Reading the Mahāvamsa

This is a fresh look at the Mahavamsa. Showing how imaginative practices of narratives-shape-shifting nagas, the imagery of light, and the veneration of relics-have shaped Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Kristin Scheible demonstrates that the Mahavamsa sought to construct and inspire a community of readers by prompting an aesthetic and religious response. Her literary sensibility illuminates this perceptive study. -- Maria Heim, author of The Forerunner of All Things: Buddhaghosa on Mind, Intention, and Agency Scheible views the Mahavamsa as a piece of religious literature, in contrast to other scholars who have generally seen it through a historian's lens, or who have read it from a political or ethnic perspective as something intended to bolster notions of kingship and Sinhalese nationalism. Clearly written, solidly grounded in Buddhist scholarship, well attuned to theory in the fields of history, literature, and religion, and just plain insightful, this book is inspiring not only for what it has to say about an important Sri Lankan Buddhist text but more generally for our study of Buddhist literature as a whole. -- John S. Strong, author of Buddhisms: An Introduction This groundbreaking book successfully provides a corrective to the study of Buddhism and Sri Lanka by going beyond the received, common interpretations of the great chronicle text, the Mahavamsa. -- Bradley Clough, author of Early Indian and Theravada Buddhism: Soteriological Controversy and Diversity [An] excellent and timely book. -- Justin Fifield Reading Religion