302 JouRNAL, R.A.s. (cnvl-ox) [Vor' XXXI

PRE.BUDDHIST RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN

CEYLON

BY

S. PARANAViTANA'Epigraphical Assistant to the Archaeological Commissioner'

The religious beliefs that u'ere prevalent among the

Sinhalese people be{ore they accepte<1 Buddhism in the third

centurv lr.fo." Clrrist have been very littie sturlied' The

materialsal,ailable{orasuclrastudyareveryscanty.From the chronicles, rve learn verv littie on this subiect;

and even the meagre information they furnish us lvith has

not receivecl the attention that is due'

Tne XIaltd,uamsa, tn its account of the {oundation of

Anuraclhapura by Panqlukabhaya in the fourtli century B'C"

merrtionsanumberofreiigiousarrclpublicinstittrtionsestabli-'shecl there b)' that monarch' Anuradhapura' in later times'

becanie the hol1r city of the Sinhaiese Buddirists ; and' as

such, the monks must have preserved authentic tradition about

its origin. Therefore, it mav be assumecl that this account in

ltre Mah(iuarhsa is based on facts' 'fhe present paper 1s

inainly a stuclv o{ the religious {ounclations of Pa[rd'ukflbhaya'

supplemented herc and there b-v epigraphical and other

lit"rary eviclence rvherever such are found throrving light

on the subject uuclcr discussion'

I clo not propose to discuss them in the same order as

the.v are founcl in the chronicle' On the other hand' it would

be more convenient if thev are taken in connection

withthe clifferent cults to rvhich thev appertained' In so

doing, we shall frrst cJiscuss thosc beUefs o{ a lower level of

culture as the rvorship o{ the yakpas'

l/', .

I'tate A

I{ALO ]SI,ANi)

l. Slr(rrn \.r.ris Zrv-\nar

MALE ISL.qND

2. Gnevn oB Sar,r,(N Munlulran

No. 8z .-rg2gl eRE.BUDDHrsr REr-rcrous ts,bLrEFS 30.3

yaksa oults: Cittarija.In Vv. B4-88 of the roth chairter of tt " X,Iahd,uamsa,

we read :- " He (paldukdbhaya) settlecl the yakkhaKaJavela on the east sicle of the city, the yakkha Cittarajaat the lower end of the Abhaya tank. The slave rvoman whohad helped in time past ancl r,vas reborn a yakkhiTi, theth<iughtful king settlecl at the south gate of the city. Withinthe roval precincts, he housed the ;zakkhiqr in the form of arrrare. Yeerr by year, he had sacrificial offeriirgs made tothem and to other yakkhas; but on festival clays he sat rvithCittarir,ja beside him on a seat of equal hcight, and having;:ods and men to dance before him, the king took his pieasure.in joyous zr.nd merrv wise.,,1r; In the sarne .hop,"r, vv ro:l_ro5,it is saici :-" With Kdlavela ancl Cittaraja who rvere visible1in hodily forrn), the prince enjoyed his goocl fortune, he rvhoiiad yakkhas and bhlrtas for friencls.,,(r)

l r. Henry parker (s) is of opinion that the two yakkhas:id,lavela and Cittaraja were trl,,o chiefs of the aborigines..i Ceylon whorn pan{ukabhava treatecl ll,ith spccial honour,ris a matter of policv, to reconcile these savages rvlio hadi ,.:en dispossessed of their la'c1 by the i'vacling Sinhalese.

i',e two yaksas gainecl anything by sharing an cqual throne.itir Pancl'liabhaya. on the otlier ha'cl, it is cited as ani: r;trDple of the king,s majesty ancl greatness that he sat onr:rir €QUel eminence with these supernatural beings. Thereir aiso otlrer eviclence, outside the XtI ahdaa.drsa, to provetii:ti a yaksa namecl Cittar6ja was thc object of a popularr:,.rit in ancient India. In the I{uruclharnma Jdtaka, it isilr.i,'l 61 Dhanaiijaya, king of the Kurus :_,,Dvery third year,irr lhe month of Kerttika (November) the king usecl to holcla lL':siival callecl the Kattika Feast. \Vhile keeping this feasttirr kings usecl to decl< thenselves out in great magnificence,

1" Geiger,s transiatir2. A*ci,ent Ceyton" ii'tt.' 'o' z lbid pp 75-76'

3o4 JoURNAL, R.A's' (cnvlox) [vor' XXXI'

and clress up like goils, they stood in the presence of a goblin

(yakkha) ,ra*.a Cittardja, ancl they would shoot to the four

points o{ the compass arrows wreathed in florvers' and painted

in clivers colours. This king, then, in keeping th-e.feast,stood ff,

on the bank of a iake, in the presence of Cittardja' and shot -,rd*

arrows to the four qtrarters "(1) t' \

Besicles the identity in names, the trvo spirits rnentionetL

in the Mahd,ttath,sa and in tjne Jataka, have ottrer points in

common. At Anuradhapura, the abode o{ Cittaraja was below

the tank Abhayavd,pt (tsasavakkulam)' When king Dhanafl-

jaya of the Kururlhamma Jataka stood by the side of

Cittard,ja, it was on the embankment o{ a tank k:ahi

fdliyd). From this, it becomes clear that Cittaraja rvas

a water spirit' On speciai festival clays' Paq{uLkfr'bhaya

enjoyed "roti" pl."r.,te (ratikIS'a) in the presence of Cittarija'

and-in the Jdtaka story, the Kuru king stoocl by the-side of

this spirit on the day of the Karttika festival and shot flowery

"rro*rtothe{ourquarters'Inlaterlndianmythology'the flowery arrows are a svmbol of Kama' the god of Love ;

and their occurrence in tlris story shows that Cittara,ja, too,

was of a simiiar nature. This is also borne out by the story

given in lhe Mahauafnsa,thal in the clandestine love affairs

olCittaandGama4i,theparentsofPa4{.ukSbhaya,thisyakqa took the part of the young lovers ancl saved them

i.o* many a periious situation'(') The name Cittaraja

itself-if we may interpret it as meaning " King of the mind

or heart" ( B )-has afflnity wttin ilI an obhat a' mindborn" one of

the names o{ the Hindu Cupid' The festival of Karttika'

during which this yaksa was worshipped' had a saturnalian

character. Much sexuallicense rvas allowed on tiris day;(ai

and, according to one account, it was the custom' on the night

r. Idtaha" translabiun I[' P' 254

2. See Mahduanisa Ch' IX'?. Rouse' in ftit'-tti"trtifn of the Kurudhamma Jataka has

,."r,a3r"a^ii-'ting ;i *u"" Colours' (Skt Citrarail)'e.r1oyea ;n tt e'"""

i."" iit"na, i, +ls shdrvs that this lestivacompany of women'

.\o" 8z .-rgzgl pRE_BUDDHrsr nEI-rcrous BELTDFS 3o5

oJ this festival, for tire king to go round the city splendidlyattired, stopping at the cloors of the chief houses, wt itstyourlgivomen came and scattered flowers on him. (r)

But the h[ah,a,aanisa r,vouid make us be]ieve that alongrvith Kd,lavela, Cittard,ja also was of Ceylon origin. Beforlhe was born as a yaksa, rre is saicl to ira,re been a trusteclservant of Pand.ukabhaya,s father; and we have alreadyreferred to the part he playecl in that prince,s love intrigue.itories connecteci witli the gods of " p.opt. or" .r.ry oit.r,associated with their heroes. pandukabhaya was the nationalhero of pre-Bud<lhist Ceylon ; ancl, it is very likely that many:,tories from the current folklore of the clay were grafteitcr the romantic account of his career as given in the chronicle.1n <1oing this, it is naturar to make ceyio' the scene of theserrtories, and, in this way, Cittardja is clescribecl as a yaksa',i Ceylon origin; though his cult was prevalent at ilre samelirne, or even eariier, in India" es ar-, analogou.s instance,it rnay be mentioned that to the Hindu colonists of Java,tire heroes of the Mahdbherata were of Javanese origin andtlre battles between the Kauravas ancl paT{avas were"fought{ril Javanese soil.

