Ānanda

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Venerable, the Elder (Thera)
Ānanda
Dhamma')
Religious life
ReligionBuddhism
ConsecrationMahākassapa
Initiation20th (Mūlasarvāstivāda) or 2nd (other traditions) year of the Buddha's ministry
Nigrodhārāma or Anupiya, Malla
by Daśabāla Kāśyapa or Belaṭṭhasīsa
Senior posting
TeacherThe Buddha; Puṇṇa Mantānīputta
PredecessorMahākassapa
SuccessorMajjhantika or Sāṇavāsī
Students
  • Majjhantika;
    Sāṇavāsī
    , etc.

Ānanda (

romanized: saṃgha, lit.
 'monastic community'). He accompanied the Buddha for the rest of his life, acting not only as an assistant, but also a secretary and a mouthpiece.

Scholars are skeptical about the historicity of many events in Ānanda's life, especially the First Council, and consensus about this has yet to be established. A traditional account can be drawn from early texts,

Sanskrit
: महाप्रजापती गौतमी, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī) to allow her to be ordained. Ānanda also accompanied the Buddha in the last year of his life, and therefore was witness to many tenets and principles that the Buddha conveyed before his death, including the well-known principle that the Buddhist community should take his teaching and discipline as their refuge, and that he would not appoint a new leader. The final period of the Buddha's life also shows that Ānanda was very much attached to the Buddha's person, and he saw the Buddha's passing with great sorrow.

Shortly after the Buddha's death, the First Council was convened, and Ānanda managed to attain

stūpas
(monuments) were erected at the river where he died.

Ānanda is one of the most loved figures in Buddhism. He was widely known for his memory, erudition and compassion, and was often praised by the Buddha for these matters. He functioned as a

Sanskrit textual traditions, Ānanda is considered the patriarch of the Dhamma who stood in a spiritual lineage, receiving the teaching from Mahākassapa and passing them on to his own pupils. Ānanda has been honored by bhikkhunīs since early medieval times for his merits in establishing the nun's order. In recent times, the composer Richard Wagner and Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore
were inspired by stories about Ānanda in their work.

Name

The word ānanda (आनंद) means 'bliss, joy' in Pāli and in Sanskrit.

Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, however, state that since Ānanda was born on the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, there was great rejoicing in the city—hence the name.[1]

Accounts

Previous lives

According to the texts, in a previous life, Ānanda made an aspiration to become a

current Buddha Gotama.[4]

Early life

Map of India with names of major areas
Map of India, c. 500 BCE

Ānanda was born in the same time period as the Buddha (formerly Prince Siddhattha), which scholars place at 5th–4th centuries BCE.

Buddha's death—in other words, twenty years in the Buddha's ministry.[9][1] Some Sanskrit sources have him ordain even later.[12] The Mūlasarvāstivāda texts on monastic discipline (Pāli and Sanskrit: Vinaya) relate that soothsayers predicted Ānanda would be the Buddha's attendant. In order to prevent Ānanda from leaving the palace to ordain, his father brought him to Vesālī (Sanskrit: Vaiśālī) during the Buddha's visit to Kapilavatthu, but later the Buddha met and taught Ānanda nonetheless.[13] On a similar note, the Mahāvastu relates, however, that Mṛgī was initially opposed to Ānanda joining the holy life, because his brother Devadatta had already ordained and left the palace. Ānanda responded to his mother's resistance by moving to Videha (Sanskrit: Vaideha) and lived there, taking a vow of silence. This led him to gain the epithet Videhamuni (Sanskrit: Vaidehamuni), meaning 'the silent wise one from Videha'.[13] When Ānanda did become ordained, his father had him ordain in Kapilavatthu in the Nigrodhārāma monastery (Sanskrit: Niyagrodhārāma) with much ceremony, Ānanda's preceptor (Pali: upajjhāya; Sanskrit: upādhyāya) being a certain Daśabāla Kāśyapa.[13]

