Standing within the grounds of the Jetavana monastery, we cannot forget our gratitude towards the great donor who offered this monastery to the Buddha and the Sangha. As the children of the Buddha, whether monastics or laypeople, many of us hold the same opinion about Upāsaka Sudatta, also known as layman Anāthapiṇḍika, who offered Jetavana monastery and who made significant contributions to the practice and preservation of the Dhamma, as well as to society during the time of Buddha, about 623 BCE. His dedication to the Dhamma and society is the main reason for this shared opinion.
From the secular perspective, he made significant and effective contributions by establishing a Vocational Training Center, a Hunger Relief Center, a Nursing Home, an Orphanage, and especially by providing five hundred meals at his home that were always available for the poor and the hungry. He never refused to help anyone. It can be said that his house was like a well, a sweet spring that anyone in need could use at will. Therefore, he was called Anāthapiṇḍika, meaning “one who gives alms (piṇḍa) to the unprotected (anātha).”
From the religious perspective, he was a great Dhamma protector, a Sotāpanna (a person who has achieved the first stage of enlightenment, known as stream-enterer), and a shining example of an enlightened friend for all contemporary lay Buddhists.
Today, the stupa built to honor Anāthapiṇḍika stands only as a brick foundation excavated by archaeologists. We sat until sunset and listened to the group leader recounting Anāthapiṇḍika’s life.
On these same grounds , across a street, a stupa originally constructed as a tribute to the Venerable Angulimāla now lies in ruins., Angulimāla, whose real name was Ahiṁsaka, came from a Brahmin lineage that had been a noble family for many generations. His mother’s name was Mantāṇi, and his father, Gagga, was a respected advisor of King Pasenadi, the ruler of Kosala.
On the night of his birth, an unprecedented phenomenon occurred: all the weapons in the city emitted a dazzling light. Even King Pasenadi’s treasured sword, which was in its scabbard in his bedroom, emitted a cold steel light that terrified the King.
Seeing such a phenomenon, the Brahmin, Angulimāla’s father, stepped out onto the porch and looked up at the sky. In the middle of nowhere, a star “bandit murderer” had just appeared. He pondered for a moment, then felt a shiver of fear. That star signified the fate of a “bandit murderer” for his newborn son!
As prophesied, when Ahiṁsaka grew up, due to ignorance, he became a murderer who cut the fingers of the victims to make a garland to wear around his neck; therefore, he was called Angulimāla. However, Ahiṁsaka (Angulimāla) finally stopped his murders, left his home, followed the Buddha, and became an Arahant. After leaving home, he was constantly assaulted by people with sticks and stones; his body was injured due to their anger and hatred for his previous evil deeds.
From the day he wholeheartedly followed the Buddha, Venerable Angulimāla enthusiastically practiced meditation. However, he was still not reassured because even during his meditation, he often recalled the anguished screams of his innocent victims.
One morning, while going for alms in Savatthi, Venerable Angulimāla heard someone crying in pain. When the Venerable realized it was a pregnant woman in pain from labor and had difficulty giving birth, he was moved with compassion. He thought about the suffering of all sentient beings in this world. He recounted the agony of that poor woman to the Buddha, who taught the Venerable to make the asseveration of truth that later became known as Angulimāla Paritta (Angulimāla Protection Sutta). Approaching the pregnant woman in pain, the Venerable sat down behind a curtain and made the following vows:
Yatohaṃ bhagini, āriyāya jātiyā jāto, nābhijānāmi sañcicca pāṇaṃ jīvitā voropetā, tena saccena sotthi te hotu sotthi gabbhassā’ti
“Dear sister, I have never intentionally killed a living being since the day I became a monk. May you and your baby soon be born blessed because of this truth.”
Immediately, the mother gave birth easily. Both the mother and the baby were safe and healthy.
(See more about the stories of Venerable Angulimāla’s previous lives)
We visited the stupa that commemorates him. It is now just an excavated brick foundation and an iron fence around it, protecting his stupa from being destroyed by anger and resentment.
The time the Sangha stayed at Savatthi went by so fast. We tried to clean up Wat Thai Chetavan Temple before we got ready to cross the border with Nepal.
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Source: Dhammacetiya