9. Ven. Bhaddā Kuṇḍalakesā
Aspiration in the Past
The future Kuṇḍalakesā was reborn into the family of a rich man in the city of Haṁsavatī, during the time of Buddha Padumuttara. She was listening to the Buddha’s discourse, when she saw the elder nun Subhā being named as the foremost monastic in attaining Awakening with the quickest insight. She wanted most strongly to be named such a foremost nun in future time. After making a great offering, she made known her aspiration in front of Buddha Padumuttara, who then made the prediction that her aspiration would be fulfilled during the time of Buddha Gotama.
A Daughter of the King of Bārāṇasī
After faring for 100,000 aeons, either in the Deva or human realms, the future Kuṇḍalakesā was reborn as the fourth daughter, named Bhikkhadāyikā, of the seven daughters of King Kikī of Bārāṇasī, during the time of Buddha Kassapa. In that existence, she, like her other sisters, led a life of chastity for her entire lifespan of 20,000 years, observing the ten precepts. She was also a joint supporter, together with her sisters, of a great monastic complex for the Saṅgha.
Ascetic Life in Her Final Existence
Princess Bhikkhadāyikā was reborn either in the Deva realm or the human realm for the whole aeon during the interim period between the two Buddhas. During the time of
The king’s counsellor went to see the king early in the next morning and asked the king: “Great King, did you sleep well?” To which the king replied: “Master, how could I sleep well? All the weapons in the palace dazzled mysteriously the whole night making me nervous.” – “Great King,” the counsellor said, “do not be afraid. Dazzling of weapons took place last night not only in the palace but throughout the city.” – “Why, master, did that happen?”
“Great King, last night a son was born to my family, whose time of birth coincided with the dominance of certain planets in the zodiac, and whose influence will determine the character of the new-born child. Due to that planetary influence, my son will grow into an incorrigible thief, an enemy to the whole city. But your majesty, if you so desire, I shall eliminate him.” – “If there is no personal danger to me, there is no reason to eliminate the child.”
The counsellor named his son, Sattuka, meaning Vile Enemy, as signifying the innate quality of the child which was acquired through the stellar influence at birth. As the future Kuṇḍalakesā grew to age, so also did young Sattuka. Even as a young boy of two or three years old, wherever he went, he would snatch anything that he could lay his hands on and take them home. His father admonished him not to do so but he would not listen.
Sattuka the Bane of Rājagaha
When Sattuka attained adolescence, his father, seeing that his son was truly beyond his correction, abandoned him. Giving the youth two pieces of dark cloth to use in nocturnal exploits, a tool for breaking open walls and fences and a sweep of twine ladders to his son, he mournfully said to him: “Take these, you useless boy, make your living by robbery. And be off!”
The young waif proved himself a formidable robber. Making use of the housebreaking tool and the rope ladder, he would execute housebreaking neatly and rob all the houses of the well-to-do. Before long every house in the city suffered from his exploits, showing gaping holes in the walls.
When the king made a chariot ride around the city, these holes were a curious sight for the king, who then asked the charioteer the reason for them. Being told by the charioteer that all of them were the work of Sattuka, the housebreaker, the king sent for the mayor and asked him why the robber was not apprehended. The mayor explained that nobody had ever caught the robber red-handed and hence he was not apprehended. The king ordered him: “Catch the robber today, or else your life is forfeit.”
His very life being at stake, the mayor posted undercover men throughout the city and was successful in catching the robber red-handed. Sattuka was apprehended and brought before the king who ordered: “Take Sattuka out of the city by the south gate and execute him. This event took place during King Ajātasattu’s reign. The mayor acknowledged the king’s sentence. He took Sattuka to every crossroads in the city where 1,000 lashes were administered to him at each crossroads. And thus he was taken towards the south gate, his hands bound at the back.
The Affection of Bhaddā
At that time, the tumult caused by the people watching the thief being punished aroused the curiosity of Bhaddā, the future Kuṇḍalakesā. She looked out through the window which was carved with a lion motif at the sill. When she saw Sattuka in bondage being savagely whipped owing to the mutual love and affection that had existed in their past existences, Bhaddā felt great pity for the robber, and she felt very unhappy. She went to her bedroom with her hands pressed on her bosom to check the mental pain and lay on her bed face downwards. As the only child, Bhaddā was the focus of the family. The
Her mother went to her and asked the reason for her despair. The daughter did not hide her emotions but opened her heart to the mother that she had such love and affection for Sattuka that she could not live unless she was married the man. The parents and the relations tried their best to make her see sense but to no avail. Finally they had to yield to her wishes coming to the conclusion: “At least giving the daughter to the culprit is better than her death.”
Her father approached the mayor with a bribe of 1,000 pieces of money to let the prisoner escape the death penalty, explaining that his daughter was hopelessly enamoured of the robber, and the mayor co-operated. He procrastinated, and put off the execution by all sorts of explanations until it was sundown. Then he substituted another prisoner with Sattuka, who was stealthily escorted to the rich man’s house. The substituted prisoner was taken out of the city by the south gate and executed in lieu of Sattuka.
