Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.317

v2.c29.317

Bāhiya’s resolve to attain to this eminence was made in the time of Padumuttara Buddha when he heard the Buddha declare a monk foremost in instantaneous comprehension. In the time of Kassapa Buddha, when the Buddha’s teachings were fading from the minds of men, Bāhiya was one of seven monks who climbed a rock, determined not to leave it until they had attained their goal. Their leader became an arahant and the second an anāgāmī—passing into the Suddhāvāsa-world; the rest were reborn in this age as Pukkusāti, Kumāra-Kassapa, Dabba-Mallaputta, Sabhiya and Bāhiya. Although Bāhiya had kept the precepts in previous births, he had never given a bowl or a robe to a monk. For this reason the Buddha did not, at the end of his sermon, ordain him by the “ehi bhikkhu-pabbajā.” The Buddha knew that Bāhiya had not sufficient merit to obtain divine robes. Some say that he was once a brigand and had shot a Pacceka Buddha with an arrow and had taken possession of the Pacceka Buddha’s begging-bowl and robe. Bāhiya met his death while searching for a robe in which to be ordained.⁶ The cow which killed Bāhiya was identical with the one which killed Pukkusāti, Tambadāṭhika and Suppabuddha.⁷