Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 35
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 175
________________ JUNE, 1906.] THE DIPAVAMSA AND THE MAHAVAMSA. 157 V. 98 ff. we can infer that it was the Presbyters of the second Council who foresaw the fature fall of Buddhist learning and the restoration of the faith by Moggaliputta. Again, in the Dipavansa we find introduced quite abraptly (XII. 64): "The Thera, standing on the summit of the mountain, said to the carriage-driver, 'No, a carriage is not allowed : the Holy One has forbidden it.'” This only becomes intelligible when we add from the Mahāvamsa, XIV. 42, that in the meantime night has passed and that in the morning the king sends his charioteer to the Missaka mountain to conduct thence Mahinda and his friends into the town. Many verses in the Dipavamsa are unintelligible without a commentary. 2. - The Mahāvamsa in comparison with the Dipavamsa. The Mahāvamsa and the Dipavamsa agree not only in matter, but also in arrangement. This agreement is so close as to preclude any theory of a purely accidental P. 14. 4. congruity. Two alternatives remain : - (1) that the Mahāvamsa (which is andoubtedly later than the Dipavamsa) has taken matter and arrangement from the Dipavamsa ; or (2) that both have drawn from the same source. The latter assumption is, as we shall see, the correct one. Only in two cases is there difference of order in the events treated, the Mahavamsa following a tradition neglected in the earlier poem. Quite a number of verses are verbally identical; others, though not identical, closely resemble each other. It is quite likely that the author of the Mahāvamsa knew and copied the author of the Dipavamsa, but it is more probable that for both authors many verses had, as it were, the official impress of tradition. Compare the words in which Asoka communicates to Devānampiyatissa his attachment to Buddhism (D. XII. 5 = M. XI. 34): "I have taken my refuge in the Buddha, P. 16, the Dhamma and the Sangha; I have avowed myself a lay pupil of the doctrine of the Sakyaputta," and also the words in which Mahinda announces his mission to the king (D. XII. 51 = M. XIV. 8): “ We are monks, O great king, pa pils of the King of Truth. Out of compassion towards thee have we repaired hither from Jambudipa." In spite of these points of agreement, there is a wide gulf between the Dīpavaṁsa and the Mahāvarga. The composition of the former is clumsy and inartistic. The latter is a work of art, a kavya according to the conception of Indian poetry. This difference is seen at the outset by & comparison of the somewhat turgid and boastfal tone of the Dipuvames with the more moderate tone of the Mahāvarsa, the author of which, however, claims for his work freedom from the faults which characterised the older compositions. The MSS. of the Mahāvamga give at XXXVII. 50 the words Mahāvamso nitthito. The Commentary, too, stope at this point. It corresponds further with the second last verse of the Dīpavamsa, XXII. 75. These arguments alone are sufficient to P. 19. prove that the old work actually closed with these words, and that the succeeding chapters are the work of a later hand. In the later chapters occurs a series of words not found in the older Mahāvama. Again, at XXXVII. 93 there is made mention of the Dāthādbātavamsa, in which the history of the tooth-relic is told. If this be the poem of that name now extant, as I think probable, and not ite Singhalese prototype, the second half of the 37th chapter must have been written after the year 1219. Another instance of agreement is found in the fact that the continuation of the Mahāvamsa begins with the elosing words of the Dipavansa. Apart from formal differences in the poems, we find important differences in the subjectmatter. While the outlines are essentially the same, the Mabávamsa amplifies old material and introduces new.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434