Legend of Ravana

 

FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY

Legend of Ravana

However involved in legend and myth there is no reason to doubt but that the great Indian Epic of the Ramayana has preserved for us the record of events which actually did take place in the early dawn of the history of Lanka. Ravana, the fierce Island King, had captured the beautiful Sita, the wife of a North Indian prince, and to avenge the insult her husband Rama Chandra, from whom the princes of Odeypore, the proudest family on earth, claim descent, led a mighty army across the water to the invasion of the fabled land. At Pallansena the army of Ravana appeared to dispute the passage of the Maha Oya, but after a fierce battle was driven back in confusion, taking with it the dead body of its commander Ingrutila; Rama Chandra thereupon advanced to the fortress of Ravana, and after a tedious siege succeeded in killing the latter and rescuing the princess. The magic of the defeated king, says a dim tradition, has hidden from mortal eyes the mountains of silver and gold which were to be found in Lanka; and on some mystic crag in the widest parts of Saparagamuwa still sleeps Ravana, till an offering of rice and oil tendered by the hand ordained by fate, should heal him of his wounds and call him back to life, once again to resume his sway over the Island and to lay bare to the light of the Sun the treasures which he had secreted. A recess in Kobodura Gala contains the bones of Ingrutila in a precious casket of gold encrusted with gems, and a great stone rolled against the mouth of the sepulcher conceals the spot from the knowledge of man. Ravana Kotuwa, Sitawaka and many another similar name still preserve the memory of the legendary days, and today at the ancient shrine of Saparagamuwa may be seen the models of the arrows which Rama Chandra shot against his foe, says Sir Paul E. Pieris of the Ceylon Civil Service in Chapter I titled ‘The Early History of Ceylon’ of his monumental work ‘Ceylon The Portuguese Era Being a History of the Island for the Period 1505-1658’ Volume One, published in 1913.

 

The legendary history of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) begins with the Ramayana, the epic poem which recounts the ravishing of Sita by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, and her recovery by her husband Rama with the aid of the monkey chief Hanumanta. But, though a few names in the Island refer to the legend, such as Nuwara Eliya ‘the glade of (Ravana’s) city,’ Sita Eliya ‘Sita’s glade,’ and Sitawaka, the epic itself seems to have found a small place in the folklore of the Sinhalese (Sinhala people), says H.W. Codrington a British of the Ceylon Civil Service in his book ‘A Short History of Ceylon’ published in 1929, when Sri Lanka was a British Colony.

More certainty attaches to the story of the next invasion of the Sinhala people from India than to the legend of King Ravana. It was the time of the full moon of the month of Wesak, when over the loveliness of “the loveliest potion of land the Creator has placed in this earth” according to Portuguese writer Joao Rebeiro, was thrown the warm embrace of the glowing Eastern moon. Far away at Kusinara the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Light of Asia, had reached the Peace which passeth all understanding, and to Sekra the Lord of Devas He commanded the protection of Wijayo, the Lion-born, who that day had reached Lanka with his seven hundred followers; and by the command of the God the Lotus-hued Vishnu, now appointed Protector of the Kingdom and of the Faith which were to be, hastened to bless the prince and to sprinkle holy water on his men in preparation for the new life which was opening before them. Wijayo’s attempts at colonizing were successful; a portion of the aboriginal Yakkhas joined his side; and in a few years his position was so firmly established, that he was enabled to contract a marriage with a princess of Madura, says Sir Paul E. Pieris.

