This episode is a reading of The Coming of Vijaya from Chapter VI of the Mahavamsa, the second-earliest chronicle of Sri Lanka. This is the second version of the story of Prince Vijaya—his banishment and journey from the Indian subcontinent and his arrival to the Island of Lanka.

The first version can be found in Myths & Samsara, Episode 2 | Vijaya's Story | Reading of Book IX of the Dipavamsa.

This version was translated into English by Wilhelm Geiger, PhD, with assistance from Mabel Haynes Bode. Comissioned by the Pali Text Society in 1912 and titled The Mahavamsa or The Great Chronicle of Ceylon. The digitized copy can be found online.

The Dipavamsa is the earliest attempt to write a Chronicle of the Sāsana and the Kings of Sri Lanka, from earliest times up to the 5th c. A.D (1000 years after the events). The Mahavamsa is believed to have been recorded between 1000 and 1250 A.D (1500 years after the events).

This is an English reading. The language is cumbersome. My bias is to suspect both the translator of Western bias and the priesthood authors of the Mahavamsa of bias towards the reigning monarchs of the time, who wished their rule to be mandated by the existing Buddhist chronicles and their 'long-standing' relationship with the Indian mainland.

To find out more about me and why this podcast, visit https://www.dmdealwis.com/.

What’s with the masks? In this episode, we talk about their deeper meaning—how they’re used across cultures to signal fear, power, and identity, and how that symbolism carries into the story. In the world of the book, masks aren’t just props. They mark social roles, spiritual status, and lineage, shaping how characters are seen—and how they see themselves.

We also get into the larger structure behind the story: rebirth, karma, and the slow progression of characters over time. Their choices matter, across lifetimes. Patterns repeat. Some characters rise. Some fall. But all of them change.

There’s a thread about meditation too—not the modern kind, but what happens when you live without distraction. That quiet shapes the characters’ mental and emotional development, grounding their arcs across generations.

This episode is for anyone who’s into layered character work, mythology that builds over time, and stories that aren’t afraid to go deep.

This episode isn’t about religion. It’s about how stories are shaped by culture, how people interpret them, and how those interpretations keep evolving.

How does storytelling explore questions about belief, memory, and moral complexity without fixating on an answer? Drawing from Buddhist cosmology, Hindu mythology, and oral traditions of South Asia, characters' mental and spiritual states affect their setting and consequences and can lead to predestined results.

We focus on the journey of Nara Simha, an immortal being who moves from a sterile immortal plane to the human realm, which is full of sensory and emotional intensity.

Can we imagine how karma works over lifetimes? How characters carry the consequences for their choices, and how people are remembered—sometimes worshipped—after death.

Gods and supernatural beings in mythology are allowed to be flawed. How does that carry through to storytelling?

We also discuss how real-world systems and social dynamics can shape fantasy worlds in subtle and direct ways.

Special thanks to our host and co-producer, Lisa G. For an audio-visual experience, check out the Myths & Samsara Podcast on YouTube. D.M. De Alwis is an author of Historical Fantasy, find out more at www.dmdealwis.com.