The Genius of the TisivavaAs the Abliayavfi.pi had its guardian spirit in Cittard,ja,

,"' ' had the Tissavapi an unnameci genius as its protector..li'ii'r, we are told in an inscription of ihe tentn century, thatii.re fss1111111 .ri Vihera was situatecl .. by the side of the Tissat;urk the waters of tvhich formecl the clwelling place of a genius(irrAzrs) who was convertecl by the Saint r ahinda and wastirrele to beof servicetothereligionas welj as to the world.,,4z;1'lris spirit is here callecl a ro'lt,ls ; but the word.s yaksa and

r. See Umrnadanti JJtaka, Vol. V o, zr{f?. Vessagiriya Slab inscriptio" or ltSrri#L w n.z.r., p. 33ff)i',,,1','0i",#'!:^^Yil,,i!" -,11.a/tahim.iyan uisin uinoyd sasun uridat:" ,,,_.", !".i* tunn, 'ptr.tngu pon I tsa uunnisd pihiti Isurmenu, eic.,, '.b (u {u(. (.xlreme srmllarity, in rhc tcnth century script, between',,'. .r mbols lor ha anrl ng.a, ir:. \Vi.kr;;;;i;r,. i ". wronslv readP , trtr tor pirinsi. rrr","'"ie, i'ls i;;;;i;r;;':i rhis passage,.which'" ;dmits is (lo-ubtful, is far irom ;;;;;;i;"" "'

306 JoriRNAL, It.A.s' (cEYI-oN) fVor' XXXI

rakpasa are appliecl inclilTereutlv to tire same being'(l) and

hence the genius of thc'lisdvava is mentioned here in dealing

u,ith tire yakga cults' As the people in the tenth century

believet'l that tiris spirit u'as convertetl by X'lahincla' the

apostle of lJtLclclhisrl in Ceylon, it is obvious t1'rat he rvas

"k*n.u. in pre-Buclclhist times' As far as I knor'r" there is

no rnention in li.teratule c'{ the conversion of this vaksa by

I'Iahincla ; but sirnilar feats are ascribe{l to his brother

missioners r'vho proclairnecl thc message of the Buddha in

Kastimir ancl ottrer cor-rntries'

Ki,lavela

Kt1lavela who is associatecl rvith Cittardja in the story

of Pa4qlr,rka,bhaya is not knorvn from other sotlrces' His

shrine which "r-as

near ttre eastern gate of the citv continued

down to later times ; for lahirsena in tlie fourth century

is said to have constrircted a cetiya at this place'(') It is

not stateil that I'Iahd,sena,s cetiytt' stlpplanted tlre yaksa,s

shrine ; therefore, it is likely that the older r'vorship of the

yaksa prevailecl sicie by si<le rvith the honours paid to the

cet'iya. X'loreover, as rvill be seen in the secluel' the cetiya

*ur, lrl' pre-Budclhist Inclia' a {eature of the yakpa cuit ; and'

tfiir'p"rti".tfar one built by l{ah:rsena may have been devoted

to tliat r.vorsirip" The site of the eastern sate trf Anuradhapura

is near tlie modern NakS' Vehera'

Maheja

Another yaksa rvorshipped bv the Sinhaiese in Par}flu-

k:ibhava's time was namecl l'{aheja' His shrine' situated

a little distance to the rvest o{ the present Thirpariima was

r. For instance, that monster callecl Raktiiksi who proved to

be a scourgc to tt " p"opil oi";;;i;; i,,"tt " .tit""

of Siri Sanshabodht

is callecl a tahhka uv tf," ^l"ili*'iI tie llah.attanisa bnt in the iater

Hatthaaanagaltn vol"'n'\'J;;""1":"; "irt"

"pitrt"t ot rahhlnsa' (See

''l.fz. ch. XXXV, ,'. o'2

"nl"Aor-tii'o'''oqotto 'Vatitsa' Ch' Vl' V: t")' rl

the Lahhanatdt'a sAt'n,*ii';;;';;;;iii;'"nt1v stvled ' I(ing of Yaksas

and ' liing of thc Rriksasrs"2. ,a/2. XSXVIl' V' 44'

No. 8z .-'--rg2gl pRE_BUDDHrsr rrEt-rcroLrs BELTEFs 3oTcailed lfahejaqhara.(1) It is stated jn fite Muluuatnsa (()lt. ry\r. 3o) in connection with the founclation of the Thrlpardma,that the rorral elephant bearing the sacrccl relic that was tolre cnshrined in this Slif a carneont of the citr. frorn the south_crn gate. proceedecl as far as tire slirine of this traksarrnd the' returneil to the site of the sacrecl;;_;.I"T"rnore reference to hiil is founcl in later literature ancl it is

'ossible tirat his shrine rvas .enrorishecr to find room forthe Bucltlhist mo'astic b*ilcli'gs that sprang u;r arouncl the'I'hfrpd,ra,ma.

Vaiilavana and other yaksas.

lhe king of ail the yakgas is Vaisrava4a rvho is a familiarfigr_rre in Iluclclhist mytirolcgy, U";r.,g.nr.riaerecl one of the fourgreat kings reigning in the jowest c,f the six heavens. He is;r1so r,vell known in Hindu ,rrytt oiogy "; Kuvera, the god ofr:iches. Naturaily, this imporia"t p...**g" r,rra.s not neglectediry tsa!{ukd,b}raya i' his ..h"-. J-r.ir*r"", founcrationsrvhen le.sserdivinities who were tris subordi.ntes rvere honoured.,{s his abode was fixed a banyan tr". ,r.u. the western gate,,1 the citt'.{r} About tree worship rve r,vill speak in itsilroper place.

Another yakga. of whom a separate cult is not mentioned,lut rvho is connecterl lvith paldukdbhava,s legencl, was namediutindhara. His haunt was the int

" ,r"*.a .frimbariyangana

;rear the river ilIahaviligaiiga in tlie eastern part of the island.r{is wife was the yaksinr Cetiyd r,vho has already been'itentioned. (3) Jayasena of Arit6liapabbata rvas another:'rputed yaksa in ancient Ceylon. The Rosardhini has .an

. . r. l\[r'. X. 9o. Tr,.". ,];f, _conrains flre readings Maheiii attdrotred.a. 'ilrc Sanzanta plri/:fu n", i)tri'"| Tii, t " comnrenl,,,i ircn says rhat this was a yaksa

"}lrin*- ,'1b""*

tr,e colombo , clitioir2. _11a. X. 8q.

. 3. Mu. X,5i and 1rhd, p. zor. It is also stated there that thrsjJsa yastilled in the bitric or si.is-variiu*rii,"",i'uiluvu annirrirarcd

4!

308 JouRNAL, R.A.s. (cEYLoN) [Vor. XXXI .

interesting story of a fight between him and Gofha-

Imbara, one of the ten warriors of Duffhgemaqi'(t)

In the first of the three supposed visits of the Buddha

to Ceyion, he is saicl to have preached his doctrine to Sumana'

the cleity who had his abode on the summit of Samantakufa

(Adam's Peak). It is, therefore, probable that this deity

was known to the Sinhalese before their acceplance of

Buddhism. In the ilenatiya Sutta of t]ne Dt'gloa l{ikaya,

a yakkha namerl Sumana is mentioned. It is possible that'sumana of Adam's Peak was identical with this yakqa

.and was later elevated to the dignity of ailetta' The fact

that his abocle was on a mountain and not in one of the six

heavens agrees qr.rite well with the epithet of bkutnm'adeua

'the gods of the earth' applied to the yaksas. Elsewhere,

I have identified him with the Mahay5,na Bodhisattva

Samantabhadra ; guided by the iconographical representation

of the deity in later times;('?) Such merging in of local deities

with gods o{ a more universal character is a familiar

phenomenon.

Yaksinis.

