Khujjuttarā and Sāmāvatī
Their Past Aspirations
Once, Khujjuttarā and Sāmāvatī were reborn into the families of rich men in the city of Haṃsāvatī, during the time of Buddha Padumuttara. As they went to the Buddha’s monastery to listen to a sermon given by the Buddha, Khujjuttarā saw a female lay disciple being named by Him as the foremost among female lay disciples in learning. She had a strong desire to become one herself. After making an extraordinary offering to the Buddha, she expressed her aspiration to Him, who predicted the fulfilment of her aspiration.
Sāmāvatī saw a female lay disciple being named by the Buddha as the foremost in abiding in universal goodwill. She had a strong desire to be so designated by a Buddha in future time. After making an extraordinary offering to the Buddha, she expressed her aspiration to that designation to Him, who predicted that her aspiration would be fulfilled.
These two ladies spent their whole lives in deeds of merit. At the end of their respective life span, they were reborn in the deva-world. After being reborn in the either the deva-world or human world for a hundred world-cycles, the present world-system with five Buddhas arrived.
Khujjuttarā and Sāmāvatī in Their Existence
During the time of Buddha Gotama, in the city of Kosambī, Ghosaka the householder and his wife made a routine alms-give of one thousand ticals everyday…..
It was during the time in which the Ghosaka couple was practicing their routine charity that Khujjuttarā passed away from her deva existence and was conceived in the womb of one female servent in the house of Ghosaka. She was humpback at birth and was called Khujjuttarā. (As to her destiny of being born a humpback and a slave in spite of her great past merit, we shall discuss later.)
About that time, Sāmāvatī passed away from her deva existence and was reborn as the daughter of Bhaddhavatiya the householder in Bhaddiya, in the province of Bhaddiya. She was named as Sāmā by her parents.
At one time, the town of Bhaddhiya suffered from famine and the people left the town for other towns for their own survival. Bhaddiya the householder said to his wife:
“Dear wife, we don’t know when this famine will end. We too must leave this place. Our friend Ghosaka the householder of Kosambī will recognise us if he sees us. Let us go to him.”
He told his wife about going to Ghosaka but the two Householders had known each other by their reputations only and had never met. They decided to go, leaving behind their servants. The three members of the family (father, mother and daughter) went in the direction of Kosambī, travelling by stages. After going through much hardship on the way, they at last reached Kosambī and stayed in a public rest house which was outside the city.
Sāmāvatī’s Woes
Ghosaka the householder was making his daily alms-giving to all the needy who called at his door. Destitute travellers and mendicants thronged to his house every day. Bhaddhavatiya the householder and his family were looking haggard after a hard journey. They decided that they should not present themselves before Ghosaka in the present unsightly state but should rest and recoup themselves first. So, they remained at the rest-house while their daughter Sāmā was sent to the alms-giving station of Ghosaka to beg for food.
Sāmāvatī, as a daughter of a householder, was reluctant to jostle through her way in the unruly crowds of alms-seekers. As she stood apart in a hesitant manner, her dignified demeanor was noticed by the superintendent of alms distribution. He thought to himself:
“While everyone else is making loud noise and trying to reach out ahead of others like in a fish market, this young maiden is keeping back. She must be of some worthy family. And she has a fine personality.”
And so he addressed Sāmāvatī:
“Dear girl, why don’t you step up and beg?”
She replied: “Dear father, how could a decent girl like me elbow through in such a jammed packed crowd?”
“How many persons are there in your family (group)?”
“There are three, father.”
The man doled out three food packages to her.
Sāmāvatī gave the food to her parents. Her father who had not eaten for some time, ate it greedily and died of overeating on that every day. On the next day, Sāmāvatī went to the food distribution point and asked for only two food packages. Her mother who was not used to poor food as this and who also was bereaved for the loss of her husband was taken ill that evening and died after midnight. Then, on the next day, Sāmāvatī went and asked for only one food package.
The superintendent asked her:
“Dear girl, on the first day, you asked the food package for three persons; on the second day, you asked only for two and now on the third day, you are asking for only one. Why is this?”