According to the Pāli tradition, Ānanda's first teachers were Belaṭṭhasīsa and

First Buddhist Council. He was a "Vajjiputta" (Sanskrit: Vṛjjiputra), i.e. someone who originated from the Vajji confederacy.[17] According to later texts, an enlightened monk also called Vajjiputta (Sanskrit: Vajraputra) had an important role in Ānanda's life. He listened to a teaching of Ānanda and realized that Ānanda was not enlightened yet. Vajjiputta encouraged Ānanda to talk less to laypeople and deepen his meditation practice by retreating in the forest, advice that very much affected Ānanda.[18][19]

Attending to the Buddha

Wooden sculpture of monk sitting in a mermaid pose, reclining
18th-century Burmese sculpture of Ānanda

In the first twenty years of the Buddha's ministry, the Buddha had several personal attendants.[8] However, after these twenty years, when the Buddha was aged 55,[20][note 1] the Buddha announced that he had need for a permanent attendant.[7] The Buddha had been growing older, and his previous attendants had not done their job very well.[8] Initially, several of the Buddha's foremost disciples responded to his request, but the Buddha did not accept them. All the while Ānanda remained quiet. When he was asked why, he said that the Buddha would know best whom to choose, upon which the Buddha responded by choosing Ānanda.[note 2] Ānanda agreed to take on the position, on the condition that he did not receive any material benefits from the Buddha.[7][8] Accepting such benefits would open him up to criticism that he chose the position because of ulterior motives. He also requested that the Buddha allow him to accept invitations on his behalf, allow him to ask questions about his doctrine, and repeat any teaching that the Buddha had taught in Ānanda's absence.[7][8] These requests would help people trust Ānanda and show that the Buddha was sympathetic to his attendant.[8] Furthermore, Ānanda considered these the real advantages of being an attendant, which is why he requested them.[2]

The Buddha agreed to Ānanda's conditions, and Ānanda became the Buddha's attendant, accompanying the Buddha on most of his wanderings. Ānanda took care of the Buddha's daily practical needs, by doing things such as bringing water and cleaning the Buddha's dwelling place. He is depicted as observant and devoted, even guarding the dwelling place at night.[8][2] Ānanda takes the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues.[21] He tended the Buddha for a total of 25 years,[6][8] a duty which entailed much work.[22] His relationship with the Buddha is depicted as warm and trusting:[23][24] when the Buddha grew ill, Ānanda had a sympathetic illness;[8] when the Buddha grew older, Ānanda kept taking care of him with devotion.[2]

Ānanda sometimes literally risked his life for his teacher. At one time, the rebellious monk Devadatta tried to kill the Buddha by having a drunk and wild elephant released in the Buddha's presence. Ānanda stepped in front of the Buddha to protect him. When the Buddha told him to move, he refused, although normally he always obeyed the Buddha.

loving-kindness.[25]

Ānanda often acted as an intermediary and secretary, passing on messages from the Buddha, informing the Buddha of news, invitations, or the needs of lay people, and advising lay people who wanted to provide gifts to the saṅgha.

Mahāpajāpatī, the Buddha's foster-mother, requested to offer robes for personal use for the Buddha. She said that even though she had raised the Buddha in his youth, she never gave anything in person to the young prince; she now wished to do so. The Buddha initially insisted that she give the robe to the community as a whole rather than to be attached to his person. However, Ānanda interceded and mediated, suggesting that the Buddha had better accept the robe. Eventually the Buddha did, but not without pointing out to Ānanda that good deeds like giving should always be done for the sake of the action itself, not for the sake of the person.[27]

Sculpture of a monk with East Asian traits, holding an alms bowl.
Sculpture of Ānanda from Wat Khao Rup Chang, Songkhla, Thailand

The texts say that the Buddha sometimes asked Ānanda to substitute for him as teacher,

spiritual friendship (Pali: kalyāṇamittata). In this passage, Ānanda stated that spiritual friendship is half of the holy life; the Buddha corrected Ānanda, stating that such friendship is the entire holy life.[35][36] In summary, Ānanda worked as an assistant, intermediary and a mouthpiece, helping the Buddha in many ways, and learning his teachings in the process.[37]

Resisting temptations

Ānanda was attractive in appearance.

