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Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c15: Gh

Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names v1.c15

Language
English

Gh

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Ghaṭa.—See Ghata.

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Ghaṭa Sutta.—Sāriputta and Moggallāna are staying at the Kalandakanivāpa and, in the course of their conversation, it transpires that Moggallāna, exercising clairvoyance and clairaudience, had seen and heard the Buddha, then dwelling in Jetavana. The subject of his talk was consummate energy (āraddhavīriya). Sāriputta declares that, in comparison with Moggallāna, he himself is like a mound of gravel set up alongside the Himālaya. Moggallāna returns the compliment by saying that, beside Sāriputta, he is like a pinch of salt set up alongside a large jar of salt, and recalls the high praise bestowed on Sāriputta by the Buddha himself.¹

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¹ S. ii. 275 f.

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Ghaṭāya.—A Sākiyan of Kapilavatthu, who built a monastery attached to the Nigrodhārāma. There the Mahā Suññatā Sutta was preached.¹

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¹ M. iii. 110; MA. ii. 907.

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Ghaṭīkāra.—One of the great Brahmā. In the time of Kassapa Buddha he was a potter of Vehaliṅga, looking after his blind parents. He was a very pious and devoted follower of the Buddha, ministering to him better than anyone else, and the Buddha accepted his invitation in preference to that of the king of Benares. It is said that when the Buddha was in need of anything he would go to Ghaṭīkāra’s house and take it, whether he were at home or not, so great was his confidence in Ghaṭīkāra’s piety. Once, when Ghaṭīkāra was absent, the people, at the Buddha’s suggestion, took away the thatch from his house to roof the hut of Tathāgata. For three months Ghaṭīkāra’s house remained open to the sky, but no rain fell on it, so great was his faith.¹ According to the *Nalapāna Jātaka*,² no rain will ever fall on the site of Ghaṭikāra’s house as long as this *kappa* lasts.

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¹ Mil. 223 f.

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² J. i. 172.

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The Bodhisatta, who at the time of Ghaṭikāra was a young brahmin named Jotipāla, was the friend of Ghaṭikāra but had no faith in the Buddha, and Ghaṭikāra, having failed to persuade him to visit the Buddha, in the end took him by force. Jotipāla was converted and joined the Order, but Ghaṭikāra, as the only support of his parents, could not renounce the world. Kikī, king of Benares, having heard of his virtues from Kassapa Buddha, sent him five hundred cartloads of the choicest rice, etc., but Ghaṭikāra returned the gifts, saying that he had plenty for himself.³

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³ M. ii. 46 ff.; S. i. 35 f.; Bu. xxv. 41; SnA. i. 152.

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After death, Ghaṭikāra was born as a Mahābrahmā in the Avihā Brahma-world, and an *anāgāmi*.⁴ He provided the Buddha with the eight requisites of a monk when the Buddha, having left the world, decided to lead the life of a *bhikkhu*.⁵ The begging bowl, then provided by him, vanished when the Buddha was given a bowl of milk rice by Sujātā.⁶

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⁴ He was evidently already a *Sakadāgāmi* before his death (see DhA i. 380), but he did not wish his attainments to be known (AA. i. 44).

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⁵ J. i. 65; SnA. ii. 382; BuA. 236; VvA. 314.

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⁶ J. i. 69.

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According to the *Saṃyutta Nikāya*,⁷ Ghaṭikāra visited the Buddha some time after the Enlightenment and the Buddha reminded him of their former friendship. Ghaṭikāra, on that occasion, speaks of several others (besides Jotipāla) who had been his friends in Vehaliṅga—Upaka, Phalagada, Pukkusāti, Bhaddiya, Khaṇḍadeva, Bāhuraggi and Piṅgiya. They had listened to the Buddha’s teaching and, after death, were born in the Avihā-world, where he himself was. In this context the Buddha addresses him as Bhaggava (*q.v.*).

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⁷ S. i. 35 f.; 60.

