Dwelling Of The Unblemished Is Alluring
7 (9) The Story of Venerable Revata, (Verse 98)
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke
this verse, with reference to Venerable Revata of the Acacia
(khadira) Forest.
Revata was the youngest brother of the Chief Disciple
Sàriputta. He was the only one of the brothers and sisters of
Sàriputta who had not left home for the homeless life. His
parents were very anxious to get him married. Revata was
only seven years old when his parents arranged a marriage
for him to a young girl. At the wedding reception, he met an
old lady who was one hundred and twenty years old, and he
realized that all beings are subject to ageing and decay. So, he
ran away from the house and went straight to a monastery,
where there were thirty monks. Those monks had been
requested earlier by Venerable Sàriputta to make his brother a
novice monk if he should come to them. Accordingly, he was
made a novice monk and Venerable Sàriputta was informed
about it.
Monk Revata took a meditation topic from those monks
and left for an acacia forest, thirty yojanas (leagues) away from
the monastery. At the end of the vassa (rainy season), the nov-
ice monk attained arahatship. Venerable Sàriputta then asked
permission from the Buddha to visit his brother, but the
Buddha replied that he himself would go there. So the Buddha
accompanied by Venerable Sàriputta, Venerable Sãvalã and
many other monks set out to visit Sàmanera (novice) Revata.
The journey was long, the road was rough and the area
was uninhabited by people; but the devas looked to all the
needs of the Buddha and the monks on the way. At an inter-
val of every yojana (league), a monastery and food were pro-
vided, and they travelled at the rate of a yojana a day. Revata,
learning about the visit of the Buddha, also made arrange-
ments to welcome him. By supernormal power he created a
special monastery for the Buddha and fi ve hundred monas-
teries for the other monks, and made them comfortable
throughout their stay there.
On their return journey, they travelled at the same rate
as before, and came to the Pubbàràma Monastery on the east-
ern end of Sàvatthi at the end of the month. From there, they
went to the house of Visàkhà, who offered them alms-food.
After the meal, Visàkhà asked the Buddha if the place of
Revata in the acacia forest was pleasant.
Whether in the village, in the forest, in a valley or in the plain,
wherever arahats – noble saints – dwell, that place is alluring
in the extreme.
Commentary
arahat: the noble ones; Evolved Ones. They are also described as
Ariya-Puggala (Noble Ones). Ariya-Puggala are those who have real-
ized one of the eight stages of holiness, i.e., the four supermundane
Paths (magga) and the four supermundane Fruitions (phala) of these
paths. There are four pairs:– (1) the one realizing the path of stream-
winning; (2) the one realizing the fruition of stream-winning;
(3) the one realizing the path of once-return; (4) the one realizing
the fruition of once-return; (5) the one realizing the path of non-
return; (6) the one realizing the fruition of non-return; (7) the one
realizing the path of holiness; (8) the one realizing the fruition of
holiness. Summed up, there are four noble individuals: the stream-
winner, the once-returner, the non-returner, the holy one. In some
texts gotrabhå is listed as the ninth noble individual. According to
the Abhi dhamma, supermundane path, or simply path (magga), is
a designation of the moment of entering into one of the four stages
of holiness – Nibbàna being the object – produced by intuitional
insight into the impermanency, misery and impersonality of exist-
ence, fl ashing forth and transforming one’s life and nature. By
fruitions are meant those moments of consciousness, which fol-
low immediately thereafter as the result of the path, and which in
certain circumstances may repeat for innumerable times during
life-time.