Sāmāvatī told him about the death of her father on the first day, her mother on second day, after midnight and that she alone survived.
“Where do you come from?” the man inquired. Sāmāvatī told him how her family had fled famine in Bhaddhiya and the consequent information.
“In that case,” the superintendent said, “you should be deemed as a daughter of Ghosaka the householder. I have no daughter of my own. So you will henceforth be my daughter.”
Sāmāvatī, the adopted daughter of the superintendent of the alms-distribution place, asked her adopted father:
“Father why is there such a din at the place?”
“When there is such a huge crowd, there has to be a big noise,” he replied.
“But, father, I have an idea!”
“Then, say it.”
“Father, let there be a barbed wire fencing around the place, keep only one entrance; let the people go in, receive their alms, and go out on the other end, the only exit.”
The father took her advice and in following her instruction, the distribution center had then became as quiet and dignified as a lotus pond.
Soon after that Ghosaka noted the silence that prevailed in the alms distribution place which was usually full of noise and asked his superintendent:
“Are you not giving alms today?”
“Yes, I do, Master.”
“But why is it so silent at the centre which used to be so much of a din?”
“Ah! that is true, indeed, Master. I have a wise daughter, I have been able to maintain quiet at the place on the advice of my daughter.”
“But, I never knew you had a daughter. Where have you got one?”
The superintendent had to confess the truth. He related to his master the circumstances under which Sāmāvatī became his adopted daughter. Thereupon, Ghosaka said to him:
“O man, why did you do that? You are doing a very improper thing indeed. You have kept me in the dark about this girl who is my daughter in this circumstance. Bring her to my house immediately.”
The superintendent had to obey his master’s order. From then onwards, Sāmāvatī became the adopted daughter of Ghosaka who cherished her as his own daughter and found for her five hundred companions, who were of her own age and from worthy families.
Sāmāvatī became Queen of King Udena
One day when King Udena of Kosambī went in round in the city, he happened to see Sāmāvatī and her five hundred maid companions, romping (in the garden) and immediately fell in love with her. On inquiring her parentage, he was told that she was the daughter of Ghosaka the householder. The King inquired whether she was married or not, and learning that she was not married, he sent his royal messengers to Ghosaka to ask for the hand of Sāmāvatī for marriage to him. Ghosaka thought to himself:
“Sāmāvatī is our only daughter. We cannot put her life at risk in the King’s court which is full of intriguing women.”
So he bluntly refused the King’s request. The King was furious and ordered that Ghosaka and his wife be evicted from their house which was to be sealed off.
When Sāmāvatī and her playmates returned and met her parents sitting miserably outside the house, she asked them what had happened. On hearing the story, she said to them:
“Dear parents, why did you not tell the King’s men that your daughter would go and live at the palace on the condition that her five hundred maid-companions were allowed to remain with her there? Now, dear parents, give your reply to the King as I suggest.”
Her parents said to her: “Very well, daughter, we did not know how you would take it (the King’s proposal).”
King Udena was greatly pleased to hear the message from Ghosaka. He said:
“Let all the maid-companions come and stay with Sāmāvatī, even if they number a thousand!”
Afterwards, Sāmāvatī, together with her five hundred maid-companion, were conveyed to the palace of King Udena. The King appointed all the five hundred maids as ladies-in-waiting to his wife Sāmāvatī when he made her Queen with ceremonial anointing, and kept her in a golden terraced mansion of her own, with full state of a Queen.
About this time, Ghosaka and his two householder friends, Kukkuta and Pāvārika of Kosambī, learning the news of the appearance of the Buddha and His residence at Sāvatthi, went to Him. After listening to a discourse by the Buddha, they were established in Stream-Entry Knowledge. Later, they returned to Kosambī after making great offering to the Buddha and His Sangha for fifteen days.
They obtained the assurance from the Buddha that He would visit Kosambī when they would invite Him later. Each of them built three separate monasteries and on completion, they sent messages to the Buddha, inviting Him to visit Kosambī.
