3 Review(s)

About The Book : The Dathavansa : Or, the History of the Tooth-Relic of Gotama Buddha; As " Dathavansa " is a book held in great estimation, not only by the Pali literati of the island, but also by the Sinhalese priesthood and laity, from its recounting the history of the founder of their religion, it may claim some attention from the learned. Its value is threefold — literary, religious, and historical. It is perhaps one of the finest specimens of Pali poetry extant. A translation can give but a very faint conception of the stern simplicity and chasteness of its style, much less of the sweet rhythm of its metre. It is not indeed so much the ideas themselves, as the elegance of the diction in which they are clothed, that charms equally the native student and his teacher. There is no attempt at ornate and laboured diction or high-flown metaphor. The Nalopakhyan is its worthy equal in Sanskrit in this respect. It is considered so free from faults as to form the text-book for lectures illustrating the grammatical constructions of the Pali language, whilst the flow of words is so attractive, that the whole, or considerable portions of it, are committed to memory by students. A history of the tooth-relic of Buddha naturally excites much interest in a country where the relic itself is believed to be at present lodged in a shrine which is periodically exposed to admiring crowds, and commands the worship of masses of Buddhists. About The Translator : Sir Mutu Coomara Swamy (1834–1879) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, writer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. Coomaraswamy was born on 23 January 1834 in Amaittodam, Mutwal in south western Ceylon.He was the son of Gate Mudaliyar A. Coomaraswamy and Visalachchi Ammaiyar.From 1842 to 1851 he was educated at Colombo Academy where he won the Turnour Prize in 1851. Coomaraswamy married Elizabeth Clay Beebe, daughter of William Beebe from Kent, in 1878. They had a son, Ananda Coomaraswamy, the eminent art critic. After returning to Ceylon Coomaraswamy resumed practising law at the Colombo Bar. He undertook research into oriental folklore before going on a tour of India. His translation of the Pali text Datavamsa, the story of the Sacred Tooth Relic, and Sutti Nipaata, the discourses of the Buddha, were published in 1874. In 1878 Coomaraswamy became the first Asian knight after being made a knight of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Victoria at Osborne House.He died on 4 May 1879 of Bright's disease whilst preparing for another tour of England.