No. 55. — 1904.] ALAKESWARA : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 297 
Appendix C. 
It is generally assumed that Alakeswara became king as Bhuvaneka 
Bahu Y. on the authority of a passage in the EdJaratndJcara, which 
was written in 1542. " On the death of the great King Wikkrama 
Bahu III., who became king in the city of Peradeni Nuwara, the 
Minister Alaghakkon, born of the lofty race of the Giriwansa, became 
the great King Bhuvaneka Bahu V., attained royal state in the city of 
Gampola, and went to the world of the gods.'* — Rdjaratndkara (printed 
edition), p. 49. 
The Mahdwmisa, the portion of which dealing with this period was 
written in 1757, apparently supports this statement. MudaliyarL. C. 
Wijayasinha has rendered the passage as follows (vide Wijayasi^ha's 
Mahdwansa^ c. XCI., vv. 1-4) : — 
(1) " And after the death of (Bhuvaneka Bahu IV.) there reigned 
two kings in that selfsame city (Ga^gasiripura), namely, Parakrama 
Bahu V. and the wise Yikkrama Bahu III. (2) Now, in the time of 
the King Vikkrama Bahu there (3) was a mighty prince of great 
wisdom, Alagakkonara by (4) name, and he dwelt in the beautiful and 
famous city of Peradoni, which is on the banks of the river Mahoru- 
ganga. And he was endued with majesty and faith and such like 
virtues, and desired greatly to promote the welfare of the church and 
the kingdom." 
The passage may be more literally rendered : — 
" After the death of {so rdjo) that distinguished king (i.e., Bhuva- 
neka Bahu IV.) there lived in that same city two kings, Parakrama 
Bahu V. and the learned Wikkrama Bahu III. Thereafter in the fair 
and delightful city on the banks of the Mahaweli-ganga, renowned 
under the name of Peradeni Nuwara, and in the days of Wikkrama 
Bahu the king, the distinguished (so) Alagakkonara, born of the lofty 
race of the Giriwansa, a man of great understanding, endowed with 
majesty and faith and such like virtues, became Prabhuraja. He was 
exceeding mighty, and desired to promote the welfare of the church 
and the kingdom." 
Mudaliyar L. C. Wijayasinha translates Prahhiirdja merely by 
" prince," omits the words " of the Giriwansa," and has missed the 
signii&cance of the word so, which is used here in the sense of " distin- 
guished " or " illustrious," qualifying Alagakkonara as ille is in Latin, 
and not as a relative pronoun, meaning " who " or " that," to refer to 
Bhuvaneka Bujoj (vide Childers' Pali Dictionary, under so). So is simi- 
larly used in v.l, so Bhuvaneka Bujo, where it refers to no previous noun, 
and this has been realized by the Mudaliyar. Perhaps a reminiscence 
of the Rdjaratndkara made the learned translator of the Mahdwansa 
adopt this rendering and omit to notice the fact that Alakeswara 
belonged to the Giriwansa, while Bhuvaneka Bahu V. was a member 
