18. Ven. Sīvali
Aspiration in the Past
This man of good family, who would become Sīvali, also went to the monastery during the lifetime of Buddha Padumuttara like many other former would-be great disciples and stood at the edge of the audience, listening to the Buddha’s discourse. While he was doing so, he saw the Buddha declare a certain monk the foremost (etad-agga) among those who received abundant gifts. Thinking that he too should become like that monk, he invited the Buddha to his house and offered a grand alms giving (mahā-dāna) for seven days, in the same manner as was done by the other future great disciples. Thereafter, he declared his aspiration, saying to the Buddha: “Exalted Buddha, as a result of this great act of merit, I do not want any other form of welfare but I want to be the foremost (etad-agga) among those who receive many material gains, in the Dispensation of a Future Buddha, like the monk who was declared so seven days ago.”
Foreseeing that the man of good family’s wish would be fulfilled without any hitch, the Buddha predicted: “Your wish will be fulfilled later in the Dispensation of Buddha Gotama,” and then he returned to the monastery.
Life as a Countryman
Having performed meritorious deeds till his death, the future Sīvali took rebirth only in the realms of Devas and humans, without being reborn in the four suffering states. During the lifetime of the Buddha Vipassī, who appeared 91 aeons ago, he became a man of good family in a certain village not far away from the city of Bandhumatī. At that time, the citizens of Bandhumatī, in friendly competition with the king, discussed among themselves and gave a big alms giving to the Buddha.
One day, when they gave a collective alms giving, they inspected their offerings to see what was missing and discovered that there were no honey and milk curds. So they agreed to bring them from any possible place by all means and placed a man to watch the road leading to the city from the countryside.
Then a villager came, the future Sīvali, carrying a pot of milk curds from his village and thinking that he would exchange them for something he needed. But, before he entered the city, he wished to wash his face and hands and was looking for water everywhere but saw a beehive which was as big as the head of a plough but without bees. Believing that the beehive appeared because of his past act of merit, he took it and entered the city.
When the townsman, who was assigned to the road, saw the villager, he asked: “For whom, friend, are you carrying this honey and these curds?” – “Sir, they are not for any particular person. In fact, I am carrying them to sell,” the villager answered. “In that case, friend, take a coin from my hand and give me that honey and those curds,” said the townsman.
Then the villager thought: “These things, which I have brought now, are not much valuable, yet this man is buying them from me at a high price, even in his first offering. I do not know why!” So he said: “I cannot sell them at this price, sir.” When the townsman increased the price, saying: “If you cannot sell them for one coin, please take two coins and sell the honey and the curds to me.” The villager replied: “I cannot give them to you for two coins either,” in order to raise the price. In this way the price became higher and higher until it reached 1,000 pieces of money.
Realizing: “It is not fair to prolong the deal on my part. However, I shall ask him about his purpose,” the villager said: “The honey and the curds are not so valuable, yet you unduly make such an immense payment. Why do you want to offer so much?” The townsman told him the purpose: “In this royal city of Bandhumatī, friend, the citizens, in competition with their king, gave a grand alms giving to Buddha Vipassī. While they were doing so, they did not have honey and curds among the items of their offering. So they are trying desperately to get them by any means. If they fail to get them, they will lose in their competition with the king. Therefore, I would like to have them by giving you 1,000 pieces of money.” The villager then asked: “Sir, is such a charitable deed to be performed only by the people of the city and not by village folk?”
The townsman then answered: “No man’s gift, friend, is prohibited, everybody whether he belongs to town or village is entitled to give in generosity.” The villager then asked further: “Master, now that the citizens are performing deeds of giving, is there anyone who gives away 1,000 pieces of money in one day?” – “No, friend, there is none.” The villager put still another question firmly: “Master, you know that the honey and the curds that I have brought now are worth 1,000 pieces of money, do you not?” – “Yes, I do, friend.” – “Master,” said the villager, “in that case, go and tell the townsfolk that a rustic man is offering these two things: honey and milk curds, but not for money, instead he would like to make the offering with his own hands. Please also tell them that they should not be restless for wanting them and that they should now be happy as far as these two things are concerned. As for you, you should bear witness in person to the fact that in this magnificent alms giving, it is I who am the supporter of the most expensive item.”
Having said this, the villager bought five perfume ingredients with his money which were meant for his food. He made them into a powder. Then he squeezed the curds to extract water from them. Into that water, he put honey by squeezing the beehive and then seasoned the mixture of honey and curd-water with the perfumed powder. Finally, he put the mixed liquid food in a lotus leaf container. Having prepared the food properly, he brought it and sat down at a place that was not far from the Buddha, waiting for his turn to offer.
Amidst all the offerings that were brought by the citizens, the villager, knowing that it was his turn to make his offering, approached the Buddha and made a wish, saying: “Exalted Buddha, this offering is a gift from a poor man like me. Venerable sir, kindly accept this humble gift of mine.” Out of compassion for the villager, the Buddha received the offering with the marble bowl given by the Four Great Kings and resolved that the food should prove inexhaustible even after distributing it to 6,800,000 monastics.