Young Magandhiya harboured resentment towards the Buddha
The Buddha, on his way to Kosambī, in the company of many bhikkhus, perceived that Brahmin Magandhi and his wife were predestined to attain arahatship. He, therefore, diverted His route from the main road towards the direction of the market-town of Kammasadamma in Kuru country.
Brahmin Magandhi returned early after spending almost all night outside the village in offering lights, according to their custom. On His way to the village to receive food in the morning, the Buddha noticed Magandhi coming from the opposite direction at a distance. He grasped the opportunity of making His presence known to the old Brahmin. On seeing Him, Magandhi thought to himself:
“I have all along been looking for my daughter a suitable bridegroom, who is as charming as she is. This recluse is charming and good looking, He is a match to my daughter.”
With this idea, he went back straight to his house and told his wife:
“Dear one, I’ve never seen such a recluse before. The one whom I’ve seen has golden colour. He has the appearance of the Great Brahmā. He is really a match to our daughter Magandhiya. Get my daughter Magandhiya dressed up hurriedly.”
As they were busy with dressing up their daughter, the Buddha had left a pair of foot-prints at the spot where He had first seen the old Brahmin, and entered the town to receive alms-food.
(The impression of foot-prints of the Buddha stands on the spot of His own choice but not on any other place. At the same time, His foot-prints are visible only by the privileged persons and nothing could stand in their way of seeing them: no bull elephant, no torrential rain, no violent destructive storm could destroy these foot prints)
The old Brahmin, his wife and daughter went to the place where he had caught sight of the Buddha, but they could not see Him there in the previous spot. Old Brahmin grumbled at the way in which his wife had taken so long in dressing their daughter that the recluse had gone away. The wife asked the Brahmin:
“Let Him be gone, but do tell me to which direction has He gone?”
The old Brahmin retorted: “He’s gone that way,” and eventually they found the foot-prints of the Buddha. The old man said:
“Here are His foot-prints, He must have gone towards that direction.”
On seeing the foot-prints, the old Brahmin’s wife thought:
“This brahmin is really ignorant. He is not intelligent enough to know the intricacies of the treatise of Veda,”
And to ridicule her husband, she made this caustic remark:
“O Brahmin, you are such a fool as to have said that you would give away our daughter to this person whose foot-prints are quite different from those of worldlings who have stains of lust (rāga), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). Brahmin, look at His foot-prints which characterize those of a Fully Self-Enlightened Buddha, who had broken open the enveloping dome of defilements; just look at those foot-prints with care:”
Rattassa hi ukkuṭikaṃ padam bhave
duṭhassa hoti avakaḍḍhitaṇ padaṃ
mūṭassa hoti sahasāmupiḷitan
vivaṭaccha dassa imīdisaṇ padaṇ
– the foot-print of one with strong lust does not touch the ground in the middle;
– the foot-print of one with great amount of anger is more marked at the heels;
– the foot-print of one with great amount of delusion is marked by impression of its toes and heels
The foot print, we are seeing, is free from all these and it is therefore evident that it belongs to the Omniscient One who had done away with all forms of defilements.”
The old Brahmin felt uneasy in his mind by his wife’s caustic remarks and complained:
“O woman, you are rude and aggressive.”
While they were thus engaged in arguments, the Buddha made His appearance at a place where the Brahmin could easily see Him.
When Brahmin Magandhi saw the Buddha, he scolded his wife and said:
“The person whom I spoke of is He,” and so saying he approached the Buddha and made things plain to Him:
“O recluse! I have been looking for You all over the places since the earlier part of the day. There is no one in the whole world who is as pretty as my daughter, and there is no one in the world as handsome as Yourself. I wish to give You my daughter to attend upon You as a housewife.”