Buddha nature.[41]

Establishing the nun's order

Colored limestone sculpture of monk holding an unidentified object
8th-century Chinese limestone sculpture of Ānanda
See also:
Bhikkhuni § History

In the role of mediator between the Buddha and the lay communities, Ānanda sometimes made suggestions to the Buddha for amendments in the monastic discipline.

bhikkhus or monks.[48][45] Scholar of Asian religions Reiko Ohnuma argues that the debt the Buddha had toward his foster-mother Mahāpajāpati may have been the main reason for his concessions with regard to the establishment of a bhikkhunī order.[49]

Many scholars interpret this account to mean that the Buddha was reluctant in allowing women to be ordained, and that Ānanda successfully persuaded the Buddha to change his mind. For example, Indologist and translator

Buddha's Dispensation would last shorter because of this.[53][48] At the time, the Buddhist monastic order consisted of wandering celibate males, without many monastic institutions. Allowing women to join the Buddhist celibate life might have led to dissension, as well as temptation between the sexes.[54] The garudhamma, however, were meant to fix these problems, and prevent the dispensation from being curtailed.[55]

Taiwanese nun
The early texts attribute the inclusion of women in the early monastic order to Ānanda.

There are some chronological discrepancies in the traditional account of the setting up of the bhikkhunī order. According to the Pāli and Mahīśasaka textual traditions, the bhikkhunī order was set up five years after the Buddha's enlightenment, but, according to most textual traditions, Ānanda only became attendant twenty years after the Buddha's enlightenment.[51] Furthermore, Mahāpajāpati was the Buddha's foster mother, and must therefore have been considerably older than him. However, after the bhikkhunī order was established, Mahāpajāpati still had many audiences with the Buddha, as reported in Pāli and Chinese Early Buddhist Texts. Because of this and other reasons, it could be inferred that establishment of the bhikkhunī order actually took place early in the Buddha's ministry. If this is the case, Ānanda's role in establishing the order becomes less likely.[9] Some scholars therefore interpret the names in the account, such as Ānanda and Mahāpajāpati, as symbols, representing groups rather than specific individuals.[51]

According to the texts, Ānanda's role in founding the bhikkhunī order made him popular with the bhikkhunī community. Ānanda often taught bhikkhunīs,

Mahākassapa, several bhikkhunīs tried to defend him.[57][58] According to Indologist Oskar von Hinüber, Ānanda's pro-bhikkhunī attitude may well be the reason why there was frequent discussion between Ānanda and Mahākassapa, eventually leading Mahākasapa to charge Ānanda with several offenses during the First Buddhist Council. Von Hinüber further argues that the establishment of the bhikkhunī order may have well been initiated by Ānanda after the Buddha's death, and the introduction of Mahāpajāpati as the person requesting to do so is merely a literary device to connect the ordination of women with the person of the Buddha, through his foster mother. Von Hinüber concludes this based on several patterns in the early texts, including the apparent distance between the Buddha and the bhikkhunī order, and the frequent discussions and differences of opinion that take place between Ānanda and Mahākassapa.[59] Some scholars have seen merits in von Hinüber's argument with regard to the pro- and anti-factions,[60][61] but as of 2017, no definitive evidence has been found for the theory of establishment of the bhikkhuni order after the Buddha's death.[62] Buddhist studies scholar Bhikkhu Anālayo has responded to most of von Hinuber's arguments, writing: "Besides requiring too many assumptions, this hypothesis conflicts with nearly 'all the evidence preserved in the texts together'",[note 3] arguing that it was monastic discipline that created a distance between the Buddha and the bhikkhunīs, and even so, there were many places in the early texts where the Buddha did address bhikkhunīs directly.[63]

The Buddha's death

See also: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
Sculpture of the Buddha holding hand on head monk at the right side of the Buddha, the latter monk smiling
Sculpture at Vulture Peak, Rajgir, India, depicting the Buddha consoling Ānanda

Despite his long association with and close proximity to the Buddha, the texts describe that Ānanda had not become enlightened yet. Because of that, a fellow monk Udāyī (Sanskrit: Udāyin) ridiculed Ānanda. However, the Buddha reprimanded Udāyī in response, saying that Ānanda would certainly be enlightened in this life.[64][note 4]

