The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

47
II. How Far Historical in Character?
Maṇimēkhalai, as was already remarked, is a poem first and foremost;
whatever subject is actually brought into it is therefore treated
poetically. That must be carefully borne in mind in examining it for
any purpose that one may have in view. As an epic poem it sets before
itself the didactic purpose of enforcing the [13] superiority of
Buddhism as a religion both as conducive to good conduct in this life
and happiness in the life hereafter. The fact that it is primarily a
poetical work, and the feature that its object is the exaltation of
Buddhism, neither of them, prima facie holds out promise of anything
historical being found in the work. Nevertheless the poem could
contain, and does contain, much that may be considered historical
provided the material is used on principles of sound criticism. To
complicate matters still further the poet indulges his fancy in the
introduction of the supernatural in the poem as well he might in
poetry of this character. This undoubtedly adds to the difficulty, but
can hardly be held to invalidate the use of such historical material as
may be found in it. The introduction of the miraculous and the
supernatural is an essential part of works on Buddhism even of a
professedly historical character. Poetical use of the miraculous does
not make it anymore efficacious in transforming the historical into
the fabulous. The actual difficulty is to discriminate judiciously what
is historical from that which is unhistorical in the whole work.
The scene of the poem is laid in the Tamil land, and, by design or
because the actual subject forced it on him, the author has to deal with
the Cōḻa and the Cēra country and the town of Kāñcī in the course of
the poem. The companion work leaves out Kāñcī and takes instead
Madura and the Pāṇḍyan country. Why should the poets do this? As