Virtuous Deeds Make One Rejoice
The Story of Sumanadevi
Chapter 1: Twin Verses • Verse 18
The Story of Sumanadevi
Chapter 1: Twin Verses • Verse 18
The doer of good delights here and hereafter; he delights in both the worlds. The thought, "Good have I done," delights him, and he delights even more when gone to realms of bliss.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Sumanadevi, the youngest daughter of Anathapindika.
Every day, two thousand monks took their meal at Anathapindika's house, and a like number at the house of the lay disciple Visakha.
Anathapindika had assigned the duty of attending to the monks first to his eldest daughter, Maha Subhadda, who attained the fruit of conversion through listening to the Dhamma before marrying; then to his second daughter, Culla Subhadda, who did likewise; and finally to his youngest daughter, Sumana, who attained the fruit of the Second Path but remained unmarried.
When Sumana fell fatally ill, she sent for her father, addressing him as "dear youngest brother." Confused, he told her she was talking incoherently, but she insisted she was not, and when he asked if she was afraid, she said she was not. She then died without saying more.
Though Anathapindika had himself attained the fruit of conversion, he could not bear his grief, and after the funeral he went weeping to the Buddha.
The Buddha asked why he wept, since death is certain for all, and Anathapindika explained that what troubled him was the thought that his modest, conscientious daughter had died out of her right senses, speaking incoherently.
The Buddha explained that Sumana had not spoken incoherently: she called her father "younger brother" because, spiritually, she was his senior, having attained higher Paths and Fruits than he had.
Comforted, Anathapindika asked where she had been reborn, and the Buddha told him she was now in the World of the Tusita gods. The Buddha observed that just as she had rejoiced here among her kinsfolk, she now rejoiced there, for those who are heedful, whether lay people or monks, rejoice both in this world and in the next.
The Story of Sumanadevi
Chapter 1: Twin Verses • Verse 18
The doer of good delights here and hereafter; he delights in both the worlds. The thought, "Good have I done," delights him, and he delights even more when gone to realms of bliss.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Sumanadevi, the youngest daughter of Anathapindika.
Every day, two thousand monks took their meal at Anathapindika's house, and a like number at the house of the lay disciple Visakha.
Anathapindika had assigned the duty of attending to the monks first to his eldest daughter, Maha Subhadda, who attained the fruit of conversion through listening to the Dhamma before marrying; then to his second daughter, Culla Subhadda, who did likewise; and finally to his youngest daughter, Sumana, who attained the fruit of the Second Path but remained unmarried.
When Sumana fell fatally ill, she sent for her father, addressing him as "dear youngest brother." Confused, he told her she was talking incoherently, but she insisted she was not, and when he asked if she was afraid, she said she was not. She then died without saying more.
Though Anathapindika had himself attained the fruit of conversion, he could not bear his grief, and after the funeral he went weeping to the Buddha.
The Buddha asked why he wept, since death is certain for all, and Anathapindika explained that what troubled him was the thought that his modest, conscientious daughter had died out of her right senses, speaking incoherently.
The Buddha explained that Sumana had not spoken incoherently: she called her father "younger brother" because, spiritually, she was his senior, having attained higher Paths and Fruits than he had.
Comforted, Anathapindika asked where she had been reborn, and the Buddha told him she was now in the World of the Tusita gods. The Buddha observed that just as she had rejoiced here among her kinsfolk, she now rejoiced there, for those who are heedful, whether lay people or monks, rejoice both in this world and in the next.