Mahā Ariṭṭha untranslated

Mahā Ariṭṭha. Nephew of Devānampiyatissa. He was the king’s chief minister, and led the embassy which was sent to Asoka soon after Devānampiyatissa ascended the throne (Mhv.xi.20). Asoka conferred on him the title of Senāpati (Mhv.xi.25). It is said that he had fifty-five elder and younger brothers who all joined the Saṅgha at Cetiyagiri at the end of a sermon by Mahinda on the Vassūpanāyikakhandha (Mhv.xvi.10). This was before the commencement of the rainy season, but elsewhere (Mhv.xviii.3; perhaps here we have to deal with two different traditions) it is said that Ariṭṭha was sent during the rainy season – to Pāṭaliputta to fetch Saṅghamittā and the Bodhi-tree from the court of Asoka, and that, he agreed to go only on condition that he should join the Saṅgha on his return. The king consented, and, his mission successfully concluded, he entered the Saṅgha with five hundred others and attained Arahant-ship (Mhv.xix.5, 12, 66). He died in the reign of Uttiya (Mhv.xx.54).

The Samantapāsādikā gives an account of a recital (saṅgīti) held in Ceylon by Mahā Ariṭṭha (Vin-a.i.102ff). The scene was the pariveṇa of the minister Meghavaṇṇābhaya in the Thūpārāma, where sixty-eight thousand monks were assembled. A seat, facing south, was provided for Mahinda, Ariṭṭha’s seat, the dhammāsana, facing north. Ariṭṭha occupied this seat at Mahinda’s request, and sixty-eight Mahā Theras, led by Mahinda, sat around him. Devānampiyatissa’s younger brother, Mattābhaya Thera, with five hundred others, were present in order to learn the Vinaya, the king also being present. When Ariṭṭha began his recital of the Vinaya, many miracles occurred. This was on the first day of the pavāraṇa ceremony in the month of Kattika.

Mahā Ariṭṭha’s chief disciples were Tissadatta, Kāḷasumana and Dīghasumana (q.v.).