What do you know about Ananda? He is known to be Buddha’s first cousin; when Buddha returned to his home Kapilavastu soon after his enlightenment, his cousin also became his disciple, hearing his teachings. Indeed, of all the disciples, Ananda was the closest companion and an attendant.
However, being the most modest, humble and quiet man Ananda was utterly devoted to the Buddha. Indeed, he was also said to have a sharp memory; he could memorize every sermon word by word of the Buddha after hearing it only once.
Many stories also describe that Ananda had a big contribution in Buddha’s decision of ordaining women into sangha. But, one thing that lacked him behind the other is that he took more time to realise enlightenment and he did it only after Buddha’s death.
From deep in Buddha’s heart, he believed Ananda was the person who spread Buddha’s seeds. However, there was only one problem with Ananda; his kind and helping nature toward women brought troubles for him. To distract Ananda and control his natural behaviour with women, Buddha intended to make Ananda his attendant.
Due to Buddha’s old age, he needed a constant attendant, and Ananda was his only choice. Moreover, various bhikkhu volunteers were interested in serving Buddha, but he rejected every one. Initially, Ananda refused by giving excuses but later agreed after persuasion from Sariputra and Mollagana.
Ananda was not only kind-hearted but a bhikkhu with the character he cleverly listed three conditions to be Buddha’s attendant so that he could avoid criticism. After Ananda became an attendant, he followed all Buddha’s instructions and accompanied him to various places.
In sanghas, Ananda kept a modest and respectful attitude and was a mediator between Buddha and bhikkus. It is known that many refugees that joined Buddha were due to the influence of Ananda.
Ananda kept a few conditions to become an attendant for Buddha. Those are as
- Buddha would ne’er offer any food or robes that he received.
- Ananda wouldn’t incline to any unique accommodation.
- Ananda wouldn’t need to accompany Lord Buddha once he gets invited to someone’s home.
- Ananda might transfer the invitation to Buddha if he was invited for a meal.
- Ananda would himself introduce the folks that came to Buddha from various places.
- Ananda would be ready to inquire regarding the doubts he has that are associated with the Hindu deity.
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Difficulties with Ananda’s Brother
Ananda has only one regret in his life which is his only brother Devadatta who lacks discipline and became a bhikkhu only because others said not because of his own will. Indeed he never practiced Buddha’s teachings and only misled others.
You can find a huge difference in character between Ananda and his brother Devadatta. Devadatta has an ambitious nature and dreams of having supernatural power, which makes him deny all Buddha’s teachings and advice.
Devadatta’s rebellious behaviour gradually increased to such height that he even intended to kill Buddha and become the leader. Ananda was ashamed of his brother’s deeds. But Buddha calmed him and said Ananda is in danger for being ashamed of his brother’s violence; he must know that the person himself is responsible for his actions.
Mahapajapati's ordinations as Nun
This is an exciting story of Ananda pleading and advocating for the ordination of women as Buddhist Nuns. Ananda was pleading for reluctance to Buddha to ordain his stepmother and aunt Mahapajapati along with the women who walked miles behind Buddha to become his disciple.
After much pleading and requests from Ananda, Buddha finally agreed to ordain and agreed that Even his teachings could also enlighten women along with men. Buddha made additional eight rules for women monks to follow and accepted them happily.
Ananda’s first council
When Ananda went to Rajarha, he was rejected by MahaKassapa to attend the council as he was still unenlightened. This was a massive blow for Ananda, but he did not feel sad; instead, he practised all night to make it to the council.
Early in the morning, he entered the council hall even before the gate’s opening and was enlightened as a lotus in front of the sun, which amazed everyone in the council. When he attended the board, he bought the Buddhist teachings and recited Agamas and Dhammapada.
At the time of Buddha’s Nirvana, Ananda was laid in the bed. The flowers of the shala trees busted into blooms and covered Buddha in his final time.
Ananda asked Buddha about his attitude and behaviour toward women after Buddha’s Nirvana, for which he said that Ananda must-see older women as his mother, same-aged women as his sister and younger women as daughters. The final words from Buddha enlightened Ananda’s heart, and he burst into tears.
After Buddha entered parinivana, Amanda rested for three days and then had to prepare for attending his first council. Ananda realised that after Buddha, he must take all the responsibilities on his shoulder to bring Buddha’s teachings ahead and spread Buddhism across the world.
Ananda’s Nirvana
Before Ananda’s Nirvana, he passed all his responsibilities to his beloved disciple Sanakavasa, who trained himself to spread Buddhism. While walking through the banks of Ganga, he saw war between two kingdoms, and he realised that it would be an unfair decision to enter Nirvana in either of these kingdoms. Indeed, he decided to enter Nirvana at the boundary and divided his holy body into two parts so that the domain could worship him equally.
Conclusion
Buddha has spread his thoughts and teachings to people that enlightened their hearts and made them follow him as disciples. Similarly, Ananda also got influenced and started following Buddha as his disciple.
However, Ananda was different from others as he was kind-hearted and had a good personality, making him more of a disciple and adored and loved by Buddha. Buddha realised that Amanda could spread his teachings to the world with full potential and encourage more people, which he did without fail.