The Life Stories of the Monks – 1963
precepts, thereby leading them to the Deva Realms. Most of the Devas, in the six
Deva realms pertaining to the sensual sphere, were indebted to him as the
Universal Monarch who had brought them to those fortunate destinations. They
paid homage to him day and night. That was why when the occasion arose for
the Buddha to announce distinguished disciples, he declared:
Etad-aggaṁ bhikkhave mama sāvakānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ
Devatānaṁ piya-manāpānaṁ yad-idaṁ Pilindavaccho.
Monastics, among my monastic disciples who are adored by Devas,
Pilinda Vaccha is the foremost (
etad-agga
).
27. Ven. Bāhiya Dārucīriya
The original name of this elder was Bāhiya which indicated the country he
was born in. Later, he was known as Bāhiya Dārucīriya, “Bāhiya-clad-in-
fibres,” because he wore wood fibre as his garment, the circumstances for
which will be related here.
Aspiration in the Past
The future Bāhiya Dārucīriya was born into a worthy family in the city of
Haṁsavatī, during the time of Buddha Padumuttara. As with other future great
venerables, he visited the Buddha’s monastery and while listening to a discourse,
he witnessed a monastic being declared by the Buddha as the foremost among
the monastics who attained Awakening quickly. He was wished to emulate that
monastic. So after making a great offering, he expressed his aspiration before
the Buddha to receive that distinction in the future. The Buddha saw that the
aspiration would be fulfilled and made the prediction.
[1298]
Meditating on Top of a Mountain
The future Bāhiya Dārucīriya spent all his life in doing deeds of merit and after
his death, he was reborn in the Deva realm and subsequently, either in the
human world or the Deva realm.
[The rest of this section is repeated from the story about Ven. Dabba
above.]
During the waning years of the teaching of Buddha Kassapa, he was reborn as a
worthy man and took up the monastic life. He found six other monastics who
shared the view that living amongst people was not the correct way for gaining