Tathālokā Therī
March 10, 2025
Dear Venerables & Dhamma friends, all are warmly welcome to join our Dhammadharini Sangha in commemorating the Pārinibbāna Anniversary of great disciple of the Buddha Arahant Therī Rāhulamātā Bimbā Yasodharā Bhaddakaccānā 🌕✨ March 13th 2025 Phagguṇa Puṇṇamī Full Moon | 7-9pm Pacific/California time | March 14th 7:30am India & Sri Lanka
🙏 Warm Welcome 🙏
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#bhikkhuni #rahulamata #Yasodhara #bhaddakaccana #arahant #Theri #Parinibbana #phagguna #Punnami (#Phalgun/#Falgun #purnima) #parinivana #rajagaha (#rajgir) #savatthi (#Sravasti)
from the Yasodharā Therī Apadāna
in the manuscript traditions: the Bimbā Yasodharā Parinibbāna
The prediction of ancient Buddha Padumuttara to rishi Sumedha (future Buddha Gotama) with regards to the Sumittā Upāsikā (future arahant therī Yasodharā):
376. ‘‘‘Sīhova pañjaraṃ bhetvā, pāpuṇissati bodhiyaṃ’.
She will attain Bodhi like a lion freed from a cage . . .
At the end of her life, then aged 78 arahant therī Yasodharā says to the Buddha:
322.‘‘‘Paripakko vayo mayhaṃ, parittaṃ mama jīvitaṃ
Pahāya vo gamissāmi, kataṃ me saraṇamattano.
Old age has ripened for me now;
verily my life is light (not heavy).
Giving you all up I will go:
my refuge is made in myself.
324.‘‘‘Natthi jāti jarā byādhi, maraṇañca mahāmune;
Ajarāmaraṇaṃ puraṃ, gamissāmi asaṅkhataṃ.
Where there's no birth and no growing old,
nor sickness and death, O Sage,
I'm going to go there, O Hero,
to the Uncondiitoned.
328. ‘‘‘Iddhiñcāpi nidassehi, mama sāsanakārike;
Parisānañca sabbāsaṃ, kaṅkhaṃ chindassu yāvatā’.
[the Buddha:] Demonstrate your spiritual potency
to those administering my Sāsana,
[because of that] let whatever doubts remain be cut off
from all folds of my manifold dispensation."
...she then extensively demonstrates her extraordinary spiritual powers, and tells of her dedication...
...the next two verses are reflecting back to the time of her stream entry on this full moon 42 years earlier; the following three verses on her attainment of arahatship within a fortnight of entering the bhikkhunī life 38 years earlier...
....stream entry: sotapatipanna....
400. ‘‘‘Evaṃ dhamme suciṇṇānaṃ, sadā dhammassa cārinaṃ;
Dhammacārī sukhaṃ seti, asmiṃ loke paramhi ca.'
Every day I practiced dharma -
for those who practiced dharma:
a doer of dharma I am at ease,
in this world and the next one.
401. ‘‘‘Dhammaṃ care sucaritaṃ, na naṃ duccaritaṃ care;
Dhammacārī sukhaṃ seti, asmiṃ loke paramhi ca.
The dharma practice is well-practiced,
the practice is not ill-practiced;
a doer of dharma I am at ease,
in this world and the next one.
....complete awakening / enlightenment: arahanta....
405. ‘‘‘Kilesā jhāpitā mayhaṃ, bhavā sabbe samūhatā;
Nāgīva bandhanaṃ chetvā, viharāmi anāsavā.
Defilements gone, I've abolished existence;
I am now like a she elephant (nāgī, female nāga)
who breaking free from [all her] fetters,
dwells without karmic residue.
406. ‘‘‘‘Svāgataṃ vata me āsi, mama buddhassa santike;
Tisso vijjā anuppattā, kataṃ buddhassa sāsanaṃ.
Living in the Buddha's midst
was pure profit for me;
the three higher knowledges attained,
I've done what Buddha taught.
407. ‘‘Paṭisambhidā catasso, vimokkhāpi ca aṭṭhime;
Chaḷabhiññā sacchikatā, kataṃ buddhassa sāsanaṃ’’.
The four analytical knowledges,
the eight deliverances;
the six superknowledges are attainted,
I have done the Buddha's Teaching.
Anguttara Nikāya Book One: verses on "the Foremost"
....the Buddha to the Bhikkhu-Bhikkhunī Sangha....
Etadaggaṃ, bhikkhave, mama sāvikānaṃ bhikkhunīnaṃ mahābhiññappattānaṃ yadidaṃ Bhaddakaccānā.
Monks, this is the foremost of my bhikkhuni disciples in the attainment of the higher knowledges: Bhaddakaccanā [that is, Rāhulamātā Bimbā Yasodharā].
In several of the Sinhala recitation and manuscript traditions passed down in Sri Lanka, the text continues to relate her cremation and, at the Buddha's direction, the construction and dedication of a stupa 🪷♟︎🪷 and interment of her post-cremation bodily relics therein.
❛❛ Her relics were enshrined in a beautiful stūpa.
All paid their respects with a rain of flowers.
Siddharta, now a Buddha, rained Merit on her,
With his Buddha-hand placed flowers on her bier. ❜❜
— v 117 of the Sinhala Yasodharāvata යසෝධරාවත "The Story of Yasodharā," translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere
❛❛...Later the Buddha with a host of gods, Brahmas and a huge crowd [of people] gathered and performed the funeral rites. Thereafter the Buddha took the relics and had a stūpa [✨♟︎✨] constructed, offered flowers and lights, and instructed the residents of Dambadiva [Jambudvipa, the Indian subcontinent] to make daily offerings in order to acquire the blessings of heaven and nirvāṇa. Thus, because of that great stūpa all men could perform Acts of Merit and arrive at the city of heaven and the city of nirvāṇa and escape the sufferings of saṁsāra. ❜❜
- excerpt from the end of the Yasodharāpadānaya යසෝදරාපදානය "The Sacred Biography of Yasodharā" - from the palm leaf manuscript B/5 in the library of the Dharmagaveshana library, edited by the monk Meegoda Pannaloka Thēra (Colombo: Sadeepa, 2000) - translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere
The Pāli-text manuscript traditions of mainland Southeast Asia go into much greater detail. We are learning more about this, and plan to share some of what we are learning in this program.
✍️ compiled with much appreciation and gratitude by Tathālokā Therī, thanks to the generous support of Dhammadharini Support Foundation and the Dhammadharini Bhikkhuni Sangha
CREDITS & RESOURCES
Canonical Pāli text here from the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipitaka (CST) published by the Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) freely available on www.tipitaka.org
English translation of the Yasodharā Therī Apadāna (Yasodharātherīapadāna) freely available on www.suttacentral.net and on www.apadanatranslation.com —translated by Jonathan S. Walters
