34. Ven. Sobhita

Aspiration in the Past

The future Ven. Sobhita was born into a worthy family, in the city of Haṁsavatī, during the time of Buddha Padumuttara. While listening to a discourse by the Buddha, he saw a monastic being designated as the foremost among the male monastic disciples who could remember their past lives. He aspired to that honour in some future existence. After making extraordinary offerings to the Buddha, he expressed this wish. The Buddha predicted that his wish would be fulfilled.

Ascetic Life in His Final Existence

The future Sobhita spent his life in doing deeds of merit and passed away into good destinations only. During the time of Buddha Gotama, he was reborn in the Brahmin caste in Sāvatthī. He was named Sobhita.

Young Sobhita had occasions to listen to the Buddha’s discourses. His devotion grew to such an extent that he became a monastic and engaged in the noble practice well and eventually became an Arahat. He was especially endowed with a keen power of remembering past existences (pubbe-nivāsa-ñāṇa).

Foremost Title Achieved

Five hundred aeons ago, from the present aeon, the future Sobhita, under the teaching of other faiths, had practised absorption (jhāna) on the form sphere which is devoid of consciousness. While dwelling in the fourth absorption of that description, he passed away without relapsing from absorption and was reborn in the form realm where he lived for 500 aeons, which is the full lifespan in that existence.

After passing away from that existence, he was reborn in the human world as Sobhita, the Brahmin youth. As he was ripe for Awakening, he became a monastic in the teaching of Buddha Gotama. He strove diligently for Awakening and eventually attained it and was endowed with the three powers: the power of remembering past existences, the power of divine sight and the power of the destruction of the pollutants (āsava).

One day, as he exercised his power of remembering past existences, he could see his rebirth in the present existence and on going back he could see his death, or the death-conscious moment, at the existence in the second last existence. But he could not see the existence before that which was in the form realm, which is without consciousness.

Thus, his second last existence being devoid of mental phenomena and hence unknowable even by the power of remembering past existences, Ven. Sobhita used his intuition thus: “Any being who still fares in the round of rebirth has not a single moment when the aggregates (khandha) do not arise. A being, reborn in the form realm, is devoid of consciousness, has a lifespan of 500 aeons. Therefore, I must have been reborn in that sphere and remained alive without consciousness. That was surely my second to last existence.” That was how Ven. Sobhita arrived at the knowledge of his past existence.

Recollecting past existence of one who is reborn in the form realm that is devoid [1337] of consciousness, is a matter falling within the province of the Buddhas only. The conclusion drawn by Ven. Sobhita was an extraordinary mental faculty, which is like hitting a yak’s hair with a dart of yak’s hair, or like printing a foot track in the sky. Therefore, referring to this unparalleled power of Ven. Sobhita, the Buddha, on another occasion when naming foremost monastics, declared:

Etad-aggaṁ bhikkhave mama sāvakānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ
pubbe-nivāsaṁ anussarantānaṁ yad-idaṁ Sobhito.

Monastics, among my monastic disciples who have the power to recollect their past existences, Ven. Sobhita is the foremost (etad-agga).