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1. Ghaṭikāra Sutta.—Preached during a tour in Kosala. The Buddha turned off the main road and, when he came to the spot which had once been Vehaliṅga, he smiled. Being asked by Ānanda the reason for his smile, the Buddha related to him and to the monks the story of Ghaṭikāra, the potter of Vehaliṅga, as given above.¹ It is said² that the Buddha wished to make known to the monks the great piety of Ghaṭikāra. The sutta was repeated at a shrine near Todeyya, which was being worshipped by the people without their knowing its significance. The Buddha related the sutta and explained that the shrine was the thūpa of Kassapa Buddha.³ 2. Ghaṭikāra Sutta.—Relates the visit of Ghaṭikāra Mahā Brahmā to the Buddha at Jetavana and the ensuing conversation.¹

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¹ M. ii. 45 ff.

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² MA. ii. 717.

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³ DhA. iii. 251.

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¹ S. i. 35 f., 60.

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Ghaṭṭiyā.—One of the four wives of Candakumāra.¹

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¹ J. iv. 148.

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1. Ghata (also called Ghaṭakumāra). The Bodhisatta, born as the king of Benares. One of his ministers misconducted himself in the royal harem and the king, catching him in the act, banished him. The minister took service with Vaṅka, king of Sāvatthi, and persuaded him to attack Benares. Ghata was captured and thrown into prison, where he entered into ecstatic meditation. But Vaṅka was seized by a burning sensation, and he ordered the release of Ghata and the restoration of his kingdom.¹ *v.l.* Ghaṭa.

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¹ J. iii. 168 f.; *cf.* Ekarāja.

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2. Ghata (also called Ghaṭapaṇḍita).—The Bodhisatta, born as the ninth of the ten Andhakaveṇhudāsaputtā. When a son of his brother, Vāsudeva, died, Vāsudeva lamented beyond all measure, and Ghata, wishing to cure him, feigned madness and went about Dvāravatī asking for the hare in the moon. When Vāsudeva heard of this from his courtier Rohiṇeyya, he hastened to Ghata and argued with him about the ridiculousness of his quest. The plan succeeded and Vāsudeva was cured of his grief.¹ *v.l.* Ghaṭa.

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¹ J. iv. 81, 84 ff.; Pv. ii. 6; PvA. 93 f.

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1. Ghata Jātaka (No. 355).—The story of Ghaṭakumāra (*q.v.*). It was related in reference to a minister of the Kosala king. He had been the king's favourite, but then, influenced by slanderers, the king cast him into prison, where he entered the First Path. When he was released he visited the Buddha, who told him the Jātaka story.

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Ānanda is identified with King Vaṅka of the Jātaka.¹

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¹ J. iii. 168 ff.

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2. Ghata Jātaka (No. 454).—The story of the Andhakaveṇhudāsaputta¹ (*q.v.*) and of the manner in which Ghaṭapaṇḍita (*q.v.*) assuaged the grief of his brother, Vāsudeva. The introductory story resembles that of the Maṭṭhakuṇḍali Jātaka.

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¹ This Jātaka perhaps influenced the story of Ummādacittā found in the Mahavamsa (ix. 13); for its connection with the Harivamsa see ZDMG. 53, 25 ff.

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Rohiṇeyya is identified with Ānanda and Vāsudeva with Sāriputta.²

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² J. iv. 79 ff.

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Ghatamaṇḍadāyaka Thera.—An arahant. Ninety-four kappas ago he saw the Pacceka Buddha, Sucintita, afflicted with a nervous disease and gave him ghee (ghatamaṇḍa). He became king of the gods fifty-four times and king of men fifty-one times.¹

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¹ Ap. ii. 383 f.

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His verses are repeated elsewhere,² and are ascribed in the *Theragāthā Commentary* to Ajina Thera.³

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² Ibid., 436.

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³ ThagA. i. 250.

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Ghatāsana.—Twenty kappas ago Pupphathūpiya (q.v.) became king thirty-eight times under this name.¹

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¹ Ap. i. 156.

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Ghatāsana Jātaka (No. 133).—Once the Bodhisatta was king of the birds and lived with his subjects in a giant tree, whose branches spread over a lake. The Nāga king of the lake, Caṇḍa, enraged by the dropping of the birds' dung into the water, caused flames to dart up from the water to the tree, and the Bodhisatta, perceiving the danger, flew away with his flock.

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The story was told to a monk whose hut was burnt by fire. The villagers undertook to build him another, but there was a delay of three months, during which the monk with no shelter could not proceed in his meditation. The Buddha chided him for not seeking another shelter.¹

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¹ J. i. 471 f.

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Ghanasela.—A mountain in Avanti in the Dakkhiṇāpatha, where Kāḷadevala lived.¹

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¹ J. v. 133.

