Khema  Theri

The Chief Disciple

Introduction: - The Chief Queen Khema of King Bimbisara of Magadha possesses extreme beauty. After she listened to the discourse and realizing the impermanence of her beauty, she soon attained the Arahatship and was ordained to the order of the Nun. She was soon flying in the sky like other Arahats. To attain Nibbana, Khema aspired this attainment some One hundred thousand world cycles ago, at the time of the Buddha Padumuttara, it was not an aspiration done in this very life.

This also is another example of attaining Nibbana in this very life.

a.        Khema has accrued enough perfection

b.        Khema was ordained as Bhikkhuni – the order of Nuns

c.        Khema’s time to attain Nibbana was ready.

She met the Buddha at the right time to attain Nibbana. To attained enlightenment in this very life, one must satisfy all the three factors.

Khema, who was of royal birth, lived in the city of Sagala in the kingdom of Magadha. Because of her golden skin, her parents had named her Khema. When she grew up she became the chief consort of King Bimbisara. She was extremely beautiful and very conscious of her exquisite beauty. As such she did not want to see the Buddha or hear the Dhamma, as the Buddha had made it quite clear that external beauty was impermanent and of no value to enlightenment.

King Bimbisara, who was a devoted follower of the Buddha, wanted his queen to listen to the Buddha’s teachings. He thought of a plan to entice her to visit the monastery in which the Buddha was residing. King Bimbisara had his musicians describe in song the natural beauty of the grove in which the Buddha was residing. Khema, who was extremely fond of beauty, listened enraptured to their description of the beautiful flowers and trees that surrounded the Buddha’s monastery. Wanting to experience the beauty of the grove, Khema decided to visit the monastery.

The Buddha was giving a discourse to a large gathering when he saw Khema in the distance, approaching the monastery. With his psychic powers he created a vision of an exquisitely beautiful maiden by his side. Khema, enchanted by the beauty of the grove and its scented flowers, walked closer and closer to the gathering until her attention was drawn to the beautiful maiden who was fanning the Buddha. Khema, who admired beauty, was captivated by the maiden whose beauty far surpassed her own.

The Buddha then made the beautiful maiden age slowly before her eyes. Khema saw the maiden’s beautiful skin wrinkle, her hair change to gray and her body age. She then saw the body collapse with age and pass away, leaving behind just a corpse, which in turn changed to a heap of bones. Understanding that all conditioned phenomena were impermanent, Khema realized that the same would happen to her. How could she retain her beauty when this exquisite vision aged and decomposed before her very eyes?

Khema was ready to listen to the Buddha, who then dispensed to her the dangers of lust and sense pleasures and requested her to give up sense pleasures which were transient. Directing her spiritually advanced mind to the teachings, She then received permission from King Bimbisara to enter the Noble Order of Nuns and Khema attained Arahantship..

Khema was able to penetrate the truth so quickly because of her practice of the virtues and wisdom many aeons ago. Because of her strong attraction to the Truth and wisdom, Khema had attained birth in the proximity of Buddhas, Pacceka Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in many previous lives and had studied, practiced and taught the Dhamma.

One hundred thousand world cycles ago, at the time of the Buddha Padumuttara, Khema was born in a servant family in the City of Hannsavati. She had been inspired by the Padumuttara Buddha who was dispensing the Dhamma to an assembly of monks and nuns. There arose in her a strong desire to offer a meal to the Padumuttara Buddha. As she had no money, she had cut off her beautiful hair and sold it to earn the money required to give alms to the Buddha. She had then made the aspiration to be the chief female disciple of a future Buddha and foremost in wisdom. From that time onwards Khema had worked tirelessly to fulfill her aspiration. Ninety-one world cycles ago at the time of the Buddha Vipassi, she was a Bhikkhuní and a teacher of the Dhamma. At the time of the Buddhas Kakusandha, Konagamana and Kassapa in the present Maha Baddha Kappa, she had been a lay disciple of the respective Buddhas, had built monasteries and given alms to each of the Buddhas and their retinue of monks and nuns, and practiced the Dhamma diligently.

There are many Jataka stories of Khema’s previous births. She had had the opportunity to develop wisdom as the wife of the Bodhisattva Gotama (Jataka 354), as His daughter-in-law (Jataka 397), and as the wife of Shariputra (Jataka 534). In each of these previous birth stories she had been virtuous and had performed many meritorious deeds to fulfill her aspiration.

After attaining Arahantship Khema understood the impermanence of the body and the dangers of sensual pleasures. Once an insistent admirer tried to seduce her, as follows:

"You are so young and beautiful,
And I myself am in the bloom of youth;
Come, noble lady, let us rejoice
In the music of a fivefold ensemble."

Khema, who was already an Arahant, admonished him as follows:

"I am repelled and humiliated
By this putrid, fleshy body,
Afflicted by illness, so very fragile
I have uprooted sensual craving.
Sensual pleasures are now like sword stakes,
The aggregates are their chopping block.
That which you call sensual delight
Has become for me no delight at all.
Everywhere delight has been destroyed,
The mass of darkness has been shattered.
Know this O evil One -
You are defeated, Exterminator.
Fools who do not know reality
In forest glades they seek retreat
And worship in reverence, planets, stars, or fire
To quench passion’s impurity.
The great Buddha, noblest of all men
I who worship Him
From sorrow of repeated birth am free
The Noble Buddha Order, I protect devotedly.
-- (Therigatha 139-144)

Khema, who was the first female chief disciple of the Buddha, ranked foremost in wisdom and insight. She was respected by all for her wisdom and ability to explain the higher teachings. Her wisdom and lucid explanations of deep subjects made a lasting impression on King Pasenadi Kosala, who had great respect and regard for her. Khema, with her sharp mind, wisdom, and analytical skills, helped the Buddha in teaching the Dhamma to His large congregation of nuns and in training the nuns, to whom she served as a role model. There are also many recorded instances where Khema, with compassion and understanding, taught the Dhamma to male and female lay devotees.

Dhammapada Verse No.347

Verse 347. Beings who are infatuated with lust fall back into the Stream of Craving they have generated, just as a spider does in the web it has spun. The Wise, cutting off the bond of craving, walk on resolutely, leaving, all ills (dukkha) behind.

At the end of the discourse Queen Khema was admitted to the Order and attained arahatship and became the Chief Female Disciple of the Buddha.

Dhammapada Verse

Verse 403

The Story of Theri Khema

While residing at the Gijjhakuta hill, the Buddha uttered Verse (403) of this book, with reference to Theri Khema.

One night, Sakka, king of the devas, came with his followers to pay homage to the Buddha. While they were with the Buddha, Theri Khema, by her supernormal power, also came through the sky to pay homage to the Buddha. But because Sakka and his company were there with the Buddha, she just paid obeisance to the Buddha, and soon left him. Sakka asked the Buddha who that bhikkhuni was and the Buddha replied, "She is one of my pre-eminent disciples; she is known as Theri Khema. She is matchless amongst the bhikkhunis in wisdom and she knows how to differentiate the right way from the wrong way."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 403. Him I call a brahmana, who is wise and is profound in his knowledge, who knows the right way from the wrong way, and who has attained the highest goal (i.e., arahatship).

Reference: -

1.       . Ref: Relatives and Disciples of the Buddha By Radhika Abeysekera

2.         Dhammapada Stories – Translated by Daw Mya Tin.