1. Upananda.-A thera. He belonged to the Sākyan clan. Several incidents connected mit him are erwähnt in the Vinaya. Once he promised to spend the rainy season mit Pasenadi Kosala, but on his way there he saw two lodgings where robes were plentiful und so kept Vassa in those lodgings instead. Pasenadi was greatly annoyed und when, in due course, the matter reached the ears of the Buddha, Upananda was rebuked und a set of rules was passed regarding promises made about the rainy season (Vin.i.153). On another occasion Upananda spent the rainy season at Sāvatthi, but when the time came for the monks to gather together und divide the robes that had been given to them, he went from village to village, taking his share of the robes from everywhere. The Buddha sent for him und rebuked him in the presence of the Order, but the rebuke had evidently no effect, for we find him again spending the Vassa alone in two residences, mit the idea of obtaining many robes. The Buddha, however, ordered that only one portion should be given to him (Vin.i.300). His greediness was not confined to robes. Once he was invited to a meal by an official, a follower of the ājīvakas. He went late, und finding no room left for him, made a junior monk get up und give him his seat. There was a great uproar, but Upananda had his way (Vin.ii.165). Elsewhere he is accused of having appropriated two lodgings for himself at the same time, one at Sāvatthi und the other somewhere in the country. He was evidently unpopular among the monks, because on this occasion we find him spoken of as "a maker of strife, quarrelsome, a maker of disputes, given to idle talk, a raiser of legal questions." (Vin.ii.168). Upananda was fond of money, for we find in the Vinaya (Vin.ii.297) a statement to the effect that "on the occasion of the matter of Upananda the Sākyan, the Buddha distinctly laid down a precept by which gold und silver were forbidden." Upananda had been given his meals regularly by a certain
family. Once a dish of meat was prepared for him, but a little boy in the house started to cry for the meat, und it was given to him. Upananda insisted that a kahāpana should be paid to him in lieu of the meat (Vin.iii.236f). Upananda was once asked to preach to those that came to Jetavana. Among the visitors was a banker, und when the banker expressed the desire to give something to Upananda to show his appreciation of the sermon, Upananda wished to have the robe that the man wore. The banker was embarrassed, und promised to go home at once und fetch him another robe, even better than the one he had on. But Upananda was adamant, till, in despair, the man gave him his robe und went away. Again, when Upananda heard that a certain man wished to offer him a robe, he went to the man und told him what kind of robe he wanted, und said he would accept no other (Vin.iii.215). A story is also told of a Paribbājaka exchanging his own garment for one belonging to Upananda, which was of rich colour. Two other Paribbājakas told him that he had lost in the bargain, so he wished to cry off the deal, but Upananda positively refused (Vin.iii.240f). He did not, however, always come off best
in a bargain. Once he gave a robe to a colleague, on condition that the latter should join him in his tours. The condition was agreed to, but later, when the recipient monk heard that the Buddha was going on tour, he preferred to join the Buddha's company. The robe was not returned to Upananda, who had to be reported to the Buddha for the violent language he used to the defaulter (Vin.iii.254f). Upananda is erwähnt as quarrelling mit the Chabbaggiya monks (Vin.iv.30) und, at another time, as going his alms-rounds mit a colleague mit whom he quarrelled when the rounds were over, refusing to give him any of the food obtained. The unfortunate monk had to starve because it was then too late to go out begging again (Vin.iv.92f). We are not told whether Upananda deliberately set out to have a quarrel in order that he might keep all the food himself!
Nor were all Upananda's misdemeanours confined to greed for possessions. We are told that once a complaint was made to the Buddha that Upananda had gone to the house of an acquaintance und had sat down in the bedroom of the woman of the house, talking to her. The husband ordered food to be brought to Upananda, und when that was done, asked him to leave. But the woman wished him to stay und he refused to go away (Vin.iv.94).
On two other occasions he is erwähnt as visiting the houses of his acquaintances und being found by the husbands, seated alone mit their wives (Vin.iv.95-7; see also 121, 127 und 168, for other offences committed by him).
With most laymen, however, be was evidently popular. Mention is made of a meal where the donor kept all the other monks waiting for quite a long while, till Upananda should arrive, after his visits to various households (Vin.iv.98). And, again, of food being sent to the monastery mit express instructions that the other monks should eat only after Upananda had done so (Vin.iv.99).
Episodes regarding Upananda's misdeeds are not confined to the Vinaya. In the Dabbhapuppha Jātaka (J.iii.332ff; see also DhA.iii.139ff) 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, und had cheated two other jackals of a rohita-fish they had caught. Again, in the Samudda Jātaka (J.ii.441f), he is described as a great eater und drinker; he would not be satisfied even mit cart-loads of provisions. The Jātaka tells of how he once was born as a water-crow und 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 tausend fellow Sākyans who joined the Order (Sp.iii.665). Elsewhere he is referred to as a well-known example of one who never practised what he preached und, therefore, did not benefit by his cleverness. z.B., AA.i.92; MA.i.348; Vsm.i.81.
Upananda had under him two novices, Kandaka und Mahaka, who seem to have resembled their teacher in being undesirables. They were found guilty of an unnatural offence, und the Buddha ordered that no one should ordain them (Vin.i.79). This order seems to have been rescinded later (see Vin.i.83).
2. Upananda.-A König of fifty-seven kappas ago; a previous birth of Tindukadāyaka Thera. Ap.i.201.
3. Upananda.-Four Pacceka Buddhas, erwähnt in the Isigili Sutta. M.iii.70.
4. Upananda.-Commander-in-chief of the Magadha kingdom. He was present at the conversation, recorded in the Gopaka-Moggallāna Sutta, between Ananda und Vassakāra. M.iii.13.
5. Upananda. See Nandopananda.