Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c9.957

v1.c9.957

Episodes regarding Upananda’s misdeeds are not confined to the Vinaya. In the Dabbhapuppha Jātaka¹⁶ we are told that he was in the habit of preaching contentment to others. When they, touched by his preaching, cast away their good robes, etc., Upananda collected them for himself. Once he cheated two brethren of a costly blanket. When the matter was brought to the Buddha’s notice, this Jātaka was related to show how in previous births, too, he had plundered other people’s goods. He had been a jackal called Māyāvī, and had cheated two other jackals of a rohita-fish they had caught. Again, in the Samudda Jātaka,¹⁷ he is described as a great eater and drinker; he would not be satisfied even with cart-loads of provisions. The Jātaka tells of how he once was born as a water-crow and tried to prevent the fish from drinking the sea-water lest he should not have enough for himself. Buddhaghosa calls him a lolajātika, held in contempt by his eighty thousand fellow Sākyans who joined the Order.¹⁸ Elsewhere he is referred to as a well-known example of one who never practised what he preached and, therefore, did not benefit by his cleverness.¹⁹