Oi the female spirits worshipped in ancient Anuradhapura,

in the fourth century 13.C., the first in importance was Va{ava-

mukhi, the mare faced fairy who seerrr-s to have been specially

honoured by Pal{ukdbhaya as she was installed rvithin the

royal palace itself. There is hardly any doubt that

Va{avEmrrkhi was the same as the yakpini named Assamukhi,

mentionecl in the Padakusaiam5,navaka Jetaka'(3) Inthis

story, she acted as a fairy god-mother to the Bodhisattva

then known as Paclakusala. She taughthim a charm by the

virtue of which one was able to detect a thief even a{ter the

expiry of seven years. Assamukhi seems to have been the

.centr-e of a popular cult in North India at the time of the rise

r. Ediiinn of r9o7, P. 87 ff.;. €ee Mahayaii'siin Cfu,Ion C. J. Sc' VoIII' pt' r p'64'3. Jataha, III. P. 5oz ff.

No" 82 .-rg2gl pRE_BUDDHrsr REr,rcrous BELTEFs 309

1

",*tf

of Buddhism. "tn: is.clepicted in early lluddhist sculpturesat Bhdjd,, Sdnci, Bodh Gayi, and patalputra. fn some ofthese she appears in scenes depicting tfr" paaakusala Mdna*vaka Jdtaka ; whereas, in others .h.""pf."r. alone. She alsoappears amongst the peaks of Govardhana, in a later stelefrom Malrdor. (r)Another yaksini was installed at the southern gateof the city. Her name is not given; but it is said that inher previous birth, she was thl slave *o_ur, who rescuedPan{ukdbhaya, in his infancy, f.o_ inl plots laid out byhis uncles, to murder him. (f

Tr The lllestern eue6n"Lile lwahaarmsa, chapter X, v. 89, tells us that panflukE-bhaya instailed a gocidess named e"."fl*".U;ini nsal th.rvestern gate of aucient Anuraclhapura. prof. Geiger, inthe introduction to his edition of tnuilfr.onicle commentson the name as follow-s :_The nu^" porr:himard,jiniseems tomean 'the Western pueens: j it is used for the name ofthe chapel or sanctrrary of those goddesses" I think, it isnot merely accidental, that the ."rr""to"r1r of the facchimar_

:!0"t " *?, built pacchimad.ad,raaisat,iage (at the WesternGate). We cto not know ."ythirr;: ;l*"r"r, .ro,rt rhecharacter of these Western go".r, ; ;;"):;.r" perhaps deathgodtlesses. " (s) prof. Geiger translates the word p acchimard,j iniir.s if it were in the plural number. It I

singular ; one of the variant forms occ'ri*,f ,ilT"fl:l,1:lJp.accltintard,jinim,if. tak.enas the correct o.,il, l' the accusativesinguJar. Therefore, it is evident thut ;;y one .Western[ueen,' and not many of them, was instatted by pan{u-I'rdbhaya.

., .Tn" Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsiang gives us a clue tothe identity of this . Western go..rr., ifJ glrr., t*o versions

r. See Coomaraswamy, ^Histoly

of Ind,ian and Ind,ouesialx Art,p" 26, ... 11,1y., X. g5.3. Mahduamsa, Geiger,s

"aitio.r, Introduction, p. LIV.

3ro JouRNAL, R.A.s. (cEYLoN) [Vor' XXXI '

of the legend connected with the origin of the Siniialese

people; one of them, most probably, was what was told him

ty ift" Sinhalese monks whom lie met at Keici' and the other

basecl on the Sanskrit Si11r'h'ald'aadd'na' In the {ormer version'

the meeting of the amorous princess with a lion"their living

together, the birth of a son and claughter to thern' the manner

in which the rnother an<1 chilclren escapecl from the lion's

'den, their subsequent arrival in a human habitation' the lion's

pursuit of his wi{e ancl chilclren, the ravages committed by

in. Ung of the beasts among the country {olk' the king's

pro"I"-ation offering a rich reward to any person rvho would

tia fri. couutry o{ this unwelcome visitor and the killing of

the lion by his own son agree, in the main' with the version

of this legend as tolcl in the Ceylon chronicles'

From this point, Hieun Tsiang's narrative differs t'idely

from the Ceylonese traclition. According to the latter' the

lion's son was cfferecl the kingclom of Vanga by the grate{ui

people. He refused this ofier, and rvent to La$a where he

founded a city ancl reigned there with his sister as his queen'

His son wasVijaya, the conquerorof Ceylon and the eponymous

hero of the Sinhalese race. According to Hieun Tsiang' it

was the lion's son, and not his granclson, who colonised Ceylon ;

ancl the lion's daughter, the sister of Simhala,was tl're a.ncestress

of a race of Amazons hnown as the 'Western Women'' That

part of the story which is pertinent to the subject under dis-

cussionmaybestbegivenintheChinesepilgrim'sou'rlwotds'

" The king then saici, ' Who is this man who has done

such a rvonclerful deed ? Allurecl by promises o{ reward

c.n the one hand, ancl alarmed by {ear of punishment on tl're

other, if he kept back anything, he at last revealed the wbole

from beginning to end ancl told tlie touching story without

reserve" The king said 'Thou wretch, if thou wouldst

kill thy father, how much more those not related to thee !

Your <leserts indee<1 are great for clelivering my people from

the savage cruelty of a beast whose (passion) it is difBcuit

\o. 82.-1929] pRE_BUDDHrsl RELrGrous BELTEFS 3rrto assuage, and rvhose hateful tempers are casily arousecl;tiut to kiii your own father, this is a rebeilious (unnatural)tlisposition. I wiil reward your goocl cieed largely; but youshall be banishecl from the country as the punishment of yourcrime. Thus, the laws will not be ilfringecl ancl the king,sworcl not vioiated.' On this, he prepared two large shi"psiboats) in which he storecl much provision (c,rrecl rice or othergrain). 'fhe mother he detainecl in the kingclom, and providedher lvith all necessa.ry things as the ,eJurd of the servicesclone. The son anrl daughter each were placed in a sep&rateboat, and aba'.oned to the chance of the ouot". ancl thewind.The boat in which the son r,vas embarkecl, clriven over the sea,came to this Ratnadvrpa. Seeing it abounded with preciousgems, he took up his abocie here.,,

" Afterwards, merchants seeking for gems frequentlyr:ame to the island. He then killecl the merchant chief anddetained his chilclren. Thus he extencled his race. Hissons and grandsons becoming numerous, they proceede<lto elect a king ancl ministers anrl to clivide the people intotiasses. They then buiit a city and erectecl towns, and seizedon the territory by force; ancl because their original founciergot his name by catching a jion, they cailecl the countrylafter his name) Sirhhala,,,

" The boat in which the girl was embarkecl was clriven,rver the sea till it reacired persia (po-la-sse), the abode of"l'estern demons who by intercourse wiili her engenclereda clan of wcimen chilclren, anci therefore the country is now;allecl the country of the Western lVomen.,,{r)

According to this story, the ancestress of this mythicalrace of the 'Western Women , rvas the sister o{ Sinihala, ther:eputed founrler of the sinharese race. Therefore, it is naturalthat tlieir queen (i.e. the Western Oueen) lvas an object of;iopular veneration among the primitive Sinhalese. As

r. Beal's Bud,d.hist Reaord.s of the Western World,, yol" II. pp.:139-240.

3rz JOURNAL, R.A.s. (covroN) [\ror. XXXI"

these women are said to have had their origin by the inter-course of Sinihala's sister with the western demons (yaksas),

the worship of their queen must be considered one phase ofthe then widely prevalent yakqa cult.

