Chapter 43
being so, display miracles for us and the Sangha to witness.‛ No sooner had the Buddha
said these words than all members of the community of
bhikkhus
were present on the
scene. Then the Venerable Dabba displayed the miracles pertaining to the disciples of the
Buddha, such as ‚from being one, he became many; from being many, he became one; now
he was visible; and now he was invisible, etc.‛ Then he made obeisance to the Buddha
again.
Then the Venerable rose to the air and created mind-made earth in mid-air, on which he
sat (cross-legged) and meditated on the devise of heat (
tejo-kasiÓa
) as the preliminary step.
After emerging from the
jhÈna
, concentrating on the element of heat, he made his solemn
wish that his body rise in flames. Then he entered into the
jhÈna
of the element of heat
(
tejo
-
dhÈtu
) which is the basis of attaining supernormal powers. On emerging from that
jhÈna,
the thought-process pertaining to supernormal power arose in him. At the first
impulse thought-moment of that thought process, his body became ablaze which consumed
the entire corporeality, comparable in power to the world-destroying fires, so that not a
trace of the body, the conditioned physical phenomenon, remained. No ash of whatever
was to be seen. Then the blaze was completely extinguished as desired by the Venerable.
At the end of the supernormal thought-process, the mind reverted to life-continuum, which,
in this moment, was identifiable with death. Thus ended the life of the Venerable Dabba,
who passed away and realized NibbÈna, making an end of
dukkha
. (For details of the
passing away refer to the Commentary on the UdÈna.)
(26) PILINDAVACCHA MAHŒTHERA
(a) Aspiration expressed in The Past
The future Venerable Pilindavaccha was born into a rich family in the city of HaÑsÈvÈti
during the time of Buddha Padumuttara. As with the other future great
theras
, he went to
the Buddha's monastery, where, in the course of a sermon, he witnessed a
bhikkhu
being
proclaimed by the Buddha as the foremost among the
bhikkhus
who were adored by devas.
As such, he had a strong desire to become such a great
bhikkhu
in future and made his
aspiration before the Buddha. The Buddha saw that his aspiration would be fulfilled in
future and made the prediction to that effect.
Homage paid to The Shrine and The Sangha
The future Venerable Pilindavaccha, after a life of good deeds, passed away and was
reborn in the deva realm and subsequently, either in the deva realm or human realm.
During the time of Buddha Sumedha, he was reborn as a human being. He made great
offerings at the great shrine, which was erected in honour of the Buddha who had passed
away. He also made great offerings to the Sangha.
Life as A Universal Monarch
During a certain period, before the advent of the Buddha, the future Venerable
Pilindavaccha was reborn as the Universal Monarch, who profitably used his great
opportunity and power in making the people established in the five moral precepts.
(b) Ascetic Life adopted in His Final Existence
When Buddha Gotama was about to appeared, the future Venerable Pilindavaccha was
reborn as a brahmin in SÈvatthi. His name was Pilinda; his clan name being Vaccha, thus he
was called Pilindavaccha. Since young Pilindavaccha had a natural disenchantment with the
world, he became an ascetic and studied the magical art known as
C|ÄagandhÈra
, which
consisted some powerful
mantas
. Having gained mastery of these
mantas
, he became an
adept at reading the mind of other people and was able to travel in the air. He became the
greatest sage in RÈjagaha, commanding a big following and amassing much wealth.
Then Buddha Gotama appeared in the world, and after a tour of the country, He reached
RÈjagaha. From the time the Buddha arrived in RÈjagaha, the powers of Pilindavaccha
were visibly impaired. However much he chanted his proven
manta
, he could not travel in