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This
article is part of a continuing series on the ‘Mahavamsa’,
the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history 5 The king’s horse was the fastest and Velusumana was shrewd enough to help its rider. He even fed the horse, in the absence of the rider. Days passed by and Velusumana was successful in taming the fastest horse. There were occasions when Velusumana was entrusted with the task of taking care of this horse, when its rider was otherwise occupied. The rider had great trust in Velusumana and he too lived up to all his expectations. 6 Gradually everyone in the royal stables was friendly with Velusumana and he was quite at home there. No one ever suspected him. One fine day, Velusumana went to the Tissa tank, picked a few lotuses and hid the flowers, so that none would notice them. He returned to the stable. Seeing no one around, he got on the king’s horse and rode to Elara’s palace. 8
By evening that day, Velusumana mananged to ride to Magama, on the
same horse, carrying the unfaded Lotuses and Veludeva’s head.
The king couldn’t believe his eyes. He was able to fulfill
the queen’s wishes. Velusumana was amply rewarded by the king. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
1
An abandoned boat was lying on the sea shore. It was left to decay
and nobody bothered about it. Bees built a huge honey-comb on this
boat. A man who noticed this, stopped the tom-tom beaters and told
them that he had seen a honey-comb of the size they wanted. This
man was then taken to king Kavan-Tissa. The man described the size
of the honey-comb and told the king all about it.
2
The king got down the men who could bring this honey-comb and sent
them, with instructions not to damage the honey-comb in any way.
The man who brought news about the honey-comb was well rewarded.
According to legend, the place where the honey-comb was found was
re-named ‘Meegamuva’; (‘mee’ being the Sinhala
term for honey) present day Negombo. None of our chronicles support
this story. However, obtaining a honey-comb of that size, was a
great relief to the king, as it would satisfy one wish of the queen.
3
To satisfy the queen’s next wish, the king had to get Veludeva’s
head, which involved a struggle between life and death. As it had
to be done, the king ordered his soldiers to take up the challenge.
When Velusumana readily accepted it, the king gazed at him in utter
surprise. “O King, do not be afraid. I’ll somehow get
Veludeva’s head. Please permit me to leave now”, said
Velusumana. “I’ll grant you permission to go on this
risky journey only because it has to be done for the queen’s
sake. You should remember the power of Veludeva. He is the chief
of the twenty great commanders of Elara. He is strong and skilled
in warfare. You must take care”, said the king.
4
Once permission was granted, Velusumana disguised himself, went
to Anuradhapura and entered King Elara’s stables. There he
managed to get friendly with the man who managed the stables. He
obtained lodging there. Velusumana was allowed to stay a few days
there. After the lapse of a couple of days, Velusumana got round
the man, who looked after the king’s horse.
7
Riding straight to the palace yard, Velusumana thundered, “I’m
Velusumana, King Kavan-Tissa’s chief commander. Capture me
if you can”. Elara heard these words and turned to see who
it was who uttered these words. Velusumana shouted once more. At
this point of time, Veludeva was talking to the king and the king
ordered him to give chase immediately. Veludeva hurried to the stables,
jumped on to a horse that could ride fast and gave chase. Knowing
that Veludeva was following him, Velusumana hid under a huge tree,
by the road side. Ignorant of Velusumana’s plan, Veludeva
rode as fast as he could. Just as Veludeva was passing that spot,
Velusumana, while still on horse-back, stretched out his sword.
Veludeva could not control the speed at which he rode and so his
head was cut off.
