[48] Mahâvaṃ. XXXVI. iii. ff. Goṭhâbhaya's date was probably 302-315 and Mahâsena's 325-352. The common chronology makes Goṭhâbhaya reign from 244 to 257 and Mahâsena from 269 to 296 A.D.
[49] Quoted by Turnour, Introd. p. liii. The Mahâvaṃ. V. 13, expressly states that the Dhammaruci and Sâgaliya sects originated in Ceylon.
[50] I.e. as I understand, the two divisions of the Sutta Vibhanga.
[51] It was written up to date at various periods. The chapters which take up the history after the death of Mahâsena are said to be the work of Dhammakitti, who lived about 1250.
[52] He was a contemporary of the Gupta King Samudragupta who reigned approximately 330-375 A.D. See S. Lévi in J.A. 1900, pp. 316 ff, 401 ff. This synchronism is a striking confirmation of Fleet and Geiger's chronology.
[53] E.g. the tomb of Râmânuja at Srîrangam.
[54] For a somewhat similar reason the veneration of relics is prevalent among Moslims. Islam indeed provides an object of worship but its ceremonies are so austere and monotonous that any devotional practices which are not forbidden as idolatrous are welcome to the devout.
[55] Dig. Nik. XVI. v. 27.
[56] Plutarch mentions a story that the relics of King Menander were similarly divided into eight portions but the story may be merely a replica of the obsequies of the Buddha.
[57] IV. 3, 24. The first text is from Mahâparinibbâna Sutta, V. 24. The second has not been identified.