• Theraputtābhaya

One of the ten chief warriors of Dutthagāmani. His personal name was Abhaya. His father was the headman of the village Kitti in Rohana, and Theraputtābhaya, when sixteen, wielded a club thirty-eight inches round and sixteen cubits long. He was therefore sent to Kākavannatissa's court. Abhaya's father was a supporter of Mahāsumma and, having heard a discourse from him, became a Sotāpanna, entered the Order and soon afterwards became an arahant. His son, thereupon, came to be called Theraputtābhaya (Mhv.Xxiii.2, 63ff). At the end of Dutthagāmani's campaigns, Abhaya took leave of the king and joined the Order, became an arahant, and lived with five hundred other arahants (Mhv.Xxvi.2). When Dutthagāmani lay on his deathbed Abhaya visited him and gladdened his heart by reminding him of the works of great merit he had done (Mhv.Xxxii.48ff).

In a previous birth he had given milk-rice to monks, hence his great strength (MT.453).