Abhaya draft

Abhaya 01. Abhaya Thera. An Arahant. He was a Brahmin of Sāvatthī who, having heard the Buddha preach, entered the Saṅgha. One day, while going to the village for alms, he was disturbed in mind by an attractively dressed woman, but he recollected himself and developed insight (Thag.v.98; Thag­a.i.201-2).

In a former birth he had met Sumedha Buddha in the forest and had offered him a wreath of salala-flowers. Nineteen kappas ago he was born sixteen times as king, his name being Nimmita. He is probably to be identified with the Thera Vataṁsakiya of the Apadāna (i.174).

Abhaya 02. Commonly called Abhayarājakumāra. He was the son of King Bimbisāra and of Padumavatī, the belle of Ujjenī. When the boy was seven years old, his mother sent him to the king and he grew up with the boys of the court. He first came under the influence of the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, who taught him a dilemma to set the “Samaṇa Gotama.” In the Buddha’s reply, the prince recognised the defeat of the Nigaṇṭha and the supreme Awakening of the Exalted One, whose disciple he then became. Later, when the king died, Abhaya was disturbed in mind, and entered the Saṅgha. On the occasion of the preaching of the Tālacchiggalūpamasutta (probably the same as SN.v.455 and MN.iii.169), he became a Stream-enterer and afterwards attained Arahant-ship (Thag.26; Thag­a.i.83-4 also Thag­a.39. In Thag­a. his mother’s name does not appear). The Abhayarājakumārasutta (MN.i.392ff) contains the dilemma episode. It also mentions that at the time the prince had a little son of whom he was evidently very fond.

In the Saṁyuttanikāya (SN.v.126-8) he is stated as having visited Gotama Buddha at Gijjhakūṭa and discussed with him the views of Pūraṇa Kassapa. The Buddha teaches him about the seven bojjhaṅgas.

In the Vinaya (i.269), Abhaya is mentioned as having discovered Jīvaka Komārabhacca lying on a dung-heap (cast there by the orders of his mother, the courtesan Sālāvatī), and having brought him up.

The Aṅguttara Commentary (i.216), on the other hand, says that Abhaya was Jīvaka’s natural father.

As a reward for quelling a disturbance on the frontier, Abhaya was given a skilled nautch girl by his father, Bimbisāra. For seven days he enjoyed her company to the exclusion of all else, but on the seventh day she died. Disconsolate, he sought comfort from the Buddha, who assuaged his grief (Dhp­a.iii.166-67; cf. the story of Santati).

The Apadāna (ii.502-4) gives the story of his past. He had been a Brahmin of Haṁsavatī, skilled in the Vedas; having heard the Buddha Padumuttara preach, he was converted and joined the Saṅgha, where he spent his time singing the greatness of the Buddha.

The Theragāthā Commentary (i.83-4) quotes, in his story, some verses in the Apadāna, which in the Apadāna itself are ascribed to a Thera Ketakapupphiya. They state that he offered a ketaka-flower to Vipassī Buddha, Perhaps Ketakapupphiya was the title of another Thera, whose real name was Abhaya, and hence the stories were confused (ii.449-50).

See also Abhaya (3).

Abhaya 03. A Licchavī of Vesālī generally (e.g., GS.i.200, n.2; ii.211, n.2; KS.v.107, n.2.), but wrongly, identified with Abhayarājakumāra. On one occasion he comes with another Licchavī, Paṇḍita Kumāraka, to Ānanda in the Kūṭāgārasālā in Vesālī, and discusses with him certain views held by Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta. Ānanda teaches him the Buddha’s three ways of purification (For details see AN.i.220-2). On another occasion he visits the Buddha, again at Vesālī, with the Licchavī Sāḷha; the latter asks the Buddha’s views on purity of morals and self-mortification. The Buddha tells him of the Ariyan Way and explains its implications by various similes (See AN.ii.202-4). We are not told that either of them became converts on this occasion.

Abhaya 04. A Thera. He and Tissadatta Thera are mentioned together, in several Commentaries (DN­a.iii.786; MN­a.i.234; AN­a.i.273; Vibh­a.275) as examples of persons worthy of being associated with, because of their possession of ready attention (upaṭṭhitasati). This perhaps refers to Abhaya (1) or, more probably, to one of the three Abhayas mentioned with their titles in the Dīgha Commentary on the Mahā Parinibbānasutta (DN­a.ii.530: Mahā Gatimba Abhaya, Dīghabhāṇaka Abhaya and Tipiṭaka Cūḷābhaya) in its exegesis on the word upaṭṭhitasati.

Abhaya 05. King of Ceylon (then known as Ojadīpa) in the time of Kakusandha Buddha. His capital was Abhayanagara. Vin-a.i.86; Mhv.xv.59.

Abhaya 06. King of Ceylon (414-394 B.C.). He was the eldest son of Paṇḍuvāsudeva and reigned in Upatissagāma. Later, when the usurper Paṇḍukābhaya came to the throne, he killed all his other nine uncles, sparing only Abhaya, because the latter had befriended both him and his mother, Ummādacittā (it was he who prevented Cittā from being killed at birth, Mhv.ix.3). Abhaya was made Nagaraguttika (Guardian of the City), administering the government by night; he was the first holder of that office. Mhv.ix.3, 9; x.52, 80, 105.

Abhaya 07. Personal attendant of Atthadassī Buddha. Bv.xv.19.

Abhaya 08. Eldest son of King Muṭasīva of Ceylon. He renounced the succession in favour of his younger brother, Tissa, who later became known as Devānampiyatissa (Mhv­ṭ.302).

Abhaya 09. Father of Khañjadeva. Mhv.xxiii.78.

Abhaya 10. A monk, chief of the ascetics who dwelt in the Pañcapariveṇamūla monastery. He was sent by King Kittisirimegha (q.v.) to fetch the king’s son (Cv.lxvii.61).

Abhaya 11. Author of the mahāṭīkā on Saddatthabhedacintā (Gv.63). He was a native of Pagan, and is also credited with the authorship of the Sambhandhacintāṭīkā. Bode, 22, and n.8.

Abhaya 12. A brigand, commonly called Cora Abhaya (q.v.).

Abhaya 13. (Abhayupassaya). A nunnery built by King Mahā Sena. Mhv.xxxvii.43.

Abhaya 14. Nephew of Khallāṭanāga. Mhv­ṭ.444.

Abhaya 15. Called Ābhidhammika Abhaya. A monk of Vālikapiṭṭhi Vihāra (q.v.). For others named Abhaya see under their titles, e.g. Mahā Gatimba, Dīghabhāṇaka, Meghavaṇṇa, etc.

Abhayā. A Therī. She belonged to a family in Ujjenī and was the playmate of Abhayamātā (Padumavatī). When the latter joined the Saṅgha, Abhayā, too, left the world. As she was meditating in Sītavana, the Buddha sent forth a ray of glory to encourage and help her; she thereupon became an Arahant (Thīg­a.33-4).

Two verses are attributed to her in the Therīgāthā (35, 46).

In the time of Sikhī Buddha she was born in a noble family and became the chief queen of the Buddha’s father, Aruṇavā. One day she offered to the Buddha some lotuses which the king had given her. As a result, in later births her body was the colour of the lotus and bore the perfume of the lotus.

Seventy times she reigned as queen of heaven and she was chief queen of sixty-three cakkavattis (Thīg­a. loc.cit.). She is evidently to be identified with Sattuppalamālikā of the Apadāna (ii.517-18).