Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c9.1375

v1.c9.1375

2. Ubbarī.—The wife of Cūḷanī Brahmadatta, king of Kapila in the Pañcāla kingdom. She was a daughter of a poor woman in the village, and the king met her while on his wanderings disguised as a tailor, which disguise he assumed in order to find out news of the people for himself. She was given the name Ubbari on the day of her marriage, and Cūḷanī made her his chief queen. When the king died, she went to the cemetery day after day, lamenting for her dead husband and refusing to be comforted. One day the Bodhisatta, who was an ascetic in Himavā, noticed her with his divine eye and appeared before her. Having heard her story, he pointed out to her that eighty-six thousand kings of Pañcāla, all bearing the name of Cūḷanī Brahmadatta, had been burnt in that very spot and that she had been the queen of them all. Thereupon, Ubbari abandoned her grief and renounced the world. She developed thoughts of loving-kindness and in due course was reborn in the Brahma-world.¹