In his account of Persia, through which country he passed

onhisreturn to China, Hieun Tsiang gives some more infor-m,ation about the 'Western Women.' He says:-" To thesouthwest of Fo-lin, (1) in an island of the sea, is the kingdomof the Western Women. Here, there are only women, lvithno men ; they possess a large quantity of gems and precious

stones, which they exchange in Fo-lin. Therefore, the kingof Fo-lin sends certain men to live with them for a time. Ifthey should have male children, they are not allowed to bringthem up." 1z;

The existence, to the west of India, of an island inhabitedby a race of Amazons has also been believed in by mediaevaltravellers. Marco Polo says that 5oo miles to the south ofKesmacoran (identified with Makran in Balrrchistan) therewas an island of Males and another of Females. About theirlocation" Colonel Yule, the editor of Marco Polo remarks :-" It is not perhaps of much use to seek a serious identifica-tion of the locality of these islands or, as Marsden has done,to rationalise the fable. It ran from time immemorial and"as nobody ever found the islands, their locality shifted withthe horizon though the legend long hung about Socotra andits vicinity"" (3 ) Yule also gives reference to other mediaevaltravellers who had left accounts of these two islands.

A reminisence of the stories about the island of theAmazons is also found in t]ne Mahdaaritsa version of the Sini-hala legend. When Vijaya, the conqueror of Ceylon, wasbanished with his foilowers from his native land, their wiveswere sent abroad in one ship and their children in another.

r, Sup-posed to be the same as the Byzantine empire.2. Beal, op cit, p. 279.3. Yule, Traaels oJ Marco Polo,London, tgz6. Vol, II. pp" 4o4-

405.

No. 8z .-rg2gl pRE-BUDDHrsr RELrGrous BELTEFS 313

The women were ca.st ashore in an island where they founclh.sbands' The Island was thenceforward knorr'n as Mahi-tadvipei, (the Island of Females). The ship in which thechildren sailed was driven to another island which receivedthename of Nagnadvipa (the Island of Nakerl Men). Thesetwo islandscorrespond to the two mentioned by Marco polo.(t) According to the Mahauaritsa narrative, the ancestressof the inhabitarrts of the Female Island was the wife and notthe sister of the hero of the Sjmhaia legend.. This confusionmay be drre to the fact that the clan to which Vijaya belongedseems to have practiced the custorn of sister marriage.

Sinhalese folklore, too, knows of a land, namecl Stripura(the City of \{/omen), peopled by a race of Amazons" I haveheard that Gajabahu I, the hero of many a popular ballad oftheSinhalese, visited this Land of Women on the occasion ofhis expedition to south India. Mv informant also tolcl methat Stripura is but another name for Malabar" This Sinhalesetradition about a race o{ women reputed to have livecl some_where on the west coast of India is supported by persian andArab travellers of the ninth century A.D. who . reported atBussora that there dwelt in the kingdom of Thafek on thewest coast of India, a race of women very fair and beautiful,,A.ccorcling to its situation as given by these travellers,J. Kennedy thinks that the land of these fair women was some-where in the neighbourhoocl of Goa. He also mentions thatthere is alocal tradition in Goa to the effect ,that there existednot far off to the south-east a race of women noted for theirfairness and their beauty, the descendants of a portugueseconvent of dissolute nuns who had established a communityof free love and were rulerl by an abbess , (z; Ibn Batuta,the uxorious Arah traveller of the fourteenth centurv had

Etymologic_ally, the names Mahilddvrpa and Nagnadvipaseern to be identical with Maladive and Nicobai, the name"s oi ti,ogroups of jstands ofi rhe u.est coast of Ceylon. ' tw"niiiiiipi:iii.Motadiua and Naggadipo:T. N;ii";;ril' ^""'2. J. R. A. S. Ior r9o4. p. 163.

314 JoURNAL, R.A.s. (cEvLo\) Vor. XXXI

also heard about this land o{ women; and triecl to get definiteinformation about it ; but without success. (1)

From the above, it becomes clear that the mytli of a raceof Amazons living somervhere to tire west of India or in thewest of India itself r,vas rvideiy prevalent {rom remote downto modern times" In the time of Hieun Tsiang, it lvas believedthat these women had their origin in the sister of Siriihala.The mention of the Female Island in the Mahauarir,sa in thisconnexion, and the stories still current in Sinhalese folkloreabout a ' City of Women' points to the fact that the myth ofthe Arnazons was known in ancient Ceylon. 'lherefore, it is

hardiv open to doubt that the 'Western Queen' of PaTqluke-bhaya's time was the queen of 'the WesternWomen' rnentionedby the Chinese traveller"

Wrat the nature of this godcless's cult rvas, when she

ceasecl to be an object of popular devotion, rvhether there are

anv traces of her cult in modern Sinhalese folk religion andwhether her cult was absorbed in that of any of the femaledivinities worshipped by the Sinhalese today, are questions,there is not suffrcient evidence to answer rvitir certainty.

Genenal Remarks on the Yaks.a Cults,Considering the wide diffusion. in ancient Ceylon, of the

cult of the yaksas, some remarks about these heings in generalmay be appropriate here.(') From what n'e learn in theBuddhist and Jaina writings, the belicf in, and propitiationof the yaksas appear to have been tire principal factor inthe reiigion of the middle and lower classes of society inIndia during the times preceeding and just following theadvent of the Budclha. In many a Buddhist legend, we

read of yaksas wiro had their abodes in trees,lal<es,mountains,rivers, ,and other striking natural phenomena. As a class,

r. The location of the Amazons in l\{alabar might tre due to thematriarchal organisation of society prevaiiing among the Nayars.

2. About yaksa worship in India, see Sir Chas. Eliot Hind,wism,ilnd Buddhism, Vol. I., p. to3, Archaeologi.cal Swruey of India, LlemoirNo. 3o, p. 7 and Ramprasad Chanda int}'e Journalof the Departmentof Letters, Calcutta University. VoL IV, p. 77 tr.

Nc-t. 82.--1929) pR[.-rrur)I)IIIST RELr(;IOUS BDT.IEFS 3r5

the yaksas corresponded verv closely to the fairies and elves

of European rnythology. The great majority of the early

converts to Buddhism in Inclia were from the ciasses of people

devoted to 1'aksa cults anci evcn after their adoption of the

highcr faith, the1, continued to honour their former gods.

.{mong tire sculptures of Barahut, one of the earliest Buddhiststtpas in India, thcre are clepicted a large number o{ yaksas ;

ancl the earliest known sculptures in tlie rounci,in India, are

figures of these demigods. ('; Several legends narrate how the

Buddha converted man]- of these yaksas and thereafterthese beings gave up their evil ways and became good

Bucldtrists themselves. Ea"ch of these iegends, it is evident,

comlneil]orates the conversion of a yaksa worshipping tribeto the tenets of Buddhisrn. The people, loth to give up theirfamiliar superstitions, convertecl the object of their former

veneration to the new faitiithey bad adopted;and, divesting

hirn of those features not in keeping with Buddhistic ideas,

continued to honour him in a new capacit)'. We have seen

above that this has happened in Ceylon in the case of the

genius of tire Tissavlpi.

Each country and town in ancient India had its tutelaryyaksa. The Mah,amdyilrr,,(2) a magical text of theNorthernBuddhists, whicli rvas translated into Chinese in the fourthcentury A"D., gives a long list of srich yaksas and the piaces

rvhere thev had their abode. Among these, three, namely,

Vibhisala, (3 ) Kalasodara, (a ) and Dhane(vara(u )are saicl to he

the tuteiary yakqas of Ceylon. Of these, the first, Vibhisala,lhe brothcr o{ Rdvana, is still rvorshipped at Kdlaniya and

is supposed.tobe one of the four guardian cleities of the isiand.

Dhane{vara is another name of Kuvera Vaiiravana w}ro,

we have seen above, was u'orshipped itt aircient.Anuradhapura

r " The Parkham, Patna, [Iathuri and Besnagar figurcs. Jayaswal:is o{ opinion that the first two a.re portrait statues oI Sisunlga }iings"

z"- Edited by M. Sylr'ain Levi, in the J. A. for rgr5. p, 40 fi.

3. l'ibh,saltas Tdutraparnyu)tt.