The old Brahmin spoke directly and simply. Whereupon, the Buddha said, in response to his offer:
“O great Brahmin, I had no desire whatsoever for the three charming daughters of Mara of the celestial plane of Vasavatti, who stood by my sides and wooed and tried to tempt Me by love-making talks full of sweet charms and (you might imagine) how could I have any desire for your daughter, Magandhiya!” and He recited the following verse:
Disvāna Tanhaṃ Aratiṃ Ragañca
nāhosi chando api methuna samiṃ
kimevidam muttakarīsa punnaṃ
pādāpi naṃ sanphusituṃ na icche
Although the three charming daughters of King Mara, namely, Taṇhā, Arati, and Raga approached Me under the banyan tree, ‘Ajapala’ with firm determination to tempt Me to enjoy filthy sensual pleasure by mutual cooperation with them, I had not the least desire to yield to their wishes nor there was the slightest taint of sensual passion in Me. In the same way, I have not the slightest taint of sensual desire on seeing this young Magandhiya whose physical body is full of filth such as excreta, urine, etc. I have not the slightest desire to touch her even with My feet.
The Buddha uttered this stanza as though He was communicating not with the Brahmin but with a different person.
Magandhiya, the daughter of Brahmin Magandhi, haboured resentment towards the Buddha for insulting her by comparing her physical body with a collection of fifth such as ordure, urine and what not.
“He should have rejected me in a simple manner that does not affect my dignity. I vow to revenge this insult, as and when opportunity occurs, hereafter.”
Thus Magandhi had sowed the seed of enmity against the Buddha.
The Buddha did not give any heed to the resentment harboured by the young lady, Magandhiya, and proceeded to preach the Dhamma to the old Brahmin couple, Magandhi, in harmony with his disposition. Brahmin Magandhi and his wife attained anāgāmī ariyaship (became nun returners) at the conclusion of the discourse. In due time, the couple considered that no useful purpose will be served to continue on living the household life (after attainment to the exalted state of anāgāmī) for any length of time, and they entrusted their young daughter, Magandhi, to her paternal uncle, ordained in Buddha’s dispensation and without long both became Arahants.
After emancipating Magandhi and his wife, the Buddha resumed His journey to the country of Kosambī and arrived there eventually.
When the three rich men heard of the arrival of the Buddha in the company of bhikkhus, they arranged for His reception on a grand scale and conducted Him to the monasteries. On arrival at the monasteries, they sat at appropriate places and after paying their respects, addressed the Buddha:
“Most Exalted Buddha… the three monasteries which have been built, are intended to be offered to all the members of the Noble Order. We humbly request for favour of Your acceptance of the three monasteries for use by Your Sangha arriving from four quarters of the compass.”
The Buddha was pleased to accept them, as requested by the donors. The three rich men then invited the Buddha for the performance of feasting ceremonies the next day and then they made their departure.
Thus, the Buddha stayed in the monasteries donated by the three rich men and observed the ninth vassa in the country of Kosambī.
At the time the Buddha was observing the ninth vassa in Kosambī, the young woman Magandhiya had become the Chief Queen of King Udena.
( It happened like this: Magandhiya was left by her parents, to the care of her paternal uncle, Cula Magandhi, before they received their ordination. King Udena made her his queen after consultation with her uncle Cula Magandhi. A separate chamber with five hundred maids of honour was allotted to her by the King. Magandhi had thus been a Queen of King Udena by the time. The Buddha kept the ninth vassa at Kosambī! )
Having come to understand that the Buddha had arrived at Kosambī, she caused all the wrecked, reckless, starving drunkards to be summoned, and she bribed and instigated them to call the Buddha by several names as taught by her. When the Buddha entered the city on the following day, in response to the invitation of the three rich men to a feasting ceremony, the wrecked, reckless drunkards reviled the Buddha by calling Him several ill names as taught by Queen Magandhiya.
The Venerable Ānanda implored the Buddha to leave the place:
“Most Exalted Buddha… let us not continue our stay at a town where we have been abused. Let us go to another town!”
Whereupon, the Buddha replied:
“Dear Ānanda… Buddhas are totally indifferent to the eight worldly vicissitudes and all those boisterous and abusive noises are bound to die off within a period of seven days and no more. The abusers will be liable to pay for their own demerit. You need not fret and bother yourself by such short-comings!”
So when our Venerable Ānanda suggested to the Buddha that they should leave the town which appeared so inhospitable, instead, the Buddha gave a discourse to the Venerable Ānanda on the importance of taming oneself, which was recorded in Attadaṇṭa vatthu in the Dhammapada verses 320, 321 & 322.
