Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c21.398

v1.c21.398

The Jātaka Commentary mentions several human beings who were invited by Sakka, and who were conveyed to Tāvatimsa—e.g. Nimi, Guttila, Mandhātā and the queen Sīlavatī.¹³ Mandhātā reigned as co-ruler of Tāvatimsa during the life period of thirty-six Sakkas, sixty thousand years.¹⁴ The inhabitants of Tāvatimsa are thirty-three in number, and they regularly meet in the Sudhammā Hall.¹⁵ A description of such an assembly is found in the Janavasabha Sutta. The Cātummahārājika Devas (q.v.) are present to act as guards. Inhabitants of other deva- and brahma-worlds seemed sometimes to have been present as guests—e.g. the Brahmā Sanaṅkumāra, who came in the guise of Pañcasikha. From the description given in the sutta, all the inhabitants of Tāvatimsa seem to have been followers of the Buddha, deeply devoted to his teachings.¹⁶ Their chief place of offering was the Cūḷāmaṇicetiya, in which Sakka deposited the hair of Prince Siddhartha, cut off by him when he renounced the world and put on the garments of a recluse on the banks of the Nerañjarā.¹⁷ Later, Sakka deposited here also the eyetooth of the Buddha, which Doṇa hid in his turban, hoping to keep it for himself.¹⁸