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That is what they call a Tathagata. Because they have compassion for beings.
Abhaya prince
- Venerable! Do you already have this thought in your mind that if I ask this kind of question
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I will give this answer?
Buddha - You are an expert in chariot-knowledge. Which part of the chariot is this, if someone asks you, will you
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Do you already have the answer to that in mind? Or does it come to you at the time?
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- Venerable! I am an expert in chariots. Therefore, I know it at that time.
Abhayakumar
Buddha — Prince! The Tathagata also knows it at that moment, because his mind is well-established.
Abhaya - Wonderful, Venerable! You have illuminated the Dharma in many ways. I take refuge in you. May the Dharma and the Sangha accept me as a refuge with folded hands.
The Samyutta Nikaya also mentions Abhayakumar's meeting with the Buddha. He asks the Buddha a question related to the belief of Purna Kashyapa. According to the 73 Dhammapada Atthakatha, Abhayakumar attained the Sotapanna fruit 74 at that time when he went to the Buddha, saddened by the death of the dancer, and the Buddha gave a Dharma talk. 75 According to the Theragatha Atthakatha, Abhaya attained the Sotapanna fruit when the Tathagata gave the Talachchigulupamasutta discourse. 76 He went to the Buddha, deeply saddened by the death of King Bimbisara, took ordination, and attained the Arhathood. After becoming a monk, he also enlightened his mother Padmavati, and she became a nun and attained Arhathood. 78
In light of Jain and Buddhist evidence, it is clear that Abhayakumar and Abhayaprinc were two different individuals, because from the Jain perspective, his mother is a merchant's daughter, he is the chief minister of King Shrenik, and he takes initiation from Mahavira, while from the Buddhist perspective, he is the son of a prostitute, a successful charioteer, abandons the Niganth Dharma and accepts Buddhism, and finally becomes a monk with the Buddha. If Abhaya were the same person, how could he have taken initiation from both Mahavira and the Buddha? It is possible that King Shrenik had many sons, one of whom was named Abhaya and the other Abhayaprinc. 79
The mention of Jain initiation is in the present Agam, which has been dated by scholars like Panditpravar Dalsukh Malvaniya, etc.
73. Samyutta Nikaya, Abhayasutta 44 / 6 / 6
74. Sotapanna - Entering the stream. Being established in the path of Nirvana, where there is no possibility of falling. A monk who practices yoga, when he breaks the three bonds of sakkayaditthi, vicikiccha, and silabbataparamsaka, is called a Sotapanna. A Sotapanna person takes birth at most seven times, then he surely attains Nirvana.
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75. Dhammapada - Atthakatha 13/4
76. Theragatha- Atthakatha 1/58
77. (a) Theragatha - 26
(b) Theragatha - Atthakatha Volume 1, pp. 83-84
78. Theragatha - Atthakatha 31-32
79.
(a) Agam and Tripitaka: An Exploration, p. 359
(b) Bhagwan Mahavira: An Exploration
80. Anuttaraupapatik - 1 / 10
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