4. Laitthdydit. Kalasodarah.5. Sihhalesu Dlta,nesuarah.

316 JouRNAL, R.A.s. (crvror,r) [Vor. XXXI .

in the time o{ PaT{ukebhaya. This god was, at a later time,incorporated in theMahdyanaBuddhist pantheon and severalimages of him have been found in Ceylon. 'lhe second nameclKalasoclara ('pot-beltied') may be another name of Vailravana.: The word yahsa is now generally rendered into Iinglish

as 'demons,' but the conception of yaksas as evil spiritsis of later growth. Though, from the very beginning, theyaksas were more feared than lovecl and were supposed to.cause great calamities unless propitiated in time there r,vas

originaily very little difierence betwecn the yaksas and the'devas. In fact, one o{ the names of the yaksas as a class,was bhumytatleua ' llte gods of ttie earth.' The goci Sakkathc king of heaven is, in one piar;e, st5'16fl a yakkha ;(r ) anclin one of tlre earliest Buddhist loots, the Majjhi.tna Nika1,a,the Buddhahimself is given thisepithetin a hymn of praise.( j )In the Mahamoy,urri, already mentionecl, Viqnu, Siva andKarttikeya, tlie most popular of the Puranic Hindu godsare mentioned as the tutelary yaksas of different cities. Inan inscription on a statue of Mafribhadra, discovered atPawaya in the Gwalior state, that -vaksa is calle d, a bhagaaat,(z)one of the rnost familiar of the epithets of the Buddha aswell as of Vislu. The worcl yaksa is clerivecl from the rootya;'i, 'to offer,' and means a 'being worthy of offerings.,The degeneration in th e meaningof this worci tinds paralells inthe history of the word asura, in India, and that of clet:ain Persia.

Some of the principal {eatures of the yaksa religionrecur in the popular aspects of Buddhism. The worship ofthe caitya, so characteristic of popular Buclclhism in manycountries including Ceylon was originally connected withthe yaksas. The Pali pitakas mention several cetiyas u,hichexisted in the Ruddha's life time at Vesdli, Rajagaha, Alaviand other places. Buddhaehosa in his commentaries informs

r. Majjhi.wa Nihaya I.p. 253.2. Majjhima Nihaya. t. p. 386.3. 'l-he Annua! Archaeolgi.ocal, Report oJ the Gualior Stale,

r9 r5-rgr6.

No. 8z .-rg2gl pRE-BriDDHrsr RELrGroLrs BELTEFS 317

us that they were dedicatecl to -vaksa worsirip anrl after theadvent of the Brrddha, the people converted. thern intoBuddhist Viheras.(1)

The conditions, in pre-Buddhist Ceylon, of the yaksacults appear to have been exactly similar to those in NorthIndia in the time of the Buddha ; ancl, in spite of the adoptionof Buddhism as the national religion, the earlier vaksaworship flourished side by side among the masses and haspersisted down to modern times" It has also given rise toa considerable amount of folk literature. Most of these, asihey exist today, are of late origin ; and, a good. number ofthe yaksas in vogue at present are either later creations; oras their names imply, introduced from the peoples of alower culture in South India. Still, a critical study of thisliterature, comparing them with the evidence furnished aboutthe yaksas in Buddhist, Jain and other Indian literatureswould doubtless yield interesting results.

Tnee Worship.The banyan tree rvhich was sacred to the king of the

Yaksas has been noticed. At Anuradhapura, in paq{u-kabhaya's time, there was another sacred tree in a palmyrapalm which was the abode of a god named Vyadha or Vyadhideva.(,) There is some doubt as to the correct form of thename ; both forms occuring in the manuscripts. prof.Geiger adopts the form Vyadhideva and translates as . go<1

sf disease.' But as PaT{ukabhaya is said to have establisheda settlement of hunters (uyad,ha) to the north of the city,it may have been that this god was installed for their benefit;and I take the form Vyldhadeva as the correct reacling andtranslate it a.s' god of hunters.' This is also the view adoptedby Sri Sumangala and Ratuvantudave, the learned translatorscrf the Mahaaath,sa into Sinhalese. \\rhatever the interpre_

r. Sec Payanatthaiotihu p. j44.z. Mha" Ch. XV. "89.

3IB JoURNAL, rr.A.s. (cErrLoN) lVor. XXXI"

tation of this word may be, we have here two instances oftree worship in pre-Buddhist Ceylon. The palmyra palmseems to have been considered sacred in ancient Indiaduring the time of the Buddha. For, we reacl in theVinaya Pitaka that on one occasion when the clisciplesof the Buddha cr"it dor,vn young palmyra palms tornake sandals out of their leaves, the people made anup-roar and complained that they were destroying 'lifewith one sense' (ekindriyam iiuaryl. The Buddha in orrlernot to hurt the religious susceptibilities of the people forbadethe use of sandals made of palmyra leaves, with the remark'that the peopJe believe that life dwelis in a tree.'(1) Thispassage would make us believe that the tree itself wasconsidered a spirit. But in the tr,vo instances of tree worshipquoted above, and in almost all the other references on thesubject we come across in Indian literature, the sanctity ofthe tree was due to its being regarded as the abocle of adivinity who had an existence quite apart from the place ofhis temporarv so'journ.

The worship of trees seems to have been intimatelyconnected with that of the vaksas and the cult of the caityas.Most of the sacred trees owed their sanctity as the abodes ofyaksas. Some of the sliipas mentioned in line pitakas andwhich are said by Buddhaghosa to have been yaksa sanctuarieswere sacred trees or groves. Among the Bardhut sculpturesare several sacred trees which in the inscriptions engravedbelow them aresaid to be cetiyas. Quite in keeping withthis, the cetiga and the tree are intimately connected inpopular Buddhism. The tree specially venerated b5z theBuddhists is the asaattha (Sin ^Fo) under which the Buddhareceived enlightenment. This tree was already an objectof popular worship in India before it was appropriatedby the Buddhists as a means of honouring their master.

r. Mahdaaggd. Y. ?. t.

No. Bz .-rgzgl pRE-BLrDDHrsr REr-rcrolrs BELTEFS 3rg

There is nothing improbabJe in the story that the Bodhisattvaon that critical night spent his time under an aivatthatree.tsut the fact that this tree was already considererl sacredmust certainly have contributed to the wide popularity whichits rvorship attained later among tlie Buddhists.Tire worship of caitya trees is also attucled to in theDiuyaaad.iina (p" 16+). Apart from tire special venerationpaid to the Bo-tree, the tree cult of ancient times is stillprevaient among the Siniralese. There are many trees invillages which are reputecl as the homes of supernaturalbeings and no villager woulcl dare to lay an axe on one of thesefor fear of oflending the cleitv. Many a calamity whichhas overtaken a" rustic farnily is traced hy the wise men ofthe village to a membcr of that family havins committeclthe offence of deprirring a porverful spirit of his leafy abode.

Patron Deities of partiaular Trades.If the cleity who hacl his abocle in the sacred palmyra

of Anuradhapura was the hunters, god, it shows us that therewere special clivinitics worshipped by the peopie of difierenttrades in pre-Buddhist Ceylon. Another such deity was theKamm:rradeva or 'the god of the blacj<smiths., WhenDevanampiya Tissa marked out the boundaries of theconsecrated ground set aside for the Bnddhist Church, thehoundary line is said to have passecl by the sicie of thc shrinededicated to this god.( t ) In acldition to these cleities of parti_cular castes, there was also a guardian cleity of the wholecity of Anuradhapura. His slirine is mentionccl in the twenty_1i{th chapter (r'. 87) oI the Mahaualltsa.. In that memorableencounter of Dutthagdmarli r,vith Bhaihrka, u,hen the heroiclcing went to face the Tamil invacler on the plain of Kolam_bahalaka to the north of the cit-r,, the king,s elephant an<lalong r,vith him, the rvhole arrny retreatccl as far as the shrineof the city god near the bounclary of the Mahavihara.

t. Xtlaqhod,dhir:anisa, p 136

lt

ilii

li

,iiLi

rj

I

#ll,l

fl

'fli

i#ii

;#rl

a 26.)-v JouR\"{r-, R.A.s. (cnvroN)

Cult of the stars.

lVor. XXXI.

