Uppaladāyika Therī draft

Uppaladāyika Therī. Thirty-one kappas ago she was the wife of the Khattiya Aruṇa of Aruṇavatī. One day, being filled with anguish that she had not done any good deed which would bring her a happy condition of rebirth, she begged her husband for a holy recluse on whom she could wait. Her wish was granted, and she gave to the recluse a bowl of excellent food and perfume, the whole covered with a large robe. As a result, she was born in Tāvatiṁsa and became for a thousand times the consort of the king of the Devas. Her body was always of the hue of the lotus and she had all womanly beauty. In her last birth she was born in a Sākyan family and joined the Bodhisatta’s court at the head of a thousand women. Later, she left the world and became an Arahant, seven days after joining the Saṅgha (Ap.ii.601-3). A set of verses in which she sang the praises of the Buddha, appear at the end of the Apadāna account. She is perhaps to be identified with Somā Therī.