254 Traditions of Buddhism
Following the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by
Mahinda in the third century BCE (see Chapter 2) there emerged
three great divisions of the Sangha on the island, each centring
on a monastery in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura. Theoldest, the Mahavihara or 'great monastert, was established
by Mahinda himself in the third century, the Abhayagiri~vihara
in the first century BCE, and the Jetavana in the third century
cE. Famed as a centre of Buddhist learning, Anuradhapura at-
tracted visiting monks from the Indian mainland-including one
of Theravada Buddhism's subsequently most celebrated com-
mentators, Dhammapala (seventh century?)-and also China (Fa-
hsien in the early fifth century).
Beginning in the fifth century, a series of commentators (Bud-
dhaghosa, Buddhadatta, Mahanama, Upasena, Dhammapala I,
Dhammapala II) drawing on the traditions and textual resources
of the Mahavihara established the classical doctrinal form of the
Theravada, and it is their writings that have come down to us.
The fifth century also saw the basic content and structure of the
Pali canon finally established: (r) a Vinaya comprising two prin-
cipal works; (2) a Sutta Pitaka comprising the four primary
Nikayas and the fifteen works of the Khuddaka Nikaya; (3) an
Abhidhamma Pitaka comprising seven works.^1
Since none of the writings of the monks of the Abhayagiri
and Jetavana monasteries survive (with the possible exception
of Upatissa's Vimuttimagga, which exists only in Chinese trans-
lation), it is not entirely clear in what manner their traditions
differed from those of the Mahavihara.^2 The tendency to see
the undoubted rivalry between them in terms of a Mahavihara
opposition to their Mahayana sympathies is both simplistic and
problematic. It is important to bear in mind, however, that the
Abhayagiri and Jetavana monasteries continued to flourish and
their monks were as much part of the Sri Lankan Buddhist scene
as those of the Mahavihara.
Invasions of the island from south India resulted in the Sri
Lankan court fleeing further south to Polonnaruva, which was
established as the permanent capital of the island in the eleventh
century after the defeat of the south Indian invaders by Vijaya