| This
article is part of a continuing series on the ‘Mahavamsa’,
the recorded chronicle of Sri Lankan history.
Warrior Suranimala
 During
the reign of King Elara, there lived a chief of a clan, who was
named Sangha, in the village of Kadavita in the district Kottivale.
He had seven sons, the youngest of whom was Nimala. He proved
to be strong and powerful from his very childhood.
As the ‘thupavamsa’ mentions, he had the strength
of ten elephants, when he was a youth. As he was the youngest
child, his parents petted him and spoilt him so much, that he
never contributed his share, when it came to any work. While
the older brothers were toiling hard with work in their fields,
he stayed indoors eating and enjoying himself. The brothers were
very angry over this.- The brothers
started complaining about Nimala’s laziness. The parents
pacified them saying that he was the youngest and so should be
excused. Now, at this time, King Kavan Tissa had, by another wife,
a son named Dighabhaya and he was in charge of the guard, near
the Kachchaka ford. To maintain this guard, this prince commanded,
that each noble family living within about two miles, should send
one son for duty. This guard was to hold the Damilas (Tamils)
in check.
- According
to these orders, the king’s men were able to assemble a
sufficient number of men for the guard. They went to the house
of Sangha, demanding a son from him.
The father called his seven sons and asked who would like to join
the guard. The eldest son said, “Six of us work hard in
our fields. Nimala does not do a stroke of work. He enjoys the
fruits of our hard labour, just idling at home. So it is he who
should be sent”.
The parents did not like this suggestion. However, Nimala, who
got angry with his brothers over this, decided to go the following
day.
Nimala worshipped his parents, bade good-bye and after walking
a long distance, met Prince Dighabhaya at noon that day. The prince
who was happy to meet Nimala asked him at what time he left home
to come this far. - When he said
it was the same morning, the prince was shocked at the speed with
which he had traveled. To test him, Prince Dighabhaya meant to
send him on an errand.
So he said, “Near the Chetiya mountain, in the village of
Doramandala lives my friend, a Brahmin named Kundala. Could you
go there, carrying a message from me?”
- Nimala consented.
Prince Dighabhaya gave a lot of gifts and a message to be delivered
to his friend. Nimala set out immediately, walked a long distance
and met the Brahmin, before noon. He handed over the gifts and
the message, to the Brahmin.
- The Brah
min Kundala read the letter and asked Nimala, how long he took
to come there. Realising the speed at which he had walked, the
Brahmin requested him to have a bath at the tank and come for
lunch. Nimala bathed at the Tissa tank, worshipped at the Bodhi
and the chetiya –
 Thuparamaya
and went back. When the Brahmin got to know that he had walked
to Anuradhapura and worshipped at the sacred places before returning,
he was surprised. Full of amazement, the Brahmin thought, “this
is a clever man of noble race. If Elara hears about him, he will
get him into his service. He should go to ‘Dakkhina desha’
(south) immediately”.
With a lot of gifts and a letter addressed to Dighabhaya, he sent
Nimala to Kadadora. Reading the letter, Prince Dighabhaya found
out that the Brahmin wanted Nimala to be sent to King Kavan Tissa.
So the prince gave Nimala a lot of wealth and asked him to go
and see his parents, before he went to Magama. Nimala went home,
handed over all the wealth to the parents and returned.
- The prince
then gave him money for his expenses and sent him to his father,
King Kavan Tissa. Nimala gave all that money too, to his parents
and went to Magama. King Kavan Tissa was glad toreceive him. He
gave him a house in the city. He was given a proper training in
the art of warfare.
By
Halaliye Karunathilaka
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila
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