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Ghanikā.—A class of spirits (cloud-gods ?).¹

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¹ Mil., p. 191.

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Gharaṇī.—A woman, lay-disciple of the Buddha. She had attained the Third Fruit of the Path and when the Buddha was about to perform the Twin Miracle, she offered to perform a miracle herself—to transform the earth into water and dive about in it like a water-bird.¹

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¹ DhA. iii. 209. There was a Gharaṇī Stūpa near Suppāraka (Divy. 47).

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Gharāvāsa-pañha.—The question asked by Dhanañjaya and answered by Vidhura, before he was taken away by Puṇṇaka. The question dealt with how a householder could so live as to get the best out of his life, both for this world and for the next.¹

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¹ J. iv. 286 f.

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Ghoṭamukha.—A brahmin, probably of Pāṭaliputta. On coming to visit Benares, he saw Udena there in Khemiyambavana and had a conversation with him, recorded in the Ghoṭamukha Sutta. At the conclusion of the talk he declared himself converted and wished to offer to Udena the daily allowance of five hundred kahāpaṇas which he regularly received from the king of Aṅga. Udena suggested that the money might be utilised to build an assembly-hall for the Order at Pāṭaliputta. The suggestion was agreed to and the assembly-hall, when built, was called Ghoṭamukhī.¹

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¹ M. ii. 157 ff.

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The Commentary² adds that Ghoṭamukha held the view that one should seek self-glorification, even by the slaughter of one’s parents, and that he was the only person born in heaven, in spite of having held that view. After his birth in heaven, having discovered the cause of his good fortune, he came to earth in disguise and, after revealing his identity to his only remaining sister, told her where his treasures were hidden and instructed her to spend some of the money on renovating an old refectory which the monks were trying to restore.

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² MA. ii. 786 f.

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Ghoṭamukha Sutta.—Records a conversation between Udena Thera and Ghoṭamukha at Khemiyambavana, after the Buddha’s death. Ghoṭamukha maintains that there is a Recluse who might be called Righteous (*dhammiko paribbājo*). Does Udena know of him? Udena describes to him the four types of individuals—those who torture themselves, those who torture others, those who torture both and those who torture neither, the last being those who live beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered and blissful. They want none of the things after which men hanker, but discarding them all go forth to homelessness. Ghoṭamukha admits that such are Righteous Recluses.¹

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¹ M. ii. 157 ff.

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Ghoṭamukhī.—See Ghoṭamukha.

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1. Ghosa.—The village in which Buddhaghosa was born.¹

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¹ Sās. 29.

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2. Ghosa, Ghosaka.—A devaputta, Kotūhalaka, in a previous birth. Unable to make a living in his own country, he left it and came with his wife and child to a herdsman’s house, where, having eaten too heartily after a long period of starvation, he died and was born as a dog in the same house, because he had envied a bitch which lived there. When the dog grew up, it used to accompany the herdsman on a visit to a Pacceka Buddha, who had meals in his house. Sometimes, when the herdsman was unable to go himself, he would send the dog to summon the Pacceka Buddha. The road led through a forest and the dog would bark aloud to frighten away the wild beasts. One day, when the Pacceka Buddha went elsewhere, the dog died of a broken heart and was reborn in Tāvatiṃsa as the god Ghosa or Ghosaka. He was later reborn as Ghosaka-seṭṭhi.¹

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¹ DhA. i. 169 f.; AA. i. 227 f.; MA. i. 539 f.; DA. i. 317.

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Ghosasaññaka Thera.—An arahant. Thirty-one kappas ago he was a hunter, and hearing the Buddha preach was delighted by the sound of his voice.¹ His verses are in the *Theragāthā* Commentary attributed to Gahavaratīriya² and to Dhammika.³

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¹ Ap. ii. 451.

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² ThagA. i. 91.

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³ Ibid., p. 398.