When the rich man secretly received Sattuka from the mayor’s men, he decided to make his daughter happy by pampering the criminal. He had Sattuka bathed in scented water, dressed up finely, and sent to his daughter’s mansion. Bhaddā was very happy for having obtained her prize. She made herself as lovely as possible with much adornment and attended on Sattuka fondly.
Sattuka’s Wicked Plan
Sattuka’s evilness was such that he coveted Bhaddā’s personal adornments. He thought out a wicked plan and after two or three days, he said to Bhaddā: “I have to say something to you.” – “Say it, my dear,” said Bhaddā, anticipating some good words.
“You might think that you saved my life,” Sattuka said. “As a matter of fact, I owe my life to the guardian spirit of Mount Corapapāta. I promised him an offering, if I came out of my captivity alive. Now I am bound by my word to make the spirit an offering. Make the necessary preparations.”
Bhaddā, being innocent and loving, readily agreed to comply with the wish of her husband. She prepared offerings, adorned herself fully, and rode in a carriage with Sattuka. At the foot of Mount Corapapāta, she alighted from the carriage and made ready to go up the mountain, accompanied by her attendants. Sattuka, concealing his evil motive, persuaded Bhaddā to go up to the mountain alone because she must have no friend by her side. She carried the offering on her head and went up to the mountain with Sattuka.
Once they were alone together on the ascent to the mountain, Sattuka’s tone suddenly changed in his conversation with Bhaddā. His oily tongue now gave way to harsh usage. Bhaddā was intelligent enough to fathom the evil motive of her robber-husband. When they got to the top of the mountain, Sattuka commanded in his natural harshness: “Now Bhaddā, take off all your personal ornaments and wrap them up in your upper garment.” Bhaddā, pretending not to know the evil motive of Sattuka, sweetly replied: “What wrong have I done against you, my lord?” – “Foolish girl, do you think I came here to make offerings to the mountain spirit? Fie! I dare open the heart of the mountain spirit. I have brought you here alone to rob you of your ornaments.”
Bhaddā’s Wisdom
Now that Sattuka’s true colours had been revealed, Bhaddā employed her wit to save herself. Politely she asked: “But, my Lord, whose ornaments are all these? Whom do I belong to?” – “Look here, I do not understand what you mean. I only know that your property belongs
“Very well, my lord, my only request is that I be allowed to show my love before I take off my ornaments and make myself less beautiful to you. Allow me to embrace you from the front, from the sides, and at the rear,” she begged him in a concerning voice. “Very well,” said Sattuka unsuspectingly.
Bhaddā now quickly embraced Sattuka from the front, and then going to his rear, pretended to embrace him, she shoved him violently over the mountain top. He fell headlong into a deep crevice, his body torn up into parts all along the way down.
Here is a subtle point in analysing Bhaddā’s mind in her act of self defence. At the moment of her actually pushing the villain off the mountain top, her mind is rooted in hatred and dominated by the mental concomitant of killing. However, the thoughts immediately preceding that killing impulsion and those which immediately follow it are meritorious thoughts called great types of moral consciousness, or sublime consciousness dominated by skill (upāya-kosalla-ñāṇa) in strategy to ward off the danger to her life.
The mountain spirit who witnessed the astounding wit and courage of Bhaddā, sang two verses in praise of her astute wisdom thus:
A wise person may not always be a man. A woman, with discerning wit in a given situation, may also prove herself to be a wise person.
A wise person may not always be a man. A woman, who can quickly find a solution to a problem, can very well be a wise person.
After what had happened to her, Bhaddā had no desire to return home. She left the mountain, not knowing where she was going. Her only thought was to become a recluse. She happened to arrive at a place of some female ascetics, and asked them to let her join their Saṅgha. They asked her: “Which mode of admission would you prefer? The inferior mode, or the superior mode?” Being a person endowed with the destiny of winding up her existence, she replied: “Let me be admitted into your Saṅgha by the most valued mode of admission.”
Kuṇḍalakesā as a Doctrinaire Ascetic
“Very well,” the leading female ascetic said, and they pulled out Bhaddā’s hair one by one with the shell of the palmyra fruit. No doubt, shaving the head in this manner is most painful but it was the belief of those ascetics that shaving the head with a blade or a pair of scissors was an inferior mode of admitting one into their Saṅgha, and that plucking the hairs one by one was the superior mode. When fresh hair grew again they formed small clusters of rings that resembled earrings. Hence Bhaddā came to be called by her new name of Kuṇḍalakesā, “one with earring-like coils of hair.”
