest murdered brother, Sumano. In the 4th year Tisso resigned his succession to the empire, and became a priest. In the 6th Mahindo and Sanghamitta also entered into the sacerdotal order. In the 17th the third convocation was held, and missionaries were dispatched all over Asia to propagate Buddhism. In the 18th Mahindo arrived in Ceylon, and effected the conversion of the Ceylonese monarch Dewananpiyatisso and the inhabitants of this island. In the same year Sanghamitta, the bo-tree and relics were sent by him to Ceylon. In the 30th his first consort espoused after his accession, Asandhimitta, who was zealously devoted to Buddhism, died; and three years thereafter he married his second wife. He reigned 37 years.
-- Further notes on the inscriptions on the columns at Delhi, Allahabad, Betiah, &c., by the Hon'ble George Turnour, Esq. of the Ceylon Civil Service, The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. VI, Part II, Jul-Dec, 1837
(For these manifestations I must refer to the Mahawanso.)]
"That royal youth, who was the grandson of Chandagutto and the son of Bindusaro was at that time the (karamolino) ruler of Vjjeni.
"In the course of an official circuit he visited Wessanagaran; where lived a damsel, the daughter of a Sitthi, who became celebrated under the name of Dewi. By his connection with her, an illustrious son was born. (The said son) Mahindo and (his daughter) Sangamitta formed the resolution to enter the order of priesthood. Both these individuals having been thus ordained, overcame subjection to regeneration. Asoko was then reigning in the illustrious Pataliputto. In the third year of his inauguration he became a convert to the religion of the supreme Buddho. (If it be asked) what the duration of the term is, from the date of the parinibbanan of the supreme Buddho to the date of the birth of Mahindo, who was descended from the Moriyan dynasty, (the answer is) two hundred and five years. In that year Mahindo the son of Asoko was born. In Mahindo's tenth year, his father put his own brothers to death; and he past four years in reducing Jambudipo to order. Having put to death his hundred brothers, and reduced the dynasty to one (family), they (the people) inaugurated him in the fourteenth year of Mahindo's age. Asoko, who was endowed with great personal superiority and good fortune, and was destined to rule the world, was inaugurated under miraculous manifestations. They installed Piyadassano on his completing his twentieth year* [This is evidently a clerical error, his son Mahindo being then fourteen years old. It was subsequently mentioned that Asokodhammo was forty-five years old at his inauguration.]."
The account of the interview with Nigrodho, the expulsion of the brahman sects, and the construction of the wiharos is then given, to the close of the sixth Bhanawaro.
The seventh Bhanawaro begins with the account of Mahindo and Sangamitta being admitted into the order of the priesthood, (the former was at once ordained upasampada, being of the age of twenty; but the latter remained a samaneri for two years, being only eighteen,) in the sixth year of Asoko's inauguration. These particulars will be found in the Mahawanso.
"Asokadhammo was fifty-four years old at the time of his inauguration, and at the time of Asokadhammo being inaugurated, Moggaliputtatisso was sixty-six. Mahindo entered into the order of priesthood in the fraternity of Mogaliputtatisso. Mahadewo performed the ceremony of admission, and Mojjhanto, the ceremony of the upasampada ordination. These were the three preceptors who qualified Mahindo for the priesthood. The said preceptor Moggaliputtatisso taught Mahindo, who illuminated (Lanka) dipo, the whole of the Pitako, both as regards its import and its doctrine. In the tenth year of Mahindo's (ordination) having acquired a perfect knowledge of the whole creed, he became the head of a fraternity, and (pachariyo) a subpreceptor (under Moggali). The said Mahindo having thus acquired a knowledge of the perfectly profound and well arranged (Pitakattayan), containing the two doctrinal portions (the wineyo and the abhidhammo) and the suttako (the parables) as well as the history of the schisms of the preceptors, became a perpetuater of the same. Moggaliputtatisso thus perfected Mahindo the son of Asoko, in the knowledge of the three wejja and the four putisambhida, and (thereby) Moggaliputtatisso permanently established in his disciple Mahindo, the whole of the Pitakattayan which had been thus handed down to him.
"Nigrodho was admitted into the priesthood in the third year of Asoko's reign, his brother (Tisso) in the fourth, and in the sixth his son Mahindo. Tisso and Sumittako, the two theros who were descended from the Kunti, and were endowed with supernatural powers, died in the eighth year of the reign of Asoko. From these two princes having entered the order of priesthood, and from (the manner in which) these two theros died, multitudes of the khattiya and brahman castes proclaimed themselves to be devotees in this creed, and great benefits and honors resulted to the religion of the vanquisher; and the heretics, who had been influential schismatics, lost all their ascendancy. The pandaranga, the jatila, nigantha, chetaka and other sects for seven years continued, however, to perform the uposatha in separate fraternities. The sanctified, pious, and virtuous ministers (of Buddho) would not attend those uposatha meetings. At this conjuncture, it was the two hundred and thirty-sixth year (of the Buddhistical era)."
The Dipawanso then gives the account of the third convocation and of the dispersion of the missionaries for the promulgation of Buddhism through the adjacent kingdoms of Asia, viz. Gandharo, Mahiso, Aparantako, Maharatthan, Yono, Hiwawanto, Suwannabhumi and Lankadipo.
