6] This implies that there was still some doubt as to
what was scripture and that the canon of the Mahavihara was not
universally accepted. The Vetulyas, of whom we heard in the third
century A.D., reappear in the seventh when they are said to have been
supported by a provincial governor but not by the king Aggabodhi[87]
and still more explicitly in the reign of Parakrama Bahu (c. 1160). He
endeavoured to reconcile to the Mahavihara "the Abhayagiri brethren
who separated themselves from the time of king Vattagamani
Abhaya and the Jetavana brethren that had parted since the days of
Mahasena and taught the Vetulla Pitaka and other writings as the
words of Buddha, which indeed were not the words of Buddha."[88] So it
appears that another recension of the canon was in existence for many
centuries.

Dhatusena, though depicted in the Mahavamsa as a most orthodox
monarch, embellished the Abhayagiri monastery and was addicted to
sumptuous ceremonies in honour of images and relics. Thus he made an
image of Mahinda, dedicated a shrine and statue to Metteyya and
ornamented the effigies of Buddha with the royal jewels. In an image
chamber (apparently at the Abhayagiri) he set up figures of
Bodhisattvas,[89] by which we should perhaps understand the previous
births of Gotama. He was killed by his son and Sinhalese history
degenerated into a complicated story of crime and discord, in which
the weaker faction generally sought the aid of the Tamils. These
latter became more and more powerful and with their advance Buddhism
tended to give place to Hinduism. In the eighth century the court
removed from Anuradhapura to Pollannaruwa, in order to escape from the
pressure of the Tamils, but the picture of anarchy and decadence grows
more and more gloomy until the accession of Vijaya Bahu in 1071 who
succeeded in making himself king of all Ceylon. Though he recovered
Anuradhapura it was not made the royal residence either by himself or
by his greater successor, Parakrama Bahu.[90] This monarch, the most
eminent in the long list of Ceylon's sovereigns, after he had
consolidated his power, devoted himself, in the words of Tennent, "to
the two grand objects of royal solicitude, religion and agriculture."
He was lavish in building monasteries, temples and libraries, but not
less generous in constructing or repairing tanks and works of
irrigation. In the reign of Vijaya Bahu hardly any duly ordained monks
were to be found,[91] the succession havi