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This
article is part of a continuing series on the Mahavamsa, the recorded
chronicle of Sri Lankan history
King Subha’s rule ends
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The battle between King Subha and Prince Vasabha took a serious
turn. Many lives were lost on both sides. The Commander-in-chief
too, forgetting Vasabha was his nephew, fought valiantly. The
royal army was encouraged by his actions. But the youth who came
from Ruhuna were not to be subdued. They used all the war strategies
they had mastered and fought back. Time passed. According to the
Mahavamsa, this battle had taken place in the compound of the
royal palace.
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All of a sudden, a commander of Vasabha’s army jumped in
front of the Commander-in-Chief and there followed a serious fight
between the two. They went on fighting neck to neck, as both were
equally skilled in warfare. Prince Vasabha’s commander dealt
a timely blow on the Commander-in-Chief and his head dropped off.
They royal army lost its morale. In the meantime, the battle between
King Subha and Prince Vasabha continued. Both fought equally well.
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Prince Vasabha made use of a split second when the king lost his
attention and dealt a blow with his sword, which the king could
not defend. The king was badly wounded. With his fall, the battle
came to an end. Dead bodies were strewn all over. The entire place
was red with blood. Prince Vasabha claimed victory and occupied
the palace.
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Vasabha wanted to show his gratitude to Metta, his aunt, who helped
him to save his life. She was brought to the palace. She was a
widow by then. Metta was quite pretty and still young. So Vasabha
made her his queen. Vasabha was crowned in 67 AD. He is important
as the first Lambakarna king of Lanka.
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King Vasabha had a lot of faith in the forecast made by his soothsayers.
They were consulted often and generous gifts were showered upon
them. One of these sooth-sayers forecast that King Vasabha will
face a lot of difficulties, his life span would be short and he
would be king only for a short period of 12 years. The king was
greatly disturbed. He met learned monks and sought their advice
as to what should be done.
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The priests advised the king to donate a lot of medicines, drinks
and temples by way of alms, as often as he could. He was advised
to live according to the five precepts and observe the eight precepts
on full-moon days. The king did accordingly and his life span
lengthened. He held sway as king for a period of 40 years.
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King Vasabha did a lot of other meritorious deeds too. He generously
contributed towards the ‘Sasana’. He conducted an
annual ceremony where robes were gifted to all the monks who lived
in the entire island. The monks who were unable to come for the
ceremony were gifted with robes in their own temples. He had organized
another alms-giving where milk rice was offered to the monks in
32 different places. He maintained 64 centres where meals were
offered to the priests daily.
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The ‘Thuparamaya’, ‘Ruwanweli Chetiya’
and ‘Sri Maha Bodhi’ were the centres where the king
held ‘Pahan Pooja’ (lighting the lamps) daily. He
did not forget to help the people of the south, who helped him
in his early days. He built ten dagabas fo the ‘Sithulpawwa’
temple and offered them to the monks.
King Vasabha demarcated certain villages, the income of which
should go towards the maintenance of these dagabas.
By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila
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