Rohiṇī was a princess of the Śākyas and sister of

Anuruddha Anuruddha ( pi, Anuruddhā) was one of the ten principal disciples and a cousin of Gautama Buddha. Early years Anuruddha was the son of Amitodana and brother to Mahanama and princess Rohini (Buddha's disciple). Since Amitodana was the broth ...

. She is a

Sotāpanna In Buddhism, a sotāpanna (Pali), śrotāpanna (Sanskrit; , , Burmese: သောတာပန်, Tibetan: རྒྱུན་ཞུགས་, Wylie: ''rgyun zhugs''), "stream-enterer", "stream-winner", or "stream-entrant" is a person who has see ...

Story

When

visited his family in Kapilavastu, his sister Rohiṇī refused to see him as she was suffering from a certain skin disease. Anuruddha was persistent and requested her presence. She arrived with her face covered with a cloth in shame due to her condition. Her brother advised that she sell some of her clothing and jewellery and have a

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

constructed for the Buddha and the

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...

, as this would bring a great deal of

merit Merit may refer to: Religion * Merit (Christianity) * Merit (Buddhism) * Punya (Hinduism) * Imputed righteousness in Reformed Christianity Companies and brands * Merit (cigarette), a brand of cigarettes made by Altria * Merit Energy Company, ...

. Rohiṇī did as she was advised and was assisted by her relatives. The construction was supervised by Anuruddha. He instructed her to fill the water pots every day and sweep the floors of the hall. She did so and began to slowly recover from her disease. Once the hall was complete, the Buddha was invited to partake of alms-food. After finishing his meal, he sent for Rohiṇī. He asked her if she knew the reason for her affliction. She replied that she did not, so the Buddha told her a story of her past. Rohiṇī had once, in a past life, been the queen consort of the king of

Benares Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...

. The king had a favorite dancing girl, and the queen became incredibly jealous of her and plotted a scheme against her. One day, she had her attendant put some

itching powder Itching powder is a powder or powder-like substance that induces itching when applied onto human skin. This is usually done as a practical joke or prank to an unsuspecting victim. Description and uses The cause of the irritation can be mechanica ...

made of cowhage pods in the dancer's bed. They called to the dancer, and when she arrived, they threw the powder on her. In pain and desperation, the girl sought refuge in her bed, which caused her even more suffering. The Buddha concluded that Rohiṇī had come to her current condition due to this evil deed. He exhorted his audience with the following verse: After this discourse, many in the congregation attained the fruit of steam-entry. Princess Rohiṇī also became a stream-enterer and her disease disappeared.

Rebirth in Heaven

After death, Rohiṇī was reborn in

Trāyastriṃśa The (Sanskrit; Pali ) heaven is an important world of the devas in the Buddhist cosmology. The word is an adjective formed from the numeral , "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three evas. It is primarily the ...

as a beautiful goddess, at the boundary of the territories among four deities. They became enamored with her beauty and each deity laid claim unto her. Unable to settle their dispute, they sought the advice of Śakra, the lord of Trāyastriṃśa. Upon seeing her, Śakra turned to the gods and asked them of the condition of their minds upon seeing this new goddess. One god said that his mind was tumultuous like battlefield, the second said his mind was racing swiftly like a mountain river, the third said that he could not take his eyes off her, as if they were seized in a crab's claw. The fourth replied that his mind would not keep still and whipped about like a flag in the wind. Śakra declared, “Your minds are over-powered by this form. As for myself, I want to live; I do not want to die. And if I do not get Rohiṇī then I shall surely die.” The gods complied to Shakra's heavenly authority. He took Rohiṇī as his wife and they departed to enjoy various pleasures.

References

External links

* http://www.budsas.org/ebud/rdbud/rdbud-05.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohini Disciples of Gautama Buddha Indian Buddhists Buddhism and women Family of Gautama Buddha