The ''Dīpavaṃsa'' (दीपवंस, , "Chronicle of the Island") is the oldest historical record of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The chronicle is believed to be compiled from

Atthakatha Aṭṭhakathā (Pali for explanation, commentary) refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries ...

and other sources around the 3rd to 4th century CE. Together with the ''

Mahāvaṃsa ''Mahāvaṃsa'' (Sinhala: මහාවංශ (Mahāvansha), Pali: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'') is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka until the period of Mahasena of Anuradhapura. It was written in the style of ...

'', it is the source of many accounts of the ancient history of Sri Lanka and India. Its importance resides not only as a source of history and legend but also as an important early work in

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and Pali literature.

It is probably authored by several Buddhist monks or nuns of the

Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya The Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya was an important mahavihara or large Buddhist monastery for Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (247–207 BCE) founded it in his capital city of Anuradhapura. Monks such as B ...

in the 3rd-4th century. The ''Dipavamsa'' was likely the first completely new Pali text composed in Sri Lanka; it was also among the last texts to be composed anonymously. The preamble begins with "Listen! I shall relate the chronicle of the Buddha's visits to the island, the arrival of the

Tooth Relic The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of the Buddha and primarily refers to the purported tooth at the Temple of the Tooth, but can also refer to the one believed to be at S ...

and the Bodhi tree, the advent of the Buddha's doctrine, the rise of the teachers, the spread of Buddhism in the island and the coming of

Vijaya Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

the Chief of Men".

Dhatusena of Anuradhapura Dhatusena was a king of Sri Lanka who reigned from 455 to 473 AD. He was the first king of the Moriyan dynasty. In some records, he is also identified as Dasenkeli. Dhatusena reunited the country under his rule after twenty six years of anarchy, ...

(5th century) had ordered the ''Dipavamsa'' be recited at the Mahinda festival held annually in

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

. The Dipavamsa refers to three visits to the Island by the Buddha, the places being

Kelaniya Kelaniya ( ) is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, Sri Lanka. Located from Colombo Fort, it is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which divides the suburb from Colombo Di ...

, Deegavapi Raja Maha Viharaya, the place where the Bo-sapling was later planted within the Maha Mewna-uyana (Park) of Anuradhapura. It does not make any mention of the Buddha visiting

Sri Pada Adam's Peak is a conical sacred mountain located in central Sri Lanka.Capper, Daniel (2022), ''Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World,'' Cornell University Press. It is well known for the ''Sri Pada'' (; ), a rock format ...

Depiction of Buddhist sects

Starting with the ''Dīpavaṃsa'' in the 4th century, the Theravādins of the Mahāvihāra in Sri Lanka attempted to identify themselves with the original Sthavira sect of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The ''Dīpavaṃsa'' lauds the Theravāda as a "great

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial root#"Stranglers" (prop-root), adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

," and dismissively portrays the other

early Buddhist schools The early Buddhist schools refers to the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist "doctrinal schools" or "schools of thought" (Sanskrit: ''vāda'') which arose out of the early unified Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist monastic community (San ...

as thorns (''kaṇṭaka''). :These 17 sects are schismatic, :only one is non-schismatic. :With the non-schismatic sect, :there are eighteen in all. :Like a great banyan tree, :the Theravāda is supreme, :The Dispensation of the Conqueror, :complete, without lack or excess. :The other sects arose :like thorns on the tree. :— ''Dīpavaṃsa'', 4.90–91

Relationship to the ''Mahavamsa''

Regarding the Vijaya legend, Dipavamsa has tried to be less super-natural than the later work, ''Mahavamsa'', in referring to the husband of the Kalinga princess, ancestor of Vijaya, as a man named Sinha who was an outlaw that attacked caravans en route. In the meantime, Sinha-bahu and Sinhasivali, as king and queen of the kingdom of Lala (Lata), "gave birth to twin sons, sixteen times." The eldest was Vijaya and the second was Sumitta. As Vijaya was of cruel and unseemly conduct, the enraged people requested the king to kill his son. But the king caused him and his seven hundred followers to leave the kingdom, and they landed in Sri Lanka, at a place called Tamba-panni, on the exact day when the Buddha passed into Maha Parinibbana. The Dipavamsa gives a fuller account of the arrival of Theri

Sangamitta Saṅghamittā (Saṅghamitrā in Sanskrit, nun's name Ayapali; 282 BC – 203 BC) was an Indian Buddhist nun and believed to be the eldest daughter (Sri Lankan Tradition) of Emperor Ashoka (304 BC – 232 BC) from his first wife Queen Devi ( ...

(daughter to Asoka), but the epic story of

Dutugamunu Dutugamunu (, ), also known as Duṭṭhagāmaṇī Abhaya, was a king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for first uniting the whole island of Sri Lanka by defeating and overthrowing Elara, a Tamil kin ...

is treated only briefly, in ten Pali stanzas, while the Mahavamsa devoted ten chapters to it. Due to the greater attention given to the nuns of Sri Lanka in the Dipavamsa, as well as the description of Sangamitta as being particularly proficient in history,

Hugh Nevill Hugh L. Nevill (1847 – 1897) was a British civil servant, best known for his scholarship and studies of the culture of Sri Lanka. Biography Hugh Nevill was born on 19 June 1847, and came to Ceylon, as it was then called, at the age of seventeen ...

suggested that the Dipavamsa might have originated with the nuns' community at one or more of the Viharas, rather than being composed by monks. The Dipavamsa is considered "source material" to the Mahavamsa. The latter is more coherently organized and is probably the greatest religious and historical epic in the

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

language. The historiography (i.e., the chronology of kings, battles etc.) given in the Mahavamsa, and to that extent in the Dipavasma, are believed to be largely correct from about the time of the death of

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

Editions, Translations and Studies

The ''Dīpavaṃsa'' was edited and translated into English by Hermann Oldenberg in 1879. Subsequently, the text was studied by B. C. Law in 1947. Tilman Frasch has shown that a longer and less corrupt version of the text was maintained in Burma compared to the Sinhalese manuscripts used by Oldenberg for his edition. One such manuscript is in the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

.Tilman Frasch, "Notes on Dipavamsa: An Early Publication by U Pe Maung Tin," The Journal of Burmese Studies 9 (2004): 70-81. Online at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5636717

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sri Lankan Buddhist texts Anuradhapura period History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka 4th-century history books Pali Buddhist texts Sri Lankan chronicles Texts about the history of Buddhism

Contents

Depiction of Buddhist sects

Relationship to the ''Mahavamsa''

Editions, Translations and Studies

See also

References

External links