CHAPTER LXXX

THE SIXTEEN KINGS

Thereupon the sister's son of this Great king, the wise poet sovereign King Vijayabahu, became monarch in Lanka. When he had received consecration as king the prudent one in his great mercy released from their misery those dwellers in Lanka whom his uncle, the Sovereign Parakkama, had thrown into prison and tortured with stripes or with fetters. By restoring at different places to various people their village or their field he increased the joyfulness of them all. As Alaka for (the god) Kubera and Amatavati for Sakka, so was Pulatthinagara for him the royal city. He himself composed in the Magadha tongue a most excellent letter, sent it to the monarch living in Arimaddana, concluded with this beloved (prince) a friendly treaty as aforetime his great grandfather Vijayabahu, and (being) highly famed, to increase the joy of the bhikkhus in the land of Lanka and Arimaddana, he made the Order of the Buddha lustrous. As the Ruler departed not from any precept of the political teaching of Manu, he rejoiced the people through the four heart-winning qualities. Endowed with kindness, purity and other virtues, he found his highest satisfaction in the triad of the jewels, Buddha and the like. Of most excellent character he, ever joyous in spirit, provided the bhikkhus with the four articles of use. Manifesting great exertion, he like a wise Bodhisatta, everywhere in every way interested himself in all beings. Shunning the four wrongful paths he in his great insight, practiced in the exercise of justice, towards good and evil favour and severity. Thus this Monarch respected by the laity and the Order, performing many meritorious works, carried on the government for one year. Now after a traitor, Mahinda by name, of the Kulinga clan, who had won as his spouse a cowherd's daughter, Dipani by name, had treacherously slain the Monarch, (he) the deluded one without gaining the consent of the generals, of the warriors, of the indignant inhabitants of the country and of the whole of the dignitaries, carried on in most evil fashion the government in Lanka for five days.

After his murder the Uparaja of King Vijayabahu, born in Kalinga, Kittinissanka by name, became king. After he had received royal consecration he had built in superb Pulatthinagara a beautiful temple of stone for the Tooth Relic. He had the lofty Ratanava1i-cetiya made firm and embellished the splendid structure with a golden point. After building the vihara adorned with a hundred pasadas which bore his name, he made it over to the bhikkhu community and supported it. The Jambukola-vihra resplendent with walls and pillars shimmering in gold and silver, where the floor was of red lead and the bricks of the roof were of gold, the wise (Monarch) had rebuilt and placed therein seventy-three golden statues of the Master. With the four-membered army the Ruler full of pious devotion, went forth to the Samantakuta and performed there his devotions, and everywhere on the island of Tambapanni he had flower gardens and fruit gardens and numbers of houses for the community laid down. While in this way day by day the Ruler accumulated many a merit, he carried on the government for nine years in most excellent fashion.

His son, the King known by the name of Virabahu, here upon ruled for one night and then fell into the power of death.

There upon the younger brother of that same king Kittinissanka, King Vikkamahahu, enjoyed the royal dignity for three months. He was slain by the Ruler Colaganga, a sister's son of King Nissanka, who carried on the government for nine months. Thereupon the powerful general Kitti had the eyes of this king put out, deposed him and had the government carried on for three years without mishap by Lilavati, the first mahesi of the sovereign Parakkamabahu.

Thereupon King Sahasamalla of the race of Okkaka, a lion in courage, carried on the government for two years. Then having deposed this Monarch, the general Ayasmanta, a man of almost unsurpassable courage, a supporter of his royal family, prudently had the government carried on with wise policy for six months by Kalyanavati, the first mahesi of Kittinissanka. This Queen Kalyanavati, who was devoted to the Order of the Master, had a vihara called after her, built in the village Pannsalaka by name, for love of the village, and assigned it villages, fields, articles of use, slaves, gardens and so forth. With her consent, the general Ayasmanta, who administered the government in all Lanka, who came of the Khandhavara family, sent the Adhikarin Deva to charming Valliggama, had a vihara erected there and assigned to the Great community. He built the parivena known by his name of Sarakulavaddhana and caring for its support, he assigned it villages and fields surrounded by parks and the like and which could scarcely be visited by a bad harvest, together with articles of use and slaves male and female. Having scrupulously separated the four castes who had become impure through mixture, he bent on doing good, had a text hook compiled which had law as its subject.

