1: The Book of the Ones
1. Obsession of the Mind - 248–257
- fdg sc © Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi (More copyright information)
1(248) "Bhikkhus, the foremost of my male lay followers in being the first to go for refuge are the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika."[n.129] Their encounter with the Buddha soon after his enlightenment is related at Vin I 4,1–27. They are said to have been from the Ukkala country. They provided the Buddha with his first meal after his enlightenment and went for refuge to the Buddha and the Dhamma (since the Saṅgha did not yet exist). Mp explains that the Buddha gave them some hairs from his head, which they brought to their native city and deposited in a cetiya (memorial shrine) that they built to accommodate them. |
(249) " … among donors is the householder Sudatta Anāthapiṇḍika."[n.130] For a detailed account of his life and activities, see Nyanaponika and Hecker 2003, chap. 9. |
(250) " … among speakers on the Dhamma is the householder Citta of Macchikāsaṇḍa."[n.131] He is the chief figure in SN chap. 41. For a biographical sketch, see Nyanaponika and Hecker 2003: 365–72. |
(251) " … among those who make use of the four means of attracting and sustaining others is Hatthaka of Āḷavī."[n.132] Mp says that he was the son of the king of the state of Āḷavī. On hearing the Buddha teach he became a non-returner. In AN he engages the Buddha in conversation at SN 3:35 and, with Citta, is held up as a model lay follower at 2:132 and 4:176 §3 as well as at SN 17:23, II 235,20–25. He is praised by the Buddha at AN8.23 and AN8.24. After his rebirth as a deity, he comes to visit the Buddha at AN3.127. The four means of attracting and sustaining others (saṅgahavatthu) are at AN4.32. |
(252) " … among those who give what is excellent is Mahānāma the Sakyan."[n.133] He was a Sakyan prince, the elder brother of Anuruddha and a cousin of the Buddha. He often engages in discussions with the Buddha and other bhikkhus. In AN he appears in AN3.73, AN3.126, AN6.10, AN8.25, AN11.11, and AN11.12. |
(253) " … among those who give what is agreeable is the householder Ugga of Vesālī."[n.134] He is praised by the Buddha in AN8.21 and speaks about the agreeable things that he offers in AN5.44. |
(254) " … among attendants of the Saṅgha is the householder Uggata."[n.135] From the account in Mp, he seems to be identical with Ugga of Hatthigāma, praised by the Buddha in AN8.22. |
(255) " … among those with unwavering confidence is Sūra Ambaṭṭha."[n.136] Mp relates a story of how Māra came to visit him in the guise of the Buddha to try to shake his confidence. Sūra, however, at once realized the deceit and exposed his visitor as Māra. |
(256) " … among those with confidence in persons is Jīvaka Komārabhacca."[n.137] He was court physician to King Bimbisāra as well as to the Buddha and the Saṅgha. In AN he appears only in AN8.26. The story of his early career and his service to the Buddha is told at Vin I 268–81. On the expression "foremost of those with confidence in persons" (puggalappasannānaṁ aggo), Mp offers merely a word resolution. The intended sense, I assume, is that his confidence was based largely on personal confidence in the Buddha rather than on inquiry into the Dhamma. |
(257) " … among those who have trust is the householder Nakulapitā."[n.138] According to Mp, he and his wife Nakulamātā had been the Buddha’s parents in five hundred past lives and thus they still regarded him as their son. This, I believe, was what qualified them to be "foremost in trust" (vissāsakānaṁ aggo). In AN they appear together in AN4.55 and AN6.16. A brief biographical sketch of the couple is given in Nyanaponika and Hecker 2003: 375–78. |