When the Buddha had partaken of his food, the villager respectfully made obeisance to him and remaining at a suitable distance, said: “Exalted Buddha, all the people of the royal city of Bandhumatī saw and know that today I brought and made an offering to you. As a result of this act of merit, may I become, throughout Saṁsāra, a great recipient of gifts, possessing a large retinue and fame. After saying: may it be so, man of good family (evaṁ hotu kula-putta),” the Buddha gave an appreciative talk to the villager and the citizens and then he returned to the monastery.
Ascetic Life in His Final Existence
The villager, having done meritorious deeds till his death, was reborn only in Deva and human worlds, and finally, during the lifetime of our Buddha, he took conception in the womb of a Koliyan Sakyan Princess named Suppavāsā.
Then one day, in order to investigate the fortunate past deeds of the princess, her royal relatives took the baskets of seeds touched by her hand. When these seeds were scattered, thousands of sprouts appeared from each seed. It was a plot of land, measuring two royal acres, yielding some 50 or 60 cartloads of paddy.
Also, at a time when the crop was put into the storehouse, they let the door of the storehouse be touched by the hand of the princess. When removing the crop, the place from where it was taken out became full as before. This was because of the glorious deeds done in the past by the princess. Besides, when ladling the cooked rice from the full pot and uttering: “This is the fortune of the princess,” and distributing the food to all visitors, their supplies never ran short. While these strange events were happening the child remained in the mother’s womb, and seven years passed by.
When the foetus became mature on the completion of seven years, the princess suffered severely from a fainting owing to her pregnancy (gabbha-mūḷha-dukkha). The princess endured the serious agony without a sound, but by reflecting on the attributes of the Buddha, the Saṅgha and Nibbāna as follows (Ud 2.8):
Sammā-sambuddho vata so Bhagavā,
yo imassa evarūpassa dukkhassa pahānāya Dhammaṁ deseti.
He, that master of ours, the Fortunate One, taught us the abandoning of all kinds of suffering; that master of ours has been perfectly Self-Awakened indeed by attaining omniscience and knowing the truths and all that is to be known!
Suppaṭipanno vata tassa Bhagavato sāvaka-saṅgho,
yo imassa evarūpassa dukkhassa pahānāya paṭippanno.
The Saṅgha, who are the disciples of the Fortunate One, work hard for abandoning all kinds of such suffering, these disciples of the exalted Buddha underwent the threefold training very well indeed!
Susukhaṁ vata taṁ Nibbānaṁ,
yatthidaṁ evarūpaṁ dukkhaṁ na saṁvijjati.
That state in which the slightest tinge of suffering is absent, that Nibbāna is indeed extremely happy!
Through reflecting on the attributes of the three entities: The attributes of the Buddha, the Saṅgha, and the peaceful happiness of Nibbāna, the Princess bore the pains.
On the seventh day, the Koliyan Princess Suppavāsā called her husband the Koliyan prince and thinking she would like to give alms, she said: “Go my lord! Tell the Fortunate One about my happenings and give my invitation to the master. Please note carefully all that he has to say and report it to me!”
The prince went and told the Buddha what was happening to Princess Suppavāsā. The Buddha then uttered: “May the Koliyan Princess Suppavāsā be sound and healthy. Being healthy herself, may she give birth to a healthy son!” No sooner had the Buddha made the utterance than the princess gave birth to a healthy son, and without any pain.
The miserable mood of those who surrounded the princess changed into a happy one, and they went to the prince to give him the news about the baby. The prince, having listened to what the Buddha had said, paid respects to him and returned to the village. When he saw on the way the servants were jubilantly approaching him, he became certain, thinking: “The word of the Fortunate One seems to have come true.”
He went to the princess and transmitted the Buddha’s speech. The princess said: “My Lord, the life-saving
The boy was born and the anxiety of all their kinsfolk was removed thereby. Accordingly, he was given the name Sīvali, which means auspicious. Since he had stayed in the mother’s womb for seven years, from the time of his birth onwards, he was able to do all that was to be done by a seven year old. For instance, he purified the water by means of a filter (dhama-karaṇa) and gave it to the monks during the great alms giving (mahā-dāna) all week long.
On the seventh day, Ven. Sāriputta, the Captain of the Dhamma, had a conversation with the boy. While doing so Ven. Sāriputta asked: “Sīvali, is it not befitting for you to become a monk after suffering all that trouble in the womb?” – “Venerable sir, if only I can get permission from my parents, I would like to become a monk,” the boy answered. Seeing her son conversing with Ven. Sāriputta, Sīvali’s mother thought: “How is it? My son is speaking with Ven. Sāriputta who is the Captain of the Dhamma!” So she joyfully approached Ven. Sāriputta and asked him what they were talking about. Ven. Sāriputta said: “He spoke to me about the misery caused by his stay in his mother’s womb and promised me that he would live an ascetic life provided he gets permission from his parents.” The princess then gave her permission replying: “Very well, venerable sir, kindly make him a novice.”