Personal names borne by men and women reflect thereligious beliefs prevailing in a country. 'fherefore, an exarnin-ation of the names occuring in the earliest inscriptions willthrorv some light ol our topic. The earliest inscriptionsare short donative records; ancl are all tsuddhistic. Rutas it takes some time after the introduction of a new religionfor the people to adopt personal names suggestive of thechanged religious atmosphere, those found in the earliest

Buddhist inscriptions may be taken as evidence for pre-

Buddhist religious conditions. The great majority of thepersonal names occtrring in these records are astral ones

(nakgatranatna). From the Vedic times, the knowledge ofthe twenty-eigirt lunar mansions "lva.s prevalent in Indiaand each day of the month had its particular nakpatra. These

constellations \Mere knolvn to the primitive Sinhalese; and

the custom of naming a person a{ter the tt'aksatva in rvhich

he rvas born, was comrnon" The Rasaaahini expressJv

mentions this in the case of Phussadeva, one of the'uvarriors

o Du!-thagdmagi.(1) He was so natned because his natal

star was Pusya. This was considerecl a particularly lucky

one; and its synonymn 'fiqya (P. 'fissa) was aclopted as the

name of many o{ the early kings of Ceylon. Other constella-

tions which u'ere in popular fal'our were Klttika, Rohar;a,

A{lesa, Phalgu4a, Vidaktra, Anurldha, Asedha and Revata.

The constellation Anuradha seems to have been specially

favoured bv women, for most of the princesses of ancient

Ceylon known to us were named after this nakgatra, (Anuradi,

Anu(li, Anula). The public holidays rvere solemnised inconnection with these naksatrus; and were consequently

called naksatrakriilrl. The clay on which the full moon was

in coniunction with one of the luckSr stars was celebrated

with great merriment and rejoicing. Of these, the K[rttikafestival, which has been mentioned in connection with

r. Colombo r9o7 p. 16r.

No. 8z .-rtlzgl pRE-BUDDHrsr REr.rcrous BELTEFS 32r

Cittaraja, contined till very late times, for Knox gives anaccount of its celebration in the time of RajaSinhaIL(ryThe worship of the stars, in the time when Budd.his' wasfirst bcing preachecl in Inclia, is re{erred to in the Tlcerigdthd(v. r+:) where, of course, the practice is condemned as useress.The Barahut inscriptions prove that, in the North_West ofIndia, too, the people had a predilection for names suggestiveof astral conntellations. The Sungas, a dynasty which ruledat Vidisn about the second century B. C. hacl all such names,e.g. Pusy'itra, Pha-igugimitra etc. This custom is stilrpractisecl by the Nlaharajas of Travancore, whose personalnames are those of their natal stars.

The propitiation of heavenly boclies, as many othersuperstitions nf pre-Buddhist Ceylon, is still in vogue amongthe Sinhalese. But in the modern practice, more importanceis attachcd to the tweive signs of the Zodiac and the planetsthan to the lunar mansions. The former, of course wereunknorvn in India and Ceylon cluring the time that we arespeaking of.

Brahmanism in pre-Buddhist Ceylon.Side by side with these reiigious beliefs of a lower level

of culture tliat we have so {ar discussed, the Brairmanicalreiigion also seems to have had its foilowers in pre_BuddhistCeylon; and the Brrrhmanas helcl an honourable place insociety in those early days. One of the followers in Viiaya,strain, Upatissa, who founcled Upatissaglma which was forsome time the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom, and whorvielded the sceptre of Ceylon from the cleath of Vijaya untilthe arrival of Pa4{uvdsudeva was a BrAhmana ; and held theoffrce of domestic chaplain to Vijaya.(r) The young princetsa.r(luknbhava was entrusted bv his mother to a Brhamananamed Paqr{ula to be instructed in royal accomplishments.lhis Brahmana was a man of great rvealth ancl it was ire wiro

r- Historical Relation, p. go.z, Lthu. Ch. V. VII. V. 4,1.

'l ouItNAL, R.A.s. (cr,vrois) i\ior. XXXI

furnishecl Pap{ukabhaya rvith the sinews of war in the long

struggle between the latter and his uncles' Papdula's son

Candra, like many others of his caste in India, served Pa4du-

kabhaya in the capacity of a military comrnander in addition

to priestly functions.ll) Pa4qlukibhava's buildings inAnuradhapuraincluded a dwelling place for the l3rihmanas. (')Another building of Pal{ukabhaya named Sotthisnla is

explained by the commentator to lhe ilIahiiuainsn as 'a house

set apart for the recital of tnantras by Brahmalas'. But thisexplanation is doubtful as the alternative meaning of 'hospital'has aiso been given by the commentator. Dcvanampiya Tissa

had a Br5hma4a chapiain who was sent in company rviththe king's nephew Arittha on an embassy bearing presents

to A!oka.(3) When the branch of the sacred Bodhi tree r'vas

brought to Anuradhapura, one of the halts between that cityand the sea-port was in the village of a Brahmana named

Tivakka or Tavakka.(a) Among the distinguisheci persons

present on the occasion o{ the planting of this sacred tree,

this Brdhmana is speciallymentioned ;(5 ) ancl one of the eightBodhi saplings was pianted in his village. (6) In theenumerationof the different places passed by Devenampirra Tissa rvhilstmarking the boundaries of the consecrated area in Anuradha-pura, the shrine belonging to a Brahmana named Diyavasais mentioned in the Mahabod.hiasmsa.(7)

The earliest inscriptions too, bear testimony to thepresence of BrShmanas in Ceylon just after the introductionof Buddhism. They must therefore, have been living inpre-Buddhist Ceylon, too. And the presence o{ the Brdhmanas

is evidence for the prevalance of their religious beliefs. One

of the donors of caves at Sdss6ruva in the Kuruldgala District

r. Mhu. Ch. X. V. zo fi.2. Ibid \r. roz.3. Ibid C}:.. Xl. V. zo.4. Mahiiuamsa Ch. 19. V. 37.5. Ibid V.Sl.6. Ibid V.6r.Z. Mahabodhiuafisa, p. 136.

No. 8z .-rg2g) pRn-tst.rDDr{rsr rtElrcrous BELTEFS 323

was a Brdhma4a named Somadeva son of Vasakani. Theowner of a cave at Yingala in the Nuvarakalaviya Districtis given in the inscription on the brow of the cave asViritasana the son of the Brahmana Kosika lXaus'ii<a)"(')The Brdhmanas mentioned in the chronicles and theinscriptions were naturally those who were in sympathywith the Buddhist movement. There must have been manyothers who were indifferent or opposed to the cause o{Ilucldhism; and, hence were not mentioned in the recorcls ofthe times. Whether these Brahmanas were versed in Vecliciore and solemnised Vedic sacrifices, we do not know ; but thename Yagadata (Sacrifice given) occurring in one of the' Vessagiriya' Cave inscriptions shows that even after theintroduc"tion of Buddhism, a memory, at least, of theBrahmanical sacrifices was preserved in Ceylon. Thellrahmanas are occasionallv mentioned in the Mahaaa,insatill cornparatively recent times and the oflrce of the pwroltitacontinued down to a. late period.

Jainism in Ceylon.

Pa.r{ukabhaya is also said to have built dwelling placesfor tlre nigary,lhas named Jotiya, Giri and Kumbhal{a. (, ) Theward nigantha (Skt. nirgrantha) is applied in the pali writingsto the Jainas, the followers of Mahavi,za, (Nigantha N[tha-putta of the Buddhist Scriptures) a teacher contemporarywith the Buddha.

