Tribes in Ancient India c31.174

c31.174

Many venerable Buddhist monks, e.g. Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, Mahākaccāna, Mahākoṭṭhita, Mahācuṇḍa, Anuruddha, Revata, Upāli, Ānanda and Rāhula journeyed through the country of Kāsī.³ The Buddha's converts in Benares included Aḍḍhakāsī, the daughter of a rich banker of Kāsī, who became a courtesan, whose fee was fixed by the king at half of the daily income of Kāsī (this explains her name, Aḍḍhakāsī). After her conversion by the Buddha, Aḍḍhakāsī is said to have become an arahat.⁴ For other references to nuns who were connected with Kāsī, see, e.g. *Therīgāthā Comm.*, p. 106 and pp. 151-2. Elsewhere in the same work (pp. 71-2) it is said that Bhaddā Kapilānī became the chief queen of the king of Benares on account of her approving the offering of cloth to the Buddha in a previous birth.