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West, it is at least probable that the view they take is more accurate, in these respects, than the official proclamation.
So Asoka mentions a mission to Ceylon. But it is his mission. No credit is given to any one except himself. He merely says it was successful, and gives no details. As we might expect, the Chroniclers of the island give names and details, which they work up into a picturesque and edifying legend. Its central incident is the transplanting to Ceylon of a branch of the tree at Bodh Gay, under which the Buddha had achieved enlightenment.
Now this event is portrayed on two curious basreliefs on the Eastern Gateway at Sānchi, which must be nearly as old as the event itself. In the middle of the lower picture is the Bodhi Tree, as it stood at Gayā, with Asoka's chapel rising half-way up the tree.' A procession with musicians is on both sides of it. To the right a royal person, perhaps Asoka, is getting down from his horse by the aid of a dwarf. In the upper picture there is a small Bodhi tree in a pot, and again a great procession, with to the left a city, perhaps Anurādhapura, perhaps Tam. ralipti, to which the young tree was taken before it went to Ceylon. The decorations on either side of the lower bas-relief are peacocks, symbolical of Asoka's family, the Moriyas (the Peacocks); and lions, symbolical of Ceylon, or of the royal family of Ceylon (that is, of Sinhala, the Lion island).
* It is so represented also in the Bharahat bas-relief, which bears an inscription saying it is the Bodhi Tree. See Cunningham, plates xii. and xxx,
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
