Sariputra

The life of the Buddha is not only one man’s quest to find the meaning of life, transcend suffering and realise the Ultimate Truth but all those people who encountered the Great Being and the transformation that took place within them. The Buddha was human but transcended humanness to become divine. Hence he was a beacon of hope and inspired all those ‘lost souls’ who were caught in the infinite cycles of birth and death to aspire for a higher way of life and attain self realisation. The stories of these disciples reflect the greatness of their Guru Buddha as they came from all walks of life with their own set of past karmas but he accepted them as they were, without judgement for he was the embodiment of love and compassion.

Buddha had a number of disciples. The life story of each one of them offers an insight into the human mind and its journey to the goal of life ie liberation. One such disciple was Sariputra. In Chinese he was referred to as Sheli Fu and in Japanese as Sharihotsu.

Early Life

The two chief disciples of the Buddha were Sariputra(Sanskrit) or Sariputta(Pali) and Kolita or Maudgalyayana(Sanskrit) or Maha Moggallana(Pali). Sariputra was born in a Brahmin family. His mother’s name was Sari and his father’s name was Tissa. It is said that he and Mogallana grew up together and were close friends. Once during youth while both of them were watching a theatrical play at a festival in Rajagriha they suddenly felt dispassion at the impermanence of human life and decided to renounce the world. They took discipleship under Sanjaya Belatthiputra who was a famous religious teacher of that time. Leading the life of wandering ascetics both of them stayed with him for some years but they were dissatisfied with what they were learning from their teacher and decided to split up and find their own way in search of Truth. They promised each other that the first one to achieve success would inform the other.

Success in his mission

One day Sariputra in his wanderings in Rajagriha came across a monk who had a calm countenance and easy grace and was impressed by him. The monk was Assaji, one of Buddha’s disciples. At Sariputra’s request he explained to him the essence of Buddha’s doctrines. Sariputra was overjoyed as he felt he had come to the end of his search and went to find his friend Moggallana and inform him. Seeing the joy on Sariputra’s face, Moggallana realised that Sariputra had found the solution to their problem. When Sariputra explained to him they decided to seek out the Buddha and imbibe the teachings from his own lips. It is said that Moggallana out of compassion insisted on telling his teacher Sanjaya and all the other disciples about Buddha but Sanjaya refused to join them in their quest. Together with the other 250 disciples of Sanjaya, they left to find Buddha. Buddha on meeting them knew their exalted state of spiritual growth and ordained them into the Sangha. After seven days Moggallana became enlightened and Sariputra after two weeks, such was their height of spiritual attainment from previous lives.

Sariputra was highly praised by the Buddha for his preaching and he was regarded as Dhammasenapati or General of the Dhamma. Buddha declared him to be his spiritual son and chief assistant in ‘turning the wheel of the Dhamma’.

Sariputra’s  characteristics

Besides propagating the teachings, he cared and comforted the sick and the weak and always favoured the poor and lonely in offering all his help. He was held in the highest esteem and was a skilled preceptor, a considerate and kind friend, a guardian of the welfare of the monks under his charge and a faithful and humble repository of His revered Master’s teachings. He was unique in steadfastness and patience, truthful, modest and upright in thought, word and deed and among Arhats was like a full moon in a starry sky.

Sutras

The Anupada Sutra contains Buddha’s description of the attainments of Sariputra. The Pindapata Parisuddhi Sutra, Sariputra Samyutha and the Devadaha Sutras contains descriptions of Sariputra’s meditative reflections.

Sariputra organized and presented the Dhamma in a lucid and intellectually stimulating manner which is exemplified in two classic discourses Samma Ditthi Sutta and Greater Sutta on the Elephant Foot Simile. Two other texts The Sangiti Sutta and the Dasuttara Sutta contain his sermons on the Buddhist doctrines. His sermons and teachings are preserved and enshrined in many books of Buddhism along with words of his Master. In the Heart Sutra Sariputra was explained the concept of Shunyata by Avalokiteshwara Bodhisattva. In the Lotus Sutra Buddha predicted that someday Sariputra too would become a Buddha. In the Vimalakirti Sutra, to make a point that gender does not make any difference to attaining Nirvana, the Goddesss switches bodies with Sariputra.

His name frequently appears in the Jataka Tales which gives the stories of the Buddha’s previous lives. He appears with the Buddha in various roles.

Last Days

On the full moon day of the Kartika month of the Hindu calendar, a few months before the Buddha, Sariputra died at his native village Nalaka. He had gone to the village as he wished to show his mother who was a non Buddhist the correct path and faith. He finally succeeded in making her a believer. After his cremation his bones were taken to the Buddha who handed it over to King Ajatashatru. The King enshrined the relics in a Stupa which was reverentially venerated by the followers.

Conclusion

Sariputra was the most venerable of all Buddha’s disciples and was regarded as his spiritual son. He is credited with mastering and codifying the Buddha’s Abhidharma teachings which became the third basket of the Tripitika. He will always be remembered as an epitome of forbearance, compassion, humility, patience and wisdom by generations to come.