Ven. Sāriputta then took the boy Sīvali to the monastery and when he was making him a novice, after giving him the meditation subject of the fivefold material aggregate with the skin as the fifth (taca-pañcaka), he said: “You do not need any other exhortation to follow. Just remember the pains that you suffered for seven years.” – “Giving ordination to me is your duty, venerable sir. Let the reflection on the Dhamma be mine. I shall meditate on whatever I can recollect.”
The moment the shaving of hair for the first round was done, Sīvali was established in Stream-entry (Sotāpatti-phala), the moment the shaving for the second round of hair was done, he was established in Once-returning (Sakadāgāmī-phala), the moment the shaving for the third round was done, he was established in Non-returning (Anāgāmi-phala) and as soon as the shaving was complete, he became an Arahat. The completion of the hair-shaving and the attainment of the Arahat fruition took place almost simultaneously.
Since the day Sīvali was ordained a novice, the four requisites: clothing, food, dwelling and medicine became increasingly available to the Saṅgha whenever needed. The story of such happenings to the novice Sīvali started in the town of Kuṇḍikā.
Herein the present story of Ven. Sīvali may be taken from the Discourse concerning Suppavāsā (Suppavāsā-sutta, Ud 2-8). The story, in detail, of his evil deed that caused the seven years long misery of lying in his mother’s womb (gabbhāvāsa-dukkha) and that of his mother’s fainting (gabbha-mūḷha) may be taken from the commentary to the same discourse.
What is to be noted in brief is: The mother and the son, in one of their past existences were the Chief Queen and the son respectively to the King of Bārāṇasī. Once, the King of Kosala attacked the King of Bārāṇasī and took his Chief Queen and placed her in a similar position. When the King of Bārāṇasī was defeated and died, his son, the Prince of Bārāṇasī, escaped through a drain. After organizing an army, he went back to the city of Bārāṇasī and gave an ultimatum asking the new king to return the city to him or he would wage a war.
The mother, who was inside the city, advised her son to besiege the city lest there should occur trouble to many people. In accordance with the mother’s advice, the prince did so by blocking the four main gates so that there could be no exit or entrance. Though he did so for seven years, the citizens went out from smaller gates to collect grass, wood, etc. The blockage proved useless. Hearing that, the mother gave her son further advice to block the smaller gates as well.
When the prince did, following his mother’s advice, the citizens found their movement badly limited. Seven days later they beheaded King Kosala and
Self-Investigation of his Good Deeds
At a later time, when the Buddha arrived in Sāvatthī, Ven. Sīvali paid obeisance respectfully to him and sought permission, saying: “Exalted Buddha, I would like to investigate my own good deeds (kamma). Kindly give me 500 monks as my companions.” The Buddha permitted, saying: “Take them along, dear son Sīvali.”
Ven. Sīvali headed for the Himavanta by following a forest route with 500 companions. Then he came across:
1. A great banyan tree on the way.
2. The Paṇḍava Hill.
3. The river Aciravatī.
4. The ocean known as Varasāgara.
5. The Himavanta.
6. The lake in the Chaddanta forest.
7. Mount Gandhamādana.
8. Ven. Revata’s dwelling.
At all these places, Devas gave a great alms giving (mahā-dāna) to Ven. Sīvali for seven days. Particularly, when they arrived on Mount Gandhamādana, a Deva, named Nāgadatta, offered him milk rice and butter-rice alternately for seven days. Then the monks said among themselves: “Friends, we do not see cows being milked by Devas nor we see the milk-curds being stirred to make butter.” So they asked the Deva for an explanation of what good deed he did to obtain so much milk rice and butter-rice. Nāgadatta answered: “Venerable sirs, I am able to give you milk rice and butter-rice without having milch cows because I performed meritorious gifts of milk-rice by lot during the lifetime of Buddha Kassapa.”
Foremost Title Achieved
At a later time, when the Buddha visited Ven. Khadiravaniya Revata, as has been told in the story of that venerable, Devas provided supplies, day after day, which were mainly intended for Ven. Sīvali on the deserted and dangerous journey. With reference to that episode, the Buddha placed Ven. Sīvali as the foremost among those who received plenty of gifts. The Buddha spoke in praise of Ven. Sīvali by saying:
Etad-aggaṁ bhikkhave mama sāvakānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ
lābhīnaṁ yad-idaṁ Sīvali.
Monks, among my monastic disciples who receive the four requisites in abundance, Sīvali is the foremost.
The doctrinal passages in connection with Ven. Sīvali may be extracted from the Traditions (Apādāna, Tha-ap 545), the Verses of the Elder Monks (Thera-gāthā, Thag 1.60), the Dhamma Verses (Dhammapada, Dhp 414) and their respective commentaries, etc.
Similarly the Dhamma teachings involving later great disciples should be noted in like manner. In this Chronicles of the Buddhas, from now on only three points will be discussed: Each venerable’s aspiration expressed in the past, his ascetic life in the final existence, and the foremost title achieved.