Sumana untranslated

Sumana 01. Sumana Buddha. The fourth of the twenty-four Buddhas. He was born in Mekhala, his father being the Khattiya Sudatta and his mother Sirimā. For nine thousand years he lived as a householder in three palaces – Canda, Sucanda and Vataṁsa (Bv­a.125 calls them Nārivaḍḍhana, Somavaḍḍhana and Iddhivaḍḍhana) – his wife being Vataṁsikā and his son Anupama. He left the world on an elephant, practised austerities for ten months, and attained enlightenment under a Nāga tree, being given a meal of milk-rice by Anupamā, daughter of Anupama-seṭṭhi of Anoma, and grass for his seat by the Ājīvaka Anupama. His first sermon was preached in the Mekhala Park, and among his first disciples were his step-brother Saraṇa and the Purohita’s son Bhāvitatta. His Twin miracle was performed in Sunandavatī. The Bodhisatta was a Nāga king Atula. One of the Buddha’s chief assemblies was on the occasion of his solving the questions of King Arindama on Nirodha.

Saraṇa and Bhāvitatta were his chief monks and Soṇā and Upasenā his chief nuns. Udena was his personal attendant. Varuṇa and Saraṇa were his chief lay supporters among men and Cālā and Upacālā among women. His body was ninety cubits in height, and he died at the age of ninety thousand in Aṅgārāma, where a Thūpa of four yojanas was erected over his ashes. Bv.v.1ff.; Bv­a.125f.; Ja.i.30,34,35, 40.

Sumana 02. Attendant of Padumuttara Buddha (Ja.i.37; Bv.xi.24). His eminence prompted Ānanda (Sumana in that birth) to resolve to be an attendant of some future Buddha. Thag­a.ii.122; see also Ap.i.195.

Sumana 03. Step brother of Padumuttara Buddha. He obtained, as boon from the king, the privilege of waiting on the Buddha for three months. He built in the park of Sobhana a vihāra. The park belonged to the householder Sobhana, and he built the vihāra, on land for which he gave one hundred thousand. There he entertained the Buddha and his monks. Sunanda is identified with Ānanda. Thag­a.ii.122f.; AN­a.i.160f.; SN­a.ii.168f.

Sumana 04. A pupil of Anuruddha. He represented the monks from Pāveyyaka at the Second Council. Vāsabhagāmi was his colleague. See also Sumana (8). Mhv.iv.49, 58; Dpv.iv.48; v.24; Vin.ii.305, etc.

Sumana 05. A garland-maker, given as an example of one whose acts bore fruit in this very life (Mil.115, 291, 350; cf. Dhs-a.426; Paṭis-a.498). He was Bimbisāra’s gardener, and provided the king daily with eight measures of jasmine flowers, for which he received eight pieces of money. One day, while on his way to the palace, he saw the Buddha, and threw two handfuls of flowers into the air, where they formed a canopy over the Buddha’s head. Two handfuls thrown on the right, two on the left and two behind, all remained likewise in the air and accompanied the Buddha as he walked through the city, a distance of three leagues, that all might see the miracle.

When Sumana returned home with his empty basket and told his wife what he had done, she was fearful lest the king should punish him. Going to the palace, she confessed what he had done, and asked for forgiveness for herself as she had had no part in the deed. Bimbisāra visited the Buddha and then sent for Sumana. Sumana confessed that when he offered the flowers to the Buddha he was quite prepared to lose his life. The king gave him the eightfold gift: eight female slaves, eight sets of jewels, eight thousand pieces of money, eight women from the royal harem, and eight villages.

In reply to a question by Ānanda, the Buddha said that in the future the garland-maker would become a Pacceka Buddha, Sumana. Dhp­a.ii.40f.; Khp­a.129. According to Khp­a., the Pacceka Buddha’s name will be Sumanissara.

Sumana 06. Chief lay supporter of Kassapa Buddha. DN­a.ii.424; but see Sumaṅgala (2).

Sumana 07. Sumana Thera He belonged to a Brahmin family of Kosala. His mother’s brother was an Arahant, and ordained him as soon as he grew up. Sumana soon acquired the four jhānas and fivefold aññā and, in due course, attained Arahant-ship.

Ninety-five kappas ago he gave a harītaka-fruit to a Pacceka Buddha who was ill (Thag.vss.330-4; Thag­a.i.411f). He is evidently identical with Harītakadāyaka of the Apadāna. Ap.ii.394; cf. Avś.ii. 67-70.

Sumana 08. Sumana Thera See Cūḷa Sumana (3). He is probably identical with Sumana (4), and may be identical with Sumana (7) if the uncle mentioned in connection with the latter is Anuruddha.

Thirty-one kappas ago he was a garland-maker and offered jasmine-flowers to Sikhī Buddha. Twenty-six kappas ago he was king four times, under the name of Mahā Yasa. Thag.vss.429-34; Thag­a.i.457f.

