Ānanda

THE MAN THE CANON IS REMEMBERED THROUGH. 'Thus have I heard' opens the sutras because he is the one who heard them, and the tradition's word for what he was is Treasurer of the Dhamma.

Relations

• attendant of: Siddhārtha GautamaIn-batch.Reference treatment of the Buddha and his disciples: Sariputta and Moggallana are the two Chief Disciples, Sariputta foremost among disciples of great wisdom and Maha Moggallana foremost among those of great supernatural powers; the ten great disciples are Sariputra, Moggallana, Mahakasyapa, Subhuti, Purna, Katyayana, Anuradha, Upali, Rahula and Ananda; Ananda was called the Treasurer of the Dhamma for his retentiveness of memory; Upali worked as a barber before he joined the Buddha, was foremost in observing the precepts, and became a disciple while cutting the Buddha's hair; Anuruddha was a cousin of Shakyamuni who became a disciple at the same time as Ananda. (secondary)
• advocated for: Mahāprajāpatī GautamīIn-batch.Reference treatment of the life of the Buddha and the family of Gautama Buddha: Suddhodana was a powerful leader of the Shakya tribe and Maya was his wife; Maya died shortly after Siddhartha was born and her sister Mahapajapati Gotami was elevated to chief consort; at the age of 16 he was married to his cousin Yasodhara, who was also 16; it took Yasodhara a long time to conceive a child, a boy named Rahula born on the day Siddhartha left the palace; Yasodhara was also a sister of Devadatta, who became a disciple of the Buddha and then, by some accounts, a dangerous rival; Rahula became a novice monk at the age of seven and spent the rest of his life with his father; at the persistent request of his stepmother Mahapajapati Gotami and with the advocacy of his attendant Ananda, the Buddha eventually established an order of nuns. (secondary)

Sources

• The Buddha's disciple and personal attendant, called the Treasurer of the Dhamma for the retentiveness of his memory. One of the ten great disciples.: Reference treatment of the Buddha and his disciples: Sariputta and Moggallana are the two Chief Disciples, Sariputta foremost among disciples of great wisdom and Maha Moggallana foremost among those of great supernatural powers; the ten great disciples are Sariputra, Moggallana, Mahakasyapa, Subhuti, Purna, Katyayana, Anuradha, Upali, Rahula and Ananda; Ananda was called the Treasurer of the Dhamma for his retentiveness of memory; Upali worked as a barber before he joined the Buddha, was foremost in observing the precepts, and became a disciple while cutting the Buddha's hair; Anuruddha was a cousin of Shakyamuni who became a disciple at the same time as Ananda. (secondary)