 

Buddha’s Visits to Lanka

Than the legend of King Ravana, to the people of Lanka, of much greater interest were the visits of the Buddha to Ceylon. Of these the first was to Mahiyangana, when after expelling the Yakkhas or demon inhabitants of the country, He gave to Saman a lock of His hair, which that god enshrined in a sapphire casket. The second visit was to Nagadipa (the Jaffna Peninsula), when Buddha settled a dispute between Naga princes, Mahodara and Chulodara, concerning a gem-set throne. The third visit was to Kelaniya, where Buddha stayed at the site of the later dagaba: thence He went to Samanthakuta or Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) on which He set the imprint of His foot, to Dighavapi in the present Eastern Province, and to Anuradhapura, where He sanctified by His presence various sites, including those of the Bo-tree and of the Ruwanweli Dagaba. Anuradhapura itself according to the legend had also been hallowed by the visits of the three previous Buddhas of the present age, in whose times it was called Abhayapura, Vaddhamana, and Visalanagara. There is no historical foundation for the visits of Gautama Buddha or of His three predecessors. The legendary inhabitants of the country were the Yakkhas, the Nagas and the Devas, and under these names possibly a kernel of fact may be concealed, says H.W. Codrington.

 

Origin of Sinhala People

That the Aryan settlements in Ceylon were due to the enterprise of pioneering merchant mariners is supported by the oldest account of the arrival of Sinhalese in this Island found in literature. According to this story a merchant named Sinhala in the city of Sinhakalpa came to the Island named Ratnadvipa (Island of Gems), with five hundred followers. They were enticed by ogresses (Raksasis) who dwelt in an iron city and who, in the guise of alluring women, were keeping them as husbands, in preparation for devouring them in time. Sinhala was miraculously warned of the danger that he and his companions were in; he was also apprised by the same agency of the means of escape – a miraculous horse named Valahaka (Cloud). His companions were not convinced of the danger, and Sinhala alone escaped. The Raksasis devoured the merchants who remained behind, and taunted their queen who allowed Sinhala to escape from their clutches. The king of Sinhakalpa, to whom she made her complaint, requested Sinhala to take her back. When the king was told that she was in fact a Raksasi, he uttered the wisecrack that all women were Raksasis, and said that, if Sinhala did not want her he would be glad to have her in the harem. Sinhala warned the king of the danger he was running, but the charms of the Raksasi were more eloquent than the words of Sinhala. She was accordingly installed in the palace, and after some days came back one night to Ratnadvipa, returned with her friends and together they devoured all the inmates of the royal palace. The next morning, the citizens became aware of what happened and, as the Raksasis had not spared the king’s heir, they elected Sinhala as their king. After establishing himself in power, Sinhala equipped a powerful force, came to Ratnadvipa, slew all the Raksasis and made the Island a human habitation, with himself as its first king. The descendants of Sinhala and his followers were known in later times as Sinhalas.

The account given in the chronicles of the origin of the Sinhalese and the peopling of Ceylon, recorded more than a thousand years after the event, makes no mention of merchants, and is full of the miraculous element. In days gone by, so the story runs, a king of the Vanga country had a daughter by his queen who was a Kalinga princess. This daughter grew up to be a beautiful maiden of amorous character. She left the palace, and travelling with a company of merchants, fell into the hands of a lion. The beast and the beauty lived together, and from their union were born a son and a daughter. The son of the lion named Sinhabahu whose bodily characteristics were predominantly human, when grown to discerning years disliked the life with the father, escaped with his mother and sister and came to the Vanga country. The lion, impelled by his love towards the princess and his children, came after them and began harrying the countryside. The king offered a reward to anyone who would rid his land of the visitation, but none was able to slay the lion. Sinhabahu killed the lion, his own father, and claimed the reward. Though offered half the kingdom as the prize for his bravery, he did not wish to remain in a land where his crime of patricide was known to everyone. He therefore left with his sister and a considerable following arrived in the Latadesa (Gujarat), found a city named Sinhapura, and reigned there with his sister Sinhaseevali as his consort. She had thirty-two children, of whom the eldest was named Vijaya, and the next was Sumitta, says Prof. S. Paranavitana in University of Ceylon - A Concise History of Ceylon.     

As biological union of humans with animals is not possible lions would have been totems of human tribes.

By Chandra Edirisuriya