Ānanda

Indian disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha

• Born: fl. late sixth century b.c.e.
• Birthplace: North India

It is said that because of his prodigious memory and his having listened to all the Buddha’s sermons, Ānanda was able to recite them by heart in their entirety, thus helping in their compilation at the First Buddhist Council. In addition, thanks to Ānanda’s entreaties and argumentation, the Buddha consented to let women join the ranks of the Buddhist community to become nuns.

Early Life

There is very little personal information concerning the early life of Ānanda (AH-nuhn-duh). According to Buddhist tradition, since he was born on the day when Siddhārtha Gautama reached enlightenment and became the Buddha, Ānanda, which means “Rejoicing,” was thus named by his elated father. Ānanda belonged to the warrior caste, within the same Śākya tribal confederation as the Buddha, of the Gautama clan in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, now in southern Nepal. He was the Buddha’s first cousin, as his father, King Suklodana, was the younger brother of the Buddha’s father, King Śuddhodana. It is said that Ānanda’s father initially did not want him to become the Buddha’s disciple, and that he thus sought to keep his son from knowing about the Buddha’s presence. Eventually, on encountering the Buddha on the occasion of the Buddha’s return to his father’s kingdom, young Ānanda decided to follow the Buddha, thus growing up within the Saṅgha (the Buddhist community) and later becoming a bhikkhu (monk).

Within the multitude who joined the ranks of the order, many were Śākyan princes, and one among them was Ānanda’s brother, Devadatta. Craving only power and recognition, Devadatta vied unsuccessfully for the Buddha’s position as head of the congregation, and failing that, tried, again without success, to harm the Buddha during one of his journeys teaching the dharma, attended as always by Ānanda. Ānanda, on the other hand, was very much beloved by the Buddha and his followers, who were greatly impressed by his learning and mindfulness as well as his warmth, humility, and compassion. His gentle manners and handsome physique attracted female attention, causing him much difficulty throughout his life. According to one account, as he was begging for food, Ānanda, very thirsty, was met at a well by a young peasant girl, Matanga, who gave him water. Struck by the young bhikkhu’s good looks, Matanga followed him and would not leave him alone, tempting Ānanda greatly. It was only with the Buddha’s intercession that Ānanda was prevented from breaking one of the five precepts, that of sexual misconduct.

As the Buddha aged, he needed a personal attendant who would accompany him on his trips to teach the dharma, or Buddhist law. While many disciples of the Buddha competed for this position, Ānanda remained silent but was finally selected because the Buddha had foreseen that Ānanda would later be crucial in the propagation of the dharma. Ānanda was extremely devoted to the Buddha, following him everywhere as he wandered to teach the dharma, guarding his sleep, seeing to all his needs, and acting as intermediary between the Buddha and all who wanted to consult his wisdom. Before attaining mokśa (“liberation without remainder”) at Kuśinagara (now Kasia in Uttar Pradesh), the Buddha entrusted Ānanda with the final instructions as to the disposal of his body and the direction that the Saṅgha should take after his death. As recorded in Mahāparinibbāna Sutta or The Discourse of the Great Passing Away—part of the Tipiṭaka (collected c. 250 b.c.e.; English translation in Buddhist Scriptures, 1913)—the Buddha exclaimed:

What, Ānanda! Does the Order expect that of me? I have taught the truth without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrines; for, with the Tathāgata there is no such thing as the closed fist of the teacher who keeps some things back. . . . So Ānanda, you must be your own lamps, be your own refuges. Take refuge in nothing outside yourselves.

Ānanda attained enlightenment only after the Buddha’s passing away. It is said that Venerable Ānanda lived to be 120 years old.

Life’s Work

It is impossible to speak of Ānanda without speaking of the Buddha, as Ānanda did not stand alone in Buddhist history but is inextricably linked to the life and teaching of the Buddha. As the Buddha’s personal attendant, Ānanda was able to listen to every one of the Buddha’s sermons and thus was the best witness of the Buddha’s word. The Buddha also preached to him personally. Ānanda was noted for his prodigious memory, a quality that made his contribution to the recording of the Buddha’s teaching vital. On the Buddha’s passing (reaching the final nirvana or parinibbāna), his disciples decided to assemble to record the sutras, as the Buddha left no writing behind. This First Council, also known as the First Communal Recitation, was really a question-and-answer exercise organized by one of the Buddha’s senior disciples, Mahākassapa, held in Rajājagṛha (now Rajgir, in Bihar). It included more than four hundred arhats, monks who had attained enlightenment.

