Gilmpses of History with Mutta- Vijaya meets Kuveni.

Mutta continued the story of the last days of Buddha, and how the Buddha wanted Sakra, the god of gods, to protect Lakdiva, or the island where we live today.
“ The Buddha told Sakra; ‘ My order will be established in this country. So protect it well.’ And what did God Sakra do? He entrusted the duty to the god named Upulvan.

“God Upulvan disguised himself as an ascetic ( one who live a simple life) and seated himself at the foot of a Naga tree.

Then from the seaside arrived prince Vijaya with his retinue. Vijaya came to the foot of the tree where the ascetic was seated and asked: ‘What sort of island is this?’ This is Lakdiva,’ the ascetic replied.

‘ Who occupies this land?’ Asked Vijaya.
‘There are no humans in this land. So you need not be afraid’; the ascetic said and poured holy pirit water onto the hands of Vijaya and his follwers and tied pirit thread on their wrists. Thus, through the blessings invoked , they were given protection. The ascetithen took his owen form and disappeared.”

“What happened then?” asked a little boy . Mutta went on: “then to their surprise, they saw a dog,’ one person said. ‘ Dogs live with humans.So there should be humans living some where’.

Saying that one of them followed the dog. What did they see.? A woman seated at a cotton loom; she was weaving clothes with cotton thread. Although she looked like a human being, it is said that she was not so in reality. She was a Yakinni or a devil woman named Kuveni.”

“We have heard that name,” said one little girl.
“Yes you may have, as she is the first female character that appears in the chronicle Mahavansa. There are quite a number of stories, poems and legends woven around her.” “ So what happened to the man who saw Kuveni?” another child asked.

“ Due to the pirit thread, the woman failed to do any harm to the man, but she kept him imprisoned in a tunnel. At the same time, Vijaya realized that one of his men was missing from the group. What did he do? He sent one person after another to find what has gone wrong.

All those who met Kuveni were imprisoned. Only Vijaya was left behind. All seven hundred members of Vijaya’s group were taken in to custody. So, Vijaya, knowing that somewhere, wanted to know what had happened to his friends.
“He walked forward slowly with his five weapons, the Panchayuda. He saw Kuveni for the first time. He came closer to her and asked: ‘Did you see my friends?’ Kuvani looked up and said: ‘Why are you worried about your friends? You can drink some water from that lotus pond.’ The lotus pond was said to have magical powers. Vijaya, though some instinct, felt that he is going to be trapped. So he said: ‘If you don’t release my men, I am going to kill you!’ Kuveni got frightened and told him: ‘Please don’t kill me’.

‘Give me my men’, Vijaya insisted.
‘I will give you this land as well’, Kuveni said.
‘But I want my men first’, Vijaya said . Then she released the men she had kept in her custody.

‘ They are hungry’, said Vijaya. As soon as he uttered this , she produced rice and other provislions. They cooked a meal , ate and relaxed. Then comes the most interesting episode, for Kuveni appeared before Vijayain the guise of a six teen-year-old girl. She wanted to entice him”.

“ Was she successful?” asked a boy. “I will tell you all about it ,” Mutta said and got up from his seat.

Glimpses of History with Mutta (II)-Vijaya lands at Tammenna.

Resuming the story about the princess who married the lion, which Mutta had started three weeks ago, he went on: “So the lion became very angry. He roamed the forest, and seeing no one there, walked towards the village, where the humans lived. The villagers, who saw how angry the lion was, were very scared and hid behind trees and rocks. The entire village became terrified. The lion would roam around the village, roaring as if asking the question, ‘ Where is my wife, Where are my dear children?’

Eventually the King of the country too came to know this lion. He sent a messenger around the village asking if anyone can kill the lion and announcing that anyone accomplishing this task and bringing the lion’s head would receive three thousand gold coins as a gift.

The son of the lion, Sinhabahu came to hear this. He wanted to kill his father, but his mother prevented him saying: ‘O dear son , please don’t kill your father, for he had not done any harm to us. He is quite angry.’ But Sinhabahu would not listen to his mother. He said: Dear mother, what you say may be corror to the whole kingdom.’
The mother remained silent, knowing the son was too stubborn.

Sinhabahu, who decided to kill the lion, made two attempts, failing on both occasion. However, on the third occasion, he was successful.”

“Oh what a sad story”, said a little girl.
“ We want to know what happened next”, said a little boy.
“All stories don’t end on a happy note ,” said Mutta, continuing his story.
A few days later, Sinhabahu brought before the King the head of the lion. After the king who ruled t he Vagu kingdom died, Sinhabahu succeeded him as the king.

He went to his mother’s birthplace and set up a new kingdom named ‘Sinhapura.’ Later, Sinhabahu married and a son named Vijaya was born to them. He was the eldest of 32 children.

Vijaya was naughty and disobedient. Unlike most princes, he did not treat the common man well. So the people of the kingdom disliked Vijaya. He had a lot of friends who were equally bad. When the citizens cold no longer tolerate Vijaya and his friends, they reported the matter to Sinhabahu. The king thought long and hard and decided to banish Vijaya to another country as a punishment. He got the royal courtiers to build a huge ship in to which Vijaya and 700 of his followers were boarded. Their heads were shaved and their wives and children were sent in another ship. The ships set sail and the one carrying Vijaya and his followers landed in Sri Lanka.

The port they initially landed on was known as Supparaka, but the large number of settlers there disliked strangers forcefully entering their land. So Vijaya and his followers had to leave Supparaka, seeking another port. Thus they reached Tammenna the ground with copper sand. This place is also known as Dambakola Patuna. I think you have heard of this place”, Mutta waited awhile for the response of the children.
“Tammenna is situated close to the present Puttalam”

“So what happened to Vijaya at Tammenna? Asked a little boy.

“I will tell you all about it later,” Mutta said.

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