Kuṇḍalakesā learned all that her ascetic teachers could teach her and, being a person of innate wisdom, decided that there was no superior kind of learning that she could get from them. So she left them and roamed the country in search of further knowledge, learning from various teachers. In time, she became learned in various doctrines which were acquired at various places and was also unequalled in expounding doctrines. She would go from place to place to find her match in the exposition of doctrines. As a mark of open challenge, she would set up a heap of sand at the entrance to the town or village she visited, on the top of which she would plant a twig of rose-apple. She would tell the children nearby to let everybody know that anyone who could outwit her in the exposition of doctrines might signal his or her challenge by destroying the rose-apple twig. If after seven days there appeared no challenger, she would pluck up the rose-apple twig in triumph and go on to another place.
Ven. Sāriputta Tames Kuṇḍalakesā
By that time, Buddha Gotama had appeared in the world and was residing at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatthī. The wandering ascetic Kuṇḍalakesā, who wore only a single garment, after touring cities, towns and villages, arrived at Sāvatthī. At the entrance of the city, she set up her symbol of challenge, a heap of sand with a twig of rose-apple planted atop it. After giving word to the children nearby about the meaning of the twig of rose-apple being used, she entered the city.
At that time, Ven. Sāriputta, the Captain of the Doctrine, had entered the city for collection of alms food, after the other monastics had already entered the city. This was because he had been discharging the tasks set him of overseeing the tidiness of the entire Jetavana monastery such as putting monastics’ beddings and articles of use in order, filling water pots, sweeping the grounds, tending to the sick monastics, etc. When he saw the rose-apple twig planted on a heap of sand he inquired from the children nearby what that meant. The children explained to him about Kuṇḍalakesā’s message. Thereupon Ven. Sāriputta told them to destroy the rose-apple twig. Some children were reluctant to do so but a few daring ones trampled the rose-apple twig to pieces.
When Kuṇḍalakesā returned from the city after finishing her meal, she saw her rose-apple twig destroyed and asked the boys who was responsible for it. They told her that they did it, as asked by Ven. Sāriputta. Kuṇḍalakesā pondered thus: “Someone who does not know my ability would not dare to challenge me. This Ven. Sāriputta must be someone who has great wisdom and virtue. Now I will announce to all the people that I am going to engage in a test of wits with Ven. Sāriputta, the Captain of the Doctrine, and thus build up a following of my own before meeting him.” She spread the news to the people and within a short time the whole city of 80,000 houses were informed of the event among themselves.
Ven. Sāriputta, after having finished his meal, sat underneath a tree, and waited for Kuṇḍalakesā. Then she arrived with a large crowd behind her. After exchanging cordial greetings with Ven. Sāriputta, she sat in a suitable place and said: “Venerable sir, did you ask the children to destroy rose-apple twig set up by me?”
“Yes, I did,” replied Ven. Sāriputta.
“Venerable sir, if that is so, shall we enter into a debate?”
“So be it, female ascetic.”
“Who should start putting the questions, sir?”
“It is my privilege to put questions. However, you can begin by asking me about what you know.”
When she had the permission to ask, Kuṇḍalakesā asked Ven. Sāriputta all the doctrines that she knew. He answered them all. Then he said: “Bhaddā, I have answered all your questions. Now I shall ask you a question.”
“Please do venerable sir.”
“What is the one factor that needs to be fully understood (ekaṁ nāma kiṁ)?”
“Venerable sir, I do not know it.”
“Young female ascetic, you do not know even what a young novice knows in our teaching, what else would you know?”
Thereupon Kuṇḍalakesā, being a person of no mean past merit, knew the worth of her opponent. She said: “May your reverence be my refuge!”
“Kuṇḍalakesā,” said Ven. Sāriputta, “you should not take refuge in me. There is the Buddha, the supreme one among the three worlds, now residing at the Jetavana monastery, in his private chamber. Go and take refuge in the Buddha.”
“Very well, venerable sir, I will take your advice,” she said.
In that evening she went to the Jetavana monastery where she found the Buddha delivering a discourse. She made obeisance to the Buddha with the hands, knees and forehead touching the ground and sat in a suitable place. The Buddha, knowing her ripeness for Awakening spoke this verse (Dhp 101):
Better than 1,000 verses that deal with trash, not tending to edification, is a single verse, by hearing which one is calmed.
At the end of the verse, Kuṇḍalakesā became an Arahat and was endowed with the four analytic knowledges. She requested the Buddha to admit her into the Saṅgha of female monastics. The Buddha agreed. So, she went to a nunnery and was admitted as a nun.
Foremost Title Achieved
When the Buddha sat amidst the four kinds of assemblies, there was the lively topic among the audience about the marvellous facility of Ven. Kuṇḍalakesā in attaining Awakening after hearing just a verse comprising four lines. The Buddha, with reference to that topic, declared:
Etad-aggaṁ bhikkhave mama sāvikānaṁ bhikkhunīnaṁ
khippābhiññānaṁ yad-idaṁ Bhaddā Kuṇḍalakesā.
Monastics, among my female monastic disciples who attain path-knowledge quickly Bhaddā Kuṇḍalakesā is the foremost (etad-agga).