Mahavamsa
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The Mahavamsa, also Mahawansha, (Pāli: "great chronicle") is a historical poem written in Pāli language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the coming of King Vijaya in 543 BCE to the reign of King Mahasena (334 – 361)BC.
Buddhist monks of Mahavihara, maintained a historical record of the Sri Lankan history starting from 3rd century B.C., some what similar to a modern day diary These records were combined and compiled into a single document in the 5th century CE by Buddhist monk Mahathera Mahanama. There is evidence as per Wilhelm Geiger, there was another compilation prior to this known as "Mahavamsa Atthakatha" and Mahathera Mahanama relied on this text. Earlier document known as "Dipavamsa" also come down to us which is much simpler and contain less information than Mahavamsa, probably compiled using previously mentioned "Mahavamsa Atthakatha".
A companion volume, the Culavamsa or Choolavansha ("lesser chronicle"), compiled by Sinhala Buddhist monks, covers the period from the 4th century to the British takeover of Sri Lanka in 1815. Culavamsa was compiled by number of authors of different time periods. The combined work, sometimes collectively referred to as the "Mahavamsa", provides a continuous historical record of over two millennia and can be considered as the world's longest unbroken historic record.
If not for Mahavamsa, men who constructed large structures in Sri Lanka such as Ruwan Vali Saaya, Jethavana, Abhayagiri will never be known.
While not considered a canonical religious text, the Mahavamsa is an important Buddhist document of the early history of religion in Sri Lanka, beginning near the time of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama. As it often refers to the royal dynasties of India, the Mahavansha is also valuable to historians who wish to date and relate contemporary royal dynasties in the Indian subcontinent. It is very important in dating the consecration of the Maurya emperor Asoka, which is related to the synchronicity with the Seleucids and Alexander the Great.
The first printed edition and English translation of the Mahavamsa was published in 1837 by George Turnour, an historian and officer of the Ceylon Civil Service. A German translation of Mahavamsa was completed by Wilhelm Geiger in 1912. This was then translated into English by Mabel Haynes Bode, and the English translation was revised by Geiger. The revised English translation is now available on the World wide web.
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[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Editions and Translations
- Turnour, George (C.C.S.): The Mahawanso in Roman Characters with the Translation Subjoined, and an Introductory Essay on Pali Buddhistical Literature. Vol. I containing the first thirty eight Chapters. Cotto 1837.
- Sumangala, H.; Silva Batuwantudawa, Don Andris de: The Mahawansa from first to thirty-sixth Chapter. Revised and edited, under Orders of the Ceylon Government by H. Sumangala, High Priest of Adam's Peak, and Don Andris de Silva Batuwantudawa, Pandit. Colombo 1883.
- Geiger, Wilhelm; Bode, Mabel Haynes (transl.); Frowde, H. (ed.): The Mahavamsa or, The great chronicle of Ceylon / translated into English by Wilhelm Geiger ... assisted by Mabel Haynes Bode...under the patronage of the government of Ceylon. London : Pali Text Society 1912 (Pali Text Society, London. Translation series ; no. 3).
- Guruge, Ananda W.P.: Mahavamsa. Calcutta: M. P. Birla Foundation 1990 (Classics of the East).
- Ruwan Rajapakse, "Concise Mahavamsa", Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2001
Possibly an early edition (of parts?):
- Upham, Edward (ed.): The Mahavansi, the Raja-ratnacari, and the Raja-vali : forming the sacred and historical books of Ceylon; also, a collection of tracts illustrative of the doctrines and literature of Buddhism: translated from the Singhalese. London : Parbury, Allen, and Co. 1833 (3 vol.).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Geiger/Bode Translation of the Mahavamsa
- The Mahavamsa - The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka
- "Concise Mahavamsa" on-line version of: Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E. (2003). Concise Mahavamsa: History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Maplewood, NJ : Ruwan Rajapakse. ISBN 0-9728657-0-5.
- Online-Pali-Text on tipitaka.org.