The Pāli Mahā-parinibbāna Sutta related the last year-long trip the Buddha took with Ānanda from

Kusinārā (Sanskrit: Kuśinagara) before the Buddha died there. Before reaching Kusinārā, the Buddha spent the retreat during the monsoon (Pali: vassa, Sanskrit: varṣā) in Veḷugāma (Sanskrit: Veṇugrāmaka), getting out of the Vesālī area which suffered from famine.[65] Here, the eighty-year old Buddha expressed his wish to speak to the saṅgha once more.[65] The Buddha had grown seriously ill in Vesālī, much to the concern of some of his disciples.[66] Ānanda understood that the Buddha wished to leave final instructions before his death. The Buddha stated, however, that he had already taught everything needed, without withholding anything secret as a teacher with a "closed fist" would. He also impressed upon Ānanda that he did not think the saṅgha should be reliant too much on a leader, not even himself.[67][68] He then continued with the well-known statement to take his teaching as a refuge, and oneself as a refuge, without relying on any other refuge, also after he would be gone.[69][70]
Bareau argued that this is one of the most ancient parts of the text, found in slight variation in five early textual traditions:

"Moreover, this very beautiful episode, touching with nobility and psychological verisimilitude with regard to both Ānanda and the Buddha, seems to go back very far, at the time when the authors, like the other disciples, still considered the Blessed One [the Buddha] a man, an eminently respectable and undefiled master, to whom behavior and utterly human words were lent, so that one is even tempted to see there the memory of a real scene which Ānanda reportedly told to the Community in the months following the Parinirvāṇa [death of the Buddha]."[71]

The same text contains an account in which the Buddha, at numerous occasions, gave a hint that he could prolong his life to a full

impermanent: all people must die.[76][77][note 6]

Metal relief
East Javanese relief depicting the Buddha in his final days, and Ānanda

In the final days of the Buddha's life, the Buddha traveled to Kusinārā.

the four main places of Buddhist pilgrimage.[84][67] Before the Buddha died, Ānanda recommended the Buddha to move to a more meaningful city instead, but the Buddha pointed out that the town was once a great capital.[78] Ānanda then asked who will be next teacher after the Buddha would be gone, but the Buddha replied that his teaching and discipline would be the teacher instead.[70] This meant that decisions should be made by reaching consensus within the saṅgha,[46] and more generally, that now the time had come for the Buddhist monastics and devotees to take the Buddhist texts as authority, now that the Buddha was dying.[85]

The Buddha gave several instructions before his death, including a directive that his former charioteer

sense of urgency (Pali: saṃvega), deeply moved by the events and their bearing: "Terrible was the quaking, men's hair stood on end, / When the all-accomplished Buddha passed away."[89]

Shortly after the council, Ānanda brought the message with regard to the Buddha's directive to Channa personally. Channa was humbled and changed his ways, attained enlightenment, and the penalty was withdrawn by the saṅgha.

Sāvatthī (Sanskrit: Śrāvastī), where he was met with a sad populace, who he consoled with teachings on impermanence. After that, Ānanda went to the quarters of the Buddha and went through the motions of the routine he formerly performed when the Buddha was still alive, such as preparing water and cleaning the quarters. He then saluted and talked to the quarters as though the Buddha was still there. The Pāli commentaries state that Ānanda did this out of devotion, but also because he was "not yet free from the passions".[92]

The First Council

Rājagaha.[93]
Main article:
First Buddhist Council

Ban

According to the texts, the First Buddhist Council was held in Rājagaha.