The Buddha stayed on for some time in Kosambī in the three monasteries in towns.
Khujjuttarā attained the fruit of Stream-Entry
The three householders of Kosambī attended on the Buddha and His Sangha in turns, making big offerings for a month. Then they extended the privileges of honouring the Buddha and His Sangha, in making great offerings, to other people of Kosambī by organizing them into localities or association.
One day, the Buddha and His company of large number of bhikkhus were at the house of a florist, to receive his offerings. At that time, Khujjuttarā, the personal attendant to Queen Sāmāvatī, went to buy flowers, which was her routine duty. The florist said to her:
“Ah, dear Uttarā, I have no time to serve you this morning. I am busy attending on the Buddha and His Sangha. Will you lend a hand in our food offering? This good deed of yours will lead to your emancipation from bondage.”
Khujjuttarā ate her portion of food given by the florist and joined him and his people in serving food to the Buddha. She learnt by heart the Buddha’s discourse, which was preached to those who came near Him. At the end of the discourse, she was established in the Fruition of Stream-Entry.
Sāmāvatī and Her Five Hundred Companions attained the fruit of Stream-Entry
Khujjuttarā, in her daily purchase of flowers for Queen Sāmāvatī, usually bought only four coins worth of flowers and pocketed four coins out of the Queen’s daily allowance of eight coins for flowers. But on the day she became an Stream-Enterer, Khujjuttarā had no mind to steal the money entrusted to her, and bought eight coins worth flowers, which now filled her basket completely. Queen Sāmāvatī, seeing an unusually large quantity of flowers in Khujjuttarā’s basket, asked her:
“Why dear Uttarā, you have such a big basket of flowers today, unlike the previous days! Did the King increase my allowance for flowers?”
Khujjuttarā, as an an Stream-Enterer, was now incapable of telling lies, and so confessed her previous misconduct. The Queen asked her:
“Why, then, have you brought such a big quantity of flowers today?”
And Khujjuttarā replied:
“Because I do not steal the money today. I cannot do so because I have realized Nibbāna. I have comprehended the Deathlessness, after hearing the Buddha’s discourse.”
Thereupon, Queen Sāmāvatī and her five hundred ladies-in-waiting spread out their hands and asked Khujjuttarā:
“Dear Uttarā, give us a share of that Deathless Nibbāna!”
“Dear friends, Nibbāna is not something that can be apportioned to others. I will re-echo the words of the Buddha. If you are endowed with past merit you may gain Nibbāna, the Deathless, on hearing them.”
“Dear Uttarā, do go ahead!”
“But, I have to remain seated on a higher level than your seats before I start making the discourse.”
Queen Sāmāvatī arranged a higher seat for Khujjuttarā and listened to the latter’s discourse, sitting at a lower level. Khujjuttarā, exercising the Analytical Knowledge pertaining to a noble disciple of the Buddha, gave a discourse to Sāmāvatī and her five hundred ladies-in-waiting. At the end of which, all of them were established in the Fruition of Stream-Entry. From that time onwards, Khujjuttarā was relieved of her all-round service duties and was given the task of going to the Buddha’s monastery to hear His sermon and, in turn, to teach Queen Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in- waiting what she had learnt from the Buddha. In this way, Queen Sāmāvatī and her company of ladies-in-waiting were given regular discourses in the palace by Khujjuttarā.
Khujjuttarā’s Past Merit and Demerit
Why was Khujjuttarā reborn into a slave family?
It was due to her past evil deed. She had, during the time of Buddha Kassapa, being born in to a rich family, made a female novice who was still an Arahant, assist her in odd jobs (i.e. running errands for her). On account of that misdeed, she was reborn into a slave family for five hundred existences in succession.
Why was she born with a hump-back?
When she was a lady at the court of the King of Bārāṇasī before the advent of Buddha Gotama, she saw a Pacceka Buddha with a hump-back who went to the palace to collect alms-food. Then she mimicked the Pacceka Buddha in the presence of other court ladies. For that evil deed, she was born hump-back in the present existence which was her last existence in the human world.