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Ghosaka-seṭṭhi (*v.l.* Ghosita°).—A seṭṭhi of Kosambī. Being born as the son of a courtesan, he is cast away on a refuse heap. A passer-by takes him home, but the Treasurer of Kosambī, knowing from an astrologer that the stars showed the birth of a very lucky boy, seeks him out and adopts him. A few days after, the Treasurer's wife bears him a son, and he therefore plans to kill Ghosaka with the help of a slave woman, Kālī. All his attempts having failed, he promises a potter one thousand pieces if he will kill the boy. Ghosita is sent to the potter with a message; on the way he meets his foster-brother, and gives him the message, promising to win for him a game of marbles. The foster-brother goes to the potter and is killed. The Treasurer then sends Ghosaka to the superintendent of his hundred villages with a letter ordering that he be killed. The letter is fastened to the boy's garment. On the way he stops for a meal at the house of a country-treasurer whose beautiful daughter falls in love with him. Discovering the letter, she substitutes another to the effect that Ghosaka should be married to her with great festivity and that a two-storeyed house should be built for them. The superintendent carries out these orders and the Treasurer falls ill on receiving the news. He is visited on his death-bed by Ghosaka and his wife, and while trying with his dying breath to say "I do not give him my wealth," by a slip of the tongue he says "I do." Ghosaka becomes a very pious man and is made the Treasurer of King Udena. Later he meets Sāmavatī, daughter of his friend Bhaddavatiya, adopts her as his daughter and, when the time comes, gives her in marriage to Udena.

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In a past life Ghosaka had been Kotūhalaka of Addilaraṭṭha, but left there with his wife and child on account of great poverty. On the way he cast off the child on account of its being too heavy, but rescued it later in answer to his wife's importunities. It was as a result of that act that he was cast away in this birth. Later he was born as a dog and then as Ghosakadevaputta¹ (q.v.).

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¹ DhA. i. 169 ff.; PsA. 504 ff.

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Ghosaka had two colleagues in Kosambī, Kukkuṭa and Pavāriya. For a number of years they entertained five hundred ascetics from Himavā, during the rainy season, until one year the ascetics, hearing from a tree-sprite, who had been one of Anāthapiṇḍika's labourers, of the arising of the Buddha, informed Ghosaka and his friends of their determination to see the Buddha at Sāvatthi. The ascetics went on ahead, followed by Ghosaka and the others, bearing all kinds of gifts. They all heard the Buddha preach, became sotāpannas, and invited the Buddha to Kosambī. On the invitation being accepted, they built residences for the Buddha and the monks at Kosambī, that built by Ghosaka being called Ghositārāma.²

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² DhA. i., 203 ff.; AA. i. 234 f.; MA. i. 539 f.; PsA. 414, etc.

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Mitta³ was the householder in charge of the refectory from which Ghosaka had food daily distributed to the needy, and Sumana was Ghosaka's gardener.⁴

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³ DhA. i. 189.

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⁴ Ibid., 208.

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Ghosaka is mentioned as an example of a man possessing puññiddhi. He could not have been killed even if stabbed in seven places.⁵

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⁵ BuA. 24.

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See also Ghosita Sutta.

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Ghosita.—See Ghosaka (2).

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Ghosita Sutta.—Ghosita-seṭṭhi visits Ānanda at the Ghositārāma and questions him on the Buddha's teaching regarding diversity in elements (dhātunānattam). Ānanda explains how the three kinds of feelings—pleasurable, painful and neutral—arise.¹

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¹ S. iv. 113 f.