It is true that in later Pali writings, the word is usedvaguely to denote non-Buddhist sects. For instance, in theDalhaaarirsa (v. zo9), nigary,tha evidently means a Vaisnava.But in the fifth century, when the Mahauainsa was written,chis word has not yet assumed this uncertainty of meaningfor Buddhaghosa always uses it in its original sense. There-fore, it is likely that Mahdnama had the Jainas in his mind

r. These inscriptions have not yet been published.2. Mahduathsa Ch. X. VV gZ-gS.

l

ll

J a'l .IouRNAr-, R.A.s. (cnvlox) [Vor. XXXI.

when he used this word. Is it poss ible thatso early as Pag{u-kdbhava's time, the followers of Mahavrra had penetratedso far to the south as Ceylon ? According to Jaina literarytradition, in the reign of Candragupta, the MaurSra, liigfoilowers of Mahavrra under Bhadrab,rhu migrated to South

India owing to a sevcre famine in the north. The introductiono{ this religion to Mysore, where it prcvails till rrow, is tracedto this event. Chandragupta liimself is said to have accom-panied Bhaclrabahu on this journel, and endecl his days inSouth India as a Jaina ascetic.(1) Frorn Tamii iiterature"too, we learn that there were Jainas in the Pagdya country{rom very earlv times. The traditirin of the rrigration of the

Jainasto the Southin Chandragupta's reign has been accepted

by historians a.s trustworth.v. If the Jainas, on this occasion,

travelled from Magadha as far as South lndia, it is notimprobable tirat some of tliem crossed over to Ceylon.

According to the chronology of th.e MalruuLtrirsa, Pagdu-kabhaya's reign was earlier than that of Chanclragupta. Butthe dates of the early kings o{ Ceylon, as given in tha.t clironiclehave been proved to be untrustr,vorthy. PaTqlukebhaya

was the granclfather of Tissa, the younger contersporary ofI

the great Asoka., the grandson of Chandragupta. Therefore,it stands to reason that Pa4gluknbhaya himself was a con-temporary of the hrst Matirya emperor. Then, the rnigrationof the Jainas tri the south {al1s within his reign and the state-ment in lhe Mahavarhsa that Pan{.ukabhaya patronised the

Jainas seems to be a historical fact.

One of the Jaina monasteries built by Palduknbhaya,that of lhe niganth,a named Giri, figures later in the historyof Ceylon. Valtagdmani Abhaya, when he rvas flying before

the Taruil invaders, passed this monastery; and the Jainaabbot cried out 'The great black Sinhalese is running away.'The king kept this affront in mind ; and when he regained

r. Lewis Rice, Ilysore and Coorg, p. 3 ff"

\o. 8z ._*r;zgl pRE-BUDDHrsu REl-rcrous BELTEFS 325the throne, he demolished.theJainamonasteryand built thei\bhiryagiri Vihnra in that place. (r ) Accorcling trs the Maltd_vai.r.sa!6hd,. ilris monastery was the scene of a lragedy in thetime of Khallatandga, predecessor of Vaffagamapi. Thisking, when he discoverecl a plot against his life Uy frir rr"pf,.*r,went to Gir-i,s rqonastery ancl ended his life by entering th;fire. At the spot, tvhere this etent occurred, Khailafanlga,skinsmen built a cetiy-a called,the Aggipavisaka(r). Votto"ga-lna$i's persecution of the .]ainas _u, p.rtrop. not confinedto the destruction oJ the monastery oi Clri. At any ratet'e hear no more of them in the Ceylon chronicles; and,fainism seems to"have disappearecl from Ceylon about thelteginning of the Christian era.

No remains of any Jaina monuments have ever beenfr-iund in Ceylon. The earliest Stupas and, Vihiiras of Jainismtiid not differ from those of Buddhism ; so much so, thatryithout the evidence of the inscriptions or of iconographyit would be extremery difficult to iifferentiate bbtween thei"wo. Jaina iconographS, had not yet developed in the timesth-at we are d.ealing with" fn the period during which thisri:ligion was prevalent in ceyron thlre were no monumentsi,'uilt of durable materials" llloreover, when Jainism c]is_iippered, their places of worship must have been appropriatedb.y the Buddhists_as it happened u,ith regard to the monas_ieryof Giri-and any traces of the earlierfJith woula certainlylrave been otrliterated in this way. Some of the earliest

T:,t::_iuo"{ stii;as of srnait dimensions may, however, be.iatna ln orJgrn.

paribbajakae, Ajivakas etc.

, .- In" wandering ascetics named the paribbajakas ancl therl'jivakas, the sect founded by Makkhali Gosila, a teacher,:,rntemprary with the Buddha, were known in early Ceylon.

t, M-uhduayitsa Ch. 34, y. 444.z. Mahduaritsa tiha'p. 444.

326 JoURN;\L, R.A.s. (cEYLoN) [Vor. XXXI

The queen of Panqluvasudeva and her attendants came tothis island in the guise of Paribhajakas"(1) Par.I{ukabhava

built a monastery for the Paribbajakas and another for the

Ajlvakas.(?) In addition to thesc sects which are definitelynamed, it is said there were numerous ascetics who are

referred to by the vague epithet of sant'a4za.(:') 'lhisword

can be applied to any non-Brahmanical religieux including

the Buddhist monks" To the west of Anuradhaptlra, Pandu-

kabhaya is said to havc settled fi.ve hundred families ofheretics"(n) \Vhat religious beliefs are intended by this term

it is not at all clear.

Phallio Worship.In v. roz of the tcnth chaptcr ol the X[ahauat11sa, it is

said that Pan{ukiibhaya built, here and there in ancient

Anuradhapura, houses namecl Sivikfrsala ancl Sotthisala.

The latter name we havc al.ready dealt with. lhat first r'vord

has been explained by thc commentator as ' a shrine housing

a Sivalinga'; but he is not confident of this intcrpretationas he gives the alternative rneaning of iying-in-home ' 1.J;

Prof. Geiger, in histranslation adopts the sccold expianation.

But as these trvo terms are mentioned in company with other

buildings of a religious naturc, the lirst explanation mightbe possible. If so, in the tirne of Pa+dukdbhaya, phallic

u'orship {ormed part of thc religion of thc peoplc of Ceylon"

Considering the great antiquity and the ivide cliflusion of thiscult,it is notimpossible that it rvasso. Kautilya,in enumerat-ing the deities to whorn shrines shoulcl bc dedicated within a

king's capi.ta1, mentions Siva also.(o) It is not sta,ted whetherthe deity n'as to be represented by an icon or by the li4,ga

symbol. At this time, Siva irad not yet risen to the position

of the Suprcme Deity as he becamc to one great section ofthe Hindus at a latcr age. For Kautilya mentions liim in

t" f,[ahd.aaritsa, Ch, 8. V. 24.2. Ibid Ch^ X. V\r. ror, ro?.3. ,Iifu. X, \r" 98. (,) Ibid \'-. roo"5. -1[rthduanisa tiltu p. zo7.6. l)r. S:rmasa,stry's translation, zncl erlition., p. 59.

No. 8z .-tg2gl pRE-BUDDHrsr RElrcrorrs BELrErrs 327

companv u'ith such rninor divinitics as the AJvins (theI)ir-ine Plivsicians) Vaisrava4a and Madira (the Goddess ofI-iquor). Tbe IIul.tcrutunsatlkd, ltas anotirer reference tophailic *,orsirip in ancient Ceylon. King Ma.hhsena, aftcrhe 'nvas forced to clesist from persecutirg the orthodoxl{ahirvih,:rra, clirectecl his rlestruclive energies against non-ilucklhist religions. Thc chronicle sa1,s, that he ciemoiisheclseveral shrines of thc cicvas;(')ancl ihe tika add,s that theyrverc slrrines trctusing lingam,s.(2) It is possible that thecommentator unconsciously transferrecl the conclitions ofhis orvii tirncs to those of a previctus age ; but, on the otherlLancl, u'lie' 'nve co'sider that pharlic worship lvas thc principalreligious faitlr oi thc Tamils, the nearest neighbouis of in"Sinlialese, it is not cliflrcult to bclieve that the iatter peopleli'ere also attacired to this c*lt beforc they acloptcd B'crtrhism ;and also continuccl to honour thc Sivalinga evcn after thiservent. Propcr names such as Siva, Ilahasiva and Sivagutarccuring i' tiie earliest inscriptions show trrat this gocr wasrvorshipped b1' thc Sinhalese of the earliest perioci.