What merit did she earn in the past to be endowed with inmate wisdom in her last existence?
When she was a lady at the court of the King of Bārāṇasī before the advent of the Buddha, she saw eight Pacceka Buddha carrying alms-bowls which were filled with milk-rice and were piping hot. To relieve the heat on the hands of these revered ones, she removed eight gold bangles which she was wearing and offered them for use as buffers underneath the alms-bowls. That thoughtful deed was the merit she earned.
Queen Māgaṇḍīya intrigued against Queen Sāmāvatī
Although Queen Sāmāvatī and her five hundred ladies-in-waiting had become noble disciples of the Buddha, they never had the opportunity of meeting the Buddha because King Udena was a non-believer. Since they were Stream-Enterers, they had a great longing to see the Buddha in person. All they could hope for was to get a glimpse of the Buddha whenever He was passing through the city. As there were no sufficient trellis windows to peep through, the ladies bore holes in the walls of their sleeping quarters, through which they peeped to gain precious glimpses of the Buddha.
One day, as Queen Māgaṇḍīya was strolling outside when she noticed the small holes on the walls of the ladies-in-waiting of Queen Sāmāvatī and asked the maidens what the holes were for. They did not know that Queen Māgaṇḍīya was holding a grudge against the Buddha and honestly divulged their secret arrangement that had enabled them to watch the Buddha passing by and to honour Him by standing in their own rooms and peeping through the small holes on the wall. Queen Māgaṇḍī thought to herself, grinning, thus:
“Now my time has come to avenge Samaṇa Gotama. These girls followers of Gotama will also have their deserts!”
Then, when Māgaṇḍī was alone with King Udena, she said to him:
“Great King, Queen Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting have given their hearts to someone else besides you. They are plotting against your life in a few days. They have no affection for you. They have such great interest in Samaṇa Gotama that they peep at him whenever He goes in the city. They have made holes in the wall of their rooms to get a view of Samaṇa Gotama.
The King did not believe her at first but Māgaṇḍīya repeated her story another time, yet the King still did not believe her. For the third time, she repeated it, and when the King refused to believe her, she suggested that the King would go to the private quarters of the ladies-in-waiting and inquire by his own self. The King did as she had suggested and saw small holes. He asked the ladies-in-waiting about the holes and they honestly and truly told him the purpose of holes. The King was not angry with them but merely ordered that the holes be closed. He let a trellis windows fixed on the upstairs of the ladies’ quarters. (This was the first malicious report on the part of Queen Māgaṇḍīya).
Queen Māgaṇḍīya then hatched another plot. She said to the King:
“Great King, let us put to the test the loyalty of Sāmāvatī and company towards you. Send them eight living hens and ask them to cook a meal with them for Your Majesty.”
The King did as Māgaṇḍī advised. Queen Sāmāvatī, being a noble disciple of the Buddha, was above killing and so replied to the King that it would not be proper to kill the hens.
But Māgaṇḍīya was crafty enough. She said to the King:
“Great King, say to Sāmāvatī to cook a meal with the hens for Samana Gotama.”
The King did as he was told. This time, Māgaṇḍīya had the hens killed, on the way before they reached Queen Sāmāvatī, who, on receiving the lifeless hens, had no suspicions about them in her simple mind. She had them cooked and send the cooked dish to the Buddha. Queen Māgaṇḍīya then pointed the fact of Sāmāvatī’s behaviour to the King, saying:
“Now, do you see where Sāmāvatī’s interest lies?”
However, the King did not take offence against his beloved Queen Sāmāvatī. (This was the second malicious plot on the part of Queen Māgaṇḍīya.).
The Third Malicious Plot of Queen Māgaṇḍīya
King Udena had three queens, Queen Sāmāvatī, Queen Vāsuladattā, the daughter of King Caṇḍapaccota of Ujjeni and Queen Māgaṇḍīya. Each Queen had five hundred ladies-in-waiting. The King spent seven days with each of his three queens in turn, in their respective palatial mansions.
Queen Māgaṇḍīya kept a small cobra in a bamboo container which she stealthily transferred into the King’s harp and sealed the small hole in it, when the King visited her. The King always carried his harp wherever he went. He was so fond of it because its music could cast a spell on elephants which would become attracted to it player, the King.
