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article is part of a continuing series on the ‘Mahavamsa’,
the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history
King Mahasilu Mahatissa
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Prince Mahatissa succeeded King Valagamba. He was crowned as Maha
Mulika Tissa, in the year 77 BC. He was also known as Mahasilu
Tissa. As a prince he was rather mischievous. But once he ascended
the throne, he proved to be a good ruler. His father was Khallata
Naga, a brother of King Valagamba. Khallata Naga has ruled the
country from 109 BC to 103 BC.
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Mahasilu Tissa was brought up by King Valagamba. He became a very
pious person and led a very religious life. He wanted to offer
alms to monks, using hard earned money. For this purpose, he disguised
himself, went to far off villages and worked in the fields and
earned money. He was lucky as no one recognized him. With the
money earned, he offered alms to Rev. Pindapata Sumedha.
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When this proved successful, the king thought of doing it a second
time. He disguised again and went to the village named Swarnagiri.
This village was famous for jaggery. Most of the villagers earned
their living by making jaggery, using sugar cane. He worked hard
here. He was paid only in kind. The jaggery he got as payment
was brought to the palace. He got some sweets prepared out of
this and offered it to the monks. He also gifted robes to thirty
thousand monks and twelve thousand nuns.
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Though the king led a very religious life, he had one great enemy.
That was his brother, Prince Mahanaga. Since Mahanaga was the
elder son of King Valagamba, he objected to Mahasilu becoming
king. Mahasilu and Mahanaga were children of the same mother,
though they had two different fathers. Though Mahasilu was not
quite bothered about this parentage, Mahanaga was quite concerned.
He hated Mahasilu and wanted to get rid of him. He joined a group
of thugs, took to theft and even house-breaking and became a nuisance
to the king and his people.
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King Mahasilu tried to correct the brother. His efforts were of
no avail and he became worse by the day. This made the king turn
more towards religion. He got a beautiful temple erected and offered
alms to sixty thousand monks. He also offered robes to thousands
of nuns. He built temples in places like Mandavapi and Abagala.
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When Mahasilu died in 63 BC, he was succeeded by Mahanaga. As
he had led a very bad life as a prince, he was named Chora-naga,
when he became king. His queen also happened to be very cruel.
She was Anula by name. Both king and queen had no respect for
religion. The king tried to take revenge on the monks who did
not give him shelter when he was up to all the wrong doings. He
is said to have demolished about sixteen temples. He had taken
whatever wealth there was, in these temples.
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He ruined the peaceful, righteous society that his father had
built. The people were encouraged to do sinful deeds. Religion
was not respected at all. The entire country underwent a dark
period. Nature too went against the people. No rains came. Tanks
and canals went dry and a severe drought followed.
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The king was unable to do anything to overcome this drought. According
to ‘Rajavaliya’, the drought had lasted for three
years. The people believed that this was a punishment for breaking
a number of temples. They began to curse the king for bringing
about this misery. However, Chora-naga ruled for twelve years
and died in 51 BC. It is believed that his death was due to poisoning
and that by his own queen Anula.
By
Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by
Kamala Silva
Illustrated by
Saman Kalubowila
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