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Ghositārāma.—A monastery in Kosambī, built by Ghosita (Ghosaka, q.v.) for the use of the Buddha and the monks. The Buddha often stayed there during his visits to Kosambī and numerous incidents are mentioned in the books in connection with the monastery. It was because of a dispute between two monks of the Ghositārāma, one expert in the Vinaya and one in the Dhamma, that the first schism arose in the Order, driving the Buddha himself to seek quiet in the Pārileyyaka forest.¹ Even at other times the Buddha seems to have sought solitude in this forest during his sojourns at the Ghositārāma.² It was here that the Buddha decreed the ukkhepaniyakamma for Channa, who refused to acknowledge and atone for his offences,³ and here that he laid down the procedure in that connection to be followed. Devadatta was at Ghositārāma when he first conceived the idea of using Ajātasattu for his own ends.⁴ The Buddha was there at the time and it is said that the devaputta Kakudha appeared before Mahāmoggallāna to warn him of Devadatta's schemes. The information was reported to the Buddha, who warned Moggallāna not to pass it on to others. The Buddha then proceeded to tell Moggallāna of the five kinds of teachers which appear in the world.⁵ Ānanda is several times spoken of as staying in the Ghositārāma, sometimes with the Buddha, sometimes alone. On one such occasion he asks the Buddha why women should suffer from certain disabilities as compared with men.⁶ And again,⁷ what are the circumstances which conduce to ease (phāsuvihāra) in the case of monks? Could it be said of a follower of the Buddha that his attainments depend on the length of time during which he has observed the Buddha's teachings? Once Ānanda visits,⁸ at her request, a nun living near by reported to be ill and enamoured of him. The mere sight of him causes her recovery, but he preaches to her on the impermanent nature of the body and makes her realise the truth.⁹ Among those who visit Ānanda at the Ghositārāma and discuss various matters with him are mentioned Ghosita (S. iv. 113), Unṇābha (S. v. 271 f.), a householder, follower of the Ājīvikas (A. i. 217 f.), and Bhaddaji A. iii. 202). Udāyi twice visits him there, once to ask for a description of consciousness (S. iv. 169 f.), and again to quote a verse uttered by Pañcālacanda devaputta and to ask Ānanda to explain it (A. iv. 449). We find him also joining in a discussion which ensued on a sermon to the monks by Ānanda (A. iv. 426 f.). Udāyi preached to large audiences at the Ghositārāma and was evidently appreciated, for we find Ānanda reporting it to the Buddha and being told that it is no easy matter to preach to a large assembly with acceptance (A. iii, 184 f.). The Yuganaddha Sutta is a discourse preached by Ānanda to the monks at the Ghositārāma of his own accord (A. ii. 156 f.). Channa is several times mentioned in connection with incidents taking place at the Ghositārāma. Mention has already been made of the ukkhepaniyakamma declared on him. A devoted householder,¹⁰ wishing to build a vihāra for him, asked him for a site. Channa started cutting down trees and other things, in order to clear the site, and this led to great uproar. On another occasion he is reported to the Buddha for refusing to listen to his colleagues and the Buddha chides him.¹¹ It was when Channa was at the Ghositārāma that Ānanda came, at the bidding of the monks, to inflict on him the brahmadanda.¹²

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¹ Vin. i. 337 f.; M. i. 320; DhA. i. 44 ff.; the Kosambī monks were evidently somewhat peculiar (see Vin. iv. 197).

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² See, e.g., S. iii. 96 f.

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³ Vin. ii. 21 f.

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⁴ Ibid., 184 f.

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⁵ A. iii. 122 f.

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⁶ A. ii. 82.

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⁷ Ibid., iii. 132 f.

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⁸ Ibid., iv. 37 f.

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⁹ Ibid., ii. 144 f.

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¹⁰ Vin. iii. 155 f.; mention is made of other misdemeanours which he committed in order to have a fine vihāra (Vin. iv. 47).

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¹¹ Vin iii. 77, also iv. 35 f., 113. See also S. iii. 132 f.

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¹² Vin. ii. 292.

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Among others mentioned as staying at the Ghositārāma are Mūsila, Savittha, Nārada, in the company of Ānanda (S. ii. 115), Pindola Bhāradvāja—who converts Udena when the latter comes to see him (S. iv. 110 f.) and earns the Buddha’s praises for his attainments (S. v. 224)—Sāriputta and Upavāna (S. v. 76), and Bāhiya and Anuruddha (A. ii. 239). Anuruddha is there at the time of the schism of the Kosambī monks but refuses to intervene. He indulges, instead, in his powers of clairvoyance and mention is made of a visit paid to him by the Manāpakāyikadevas.¹³

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¹³ A. iv. 262 f.

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Dāsaka and a number of other monks were once staying in the Ghositārāma; on learning that Khemaka lies ill in the Badarikārāma, one gāvuta away, the others send Dāsaka several times to and fro to ask various questions of Khemaka. In the end, Khemaka himself comes to them to solve their difficulties.¹⁴

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¹⁴ S. iii. 126 f.

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See also Kosambiya Sutta, Jāliya Sutta, Sandaka Sutta, Upakkilesa Sutta and Sekha Sutta, Dalhadhamma Jātaka, Kosambī Jātaka and Surāpāna Jātaka, all preached while the Buddha was staying at the Ghositārāma.

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Thirty thousand monks from the Ghositārāma, under the leadership of Urudhammarakkhita, were present at the foundation of the Mahā Thūpa at Anurādhapura.¹⁵

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¹⁵ Mhv. xxix. 34.

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