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Arahat Mahinda
මිහිඳු මහ රහතන් වහන්සේ
An Arhat Mahinda Statue atMahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery,Sri Lanka
Personal life
Born	Prince Mahinda Maurya (Pali) 285 BC Ujjeni,Avantirastra,Mauryan Empire (Present dayUjjain district,India)
Died	205 BC (aged c. 79  – 80) Anuradhapura Kingdom, (Present daySri Lanka)
Cause of death	Senescence
Resting place	Sri Lanka
Nationality	Indian
Parent(s)	Ashoka (father) Devi (mother)
Education	Buddhist religion
Known for	Establishing Theravāda Buddhism in Sri Lanka
Religious life
Religion	Buddhism
Sect	Theravada

Mahinda (Sinhala:මිහිඳු මහරහතන් වහන්සේ) (285 BCE – 205 BCE) was an IndianBuddhist monk depicted in Buddhist sources as bringingBuddhism toSri Lanka.^[1] He was aMauryan prince and the first-born son ofEmperor Ashoka from his first wifeQueen Devi, and the older brother of PrincessSanghamitra.

Mahinda was sent as aBuddhist missionary to theAnuradhapura Kingdom in Sri Lanka. Mahinda attainedarhatship and resided atMihintale. He played an important role in proliferating Buddhism throughout the Indian subcontinent.

TheDipavamsa and theMahavamsa, Sri Lanka's two great religious chronicles, contain accounts of Mahinda travelling to Sri Lanka and converting KingDevanampiya Tissa.^[2] These are the primary sources for accounts of his life and deeds. Inscriptions and literary references also establish that Buddhism became prevalent in Sri Lanka around the 3rd century BCE, the period when Mahinda lived.^[2] The inscription inRajagala monastery confirm the fact that Thera Mahinda came to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism and lived there until his death.^[3]

Period: Circa 200 BC,Script: EarlyBrahmi,Language:Elu
Transcript:Ye ima dipa paṭamaya idiya agatana Iḍika-[tera-Ma] hida-teraha tube
Translation: "This is thestupa of the elder Ittiya and the elder Mahinda, who came to this Island by its foremost good fortune."^[3]

The Mahavamsa says that Mahinda, the son of Ashoka, came to Sri Lanka and that Ashoka's daughter became a nun and brought theBodhi Tree.^[4]

Though Ashoka wanted his prodigal eldest son Mahendra to succeed him and made several attempts to bring him out of renunciation, due to the orthodox Hindu community's refusal to accept a Buddhist Crown Prince from aVaishya mother as well as Mahendra's own lack of enthusiasm to take over an empire, he gave up. Though texts describe Mahendra's motive in leaving for Sri Lanka as spiritual, historians have argued that it was more of a political motive. Ashoka had feared that Mahendra would be killed just like Sushima, so to keep him safe and to avoid any succession war, he sent him to Sri Lanka. The party left from Vedasagirimonastery, believed to be modern-daySanchi.

Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa, the chronicles of Sri Lanka, record the arrival of the party on the full moon ofJettha, a national festival. At the time, KingDevanampiya Tissa was participating in a hunting expedition in theMihintale hills. It is said that Ashoka and Devanampiyatissa were previously acquainted and on good terms, having exchanged gifts upon their respective ascensions to the throne. Upon meeting the shaven-headed monks Devanampiyatissa was taken aback by their appearance and asked who they were. After exchanging greetings, Mahinda preached theChulahatthipadopama Sutra, and the royal hunting party converted to Buddhism. The party was subsequently invited toAnuradhapura, the seat of the throne for a royal reception and to give furtherdharma talks. Mahinda subsequently gave two public talks sanctioned byDevanampiya Tissa, in the Royal Hall and in the Nandana Garden in the Royal Park, leading to the start of the public embrace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The royal parkMahamegha was then set aside as the residence for Mahinda's party, and in later times became theMahavihara, the earliest centre of Buddhist culture and scholarship Sri Lanka. TheChetiyagirivihara monastery was then established inMihintale.

Mahinda then sent for his sisterSanghamitta from Magadha, who was anun, to start a female Buddhist order after local women had expressed a desire to join theSangha. Mahinda also arranged for abodhi sapling from the original tree inBodh Gaya to be sent to Sri Lanka, where it was planted in the grounds of the Mahavihara and is still visible today.

After a month spent delivering discourses to Sri Lankans who had ventured to the capital, Mahinda retreated toMihintale to spend thevassa during the monsoon season. As a result, a second royal-funded monastery was built there. Later, Mahinda organised for a stupa to be constructed, and a part of the bodily relics ofGautama Buddha were transferred from the Maurya Empire to Sri Lanka. Mahinda then hadArittha, Devanampiyatissa's nephew, abhikkhu, expound theVinaya monastic code of discipline to further Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Mahinda outlived Devanampiyatissa and died at the age of 80 inSri Lanka. KingUttiya, who succeeded his brother, organized a state funeral for Mahinda and constructed astupa to house his relics atMihintale.

The 20th century Sri Lankan monkWalpola Rahula described Mahinda as"the father ofSinhalese literature" as he had translated and written commentary for the Tripitaka in Sinhala, turning it into a literary language. He was also credited with introducing the culture of theMauryan Empire to the island, along with its architecture. More recently, Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri, a Canadian scholar, has identified him as the Redactor of the oldest Buddhapuja in the world (247 BCE).

Mihintale, the mountain where Mahinda supposedly first encountered King Devanampiyatissa and the site of his funerarystupa, is an important pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka.^[5] Pilgrimages are traditionally undertaken in the month of June (Poson in the old Sinhala calendar), when Mahinda is believed to have arrived in Sri Lanka on the full-moon night of the month, atraditional time for religious observances inTheravada Buddhism.^[5]

• Sri Lankan Buddhism
• Ashoka
• Theravada
• Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura
• History of Sri Lanka

Sugunasiri, Suwanda H. J., 2012, Arahant Mahinda - Redactor of the Buddhapujava in Sinhala Buddhism (with Pali Text, Translation and analysis), Nalanda Publishing Canada,ISBN 978-0-9867198-4-4

• Mahinda Thera
• Asoka's Missions from the Extended Mahāvaṁsa
• The arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• The Birthplace Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Historical Buddhist details of Sri Lanka
• Buddhism, The Buddha and what are His Teachings?

• Mauryan princes
• Indian Buddhist monks
• Sri Lankan Buddhist monks
• People from Ujjain
• 3rd-century BC Indian monks
• 3rd-century BC Sri Lankan people
• 280s BC births
• 205 BC deaths
• 3rd-century BC Buddhist monks
• Children of Ashoka
• 3rd-century BC Buddhists
• India–Sri Lanka relations

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