Anuruddha saw that Ānanda was not yet enlightened.[17]

Ānanda felt humiliated, but was prompted to focus his efforts to reach enlightenment before the council started.[98][99] The Mūlasarvāstivāda texts add that he felt motivated when he remembered the Buddha's words that he should be his own refuge, and when he was consoled and advised by Anuruddha and Vajjiputta, the latter being his attendant.[17] On the night before the event, he tried hard to attain enlightenment. After a while, Ānanda took a break and decided to lie down for a rest. He then attained enlightenment right there, right then, halfway between standing and lying down. Thus, Ānanda was known as the disciple who attained awakening "in none of the four traditional poses" (walking, standing, sitting, or lying down).[100][101] The next morning, to prove his enlightenment, Ānanda performed a supernatural accomplishment by diving into the earth and appearing on his seat at the council (or, according to some sources, by flying through the air).[17] Scholars such as Buddhologist André Bareau and scholar of religion Ellison Banks Findly have been skeptical about many details in this account, including the number of participants on the council, and the account of Ānanda's enlightenment just before the council.[102] Regardless, today, the story of Ānanda's struggle on the evening before the council is still told among Buddhists as a piece of advice in the practice of meditation: neither to give up, nor to interpret the practice too rigidly.[101]

First Buddhist Council, during which Ānanda is said to have pronounced the formula:"evaṃ me sutaṃ" (Thus have I heard
.) as an introduction to each of the Buddha's discourses that he recited from memory.

Recitations

The First Council began when Ānanda was consulted to recite the discourses and to determine which were authentic and which were not.

Abhidhamma Piṭaka) as well.[107][94][113] Scholar of religion Ronald Davidson notes, however, that this is not preceded by any account of Ānanda learning Abhidhamma.[114] According to some later Mahāyāna accounts, Ānanda also assisted in reciting Mahāyāna texts, held in a different place in Rājagaha, but in the same time period.[115][116] The Pāli commentaries state that after the council, when the tasks for recitation and memorizing the texts were divided, Ānanda and his pupils were given the task to remember the Dīgha Nikāya.[17][113]

Two
First Buddhist Council
began when Mahākassapa asked Ānanda to recite the discourses.

Charges

During the same council, Ānanda was charged for an offense by members of the saṅgha for having enabled women to join the monastic order.[117][103] Besides this, he was charged for having forgotten to request the Buddha to specify which offenses of monastic discipline could be disregarded;[note 10] for having stepped on the Buddha's robe; for having allowed women to honor the Buddha's body after his death, which was not properly dressed, and during which his body was sullied by their tears; and for having failed to ask the Buddha to continue to live on. Ānanda did not acknowledge these as offenses, but he conceded to do a formal confession anyway, "... in faith of the opinion of the venerable elder monks"[118][119]—Ānanda wanted to prevent disruption in the saṅgha.[120] With regard to having women ordained, Ānanda answered that he had done this with great effort, because Mahāpajāpati was the Buddha's foster-mother who had long provided for him.[121] With regard to not requesting the Buddha to continue to live, many textual traditions have Ānanda respond by saying he was distracted by Māra,[122] though one early Chinese text has Ānanda reply he did not request the Buddha to prolong his life, for fear that this would interfere with the next Buddha Maitreya's ministry.[123]

According to the Pāli tradition, the charges were laid after Ānanda had become enlightened and done all the recitations; but the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition has it that the charges were laid before Ānanda became enlightened and started the recitations. In this version, when Ānanda heard that he was banned from the council, he objected that he had not done anything that went against the teaching and discipline of the Buddha. Mahākassapa then listed seven charges to counter Ānanda's objection. The charges were similar to the five given in Pāli.[17] Other textual traditions list slightly different charges, amounting to a combined total of eleven charges, some of which are only mentioned in one or two textual traditions.[124] Considering that an enlightened disciple was seen to have overcome all faults, it seems more likely that the charges were laid before Ānanda's attainment than after.[123]

Indologists von Hinüber and

Upāli, the person who was responsible for the recitation of the monastic discipline, recited before Ānanda does: again, monastic discipline above discourse.[127] Analyzing six recensions of different textual traditions of the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta extensively, Bareau distinguished two layers in the text, an older and a newer one, the former belonging to the compilers that emphasized discourse, the latter to the ones that emphasized discipline; the former emphasizing the figure of Ānanda, the latter Mahākassapa. He further argued that the passage on Māra obstructing the Buddha was inserted in the fourth century BCE, and that Ānanda was blamed for Māra's doing by inserting the passage of Ānanda's forgetfulness in the third century BCE. The passage in which the Buddha was ill and reminded Ānanda to be his own refuge, on the other hand, Bareau regarded as very ancient, pre-dating the passages blaming Māra and Ānanda.[128] In conclusion, Bareau, Przyluski and Horner argued that the offenses Ānanda were charged with were a later interpolation. Findly disagrees, however, because the account in the texts of monastic discipline fits in with the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta and with Ānanda's character as generally depicted in the texts.[129]

Historicity

Tradition states that the First Council lasted for seven months.