Thereupon there reigned for one year a royal prince Dhammasoka by name, who on coming to the throne was aged three months. The Mahadipada Anikanga came at the head of a great army from the Cola kingdom, slew the ruler in Pulatthinagara, Prince Dhammasoka, together with the general Ayasmanta and reigned seventeen days. But the general, Vikkantacamunakka, the villain, slew the Monarch Anikanga and had the government carried on for a year by the first consort of King Parakkamahihu, Lilavati by name, who had already reigned before.

Now came King Lokissara by name, who had been wounded in the shoulder by a spear, with a great Damila army from the opposite shore, brought the whole of Lanka under his sway and reigned, dwelling in Pulatthinagara, nine months. Hereupon the general Parakkama, the best among men of decision, endowed with great power and courage, belonging to the family of the Kalanagaras, consecrated the Mahesi Lilavati who came of the dynasty of the Sun and Moon, in the royal dignity, she who afterward shone in royal splendor. When then a space of about seven months had passed for the Mahesi, there landed with a great Pandu army from the Pandu kingdom the glorious Pandu King Parakkama, deposed the Queen and her general Parakkama and after he had cleared Lanka from the briers (of revolt), he ruled the realm in superb Pulatthinagara for three years, without transgressing the political precepts of Manu. But since in consequence of the enormously accumulated, various evil deeds of the dwellers in Lanka, the devatas who were everywhere entrusted with the protection of Lanka, failed to carry out this protection, there landed a man who held to a false creed, whose heart rejoiced in bad statesmanship, who was a forest fire for the burning down of bushes in the forest of the good, - that is of generosity and the like - who was a sun whose action closed the rows of night lotus flowers - that is the good doctrine and a moon for destroying the grace of the groups of the day lotuses that is of peace - (a man) by name Magha, an unjust king sprung from the Kalinga line, in whom reflection was fooled by his great delusion, landed as leader of four and twenty thousand warriors from the Kalinga country and conquered the island of Lanka. The great scorching fire - King Magha - commanded his countless flames of fire - his warriors - to harass the great forest - the kingdom of Lanka. While thus his great warriors oppressed the people, boasting cruelly everywhere: "We are Kerala warnors", they tore from the people their garments, their ornaments and the like, corrupted the good morals of the family which had been observed for ages, cut off hands and feet and the like (of the people), destroyed many houses and tied up cows, oxen and other (cattle) which they made their own property. After they bad put fetters on the wealthy and rich people and had tortured them and taken away all their possessions, they made poor people of them. They wrecked the image houses, destroyed many cetiyas, ravaged the vihiras and maltreated the lay brethren. They flogged the children, tormented the five (groups of the) comrades of the Order, made the people carry burdens and forced them to do heavy labour. Many books known and famous they tore from their cord and strewed them hither and thither. The beautiful, vast, proud cetiyas like the Ratanivali(-cetiya)' and others which embodied as it were, the glory of former pious kings, they destroyed by overthrowing them and allowing alas! many of the bodily relics, their souls as it were, to disappear. Thus the Damila warriors in imitation of the warriors of Mara, destroyed in the evil of their nature, the laity and the Order. Here upon they completely invested Pulatthinagara and captured Parakkama, that man of great might and valor. They put out the Monarch's eyes and plundered all his treasures, pearls, jewels and so forth. Then the leaders of the soldiers with Manabharana at the head, consecrated the Kalinga Magha to the glorious royal dignity of Lanka.

Now after the Ruler Magha had in this manner taken possession of the kingdom and attained the royal dignity, he dwelt in Pulatthinagara. The Monarch forced the people to adopt a false faith and he brought great confusion into the four sharply divided castes. Villages and fields, houses and gardens, slaves, cattle, buffaloes and whatever else belonged to the Sihalas he had delivered up to the Keralas. The vihiras, the parivenas and many sanctuaries he made over to one or other of his warriors as dwelling. The treasures which belonged to the Buddha and were the property of the holy Order he seized and thus committed a number of sins in order to go to hell. In this fashion committing deeds of violence, the Ruler Magha held sway in Lanka for twenty-one years. Thus in Lanka this and that ruler out of great lust for power, have slain this and that lord of men, but have themselves in consequence of these deeds, attained to no good old age, and even when they had achieved the kingly dignity, they could not alas! enjoy it for long. Hence the wise man should refrain from the destruction of living beings and renounce wanton lust for power.

Here ends the eightieth chapter, called The Sixteen Kings , in the Mahivamsa, compiled for the serene joy and emotion of the pious.