• Rāma

1. Rāma. A brahmin, skilled in physiognomy. He was one of the eight consulted by Suddhodana regarding his son, the future Buddha. J. i.56; Mil.236.

2. Rāma. King of Benares. He suffered from a virulent skin disease, and, leaving his kingdom to his eldest son, went into the forest, where he was cured by eating medicinal herbs. In the forest he met and married Piyā, the eldest daughter of Okkāka. She suffered from the same complaint, and was cured by him. They lived in the forest with their thirty two children. A forester recognized Rāma in the forest, and, on his return to the city, told the news to the king. The king went to the forest with his retinue and begged his father to return to the kingdom. He refused to do so, and, at his own suggestion, a city was built for him in the forest which was called Koliya or Vyagghapajja. Rāma thus became the ancestor of the Koliyans.

DA.i.260ff.; SnA.355f.; cf. Mtu.i.355, where he is called Kola.

3. Rāma. A brahmin, father of the Buddha's teacher, Uddaka Rāmaputta. J. i.66; M.i.165.

4. Rāma. The Bodhisatta born as the eldest son of Dasaratha, king of Benares. He is also called Rāmapandita. He married his sister Sītā, and her devotion to him became proverbial (E.g., J. iv.559, 560; Cv.lxxiii.137).

For Rāma's story see the Dasaratha Jātaka. Certain ruling princes of Ceylon claimed descent from Rāma -  e.g., Jagatipāla (q.v.). Rāma's fight with Rāvana and the incidents recounted in the Rāmāyana are mentioned only in the later Pāli Chronicles, such as the Cūlavamsa. Cv.lxiv.42; lxviii.20; lxxv.59; lxxxiii.46, 69, 88.

5. Rāma. A Sākyan prince, brother of Bhaddakaccānā. He came to Ceylon, where he founded the settlement of Rāmagona. Mhv.ix.9; Dpv. x.4ff.

6. Rāma. Called Mātuposaka Rāma. He was an Inhabitant of Benares and greatly loved his parents. He once went on business to Kumbhavatī, in the country of Dandakī, and there, when the country was being destroyed owing to the wickedness of the king, Rāma thought of the goodness of his parents. The devas were moved by the power of this thought and conveyed him safely to his mother (J.v.29). He was one of the three survivors of the disaster which overtook Dandakī's kingdom. MA.ii.602.

7. Rāma. One of the palaces of Kondañña Buddha in his last lay life. BuA.107; but see Bu.iii.26.

8. Rāma. One of the generals of Gajabāhu. Rāma was once defeated by the general Deva (Cv.lxx.137, 142), but later won a victory at the Mahārakkha ford. Rāma received the title of Nīlagiri, which was evidently the name of his district. Cv.lxxii.12; Cv. Trs.i.299, n.1; 320, n.2.

9. Rāma. The second of the future Buddhas. Anāgatavamsa, p. 40.

10. Rāma. See Ramma.