At first, Ānanda was not invited because he had not yet reached arhathood, but eventually he attained that state and was able to participate, thus bringing an invaluable contribution to the formulation of the Buddhist canon by reciting from memory the Buddha’s teaching. This recitation was transcribed later to form the foundation of the Sutta-piṭaka or “basket of discourses (sutras).” The Buddhist canon is divided into three parts referred to as Tipiṭaka, the “three baskets” or “threefold collections”: the Vinaya-piṭaka (basket of discipline), which concerns itself with the rules and procedures followed by monks and nuns; the Sutta-piṭaka (basket of discourses), which conveys the Buddha’s teaching through sermons; and the Abhidamma-piṭaka (basket of commentaries), added later by the different schools of Buddhism. Ānanda’s recitations, recorded primarily in the Sutta-piṭaka, included more than five thousand sutras that are believed to bear testimony to the Buddha’s teaching over more than four decades, although this belief has been questioned by some specialists. The sutras often begin with the phrase, credited to Ānanda, “Thus have I heard. At one time. . . .”

Ānanda’s other major contribution was in the domain of women’s participation in the Buddhist order. At first, the Buddha did not allow women to become bhikkhunis (nuns) out of respect for the established socioreligious order, which considered women to be dependent on men and required them to remain within the household. He held this position despite the repeated pleadings of his aunt, Mahāpajāpatī, who had reared him following the death of his birth mother. The Buddha feared that the conflict between the dharma’s discipline and the demands of attachment would upset the equilibrium of monastic life and hinder the spiritual advancement of its then-exclusively male membership. Undeterred, Mahāpajāpatī, along with five hundred women of the Śākya clan, proceeded to shave their heads and begged to be allowed to enter the order. Moved by their sufferings and impressed by their determination, Ānanda interceded with the Master by arguing that women, too, could follow the dharma and progress spiritually. Finally, the Buddha yielded, permitting women to take the robe and to join the ranks of the Saṅgha, on the condition that they obey a stricter code than that applied to its male members.

Later, Ānanda was responsible for organizing the order of the bhikkhunis. Women in many parts of the Buddhist world still can become nuns by joining their own order, separate from but theoretically under the supervision of that of the bhikkhu.

After the passing away of the Buddha, Ānanda succeeded Mahākassapa as the head of the Saṅgha. He is said to have chosen to die in the middle of the Ganges River rather than in either the kingdom of Magadha or Veśālī to prevent their contesting with each other for his remains.

Significance

Within the Buddhist world, Ānanda is considered one of the ten most significant disciples of the Buddha. Just as the Buddha himself left nothing in writing, Ānanda wrote nothing. However, his name appears often in the different early Buddhist texts (in Pāli) such as the Aṅguttara-nikāya or Digha-nikāya, as the personal interlocutor of the Buddha whenever the latter expounded crucial aspects of his doctrine. It is said, for example, that The Greater Discourse on Causes or Mahānidāna Sutta, which dealt with the essential question of dependent origination, resulted from the Buddha personally preaching to Ānanda, an exchange in which Ānanda actively participated.

Bibliography

Bechert, Heinz, Richard Gombrich, et al. The World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998. This is a compilation of articles by the foremost specialists on Buddhism from Europe and the United States on a number of aspects of Buddhist theory, evolution, and propagation. It is richly illustrated, providing the reader with colorful Buddhist iconography, religious texts, and maps. Bibliography and index.

Conze, Edward. Buddhism: A Short History. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000. A classic of Buddhism written by one of the foremost specialists, this work provides the reader with a brief history of Buddhism covering its more than two thousand years of existence. Bibliography, glossary, and index.

Coomaraswamy, Ānanda K., and I. B. Horner. The Living Thoughts of Gotama the Buddha. Louisville, Ken.: Fons Vitae, 2001. This text is a specialized treatise on the Buddha’s life and his viewpoints concerning diverse but complex issues such as the question of caste, illustrated by quotations from the main Buddhist texts within the Pāli school.

De Bary, William Theodore, ed. The Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. The author presents excerpts of translations of fundamental Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Buddhist texts, preceded by an introduction for each of the texts. Bibliography and index.

Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History, and Practices. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. This work, written by another great specialist, is more encompassing, as it provides the reader with a thorough and knowledgeable analysis of Buddhism, its meanings, and different practices and schools. Bibliography and index.

Skilton, Andrew. A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham, England: Windhorse Publications, 1997. Provides an in-depth, very learned study of Buddhism, its different schools, and practices in different parts of Asia. Bibliography, index, and map.

Williams, Paul, with Anthony Tribe. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. New York: Routledge, 2000. Presents to the student unfamiliar with Buddhism an accessible treatment that analyzes the Indian tradition within which Buddhism developed, as well as Indian Buddhism’s main tenets and schools, while using the latest interpretations. Bibliography and index.