Buddha-vacana, 'the Buddha's words', transmitted to us via his disciple Ānanda and the First Council".[137]

Role and character

The attendant

"He served the Buddha following him everywhere like a shadow, bringing him tooth wood and water, washing his feet, rubbing his body, cleaning his cell and fulfilling all his duties with the greatest care. By day he was at hand forestalling the slightest wish of the Buddha. At night, staff and torch in hand, he went nine times round the Buddha's cell and never put them down lest he would fall asleep and fail to answer a call to the Buddha."

Ānanda was recognized as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha.

recite and teach the Buddha's teaching.[142][143] Moreover, Ānanda was known for his organizational skills, assisting the Buddha with secretary-like duties.[144] In many ways, Ānanda did not only serve the personal needs of the Buddha, but also the needs of the still young, growing institute of the saṅgha.[145]

Moreover, because of his ability to remember the many teachings of the Buddha, he is described as foremost in "having heard much" (Pali: bahussuta, Sanskrit: bahuśruta,

Jain community, Ānanda asked the Buddha how such problems could be prevented after the Buddha's death.[147][148][note 13] However, Findly argues that Ānanda's duty to memorize the Buddha's teachings accurately and without distortion, was "both a gift and a burden". Ānanda was able to remember many discourses verbatim, but this also went hand-in-hand with a habit of not reflecting on those teachings, being afraid that reflection might distort the teachings as he heard them.[150] At multiple occasions, Ānanda was warned by other disciples that he should spend less time on conversing to lay people, and more time on his own practice. Even though Ānanda regularly practiced meditation for long hours, he was less experienced in meditative concentration than other leading disciples.[151] Thus, judgment of Ānanda's character depends on whether one judges his accomplishments as a monk or his accomplishments as an attendant, and person memorizing the discourses.[150]

Monk in forest rubbing in his eye.
East Javanese relief of Ānanda, depicted weeping

From a literary and didactic point of view, Ānanda often functioned as a kind of

psychic powers to Devadatta, who later would use these in an attempt to destroy the Buddha. According to a Mahīśāsaka text, however, when Devadatta had turned against the Buddha, Ānanda was not persuaded by him, and voted against him in a formal meeting.[158] Ānanda's late spiritual growth is much discussed in Buddhist texts, and the general conclusion is that Ānanda was slower than other disciples due to his worldly attachments and his attachment to the person of the Buddha, both of which were rooted in his mediating work between the Buddha and the lay communities.[159]

Passing on the teaching

After the Buddha's death, some sources say Ānanda stayed mostly in the West of India, in the area of

becoming ordained as a monk, which was reason enough for Sāṇavāsī to make the decision to get ordained.[164]

Death and relics

final Nirvana in mid-air above the river Rohīni
, leaving relics for followers on both sides of the river.

Though no Early Buddhist Text provides a date for Ānanda's death, according to the Chinese pilgrim monk Faxian (337–422 CE), Ānanda went on to live 120 years.[2] Following the later timeline, however, Ānanda may have lived to 75–85 years.[160] Buddhist studies scholar L. S. Cousins dated Ānanda's death twenty years after the Buddha's.[166]

Ānanda was teaching till the end of his life.

meditate in mid-air, making his body go up in fire, with his relics landing on both banks of the river,[4][2] or in some versions of the account, splitting in four parts.[171] In this way, Ānanda had pleased all the parties involved.[4][2] In some other versions of the account, including the Mūlasarvāstivāda version, his death took place on a barge in the middle of the river, however, instead of in mid-air. The remains were divided in two, following the wishes of Ānanda.[20][4]

Majjhantika later successfully carried out the mission following the Buddha's prediction.

