Uppalavanna

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This article is about Buddhist disciple. For Sri Lankan guardian deity, see Upulvan.
Most Venerable Bhikkhuni Uppalavannā
Gautama Buddha
, Female disciple foremost in psychic powers.
Personal
Religion
Buddha

Uppalavanna (

the Buddha. She is considered the second of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, along with Khema
. She was given the name Uppalavanna, meaning "color of a blue water lily", at birth due to the bluish color of her skin.

According to the Theravada tradition, Uppalavanna was born the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Due to her beauty, numerous wealthy and powerful suitors came to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. Instead of marrying, she entered the monastic life under the Buddha as a bhikkhuni. According to the Mulasarvastivada tradition, Uppalavanna had a tumultuous life as a wife and courtesan before converting to Buddhism and becoming a bhikkhuni.

Uppalavanna attained enlightenment while using a fire

Maha Moggallana
.

Textual sources

The earliest known record of Uppalavanna comes from a 3rd century

Khuddaka Nikaya as well as some early Mahayana texts such as the Perfection of Wisdom in Eighty-thousand Lines and Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom.[1]

Buddhist scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi notes that, despite being considered one of the Buddha's chief disciples, details about Uppalavanna's life in the Buddhist texts and commentaries are quite scant. Bhikkhu Bodhi points out that there is more in Buddhist texts about one of her previous lives than about the bhikkhuni herself.[2]

Background

In Buddhist belief, when a fully enlightened

Sariputta and Moggallana, while his chief female disciples were Khema and Uppalavanna.[4]

According to the

psychic powers. After hearing the declaration, the woman made the resolve to become the female disciple foremost in psychic powers under a future Buddha and did good deeds for many lifetimes in hopes of becoming one. This wish came true in the time of Gautama Buddha, when she was reborn as Uppalavanna.[5]

Biography

Early life and ordination

Uppalavanna was given her name (meaning color of a blue water lily) due to being born with a complexion that was the color of a blue water-lily, in accordance with a wish she was said to have made in a past life.

Savatthi. When Uppalavanna grew up she was known for her immense beauty, with several kings and wealthy suitors coming to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. Not wanting to disappoint so many people, and fearing a potential conflict between the various wealthy and powerful suitors, he suggested Uppalavanna become a bhikkhuni, or nun, under the Buddha. Already being inclined to the holy life, she happily agreed and ordained under the Buddha as a nun.[6][7] According to the Mulasarvastivada tradition Uppalavanna was instead born the daughter of a merchant in Taxila and married to a local. Uppalavanna later found out her husband was having an affair with her mother and leaves him and her newborn daughter. Uppalavanna eventually marries another man who takes a second wife, who she later finds out was her daughter that she left behind. Distraught by the discovery, Uppalavanna leaves and becomes a courtesan before being converted by Maha Moggallana and becoming a nun.[8][9][10][note 1]

Enlightenment

Buddhist texts relate that Uppalavanna attained enlightenment less than two weeks after ordaining as a bhikkhuni.

arahant later that night.[13][1][5]

Chief Disciple

Following her enlightenment, Uppalavanna gained a mastery of

Sariputta.[1]

Rape

A man is swallowed into Avici after attempting to rape Uppalavanna.

According to the

Avici hell for his evil deed. Following the incident, when questioned about the matter, the Buddha states that Uppalavanna did not break the monastic rule of chastity since she gave no consent. This event leads to the creation of a rule prohibiting nuns from dwelling in the wild as a way to protect against such incidents.[1][7]

Cakkavatti Miracle

Uppalavanna's most significant display of psychic powers was a miracle she displayed where she transformed into a

Tavatimsa Heaven.[7][1]

Encounter with Mara

Once, when Uppalavanna was meditating in the wilderness alone,

Mara attempted to break her concentration. Mara appears and tells her she should be afraid of rogues as a beautiful young woman sitting alone in the wilderness. Being an enlightened arahant, Uppalavanna sees through the charade and describes her psychic abilities, explaining to Mara that she is the master of her own mind and has nothing to fear. Disappointed by his inability to break her concentration, Mara leaves.[14][7][1]

Legacy

Uppalavanna shares a complementary role with her male counterpart

Sariputta and Khema). Obeyesekere argues that this pairing is meant to symbolize the inclusiveness of the Buddha's teachings, that the Dhamma is meant for people of all colors and classes.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Theravada tradition recounts a similar story with the story of Gangatiriya. In this story Gangatiriya is abandoned at birth by his mother and grows up to independently marry his biological mother and long lost sister unwittingly. Gangatiriya becomes a monk after discovering this awful truth about his wives.[11] In the Theravada tradition Uppalavanna recounts this story to reflect on the harm of sense desires, but it is not considered autobiographical.[12][8]
  2. ^ The Dharmaguptaka and Mulasarvastivada Buddhist traditions have another nun as the rape victim in this story rather than Uppalavanna. In the Tibetan Kangyur account, it is also another nun who is the victim but Uppalavanna uses her psychic powers to save her.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Therī, Tathālokā. "The Amazing Transformations of Arahant Theri Uppalavanna" (PDF). bhikkhuni.et. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  2. OCLC 793166695. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  3. OCLC 809845201. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  4. ^ Mahathera, Naranda (1998). The Buddha and His Teachings (PDF). Taiwan: Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. p. 235. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  5. ^ a b c d "03. The Story about the Elder Nun Uppalavanna". www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net. Archived from the original on 2017-07-28. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  6. ^ Theri, Tathaloka. "The Amazing Transformations of Arahant Theri Uppalavanna" (PDF). bhikkhuni.net. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  7. ^ a b c d "Uppalavannā". www.palikanon.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-06. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780824830908. Archived
    from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  9. ISBN 9781888375541. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  10. ISBN 9780861715886. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  11. ISBN 9781888375541. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  12. ISBN 9788120830219. Archived
    from the original on 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  13. ISBN 9781400848058. Archived
    from the original on 2020-05-17. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  14. ^ "Uppalavanna Sutta: Uppalavanna". www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  15. OCLC 46937658.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )

External links
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