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| This
article is part of a continuing series on the “Mahavamsa’,
the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history. The priest Maha-Tissa could only heave a sigh and say, “So they too happened to be Sinhala people”. The king continued, “They may be thinking that I am a coward. It matters little to me. I saw the Niganthas rejoicing when I was fleeing. They were ringing bells and announcing my defeat. I tolerated all that, not for the love of my life but for the sake of my people and my religion. I fled with the idea of organizing an army and fighting the enemy one day”. Rev. Maha-Tissa then said, “You have taken a wise decision. Why should you die on the battle field?” “I know you will help me. I have always listened to your advice. I shall continue to do so. All the previous kings of my lineage have been respecting the ‘Sangha’ (monks) and listening to their advice. I seek your valued guidance now”, said the king. “Let us forget the bitter past and start afresh. That is life, dear King. You should learn to bear up, the eight laws of life where you get blame and praise, profit and loss, fame and ill-fame, happiness and sorrow. These things are common to both king and beggar. We, the Buddhist priests, are quite used to this norm and we could bear all that with equanimity”, said Rev. Maha-Tissa. He continued saying, “We do not crave for any wealth or position in life”. The king nodded in acceptance. “You need not be afraid. I shall protect you, even at the risk of my life”, said the monk. He got up from his seat and walked out. The king followed him. Rev. Maha-Tissa went into his room and the king went to the place where Queen Anula was resting. For a few days, the king and his party had to stay in hiding in this temple. After that, Rev. Maha-Tissa took them to ‘Gal-hebakade’ and made them stay there, for a few days. From there, the king and his party went to ‘Matuvelanga’, a village close to Salgala. All this was done on the instructions of Rev. Maha-Tissa. Meanwhile, the priest managed to collect a few able-bodied men and send them to the king. These youths were trained by King Valagamba. The two princes, who were also grown up boys by then, learnt the art of fighting, from their father. Mahasilu and Mahanaga – the two princes learnt everything from their father and proved to be clever soldiers. The king was especially interested in the youth, who showed signs of being warriors. They were taught the finer points and all war tactics. These youths became so close to the king that they began to discuss all sorts of general things with the king. A big factory had come up in the midst of the jungle, by this time. Here, bows and arrows, swords, spears and other weapons were manufactured. The skilled workers there were fully devoted to their job. Hence weapons of good quality were produced by them. By
Halaliye Karunathilake |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
“I
have realized the truth of your words. I know this is a very dangerous
period. That is why I fled. But the shocking thing is that there
were enemies even among my forces. They happened to be friends of
Maharattha. They retreated on purpose. They never thought of defending
the country and protecting the people and the religion. I did not
realize that they were acting in that manner to take revenge on
me. They simply wished to see me killed by the Tamil soldiers”,
said the king.
