26.12 The Story about Kisā Gotamī
Kisāgotamīvatthu
Dhp 395
Burlingame: Kisā Gotamī, Wearer of Refuse-Rags
Compare: Dhp-a 26.20
One day Sakka visited the Buddha to listen to his teachings, and at that time Elder Kisā Gotamī came flying through the air to pay her respects to the Buddha, and quickly departed; Sakka asked who it was, and the Buddha told him and spoke a verse about her.
Keywords: Foremost Disciples
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“That one who wears discarded clothes,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Mount Vulture’s Peak with reference to Kisā Gotamī.
For at that time, at the end of the first watch, Sakka, attended by a host of Devas, drew near the Teacher, worshipped the Teacher, sat down respectfully on one side, and listened to the Teacher as he taught the Dhamma in his usual pleasing manner.
At that moment Kisā Gotamī said to herself: “I will go and see the Teacher,” and proceeded there through the air. But when she saw Sakka, she turned back. Sakka saw her worship the Teacher and turn back, and straightaway asked the Teacher: “Venerable Sir, who is this that draws nigh to you, and then, seeing you, turns back?” The Teacher replied: “Great king, this is my daughter Kisā Gotamī, foremost of the bhikkhunīs who wear refuse-rags.” So saying, he pronounced the following verse:
395. Paṁsukūladharaṁ jantuṁ, kisaṁ dhamanisanthataṁ,
ekaṁ vanasmiṁ jhāyantaṁ, tam-ahaṁ brūmi brāhmaṇaṁ.
That one who wears discarded clothes,
who is lean with protruding veins,
who meditates in the forest,
that one I say is a Brahmin.
At the end of the teaching many reached the fruition of Stream-entry and so on.