About Nandamātar
Nandamātar Sutta (AN 7:50)
I have heard that on one occasion Ven. Sāriputta & Ven. Mahā Moggallāna were on a wandering tour of the Southern Mountains with a large Saṅgha of monks. And on that occasion, the female lay follower Veḷukaṇṭakin Nandamātar,1 having risen as night approached dawn, chanted the Pārāyana.2 And on that occasion the great [deva] king Vessavaṇṇa3 was traveling from north to south on some business or other. He heard the female lay follower Nandamātar chanting the Pārāyana, and on hearing her, stood waiting for the end of her chant. Then the female lay follower Nandamātar, having chanted the Pārāyana, fell silent. Then the great king Vessavaṇṇa, knowing that her chant was ended, applauded her: “Excellent, sister! Excellent!”
“But who’s there, O One of the Auspicious Face?”
“I’m your brother, sister: the great king Vessavaṇṇa.”
“Excellent, O One of the Auspicious Face! Excellent! Then let this Dhamma sequence that I’ve chanted be your guest gift.”
“Excellent, sister! And let this also be my guest gift. This morning a Saṅgha of monks headed by Sāriputta & Moggallāna will be coming to Veḷukaṇṭaka before breakfast. Having served them, dedicate the offering to me. That will also be my guest gift.”
So Nandamātar, as the night was ending, prepared exquisite staple & non-staple foods in her home.
Then the Saṅgha of monks headed by Sāriputta & Moggallāna arrived at Veḷukaṇṭaka before breakfast. Nandamātar addressed a man, “Come, my good man. Having gone to the monastery, announce the time (of the meal) to the Saṅgha of monks, (saying,) ‘It’s time, venerable sirs. The meal is ready at Lady Nandamātar’s home.’”
Responding, “As you say, lady,” to Nandamātar, the man went to the monastery and announced the time to the Saṅgha of monks, “It’s time, venerable sirs. The meal is ready at Lady Nandamātar’s home.”
Then early in the morning, having adjusted their under robes and carrying their robes & bowls, the Saṅgha of monks headed by Sāriputta & Moggallāna went to Nandamātar’s home. On arrival, they sat down on seats laid out. Nandamātar, with her own hands, served & satisfied the Saṅgha of monks headed by Sāriputta & Moggallāna with exquisite staple & non-staple food. Then, when Ven. Sāriputta had finished his meal and had rinsed his bowl & hands, Nandamātar, taking a low seat, sat to one side. As she was sitting there, Ven. Sāriputta said to her, “Nandamātar, who informed you of the arrival of the Saṅgha of monks?”
“Just now, venerable sir, after having risen as night approached dawn and having chanted the Pārāyana, I fell silent. Then the great king Vessavaṇṇa, knowing that my chant was ended, applauded me: ‘Excellent, sister! Excellent!’
“‘But who’s there, O One of the Auspicious Face?’
“‘I’m your brother, sister: the great king Vessavaṇṇa.’
“‘Excellent, O One of the Auspicious Face! Excellent! Then let this Dhamma sequence that I’ve chanted be your guest gift.’
“‘Excellent, sister! And let this also be my guest gift. Tomorrow a Saṅgha of monks headed by Sāriputta & Moggallāna will be coming to Veḷukaṇṭaka before breakfast. Having served them, dedicate the offering to me. That will also be my guest gift.’ So in other words, may the merit of this gift be for the happiness of the great king Vessavaṇṇa.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding, that you would converse face to face with the great king Vessavaṇṇa, the young deva of such great power & such great might!”
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. I had an only son: Nanda, dear & appealing. The rulers seized & abducted him on some pretext and had him executed. But when the boy had been arrested or was being arrested, when he had been imprisoned or was being imprisoned, when he had been killed or was being killed, I don’t recall any alteration of my mind.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought.”4
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. When my husband died, he reappeared in the yakkha realm. He appeared to me in his earlier bodily form, but I don’t recall, from that cause, any alteration of my mind.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought.”
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. I was given in marriage to my young husband when I was a young girl, but I don’t recall ever transgressing against him in mind, much less in body.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding, that you can purify even as little as the arising of a thought.”
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. Since declaring myself a lay follower, I don’t recall ever deliberately overstepping any training rule.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding!”
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. To whatever extent I want, quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful qualities, I enter & remain in the first jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I enter & remain in the second jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation—internal assurance. With the fading of rapture, I remain equanimous, mindful, & alert, and sense pleasure with the body. I enter & remain in the third jhāna, of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, one has a pleasant abiding.’ With the abandoning of pleasure & pain—as with the earlier disappearance of joy & distress—I enter & remain in the fourth jhāna: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding!”
“I don’t have only that amazing & astounding quality, venerable sir. I have another amazing & astounding quality. Of the five lower fetters taught by the Blessed One,5 I don’t see in myself any that are unabandoned.”
“It’s amazing, Nandamātar! It’s astounding!”
Then Ven. Sāriputta—having instructed, urged, roused, & encouraged the female lay follower Nandamātar with a talk on Dhamma—got up from his seat & left.
Notes
1. Cited at AN 4:176 as one of the Buddha’s models for an ideal female lay follower.
2. The fifth chapter of the Sutta Nipāta.
3. Also known as Kuvera, one of the Four Great Kings, ruling over yakkhas and associated with the northerly direction.
4. “Even as little as the arising of a thought,” reading cittuppāda-mattampi with the Thai edition. The Sri Lankan and Burmese editions read, cittuppādampi, “the arising of a thought.”
5. “Self-identification views, uncertainty, grasping at habits & practices, sensual desire, & ill will. These are the five lower fetters.” — AN 10:13
The fact that Nandamātār has abandoned these five fetters means that she is a non-returner.