Sumana 09. Sumana Thera He is mentioned as having lived in Andhavana with Khema. Together they visited the Buddha, and, when Khema had gone away, Sumana talked with the Buddha about Arahants (AN.iii.348f). He is probably identical with Sumana (7) or (8).

Sumana 10. A seṭṭhi in the time of Padumuttara Buddha. He was the employer and, later, the friend of Annabhāra (q.v.).

Sumana 11. A householder in the time of Duṭṭhagāmaṇī Abhaya, in the village of Bhokkanta in South Ceylon. Later he lived in the village Mahā Muni, in the district of Dīghavāpi. Ubbirī was born as his daughter and was named Sumanā. Sumanā married Lakuṇṭaka Atimbara. Dhp­a.iv.50f.

Sumana 12. A seṭṭhi of Sāvatthī. He was the father of Anāthapiṇḍika and Subhūti Thera. Thag­a.i.23; AN­a.i.125, 208.

Sumana 13. A Pacceka Buddha of thirty-one kappas ago, to whom, in a previous birth, Bhalliya (Thag­a.i.49) and Bhāradvāja Thera (Thag­a.i.303; cf. Ap.ii.416) gave vallikāra-fruit.

Sumana 14. Eldest son of King Biṇḍusāra. He was killed by Asoka. Nigrodha Sāmaṇera was his son and Sumanā his wife. Mhv.v.38, 41; Vin-a.i.45.

Sumana 15. Son of Saṅghamittā and Aggibrahmā (Mhv.v.170). He joined the Saṅgha at the age of seven; even as a Sāmaṇera he was gifted with the sixfold abhiññā and accompanied Mahinda to Ceylon (Mhv.xiii.4,18). Once when he announced that Mahinda was going to preach, his voice was heard all over Ceylon (Mhv.xiv.33). In order to get relics for the cetiyas in Ceylon, he went (by air) to Pupphapura (Pāṭaliputta), and from there to Sakka’s abode, for the Buddha’s right collar-bone. He supervised the placing of the relics in the Thūpārāma cetiya. Mhv.xvii.7, 21; xix.24, 42; see also Dpv.xii.13, 26, 39; xv.5f., 28, 93.

Sumana 16. Governor of Girijanapada in the time of Kākavaṇṇatissa. He was a friend of Veḷusumana’s father. Mhv.xxiii.69.

Sumana 17. A Yakkha chief, to be invoked in time of need by followers of the Buddha. DN.iii.205.

Sumana 18. One of the chief lay patrons of Metteyya Buddha. Anāg.vs.98.

Sumana 19. A Pacceka Buddha of the future. See Sumana (5).

Sumana 20. A gardener of Kosambī. He worked for three seṭṭhis: Ghosaka, Kukkuṭa and Pāvāriya. With their permission, he entertained the Buddha one day, and it was at his house that Khujjuttarā (q.v.) met and heard the Buddha. Dhp­a.i.208f.

Sumana 21. A seṭṭhiputta of Rājagaha. Puṇṇa (Puṇṇasīha) (q.v.) was his servant, but, later, Puṇṇa, as the result of giving alms to Sāriputta, became rich and Sumana married his daughter, Uttarā. Sumana was an unbeliever, and Uttarā, wishing for leisure in which to practise her religion, obtained for him the services of the courtezan Sirimā, paying her with the money obtained from her father. Dhp­a.iii.104, 302f.

Sumana 22. A deity who lived in the fortified chamber over the gate in Jetavana. Dhp­a.i.41.

Sumana 23. See Samiddhisumana.

Sumana 24. An eminent monk, who was present at the Foundation Ceremony of the Mahā Thūpa. Dpv.xix.8; in Mhv­ṭ. (524) he is called Mahā Sumana.

Sumana 25. The guardian deity of Samantakūṭa (q.v.). See also Cv.lxxxvi.19.

Sumana 26. The personal name of Uggahamāna. MN­a.ii.709.

Sumanā 01. An Aggasāvikā of Anomadassī Buddha. Ja.i.36; Bv.viii.23.

Sumanā 02. Wife of Sirivaḍḍhaka and mother of Mahosadha. Ja.vi.331.

Sumanā 03. A Nāga maiden, wife of the Nāga king Campeyya. See the Campeyyajātaka. She is identified with Rāhulamātā. Ja.iv.468.

Sumanā 04. Wife of Sumana (14) and mother of Nigrodha Sāmaṇera. Mhv.v.41.

Sumanā 05. Wife of Sumedha Buddha in his last lay life. Bv.xii.20.

