Mahavamsa (The Great Chronicle) which is used by us in the present day is composed in Pali poems. That is a translation of ancient Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa,[2] Mahavamsa Teeka[3] says. Mahavamsa Teeka is also a text which was written in Pali language. Hela Attakathas were originally written in the Hela language and they were a part of the heritage of Helaya.[4] Translating all these Hela Attakatha in to a language called Pali and total destruction of these Hela Attakatha thereafter is, in fact, a strange thing. This strange and wonderful feeling will be emerged only in a mind of a Helaya. The ones who were influenced by the Indian origin will not be worried for this matter. This competitive thinking could be seen in the past and it is not necessary to mention specifically that it is prevailed in the present day as well. In today's context, this thinking can be seen everywhere. As a result of the competitiveness which was originated by the influence of the Hela and Indian origins, today we can experience the favorable dialogs coming forward claiming the heritage of the Buddha to Heladeepa, i.e. Sri Lanka, and also the non-favorable dialogs against this mere truth.
In analyzing this competitiveness
which was experienced in the past, the explanations given by Mahavamsa are
truly important. And also dragging Mahavamsa Teeka for this matter, certainly
will bring additional lights for revealing the truth. The author of Mahavamsa[5]
indicates three errors when he translates Seehalatthakatha Mahavamsa in to Pali
Mahavamsa. The Pali stanza or the Pali poem which indicates these three errors
is as follows.
2. Pōrānehi kathō,pēso
athi,viththā,rithō kwachi
athee,tha
kwachi san,khith,thō
aneka,punarut,tako
The interpretation for this stanza
found in Mahavamsa is given in Teeka. I feel it is better to draw our attention
to this particular interpretation given by Teeka and it is as follows.
"Here, Pōrānehi
kathō,pēso
means that this Mahavamsa has been done, written, by the teachers (masters) who
lived in the ancient times. If, one particular ancient Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa
is existing, which was composed and written by the ancient masters in a
well comprehensive manner, and also in the form of divisions, it is my first
attempt to present, to write it, whiles taking out excessive descriptions and excluding
the native language, in a manner, then, one will be able to understand it easily".(Vansaththappakaasini,
31-32 pages)[6]. The
most significant truth disclosed by this text which was written as Teeka for
Pali Mahavamsa is that there had been a text existed and it had been called "Seehalattakatha
Mahavamsa". And also it can be seen that the interpretation given for the
second stanza of Mahavamsa is nothing but an attempt to find errors in
Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa. Here, he presents three main errors. These three
errors are described in Teeka as follows.
"With regards to the usage
of the words, this most ancient Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa, is, in certain
places of it, athi,viththā,rithō. It is very comprehensively done[7],
is the meaning of this. kwachi san,khith,thō means that, in
certain places of it, this is exclusively abridged. It had been mentioned[8] in
a brief manner is the expected objective of this (statement). aneka,punarut,tako
means that this contains, in certain places of it,
repetitions". (Vansaththappakaasini, Page 32)
By doing this, by posing negative
criticism on Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa, the author of Pali Mahavamsa
attempted to degrading the significance of this text and fixing the basic
foundation where, then, he would do the translation as his interest.
The native Bhikkus in Heladeepa
had showed their dislike for this act of criticizing Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa
and one of them, who had initiated it, was Venerable Pasanadipavasi Upathissa Thero[9]
(Vansaththappakaasini, Page 32). This discloses the fact that the author of
Pali Mahavamsa had done a serious damage. In order to get an idea about this
serious damage, an exclusive analysis should be done with the aid of Teeka text
called Vansaththappakaasini.
The removal of one part of the
ancient name of the text and re-naming it as Mahavamsa is nothing but a contraption
or a strategy implemented to enclose the real heritage of Helaya[10].
This translation was done merely to confiscate the exclusive heritage of Buddha
to Sri Lanka or the exclusive heritage that Sri Lankans could have claimed over
the identity of Buddha which comes down to them from the unbroken generations
of Maha Sammatha Dynasty. The most classical reason which can be presented to
prove this is the existence of Pali Mahavamsa and the total annihilation of
Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa. These ones with the Indian origin had piled up the
Hela Aattakathas up to a heap of a size of seven elephants and burnt them in to
ashes. Hence, this example itself would be evident that destroying one
Attakatha is not an issue to them at all. (Pali Sahithya, Page 149).
Our most ancient text called
Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa has been named as Mahavamsa. Our critics have not yet
explained the exact reason behind this act. This is, indeed, a misfortune of
the people living in our land. The text written in Pali language was named as
Mahavamsa. What was the reason of writing this Mahavamsa and who was introduced
by this Mahavamsa? It explains the genealogy of the royal families starting
from Vijaya and the description of Maha Sammatha Dynasty found in the original
text, namely Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa, had been limited to one chapter. Who
can say that this was not done with the aim of keeping us away from our true
heritage? Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa disclosed the time line, the generation of Mahawanshaya,[11]
starting from Maha Sammatha Dynasty up to the time of The Enlightened One,
Gauthma Buddha. Isn't it then a heritage of Heladeepa? The name, Mahamuni,[12]
found in Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa had
been used in the ancient times in Sri Lanka, says C.W. Nicholos in his book
- Historical Topography of Ancient And
Medieval Ceylon. (Page 232). Not only that, it is evident that the details of
the Maha Sammatha Dynasty and the synonyms of Gauthama Buddha had been used for
texts, places and villages in the past. This practice alone is evident, without
any doubt at all, that Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa presented the details which were
relevant to the heritage of people in Helaya.
Seehalattakatha Mahavamsa
disclosed the Mahavamsa genealogy of Mahamuni (The Enlightened One). Since this
genealogy of the royal families is a great heritage of Helaya (Sri Lanka), Seehalattakatha
which was a chronicle of Heladeepa had been documented under the title called
Mahavamsa (the great genealogy). The ones with the Indian origin wanted to hide
this truth. They translated chronicles which were written in Hela language in
to Pali language, 'created' a new Mahavamsa and started the chronology from
Vijaya.
Venerable Mookalangamuwe Pannananda Thero
[1]
Mahamuni is prounced as Mahaamuni.
[2] Seehalattakatha is pronounced as Seeha-lat-ta-ka-thaa.
This is the short form of Seehala Attaa Katha. i. e. Attaa Katha which were written in Hela language.
The English term commonly for Attaa Katha is Chronicles.
[3] Mahavamsa Teeka ( is pronounced teekaa) are the
commentaries written for Mahavamsa.
[4] The land of Helayo. i.e. the term used for the people
lived in Heladeepa (Sri Lanka). Helaya (pronounced as Helayaa or Helayā) is singular form of Helayo.
[5] The author of Mahavamsa is supposed to be an Indian Bhikku
called Mahanama.
[6] Vansaththappakaasini is pronounced as Van,saththap,pa,kaa,sinie.
[7] i.e written
[8] i.e written
[9] Pasanadipavasi Upathissa is pronounced as Paa-saa-na-deepa-vaa-si
Upa-this-sa
[10] i.e the person in Heladeepa
[11] The term 'Mahawansa' is the term used in English
language for the Hela term 'Maha Wanshaya'. Maha - Main or great, Wanshaya
- is the genealogy, dynasty or the caste.
[12] Mahamuni - Maha - the great, Muni - the sage. Here it
is used for Buddha. Out of hundreds of synonyms for Buddha, Munidu, is a key
name used for Buddha in Sinhala language.
Translated by Amal Meemanage (amalmeemanage@gmail.com)
Translated by Amal Meemanage (amalmeemanage@gmail.com)
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