0onclusions.F'rorn the forcgoing clisctr.ssion about the religious

r--onditions pre'.iling i' ceylon when the missionaries ofAsoka prcacherl the doctrines of thc Englightenecl Onc, itirecomes clear that tlrt_. grcat nrajorit1,of thepcopleworshippcdLiature spirits, callecl thc laksas, r,vho wcre sripposed to clweliin rivers, lakes, mountains, trccs, etc. The worship of ilresacrecl trees or groves rvas aiso connectecl with this priniitiverr-'1igio'. The hea'enly bocries rcceivccl thc acloration of theireople, ar-rcl to a great extcnt influcncccl their every clay life.'['he more intellectual among t]rc people, perhaps lollowedtn.e {Srahmaptcal r'.,iigic." Ascetics of clifferent sects liveclin the collntrv and each musr have hacl his own followingutrcng the masse,r. 'Ihese conditions are, on the wholer"ery simitar to the state of reiigious bcliefs prevailing in"\or:th Inclia clurinq the life time of the liudclha.

t. .\,Iohritarisu Ch. 37 y.4.o.2" trIahd.tamsaihd, p. 5oz

328 JouRNAr-, n.A.S. (Crl'r-oN)

The Governor said it rvas not in his po$'er to contribute anythingo{ value to the discussion on the very interesting paper to rvhich theyhad ali listened, and it t'as hardly necessary, at tbat late hour, to s'astethcir time and his by saying things u'hich were not rvorth saying. Buthe wished those ufio rvere in a position, to do so, and thus shorv theirappreciation of the trouble u'hich Mr. Paranavitana had taken inpreparing the paper and make any suggestions on the subject matterwhith the lecturer had collected by his erudition.

Dr. Paul E. Pieris saicl that as one who had had a particularll'longconnection rvith the Societt'he u'ished to express his very grcat appre-ciation of the paper rvhich had been lead. It is of a type n'hich rveare glad to welcome here and which I am alraid is not so cornmon asmigiit be and I can oniy expressthe hope that this rvili be the first of along series of papers which rl'e shall receive from [fr. Paranavitana'I have long had the feeling that our Archaeological Departmentis more Lkely to produce us best work only *'hen it rvorks in con-junction lvitli the Dcpartment in India and the paper that has beeuiead to us tonight is to my mind not only proof o{ the great intrinsicability of the lecturer, not onlv proof of the great -pains rvhich hehas tiken, but also o{ the excellent training rvhich he has receivedin India.

A number of tluestions rvere asked {rom the lecturer and aninteresting discussion ensued.

The lecturer, in reply to a question b-v Mr. E. W. Perela rvhetherthe symbol oJ the God " Ilanddri Deil'o," dug out {rom some part- inAnur6dhapura was still in existence, said that ]re knerv oI no syrnbolassociated- u.ith tlrat God. lfe knew o{ a god dulr- 'lvorshipped invillages in connection rvith their harvests,

h.eplying to other questions raised, the lecturcr dealt rrith certaincriticisms'of-Tarnil and Saivite references. With regar<l to the refer-€nces to " Lanl<a " in the Rfrmayana, the lecturer said emphatically :

"' I don't belicve that the Island of Ce,ylon is the same as I-anka. Isubscribe to the view that Cevlon is not Lanka, lvhich, perhaps, 1\as amythical island which never existed."-

The Governor proposed a cordial I'ote of thanks to the lecturerand expressed great-apfreciation of the.paper. - They l'ere. all.gratelulto him-and for his orvn part he rl'as gratified to feel that in tire,\rchaeo-logical Department there t'as an officer lvho was tahing so -much

painsin the studl' of the foundations o{ the religions and other mattersconnectecl rvith the island. He hopecl that the department to rvhichMr. Paranavitana belonged would continue to benefit by his eruditionin the cause of research, and he lvished to express his thanks to thelectuler in a special sense.

The vote was carried rT'ith acclamation.lMr. E. W, Perera proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the President.

They had been very fortunate in their past Governors in -having theminviriably as their Patrons. His Excellenoy had lot onil- b-een. theirPatron but had taken upon himsel{ the onerous duties of Presiclent,and taken those duties not as a sinecure but very seriortsly. Hehopecl that other members of their Society would take an examplefro'm His Excellency and not only have the same sense o{ lo1'a11u ,,o

the Society, but a'lso attend its meetings more frequentl.v. -Ihe1' allknew how-busy a man the Heacl of the Government lvas and thev t'eregrateful to His Exceilenct." The Governor acknowlcclged the verl' kind l'ords in rvhicir l{r'Perera had proposecl the vote o{ thanks to him and the kind lvay--i1twhich the in"etittg receir.ed it. It t'as ahvays a l2leasure for-HisExcellency to corne to their rneetings and he had never come theres'ithout learning something l'hich he was able to carry a*'ay *'ith hirn

Nc-r. 8z .-rtlzrll I'ROCEI'DI\GS.J2g

COUNCIL MEETING,Colombo Museum, December, l6th lg2g.

Pt esent ..

His Iixcellencl Sir Flerbert J. Stanlel-, K.C.X{.(;., l)a.tron in the chair.Dr. P. E. Pieris, L!tt.D , a a:., and Dr. Joseph },earson, t).Sc., Vrce-l)rcsiclcnts.

Dr. A. Nelt, l .R.Ct.S.

I)r. S. C. paut nT I)-l ltc Hon. llr. I:. \V. pt.rcr:ttrI.I_.L.

Mr. Edmuncl lteimers

,, L. J B. "I-urner, [{.A.c.c.s.

nfessrs. C. H. Collins, Ll,A., C.C.S.. and Aubrey N. Weinman,LIo n or nr-y S er.ye!ayi es

Business :

i

ll

The Hon l\Ir _W. A. cle Siiya,n{.L.C.

'\Ir. Herod (.;rrnaratna, J\Irrdalil.ar'' W:.F. Grrrtau-arrllrana,

(iate lluclalivar.I lte Hr.n..NIr lr. B. JaVatil;rka,n{.A., t\LI_.C. -

I he Hon l\[r. 1.. ]lac:.,rt,, I\[..\.Irr. G. P. IIalalas"k;r r.a, AI.A.,Ph.D-

,n,n:"\,;fl"#l. j::,,:j5liltocouncil rreetins rrercl on firc iiilr June,

so.;"1y t'l;,t:lottt"* candiclates rverc electerr as .rembers of gre

i. 'l']re Hon. Xlr. Etlnar<l St. IF]. !\r. I,crera.,lrrhn -Jacksorr : rccommen.tQeo DV

ii. utgfr"i-rn-.re pier.is, n.r y'ry r.,Hli;:il'"(canrab) : r".o__".r.i"J- ;i;i p iJ.. iJ o"."rriyogrrn.iii. (Miss) Cornelia HildaMiriamjp. F_. I,- l)eranil.agala.r)ieris : recom_""dJ-;;"ii,. ;. i,i",,..ir.. Felix -Rt.ginald .tjias. -U.A., ip. C i,;"rir.L.L nI. (Cantab) , ,".o.ll{'

menclecl by ,|..I,. E. p. Dcra,niyagala"v. Jollr F_ric pcrera Guna u.ar- f n t; p;-dana, Muclali'ai ;'il-]' ''ens'

U.t,.l\I. : ,"""n,,."nu"J trl- u I:. p. l)crani;.agala.vi. Vaithianailranllecommednecr *-Kandiah '18 c' Proctor'

vii. Lcopor<r Arr.i;v .o:,,prli i ;,'::,1"*""*n-,llavi,er : Reco

'iii c31,_ n"sq";.1'::"T,i":1 ) 1,i."?r,ii";H1."recommended

ix. ":: -.lig;id,l,,-oo,.,,0.u, )i; *", R"ll::l,.

"recommended by ie. l_.r1"5rsingha.

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