The ninth Bhanawaro commences with the history of Ceylon, and it is singular that the origin of the Sihala race is here divested of the fabulous character given to it in the Mahawanso to the extent formerly suggested by me. If the popular legend of the lion (siho) had not been previously known, the account in the Dipawanso would have been rendered, by any unprejudiced translator, into English without naming the fabulous monster, literally thus:
"This island Lanka acquired the name of Sihala from Siho* ["Pachchantan," I have translated, "foreign" in the Mahawanso, as the word is compounded of "pati" and "antan." It would be better rendered as "situated on the confines." Wanawasi is here omitted, probably by an error of transcription. This passage is important Matacha Susimanama, pitacha Sihasawhayo. If "Siho'' was intended for a "lion," "Sawhayo" which signifies "named" or "called" would not be used.]. Listen to this narrative of mine, being the account of the origin of this island and this dynasty. The daughter of a king of Wango, having formed a connection with a certain Siho, who found his livelihood in a wilderness, gave birth to two children. These two children named Sihabahu and Sewali were of prepossessing appearance. The mother was named Susima, and the father was called Siho, and at the termination of sixteen years, secretly quitting that wilderness, he (Sihabahu) founded a city, to which capital he gave the name of Sihapura. In that Lala kingdom, the son of Siho becoming a powerful monarch, reigned supreme in his capital Sihapura."
This Bhanawaro proceeds with the account of Wijayo landing in Ceylon, and the establishment of his dynasty, omitting however, entirely, Wijayo's marriage with Kuweni, and narrates the reigns of the ensuing kings to Dewananpiyatisso, assigning to them reigns of the same duration, as that given to them in the Mahawanso. We then find the synchronisms in the chronologies of India and Ceylon, which are quoted in the introduction to the Mahawanso from the Atthahathd in the Wineyo.
I do not notice any matter in the Dipawanso, not found in the Mahawanso, till I come to the eighteenth Bhanawaro. The theriparampara, or succession of preceptresses is there given, taken from the Atthakatha on the Wineyo in the following words:
"She who was renowned under the appellation of Pajapati, and was of the Gotamo family, endowed with six abinna and with supernatural gifts, the younger sister, born of the same mother, of Mahamaya (the mother of Buddho): and who, with the same affection as Maya herself nourished Bhagawa at her breast, was established in the highest office (among priestesses).
"The following are the priestesses who (in succession) acquired a perfect knowledge of the wineyo, viz.: Khema Uppalawanna, two of each name, and Patachari, Dhammadinna, Sobhita, Isidasika, Wisakha, Asoka, Sapala, Sanghadasi, gifted with wisdom, Nanda and Dhammapala, celebrated for her knowledge of Wineyo.
"The theri Sanghamitta, Uttara, who was gifted with wisdom, Hemapasa, Dassala, Aggamitta, Dasika, Pheggupabbata, Matta, Salala, Dhammadasiya—these juvenile priestesses came hither from Jambudipo, and propounded the Winayapitako in the capital designated Anuradhapura—they propounded not only the five divisions of the wineyo, but also the seven Pakaranani.
"The females who were ordained upasampada by them in this island were Soma, devoted to Dhammo, Goridipi, Dhammadasiyi, Dhammapala versed in the wineyo, Mahila conversant in the dhutawada, Sobhana, Dhammata, Passanagamissa, also versed in the wineyo, and Satakali profound in the theri controversy, and Uttara.
"Under the instructions of Abhayo [Abhayo, the brother of Dewananpiyatisso.] celebrated for his illustrious descent, the aforesaid priestesses as well as Sumana [Vide Index of the Mahawanso for this name.] renowned for the doctrinal knowledge among her sisterhood, a maintainer of the Dhutanga, a vanquisher of the passions, of great purity of mind, devoted to dhammo and wineyo, and Uttara endowed with wisdom, together with their thirty thousand priestesses, were the first priestesses who propounded at Anuradhapura, the wineyo, the five Nikaye (of the Suttapitako) and the Suttapakarane of the Abhidhammo.
"Mahala equally illustrious for her knowledge of the dhammo and for her piety, was the daughter of the monarch Kakawanno Girikali, profoundly versed by rote, was the daughter of his Poorohito (the almoner of Kakawanno); Kaladasi and Sabbapapika were the daughters of Gutto. These priestesses, who always maintained the orthodox texts, and of perfect purity of mind, were versed in the dhammo and wineyo, and having returned from the Rohana division maintained by the illustrious ruler of men Abhayo [Vide Index for Gamini Abhayo, the name of Dutthagamini before he recovered the kingdom.], propounded the Wineyo, at Anuradhapura."
The remainder of this passage is so confused as not to admit of a continuous translation.
In the twentieth Bhanawaro is specified the reducing the scriptures to record, in precisely the same two verses as in the Mahawanso; and in the twenty-second it is mentioned that Wasabho the raja of Ceylon between A.D. 66 and 110, brought water into the town of Anuradhapura through a tunnel "ummaggo" and with this Bhanawaro, the Dipawanso terminates at the close of the reign of Mahaseno.