Soothsayers, Oracles and clairvoyants who changed the course of history of the nation

Soothsayers, Oracles and clairvoyants who changed the course of history of the nation

History of our nation had been full of soothsayers and prophesies. The beginning itself starts with a prophesy; Sinhabahus mother’s parents were told by soothsayers  when she was  just a  princes that she will be a bad girl and one day she will cohabitate a lion. Now she tries to live up to the prophesy,   run away from palace and joins a inter-country trade caravan in disguise.  The caravan, is attacked by a gang of bandits I suppose and whilst traders run away, the runaway princes runs towards probably the gang leader and befriends him.

The bandit takes the princes and a nation is born. Three generations down, king Panduwasdewa is told that his daughter’s son will kill his uncles and become the king. So everybody gets together and setup the stage for that to happen. At the end the prince raises an army kill 8 out of his ten uncles and make the other two, one, the night king and mayor of the capitol and the other a provincial ruler of province called Giri.  If the prophesy was not made perhaps Pandukabaya wouldn’t have been sent out, trained secretly by Brahmin Pandu ,and given money to fund the army . So it was not the prophesy , it is the subject actors trying to make the prophesy true.

Then few generations down prince  vatta gamini abhaya kills the usurper who killed his brother , the previous king to make himself king  but  he doesn’t even have few months to consolidate his reign before receiving a letter from a pretender called Thissa. Apparently this Thissa has been told by a soothsayer that one day he will become king and he doesn’t want to wait until prophesy takes place, he raises an army and sends a letter to king asking for peaceful transfer of power.

Reigning king however managed to get rid of him because coincidently an Indian invasion takes place exactly at that time. Otherwise this prophesy would have even prevented building of Abhayagiriya and also writing of three pitaka at mathale because both these events and many other buildings , including Dambulla temple was built by king Vatta gamini abhaya.

And another strange prophesy changes the history right after the reign of king Yasalalaka Thissa , of Suba saha Yasa fame. In the middle of his period in office , he was told that a person called Vasabha will kill him and usurp  his kingdom. He doesn’t waste time although he has come into this kingship through a joke. He orders everybody in his kingdom with the name of Vasabha to be killed. One Vasaba, who lives in the household of king’s army commander escapes killing spree and raises an army. He defeats the king and marries the widow of his uncle, the army commander who falls in the final battle. Even here, if king was not killing all the Vasabas , this vasaba  wouldn’t have escaped and raise an army.

There are many more examples like sirisangabo chapter where Prophesies are changing history not because they are true but because somebody taking them seriously and trying to make them, take place. Sounds familiar?