Son of Asoka and brother of Saṅghamittā. He was fourteen at the time of the coronation of his father and was ordained at the age of twenty, his preceptor being Moggaliputtatissa. The ordination was performed by Mahādeva, while Majjhantika recited the kammavācā. Mahinda became an Arahant on the day of his ordination.¹ He spent three years in study of the Doctrine under his preceptor, and, later, when the latter retired to Ahogaṅgā, he left his one thousand disciples for seven years under the care of Mahinda.² When the Third Council was held, Mahinda had been a monk for twelve years and was charged with the mission of converting Sri Lanka. However, he delayed for six months, until Devānampiyatissa became king. He then went to Dakkhiṇāgiri and from there to his birthplace, Vedisagiri, staying in Vedisagiri-vihāra and visiting his mother, the queen Devī. Still one more month he tarried, teaching the Doctrine to Bhaṇḍuka, and then, on the full-moon day of Jeṭṭha, at the request of Sakka, he went, in company with Iṭṭhiya, Uttiya, Sambala, Bhaddasāla, Sumanasāmaṇera and Bhaṇḍuka, to Sri Lanka, where he converted Devānampiyatissa by teaching him the Cūḷahatthipadopama Sutta. Later, on the same day, he taught the Samacitta Sutta. The next day, at the request of the king, he visited Anurādhapura, travelling through the air and alighting on the site of the (later) Paṭhamacetiya. After a meal at the palace he taught the Petavatthu, the Vimānavatthu and the Sacca Saṃyutta, after listening to which, Anulā and her five hundred companions became Stream-winners. Later, in the elephant stables, he taught the Devadūta Sutta to the assembled people, and, in the evening, the Bālapaṇḍita Sutta, in Nandanavana. The night he spent in Mahāmeghavana, and on the next day the king gave the park to Mahinda, on behalf of the Order.

Mahinda pointed out to the king various spots destined to be connected with the growth of the Buddha’s religion (sāsana) in Sri Lanka, offering flowers at the same, and at the site of the (later) Mahā Thūpa, he described the visits of the Four Buddhas of this world-cycle to Sri Lanka. On the fourth day he taught the Anamatagga Saṃyutta in the Nandanavana and helped the king in defining the boundaries of what later became the Mahāvihāra. On the fifth day he taught the Khajjanīya Sutta, on the sixth the Gomayapiṇḍī Sutta, and on the seventh the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

The pāsāda first built for the residence of Mahinda was called Kāḷapāsāda pariveṇa. Other buildings associated with him were the Suṇhāta pariveṇa, the Dīghacaṅka pariveṇa, the Phalagga pariveṇa, the Therāpassaya pariveṇa, the Marugaṇa-pariveṇa, and the Dīghasandasenāpati-pariveṇa.

Mahinda stayed in Mahāmeghavana for twenty-six days, and on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Āsāḷha, after having taught the Mahāppamāda Sutta, he went to Missakapabbata, to spend the Rains Retreat (vassa). The king had sixty-eight rock-cells built in the mountain and gave them to the theras on the full-moon day. On the same day Mahinda ordained sixty-two monks, who attained Arahantship, at Tumbarumālaka. After the full-moon day of Kaṭṭikā, at the conclusion of the pavāraṇa ceremony, Mahinda held a consultation with Devānampiyatissa and sent Sumanasāmaṇera to Pāṭaliputta to bring the relics of the Buddha from Dhammāsoka and other relics from Sakka. These relics were brought and placed on the Missakapabbata, which from then onwards was called Cetiyagiri. The collar bone from among the relics was deposited in the Thūpārāma (q.v.), which was built for the purpose. It was at Mahinda’s suggestion that Devānampiyatissa sent an embassy headed by Mahā-Ariṭṭha to Asoka, with a request that Saṅghamittā should come to Sri Lanka with a branch of the Bodhi tree. The request was granted, and Saṅghamittā arrived in Sri Lanka with the branch. Devānampiyatissa, during the later part of his reign, acting on the advice of Mahinda, built numerous vihāras, each one league from the other; among them were Issarasamaṇaka and Vessagiri.

Mahinda is said to have taught the Commentaries to the Tipiṭaka in the Singhalese language, after translating them from the Pāḷi.³

The Samantapāsādikā ⁴ mentions a recital held by Mahinda under the presidency of Mahā-Ariṭṭha.

Mahinda continued to live for the first eight years of the reign of Uttiya, who succeeded Devānampiyatissa. Then, at the age of sixty, he died on the eighth day of the bright half of Assayuja, in Cetiyagiri, where he was spending the rainy season. His body was brought in procession, with every splendor and honour, to the Mahāvihāra and placed in the Pañhambamālaka, where homage was paid to it for a whole week. It was then burnt on a pyre of fragrant wood on the east of the Therānambandhamālaka, to the left of the site of the Mahā Thūpa. A cetiya was erected on that spot over half the remains, the other half being distributed in thūpas built on Cetiyagiri and elsewhere. The place of cremation was called Isibhūmaṅgana, and for many centuries the remains of holy men who lived within a distance of three leagues were cremated there.⁵

Later, King Sirimeghavaṇṇa had a life size image of Mahinda made of gold; this he took to the Ambatthala-cetiya. For eight days a festival was held in its honour; on the ninth day the image was taken from Ambatthala, carried by the king himself at the head of a large and splendid procession, and placed for three days in Sotthiyākara-vihāra. On the twelfth day it was taken with all splendours to Anurādhapura, to the Mahāvihāra, where it was left for three months in the courtyard of the Bodhi tree. From there it was removed to the inner city and deposited in a magnificent image house to the south east of the palace. An endowment was set up for the annual performance of ceremonies in honour of the image, and this custom was continued for many centuries. The image was brought from the inner town to the Mahāvihāra on the pavāraṇā day, and every year an offering was made on the thirteenth day.⁶

Dhātusena had the image brought to the place where Mahinda’s body was cremated and there held a great festival,⁷ while Aggabodhi I set up the image on the banks of the reservoir called Mahindataṭa, and ensured that the special task of carrying the image to the dyke of the reservoir was the task of the Taracchas.⁸