No different single factor exists
Just like the hindrance of delusion,
Which so obstructs humankind
And makes it wander perpetually.
Those that have deserted delusion,
Cleaving via this mass of darkness,
Now not roam and wander on;
In them the trigger is discovered no extra.
—Khujjuttara, as quoted within the Itivuttaka of the Pali canon, translated by John Eire, BPS Pariyatti Editions, 1996
I stay on the coastal panorama of New England, the place one in all my favourite actions is taking a stick and poking alongside the wrack line of the seaside, wanting via the flotsam and jetsam deposited by the earlier excessive tide. The standard bounty consists of soggy seaweed, a miscellany of damaged shells, and tangled plastic detritus. I’m thrilled by the smallest victory: a fraction of finely honed sea glass, a rusty hinge off an previous ship. On the uncommon event, there’ll even be a treasure just like the tiny, scarlet chunk of Mediterranean coral I discovered at one grungy boat touchdown.
Not too long ago, the beachcomber in me has turned to researching the primary technology of Buddhist ladies, combing and sifting via the tales of the ladies who lived within the time of the Buddha. All types of treasures have turned up alongside the way in which. At every flip, I really feel nearer to those ladies as I peer into their lives, think about their worlds, and really feel their worlds contact mine. Residing in a person’s world wasn’t straightforward again then. Residing in a world raging with social injustice wasn’t straightforward both. The ladies at the moment had life experiences in some ways like ours immediately. In addition they had the Buddha. What do we discover in these tales when all of those worlds collide?
Khujjuttara’s extraordinary contribution is worthy of our deepest respect and gratitude.
A favourite story that has lately crept into my coronary heart and observe is the story of Khujjuttara, an enslaved lady who labored within the royal family of Queen Samavati of Kosambi. The story tells us that Khujjuttara was extraordinarily intelligent and succesful. We’re additionally advised she was “ugly” and impaired by a curved backbone. Because the story opens, her thoughts is as crooked as her physique since she is a thief. Every day the Queen offers her eight gold cash to purchase flowers out there and every day Khujjuttara places 4 cash in her pocket and returns to the palace with 4 cash value of flowers. This goes on for a while. The Queen, famend for her variety and delicate coronary heart, suspects the deception, however says nothing.
Sooner or later Khujjuttara goes to city to purchase flowers and comes throughout the Buddha giving a discourse. She turns into transfixed, listening to each phrase as if it have been meant only for her. On the spot, her thoughts transforms and she or he attains “stream entry,” a direct expertise of nirvana. She turns into joyfully imbued with an unshakable religion within the Triple Gem. With remorse for her long-held dishonesty, she spends all eight cash on an abundance of flowers that she returns to the Queen, whereas confessing her earlier transgressions and explaining her change of coronary heart. The delighted Queen invitations Khujjuttara to share the Buddha’s educating with the 5 hundred women of the harem and instructs {that a} magnificent, excessive seat be ready for the event. She bathes Khujjuttara in perfumed water and clothes her within the best material.
And so Khujjuttara’s fortunes have been perpetually modified. It was her activity to attend the Buddha’s teachings every time he preached close by and repeat them verbatim again on the palace. So eager was her reminiscence and adept was her ability in educating that Khujjuttara introduced the Queen and all 5 hundred ladies to stream entry. Now not a lowly servant, she was revered as “mom” and dharma trainer to all of them.
The attain of Khujjuttara’s teachings was immeasurable. As she taught the Queen, so the Queen taught the King, and over time the whole kingdom transformed to the brand new religion. Absolutely conscious of Khujjuttara’s pre-eminence as a feminine lay trainer, the Buddha cited her “Foremost Amongst These Who Are Realized” as famous within the Anguttaranikaya within the Pali canon. An identical checklist within the Chinese language Ekottarikagama, names her “Foremost of These … who’re Supreme in Knowledge.” Additional, the Buddha admonished his lay disciples to carry her up as a task mannequin to encourage their daughters: “Pricey, it’s best to grow to be like Khujjuttara the lay follower … for that is the usual and criterion for my feminine lay disciples….”
Khujjuttara’s flawless reminiscence, similar to Ananda’s, was so correct that her teachings have been deemed buddhavacana, with 112 sutras spoken by her comprising the Itivuttaka within the Pali canon. A number of of those are actually distinctive as they include passages with out counterpart amongst different Pali discourses. Together with her mixed abilities of good recall and peerless instruction — the requisites for survival of the buddhadharma at the moment — Khujjuttara’s extraordinary contribution is worthy of our deepest respect and gratitude.
