The A?varāja story relates the adventures of a caravan of merchants shipwrecked on an island of demonesses and rescued by a fl ying horse, the a?varāja, ‘king of horses’. The Siṃhala story continues this narrative to include the chief merchant,Siṃhala, being followed home by a demoness, who tries to get him back before seducing and eating the king. Siṃhala is crowned king and invades the island. Each story has many versions, both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna. This paper examines five key versions: birth story with ‘ocean of saṃsāra’ metaphor; political and quasi-historical narrative of the invasion of Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese; warning that ‘all women are demonesses’; glorifi cation of the bodhisattva Avalokite?vara; and Newar warning of the dangers of travelling to Tibet. Each version reveals some of the issues that its community is preoccupied with.
