Kassapa17
PersonA son of King Sena II of Sri Lanka who served as crown prince ruling Dakkhiṇadesa under his predecessor before succeeding him as king, remembered as a learned ruler to whom a Sinhalese commentary on the Dhammapada Commentary is attributed.
Son of Sena II. The king gave him a special share of his own revenues and a share of the extraordinary revenues of the island (Cv.li.18, 20). Two wives of his are mentioned: Saṅghā and Senā (Cv.li.18, 92). He became Yuvarāja under Kassapa IV and ruled over Dakkhiṇadesa (Cv.lii.1), and, at the death of the king, he became ruler of Sri Lanka as Kassapa V (probably 913-23 A.C.) (Cv.lii.37 ff). He is sometimes referred to as the son of the twice-consecrated queen (dvayābhisekajāta), his mother being Saṅghā, daughter of Kittaggabodhi (1) and Devā. In inscriptions, Kassapa is referred to as Abhaya-Silāmegha-vaṇṇa (Cv.Trs.i.165, n.3). He was evidently a learned man, and a Sinhalese Commentary to the Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā is attributed to him (Edited by D. B. Jayatilaka, Colombo 1933). He had one wife, Vajirā (Cv.lii.62), a second, Devā (Cv.lii.64), and a third, Rājinī (Cv.lii.67). He had a son, Siddhattha, who died young, and another, who was given the title of Sakkasenāpati. The latter led an expedition to help the Paṇḍu king against the King of Coḷa, but he died of plague in Coḷa (Cv.lii.72-8).
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