Sirimā draft

Sirimā 01. Sirimā Thera. He was born in the family of a householder of Sāvatthī and was called Sirimā on account of the unfailing success of his family. His younger brother was Sirivaḍḍha. They were both present when the Buddha accepted Jetavana, and, struck by his majesty, they entered the Saṅgha. Sirivaḍḍha, though possessed of no special attainments, received great honour from the laity and recluses, but Sirimā was little honoured. Nevertheless, exercising calm and insight, he soon won Arahant-ship. Ordinary monks and novices continued to disparage him, and the Thera had to blame them for their faulty judgment. Sirivaḍḍha, inspired by this, himself became an Arahant.

In the time of Padumuttara Buddha, before the Buddha’s appearance in the world, Sirimā was an ascetic, named Devala, with a large following, and, having learnt the power of the Buddha through a study of the science of prognostication, he built a sand Thūpa, to which he paid homage in the name of past Buddhas. The Buddha was born in the world, his birth being accompanied by various omens. The ascetic showed these to his pupils, and, having made them eager to see the Buddha, died, and was reborn in the Brahma world. Later, he appeared before them, inspiring them to greater exertions (Thag.vss. 159-60; Thag­a.i.279f).

He is evidently identical with Puḷinuppādaka Thera of the Apadāna. Ap.ii.426.

Sirimā 02. Mother of Sumana Buddha. Her husband was Sudatta. Bv.v.21; Ja.i.34.

Sirimā 03. Mother of Phussa Buddha and wife of Jayasena. Bv.xix.14; Ja.i.41.

Sirimā 04. A lay woman, one of the chief patrons of Revata Buddha. Bv.vi.23.

Sirimā 05. Wife of Anomadassī Buddha before his renunciation. Bv.viii.19.

Sirimā 06. One of the chief lay women supporters of Sumedha Buddha. Bv.xii.25.

Sirimā 07. One of the chief lay women supporters of Dīpaṅkara Buddha. Bv.ii.215.

Sirimā 08. One of the chief lay women supporters of Vipassī Buddha. Bv.xx.30.

Sirimā 09. One of the chief lay women supporters of Vessabhū Buddha. Bv.xxii.25.

Sirimā 10. One of the palaces occupied by Vipassī Buddha in his last lay life. Bv.xx.24.

Sirimā 11. One of the palaces occupied by Maṅgala Buddha in his last lay life. Bv­a.116.

Sirimā 12. A courtesan of Rājagaha and younger sister of Jīvaka. She was once employed by Uttarā (Nandamātā) to take her place with her husband (Sumana) while Uttarā herself went away in order to indulge in acts of piety. During this time Sirimā tried to injure Uttarā, on account of a misunderstanding, but on realizing her error, she begged forgiveness both of Uttarā, and, at the latter’s suggestion, of the Buddha (the details of this incident are given s.v. Uttarā Nandamātā). At the conclusion of a sermon preached by the Buddha in Uttarā’s house, Sirimā became a Sotāpanna. From that day onwards she gave alms daily to eight monks in her house.

A monk in a monastery, three leagues away, having heard of the excellence of Sirimā’s alms and of her extraordinary beauty from a visiting monk, decided to go and see her. Having obtained a ticket for alms, he went to her house, but Sirimā was ill, and her attendants looked after the monks. When the meal had been served she was brought into the dining hall to pay her respects to the monks. The lustful monk at once fell in love with her and was unable to eat. That same day Sirimā died. The Buddha gave instructions that her body should not be burnt, but laid in the charnel ground, protected from birds and beasts. When putrefaction had set in, the king proclaimed that all citizens, on penalty of a fine, should gaze on Sirimā’s body. The Buddha, too, went with the monks, the lustful monk accompanying them. The Buddha made the king proclaim, with beating of the drum, that anyone who would pay a thousand could have Sirimā’s body. There was no response. The price was gradually lowered to one eighth of a penny. Yet no one came forward, even when the body was offered for nothing. The Buddha addressed the monks, pointing out how even those who would have paid one thousand to spend a single night with Sirimā would not now take her as a gift. Such was the passing nature of beauty. The lustful monk became a Sotāpanna (Dhp­a.iii.104f.; Vv-a.74ff).

Buddhaghosa says (Snp­a.i.244f, 253f) that Sirimā was Sālavatī’s daughter, and succeeded to her mother’s position as courtezan. After death, Sirimā was born in the Yāma world as the wife of Suyāma. When the Buddha was speaking to the monks at her cremation, she visited the spot with five hundred chariots. Janapadakaḷyānī Nandā, who at that time was also a nun, was present, and when the Buddha preached the Kāyavicchandanikasutta (q.v.) she became an Arahant, while Sirimā became an Anāgāmī.

The Vimānavatthu (pp.78f., 86) gives the same story, adding that Vaṅgīsa was also present at the preaching of the sermon, and, having obtained the Buddha’s permission, questioned Sirimā and made her reveal her identity. Here Sirimā is said to have been born in the Nimmānaratī-world, and no mention is made of her becoming an Anāgāmī; while the lustful monk is said to have become an Arahant. Sirimā is mentioned in a list of eminent upāsikās (AN.iv.347; AN­a.ii.791). Eighty-four thousand persons realized the truth after listening to the Buddha’s preaching at the cremation of Sirimā. Mil.350.