[Sidenote:  B.C. 47.]

[Sidenote:  B.C. 41.]

His son, King Kuda Tissa, was also poisoned by his mother, in order to clear her own way to the throne.  The Singhalese annals thus exhibit the unusual incident of a queen enrolled amongst the monarchs of the great dynasty—­a precedent which was followed in after times; Queen Siwalli having reigned in the succeeding century, A.D. 37, Queen Lila-wati, in A.D. 1197, and Queen Kalyana-wati in A.D. 1202.  From the excessive vileness of her character, the first of these Singhalese women who attained to the honours of sovereignty is denounced in the Mahawanso as “the infamous Anula.”  In the enormity of her crimes and debauchery she was the Messalina of Ceylon;—­she raised to the throne a porter of the palace with whom she cohabited, descending herself to the subordinate rank of Queen Consort, and poisoned him to promote a carpenter in his stead.  A carrier of firewood, a Brahman, and numerous other paramours followed in rapid succession, and shared a similar fate, till the kingdom was at last relieved from the opprobrium by a son of Prince Tissa, who put the murderess to death, and restored the royal line in his own person.  His successors for more than two centuries were a race of pious faineants, undistinguished by any qualities, and remembered only by their fanatical subserviency to the priesthood.

[Sidenote:  A.D. 209.]

Buddhism, relieved from the fury of impiety, was next imperilled by the danger of schism.  Even before the funeral obsequies of Buddha, schism had displayed itself in Maghadha, and two centuries had not elapsed from his death till it had manifested itself on no less than seventeen occasions, and in each instance it was with difficulty checked by councils in which the priesthood settled the faith in relation to the points which gave rise to dispute; but not before the actual occurrence of secessions from the orthodox church.[1] The earliest differences were on questions of discipline amongst the colleges and fraternities at Anarajapoora; but in the reign of Wairatissa, A.D. 209, a formidable controversy arose, impugning the doctrines of Buddhism, and threatening for a time to rend in sunder the sacred unity of the church.[2]

[Footnote 1:  Mahawanso, ch. v. p. 21.]

[Footnote 2:  Ibid., ch. xxxiii.]

[Sidenote:  A.D. 209.]

Buddhism, although, tolerant of heresy, has ever been vehement in its persecution of schism.  Boldly confident in its own superiority, it bears without impatience the glaring errors of open antagonists, and seems to exult in the contiguity of competing systems as if deriving strength by comparison.  In this respect it exhibits a similarity to the religion of Brahma, which regards with composure shades of doctrinal difference, and only rises into jealous energy in support of the distinctions of caste, an infringement of which might endanger the supremacy of the priesthood.[1] To the assaults of open opponents the Buddhist displays the calmest indifference, convinced that in its undiminished strength, his faith is firm and inexpugnable; his vigilance is only excited by the alarm of internal dissent, and all his passions are aroused to stifle the symptoms of schism.[2]