When the King was about to go to Queen Sāmāvatī, Queen Māgaṇḍīya said to him (as if she had real concern for the King’s safety):
“Great King, Sāmāvatī is a follower of Samaṇa Gotama. She does not value your life as much as a blade of grass. She is always intent on doing harm to you. So, please beware.”
After the King had spent seven days with Queen Sāmāvatī, he went to stay with Queen Māgaṇḍī for another seven days. She said to him:
“How was it, Great King, did Sāmāvatī find no opportunity to harm you?”
Then, taking the harp from the King’s hand, and shaking it, she exclaimed:
“Why? There’s some living thing moving about inside the harp!”
And after stealthily opened the small hole in the harp, she exclaimed:
“O! death unto me! There is a snake in the harp!”
She dropped the harp and ran away from it. The snake’s coming out from the harp was enough to arouse the King’s anger. Like a bamboo forest on fire, the King was hissing with fury.
“Go and bring Sāmāvatī and all her ladies-in-waiting!” he shouted. The King’s men obeyed promptly.
If you control yourself, retaining righteousness and maintaining a loving heart, when someone get angry with you, how could you be the worse for it?
Queen Sāmāvatī knew that the King was angry with them. She advised her ladies-in-waiting to diffuse loving-kindness towards the King for the whole day.
When they were brought before the King, Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting were made to line up facing the King who stood with bow and poisoned arrow. They remained diffusing loving-kindness towards the King, who found himself unable to shoot and at the same time unable to put down the bow and arrow. Perspiration flowed properly from his body which was trembling. His mouth was discharging saliva. He resembled a man who had suddenly lost his faculties.
Queen Sāmāvatī said to him: “Great King, are you feeling exhausted?”
The King replied: “My dear Queen, I do feel exhausted. Be my support.”
“Very well, O King,” she said. “direct your arrow towards the ground.”
The King did as he was told. Then Sāmāvatī wished: “May the arrow be released.” And the poisoned arrow went into the ground.
At that moment, King Udena went and dipped himself in water and in his wet cloths and hair, he fell at Sāmāvatī’s feet, saying:
“Forgive me, my dear Queen. I had foolishly acted under the instigation of Māgaṇḍīya.”
“I forgive you, O King,” said Sāmāvatī.
“Very well, O Queen, you are full of forgiveness towards me. From now on, you are free to make offerings to the Buddha. Do make offerings and do go to the Buddha’s monastery in the afternoons and attend His sermons. From now on you shall be well protected.”
Sāmāvatī, seizing the opportunity, made this request:
“If so, Great King, would you ask the Buddha to arrange for a bhikkhu to come to the palace and teach us the Good Doctrine every day?”
King Udena went to the Buddha and made the request, whereupon the Buddha assigned Venerable Ānanda the task. From that time, Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting invited Venerable Ānanda to the palace and made daily food offerings, after which, they learnt the Doctrine from him.
Sāmāvatī and Her Ladies-in-waiting were burnt to Death
Māgaṇḍīya was at her wit’s end in her attempts to estrange King Udena and Sāmāvatī. She became desperate and made a desperate attempt. She persuaded the King to go on a picnic in the park. She detailed her uncle to commit arson at the palace during the absence of the King. Queen Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting were to be ordered to remain indoors, using the King’s authority. Then their mansion was to be burnt. Queen Māgaṇḍīya’s uncle, the foolish brahmin, executed the plot successfully.
As their past evil deed had now fructified, Sāmāvatī and her five hundred ladies-in-waiting while dwelling in the attainment of their Fruition of Stream-Entry on that fateful day, lost their lives in the flames, like lumps of bran in a storehouse. The guards, at Queen Sāmāvatī’s mansion reported the calamity to the King.
The King made discreet inquiries into the prime mover in this horrible case of arson, and knew that it was none other than Māgaṇḍīya. However, he did not reveal his true intention. Instead, he sent for Queen Māgaṇḍīya and said to her:
“Dear Māgaṇḍīya, you have done for me what I ought to have done by myself. You have done away with Sāmāvatī who had made various attempts on my life. I adore you for this act. I am going to reward you amply. Now, call your kinsmen.”