Third Buddhist Council as well.[174] Although little is historically certain, Cousins thought it likely at least one of the leading figures on the Second Council was a pupil of Ānanda, as nearly all the textual traditions mention a connection with Ānanda.[166]

Ajāsattu is said to have built a stūpa on top of the Ānanda's relics, at the river Rohīni, or according to some sources, the Ganges; the Licchavis had also built a stūpa at their side of the river.

offerings
he ever made to a stūpa:

"Who in the

Norm
is widely versed,

And bears its doctrines in his heart—
Of the great Master's treasure Ward—
An eye was he for all the world,
Ānanda, who is passed away."

He explained to his ministers that he did this because "[t]he body of the Tathāgata is the body of dharma(s), pure in nature. He [Ānanda] was able to retain it/them all; for this reason the offerings [to him] surpass [all others]"—

body of dharma here referred to the Buddha's teachings as a whole.[179]

In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda had reached final Nirvana and would no longer be reborn. But, in contrast with the early texts, according to the Mahāyāna

Gotama Buddha, had accomplished this, because Ānanda aspired to becoming a Buddha by applying "great learning". Because of this long trajectory and great efforts, however, his enlightenment would be extraordinary and with great splendor.[4]

Legacy

Temple with Buddha image, flanked by Ānanda and Mahākassapa
In Mahāyāna iconography, Ānanda is often depicted flanking the Buddha at the right side, together with Mahākassapa at the left.

Ānanda is depicted as an eloquent speaker,

Magadha region.[184][185] During this conversation, which occurred shortly after the Buddha's death, Vassakara asked whether it was decided yet who would succeed the Buddha. Ānanda replied that no such successor had been appointed, but that the Buddhist community took the Buddha's teaching and discipline as a refuge instead.[186][185] Furthermore, the saṅgha did not have the Buddha as a master anymore, but they would honor those monks who were virtuous and trustworthy.[185] Besides these suttas, a section of the Theragāthā is attributed to Ānanda.[5][187] Even in the texts attributed to the Buddha himself, Ānanda is sometimes depicted giving a name to a particular text, or suggesting a simile to the Buddha to use in his teachings.[8]

In East Asian Buddhism, Ānanda is considered one of

the ten principal disciples.[188] In many Indian Sanskrit and East Asian texts, Ānanda is considered the second patriarch of the lineage which transmitted the teaching of the Buddha, with Mahākassapa being the first and Majjhantika[189] or Saṇavāsī[190] being the third. There is an account dating back from the Sarvāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda textual traditions which states that before Mahākassapa died, he bestowed the Buddha's teaching on Ānanda as a formal passing on of authority, telling Ānanda to pass the teaching on to Ānanda's pupil Saṇavāsī.[191][192] Later, just before Ānanda died, he did as Mahākassapa had told him to.[17] Buddhist studies scholars Akira Hirakawa and Bibhuti Baruah have expressed skepticism about the teacher–student relationship between Mahākassapa and Ānanda, arguing that there was discord between the two, as indicated in the early texts.[160][10] Regardless, it is clear from the texts that a relationship of transmission of teachings is meant, as opposed to an upajjhāya–student relationship in a lineage of ordination: no source indicates Mahākassapa was Ānanda's upajjhāya.[193] In Mahāyāna iconography, Ānanda is often depicted flanking the Buddha at the right side, together with Mahākassapa at the left.[194] In Theravāda iconography, however, Ānanda is usually not depicted in this manner,[195] and the motif of transmission of the Dhamma through a list of patriarchs is not found in Pāli sources.[176]

robes
made of pieces. Pāli tradition has it that Ānanda designed the Buddhist monk's robe, based on the structure of rice fields.

