[Buddha-l] Dharmapala

[L.S. Cousins]

Let me try again.

There is no statement or suggestion in the Mahāvaṃsa that Duṭṭhagāmaṇi 
(or anyone else) went to battle with a relic on his lance.

What is being described is a royal procession to the holy site of 
Tissamahārāma. This is based upon the model of a royal religious 
procession in a Jātaka story. In that procession a relic is carried in 
front on the royal lance (used as a banner, if you like).

The idea of going to battle with a relic on his lance is derived from 
expectations associated with the familiar story of Constantine.

The Mahāvaṃsa is a wonderful literary work (albeit later than often 
thought). But it is more comparable to Milton or Dante or Spenser than 
to any religious scripture.

That said, it certainly conceives of the war with the Tamils as in some 
sense a religious war.

Lance Cousins