• Vihāradevī

Wife of Kākavannatissa and mother of Dutthagāmanī and Saddhātissa. She was the daughter of Tissa, king of Kalyānī and was cast adrift in a boat on the ocean in order to appease the sea gods in their wrath against Tissa for having killed an arahant. Her name was Devī, but because she came ashore near the monastery of Tolaka (?) (This is probably the correct reading of the name; see MT. 432) she was called Vihāradevī (Mhv.Xxii.20ff). When with her first child, she longed to eat a honeycomb one usabha in length and to drink the water in which had been washed the sword used in cutting off the head of Nandasārathī, chief of Elāra's warriors (Mhv.42ff.; MT. 441). When she was the second time with child, she wished to lie under a campaka tree in bloom and inhale its fragrance (MT.443).

When her husband died, Saddhātissa carried her off, hoping thus to win the kingdom, but she was later restored to Dutthagāmanī. She was wise and practical and helped in Dutthagāmanī's campaigns, especially in the capture of Ambatittha and Anurādhapura (Mhv.Xxv.9, 55). We know nothing of her later history.