Verses on Dhamma 5.10.p2

5.10.p2

Sā kira padumuttarabuddhassa pādamūle patthanaṃ paṭṭhapetvā kappasatasahassaṃ puññāni kurumānā devesu ca manussesu ca saṃsarantī imasmiṃ buddhuppāde devalokato cavitvā sāvatthiyaṃ seṭṭhikule paṭisandhiṃ gaṇhi. Nīluppalagabbhasamānavaṇṇatāya cassā uppalavaṇṇātveva nāmaṃ akaṃsu. Athassā vayappattakāle sakalajambudīpe rājāno ca seṭṭhino ca seṭṭhissa santikaṃ sāsanaṃ pahiṇiṃsu – ‘‘dhītaraṃ amhākaṃ detū’’ti. Apahiṇanto nāma nāhosi. Tato seṭṭhi cintesi – ‘‘ahaṃ sabbesaṃ manaṃ gahetuṃ na sakkhissāmi, upāyaṃ panekaṃ karissāmī’’ti dhītaraṃ pakkosāpetvā, ‘‘amma, pabbajituṃ sakkhissasī’’ti āha. Tassā pacchimabhavikattā taṃ vacanaṃ sīse āsittaṃ satapākatelaṃ viya ahosi. Tasmā pitaraṃ ‘‘pabbajissāmi, tātā’’ti āha. So tassā mahantaṃ sakkāraṃ katvā bhikkhunīupassayaṃ netvā pabbājesi. Tassā acirapabbajitāya eva uposathāgāre kālavāro pāpuṇi. Sā dīpaṃ jāletvā uposathāgāraṃ sammajjitvā dīpasikhāya nimittaṃ gaṇhitvā ṭhitāva punappunaṃ olokayamānā tejokasiṇārammaṇaṃ jhānaṃ nibbattetvā tameva pādakaṃ katvā arahattaṃ pāpuṇi saddhiṃ paṭisambhidāhi ceva abhiññāhi ca.

We are told that Uppalavaṇṇā made her Earnest Wish at the feet of the Buddha Padumuttara, and that after performing works of merit for a hundred thousand cycles of time, as she passed from birth to birth among gods and men, she passed from the World of the Gods in the dispensation of the present Buddha and was reborn in Sāvatthi as the daughter of a rich merchant. The hue of her skin was like the hue of the calyx of the blue lotus, and therefore they gave her the name Uppalavaṇṇā. When she reached marriageable age, all the princes and merchants in the Land of the Rose-Apple, without a single exception, sent to the merchant her father, asking him to give them his daughter in marriage.

Thereupon the merchant thought to himself, “I shall not be able to satisfy the wishes of all, but I shall find some way out of the difficulty.” So he summoned his daughter and said to her, “You might become a nun.” Now she was in her last existence before attaining Nibbāna, and therefore his words were to her as it were oil a hundred times refined, sprinkled on her head. Therefore she replied, “Dear father, I will become a nun.” So he prepared rich gifts in her honor, and conducting her to the Community of Nuns, had her admitted to the Order.

Not long after she had been admitted to the Order, her turn came to unlock and lock the Hall of Confession. After she had lighted the lamp and swept the Hall, her attention was attracted to the flame of the lamp. And standing there, she looked repeatedly at the flame; and concentrating her attention on the element of fire, entered into a state of trance. Consummating the trance, she attained Arahatship, together with the Supernatural Faculties and Powers.