Funday Times

This article is part of a continuing series on the ‘Mahavamsa’, the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history

King Mahanama
1. King Upatissa did all he could for the development of the country. He patronized Buddhism. He was extremely kind and generous. He attended to the repair of Buddhist stupas that needed attention. It is said that he offered a golden pinnacle to the Thuparama Chetiya and constructed a shelter for it.

2. This benevolent king ruled the country for 41 years in a very righteous manner. But he too had an enemy and that in his wife. His queen had developed a love affair with the king's younger brother, Mahanama. At the instigation of Mahanama - who had even been a priest for some time - the queens struck the king with a weapon and killed him.

3. This happened in 406 AD. Then Prince Mahanama ascended the throne. The queen who murdered King Upatissa, became queen to King Mahanama. Once King Mahanama was consecrated, he turned over a new leaf and tried to lead a righteous life. He had built hospitals all over the country, extended the Mahapali Hall and offered alms regularly. This king also had attended to a lot of reconstruction work. He was deeply devoted to the religion.

4. "Lohodora', 'Ralagamuwa' and 'Kempasa' are three temples that this king had built. All those were donated to the monks of the Abhayagiri temple. Another temple that he built on the hill at Dumrak was donated to the Theravada monks, in memory of his queen. At this time, there lived in India, a learned Brahmin youth who had mastered the three Vedas - namely, Rig, Sama and Yajur. He had also learnt various arts and sciences.

5. This Brahmin youth was very clever at debating. He went in search of the learned people in India and debated with them on various topics. Very often he turned out to be the winner. On his visits, once, he went to a temple and requested permission to spend the night. The chief priest of this temple was Rev. Revata who listened to him, realized what a learned person he was. He thought of silencing him by argument. "Who is it, who brays like an ass?" he asked. Then the youth asked him what he really meant by that.

6. It was the beginning of a debate between the two of them. After a lot of argument, Rev. Revata won. It was a hard task as the youth was highly intelligent. Finally Rev. Revata began to preach the 'Vijani', which is believed to be the Vinaya Pitaka. As the Brahmin youth had not heard this before, he surrendered. But he wanted to know, who the teacher was, who had originally preached this 'pitaka'.

7. Rev. Revata said, "You young Brahmin, this is from the teaching of the Lord Buddha". The Brahmin then pleaded that he be taught that doctrine. Rev. Revata explained that it could not be taught easily. "It was no simple process", he continued. The youth had to get ordained as a Buddhist monk, if he wanted to learn it properly. Due to the immense interest he had in learning the doctrine, the Brahmin youth became ordained as a Buddhist priest.

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