• Sambahula

Sambahula. A chief of Amaranagara, where he and his brother, Sumitta, ruled. He heard Siddhattha Buddha preach at Amaruyyāna and became an arahant (BuA.186). He is probably identical with Sambala (1).

1. Sambahula Sutta. Māra, in the guise of a brahmin, with top knot and antelope skin, aged and bent, visits a number of monks at Silāvatī and asks them to enjoy pleasures because they are yet young. They should not abandon the things of this life in order to run after matters involving time. Natural desires, they reply, are matters involving time, full of sorrow and despair, not the doctrine practised by them which is immediate in its results.

The brahmin retires discomfited, and when the matter is reported to the Buddha, he identifies him with Māra. S. i.117f.

2. Sambahula Sutta. A deity in a Kosalan forest tract laments when the monks, who have been living there, depart on tour. Another deity comforts him saying that monks are free and own no home. S. i.199.

3. Sambahula Sutta. A deity in a Kosalan forest tract sees a company of monks vain, noisy, heedless and unintelligent. He draws near and admonishes them. S. i.203.