Because Ānanda was instrumental in founding the bhikkhunī community, he has been honored by bhikkhunīs for this throughout Buddhist history. The earliest traces of this can be found in the writings of Faxian and Xuan Zang,[57][9] who reported that bhikkhunīs made offerings to a stūpa in Ānanda's honor during celebrations and observance days. On a similar note, in 5th–6th-century China and 10th-century Japan, Buddhist texts were composed recommending women to uphold the semi-monastic eight precepts in honor and gratitude of Ānanda. In Japan, this was done through the format of a penance ritual called keka (Chinese: 悔過). By the 13th century, in Japan a cult-like interest for Ānanda had developed in a number of convents, in which images and stūpas were used and ceremonies were held in his honor. Presently, opinion among scholars is divided as to whether Ānanda's cult among bhikkhunīs was an expression of their dependence on male monastic tradition, or the opposite, an expression of their legitimacy and independence.[196]

Pāli Vinaya texts attribute the design of the Buddhist

Kāliṅgabodhi Jātaka that Ānanda planted a Bodhi tree as a symbol of the Buddha's enlightenment, to give people the chance to pay their respects to the Buddha.[8][199] This tree and shrine came to be known as the Ānanda Bodhi Tree,[8] said to have grown from a seed from the original Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha is depicted to have attained enlightenment.[200] Many of this type of Bodhi Tree shrines in Southeast Asia were erected following this example.[199] Presently, the Ānanda Bodhi Tree is sometimes identified with a tree at the ruins of Jetavana, Sāvatthi, based on the records of Faxian.[200]

In art

Between 1856 and 1858

karma from her previous life, she understands and rejoices in the life of a bhikkhunī.[204] Apart from the spiritual themes, Wagner also addresses the faults of the caste system by having the Buddha criticize it.[201]

Drawing from

Schopenhauer's philosophy, Wagner contrasts desire-driven salvation and true spiritual salvation: by seeking deliverance through the person she loves, Prakṛti only affirms her will to live (German: Wille zum Leben), which is blocking her from attaining deliverance. By being ordained as a bhikkhunī she strives for her spiritual salvation instead. Thus, the early Buddhist account of Mahāpajāpati's ordination is replaced by that of Prakṛti. According to Wagner, by allowing Prakṛti to become ordained, the Buddha also completes his own aim in life: "[H]e regards his existence in the world, whose aim was to benefit all beings, as completed, since he had become able to offer deliverance—without mediation—also to woman."[205]

The same legend of Ānanda and Prakṛti was made into a short prose play by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, called Chandalika. Chandalika deals with the themes of spiritual conflict, caste and social equality, and contains a strong critique of Indian society. Just like in the traditional account, Prakṛti falls in love with Ānanda, after he gives her self-esteem by accepting a gift of water from her. Prakṛti's mother casts a spell to enchant Ānanda. In Tagore's play, however, Prakṛti later regrets what she has done and has the spell revoked.[206][207]

References

Notes

  1. Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, the Buddha was 50.[12]
  2. ^ According to the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, Ānanda was born at the same time the Buddha became enlightened, and was therefore younger than the other leading disciples. The reason that the other disciples were not chosen may be because they were too old for the task.[9]
  3. ^ Anālayo cites von Hinüber with this phrase.
  4. AN
    3.80
  5. ^ There was some debate between the early Buddhist schools as to what eon means in this context, some schools arguing it meant a full human lifespan, others that an enlightened being was capable of producing a "new life-span by the sole power of his meditation".[73]
  6. ^ According to John Powers, the Buddha only left Vesālī at this point, and not earlier.[74]
  7. Mahīśāsaka traditions relate that this was Añña Koṇḍañña (Sanskrit: Ājñāta Kauṇḍinya) instead, as Koṇḍañña was the most senior disciple.[94]
  8. ^ Other sources say he remembered 60,000 words and 15,000 stanzas,[107] or 10,000 words.[109]
  9. Mañjuśrī.[110]
  10. ^ The Buddha mentioned to Ānanda that "minor rules" could be abolished.[74]
  11. ^ Page i. xiv.
  12. DN
    16.
  13. ^ The Buddha responded with a discussion of the role of a teacher, a student and the teaching, and concluded that he himself had proclaimed his teaching well. He continued that disputes about monastic discipline were not so much a problem, but disputes about "the path and the way" were.[149]

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Sources
Buddhist titles
Preceded by Chan and Zen lineages
(According to the Zen schools of China and Japan) 		Succeeded by
Shanavasa
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