Queen Māgaṇḍīya was delighted to hear the King’s words. She gathered all her relatives and also her friends, whom were as if they were her relatives. When all of Māgaṇḍīya’s associates were gathered, the King had deep pits dug in the palace ground, where all the culprits were put with only their heads showing above the ground. Their heads were then severed and then iron plough shares were driven across their broken skulls. As for Queen Māgaṇḍīya, her body was cut into pieces and cooked in oil.
The Past Evil Deeds of Sāmāvatī and Her Ladies-in-waiting
The death of Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting by being burnt alive had its root in their past evil deeds.
In one of their existences before the advent of Buddha Gotama, the five hundred maidens were standing on the river bank at the Gaṅgā after having a long frolicking bath. As they were shivering with cold, they saw a small thatched hut nearby, which was the dwelling of a Pacceka Buddha. They rashly burnt it for warming themselves without first seeing whether there was any occupant inside or not.
At that time, the Pacceka Buddha was dwelling in the attainment of Cessation. Only when the little hut was reduced to ashes that they found, to their horror, the sitting Pacceka Buddha in a motionless state. Although in setting fire to the hut, they had no intention to kill the Pacceka Buddha, the thought of killing him now entered their frightened mind because they recognized him as the Pacceka Buddha who went to the King’s palace for daily alms-food. To avoid the King’s wrath, they thought of burning the revered one leaving no trace of him. So, by way of cremation, they gathered more fuel and set fire to the sitting Pacceka Buddha. This act being done with intention to kill, constituted a grave misdeed, carrying grave consequence.
(When the fuel which the maidens put to the fire had exhausted, the Pacceka Buddha rose from dwelling in the attainment of Cessation, cleaned His robes of ashes and rising into the air, went away, while they (maidens) were watching in great wonder. They suffered in hell for that evil deed, and as a remaining resultant thereof, they were burnt alive in this life.)
Designating the Foremost Female Lay Disciple
After the utter destruction of Queen Sāmāvatī and her five hundred ladies-in-waiting, there arose words of praise among the four types of assembly, the assembly of bhikkhus, bhikkhunīs, male lay disciples and female lay disciples, such that:
“Khujjutarā was learned and although a woman, she could expound the Doctrine that resulted in five hundred ladies of the court attaining Stream-Entry.”
“Sāmāvatī was accomplished in the practice of dwelling in universal goodwill that she was able to avert the arrow of King Udena through her diffusion of goodwill towards the King.”
Later on, when the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery and was naming female lay disciples, He declared, in respect of Khujjutarā:
“Bhikkhu, among My female lay-disciples who are very learned, Khujjutarā is the foremost.”
(Khujjutarā earned the distinction because she was given by Queen Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting, after their attaining Stream-Entry, the task of learning further about the Buddha’s Doctrine by listening from Him, His sermons daily. This privilege of hers made her so immersed in the Doctrine that she learnt the Three Piṭakas by heart. This was why the Buddha named her the “foremost in learning.”
As a sekkha, a noble disciple of the Buddha (Ariya sāvaka) still learning by herself for Arahatship, Khujjutarā was endowed with the Four Analytical Knowledges pertaining to a sekkha which enabled her to bring Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting in to the fruition in the noble path.
While the Buddha was staying in Kosambī, Khujjutarā went to the Buddha daily and listened to the sermons. On returning to the palace, she repeated what she had learnt to Sāmāvatī and her ladies-in-waiting. She would begin her discourses to them with these words:
“Indeed had the Bhagavā said thus; I have heard the Arahant say thus……”
The 112 discourses she made to the ladies have been put on record by the elders at the Council as “the Buddha’s words,” under the title of Itivuttaka.
On that occasion, the Buddha said in respect of Sāmāvatī thus:
“Bhikkhu, among My female lay-disciples who live with loving kindness, Sāmāvatī is the foremost.”
(From the book : The Great Chronicle of Buddhas | by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw)