Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c27.733

v2.c27.733

Padhānakammika-Tissa Thera.—Five hundred monks of Sāvatthi retire into the forest to meditate; one (Tissa) falls away, the rest attain arahantship. They return to the Buddha, who has a word of praise for all but Tissa. The latter renews his determination to become an arahant and walks up and down the cloister all night long, thereby earning his nickname. Becoming drowsy, he stumbles over a stone and breaks his thigh. As his colleagues are on the way to receive their alms at the house of a certain layman they hear his groans, and stopping to minister to him, are prevented from receiving their gifts. The Buddha tells them that this is not the first time that Tissa has so stood in their way and relates the Varaṇa Jātaka (q.v.), a discourse on the evils of procrastination.¹