Sumanā 06. called Sumanārājakumārī. She was the daughter of the king of Kosala and sister of Pasenadi. She is included among the eminent upāsikās (AN.iv.347). She once visited the Buddha, with five hundred royal maidens in five hundred royal chariots, and questioned him regarding the efficacy of giving (See Sumanārājakumārīsutta, AN.iii.32f).

The Commentary explains (AN­a.ii.593f) that these five hundred companions were born on the same day as herself. She was seven years old when the Buddha paid his first visit to Sāvatthī, and she was present at the dedication of Jetavana with her five hundred companions, carrying vases, flowers, etc., as offering to the Buddha. After the Buddha’s sermon she became a Sotāpanna.

It is said that, in the time of Vipassī Buddha, she belonged to a seṭṭhi family, her father being dead. When the people, almost at the point of the sword, obtained the king’s permission to entertain the Buddha and his monks, it was the senāpati’s privilege to invite the Buddha to his house on the first day. When Sumanā came back from playing, she found her mother in tears, and when asked the reason, her mother replied, “If your father had been alive, ours would have been the privilege of entertaining the Buddha today.” Sumanā comforted her by saying that that honour should yet be theirs. She filled a golden bowl with richly flavoured milk-rice, covering it with another bowl. She then wrapped both vessels all round with jasmine flowers and left the house with her slaves. On the way to the senāpati’s house she was stopped by his men, but she coaxed them to let her pass, and, as the Buddha approached, saying that she wished to offer him a jasmine garland, she put the two vessels into his alms bowl. She then made the resolve that in every subsequent birth she should be named Sumanā and that her body should be like a garland of jasmine. When the Buddha arrived in the senāpati’s house and was served first with soup, he covered his bowl saying that he had already been given his food. At the end of the meal the senāpati made enquiries, and, full of admiration for Sumanā’s courage, invited her to his house and made her his chief consort. Ever after that she was known as Sumanā, and, wherever she was born, a shower of jasmine flowers fell knee deep on the day of her birth.

According to the Therīgāthā Commentary (Thīg­a.22f), Sumanā joined the Saṅgha in her old age. She was present when the Buddha preached to Pasenadi, the discoursebeginning with, “There are four young creatures, Sire, who may not be disregarded,” and Pasenadi was established in the Refuges and the Precepts (SN.i.68-70). Sumanā wished to leave the world, but put off doing so that she might look after her grandmother as long as she lived.

After the grandmother’s death, Sumanā went with Pasenadi to the vihāra, taking such things as rugs and carpets, which she presented to the Saṅgha. The Buddha preached to her and to Pasenadi, and she became an Anāgāmī. She then sought ordination, and, at the conclusion of the stanzas (Thīg.vs.16) preached to her by the Buddha, attained Arahant-ship.

Sumanā 07. Sumanā Therī. She was a Sākyan maiden, belonging to the harem of the Bodhisatta before his renunciation. She joined the Saṅgha under Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī, and, as she sat meditating, the Buddha appeared before her in a ray of glory. She developed insight and became an Arahant. Thīg.vs.14; Thīg­a.20.

Sumanā 08. Wife of Siddhattha Buddha in his last lay life. Bv.xvii.15; Bv­a.185,187 calls her Somanassā.

Sumanā 09. See Sumanadevī.

Sumanā 10. An Aggasāvikā of Metteyya Buddha. Anāg.vs.98.

Sumanā 11. The name of Ubbirī, when she was born in Bhokkantagāma, as the daughter of Sumana. She married Lakuṇṭaka Atimbara, Duṭṭhagāmaṇī’s minister. Later she joined the Pañcabalaka nuns and became an Arahant. See Ubbirī (1).

Sumanā 12. An eminent teacher of the Vinaya in Ceylon. Dpv.xviii.17.

Sumanā 13. One of four women of Paṇṇakaṭanagara in Esikāraṭṭha. They saw a monk begging for alms, and one gave him a sheaf of indīvara-flowers, another a handful of blue lilies, another of lotuses, and the fourth some jasmine blossoms. They were all reborn in Tāvatiṁsa, their vimānas adjoining each other. Moggallāna saw them and learnt their story, which is recorded in the Vimānavatthu as the story of the Caturitthivimāna. The last mentioned of the women, who offered sumana-flowers, was called Sumanā. Vv.iv.7; Vv-a.195f.

Sumanā 14. Wife of Ariyagālatissa (q.v.).

Sumanā 15. A woman of the Mahā Vālukavīthi in Anurādhapura. She spent much time in the monastery and was sent away in anger by her husband. She starved for seven days, and on the way back to her house from Mahā Gāma, where she was married, gave some food, which Sakka provided for her, to Mahā Dhammadinna Thera of Talaṅgapabbata, at Nigrodhasālakhaṇḍa. Later, another deity took her in a cart to Guḷapūvatintini, near Anurādhapura. The king, hearing of her, made her his chief queen. Ras.ii.49f.