>SoftHiss at 20:19, 5 March 2020

2020-03-05T20:19:12Z

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'''Jambuka''' (6th century BC) is an [[Asceticism|ascetic]] described in the 70th verse of the ''[[Dhammapada]]'', a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] text.

Jambuka was the son of a wealthy man in [[Savatthi]], who was born with peculiar habits due to negative [[karma]] accrued from past lives. In his childhood, he showed a desire to sleep on the floor rather than in a bed, and instead of consuming rice, he preferred to consume his own [[excrement]]. After he had grown older, his parents sent him to train with the [[ajivaka]]s, the naked ascetics. However, upon discovering his penchant for consuming excrement, the ascetics then expelled him.<ref>{{cite book|author=Buddhaghosa|title=Buddhist Legends|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clmKaGgpSKsC&pg=PA134|year=2005|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe|isbn=978-81-208-2071-5|pages=132-3}}</ref> He consumed excrement by night and by day, standing still on one leg with his mouth open. He claimed that he kept his mouth open as he lived on air and that he stood on one leg so that it would not be too heavy for the earth to bear him. He would boast "I never sit down, I never go to sleep", earning the name ''Jambuka'', meaning a [[jackal]].<ref name=“PP”>{{cite book|title=The Dhammapada: Verses & Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QZ-DDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA222|date=2019-01-15|publisher=Pariyatti Publishing|isbn=978-1-68172-120-0|page=222}}</ref>

Jambuka would refuse the offerings of food given to him, claiming that he would not consume anything but air, or he would only partake a small amount with a tip of a blade of grass, claiming that the offerings had brought merit to the offerer. He did so for fifty-five years, living naked and consuming excrement.<ref name=“PP”/>

The [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] came to the area in which Jambuka was staying and spent the night in a mountain cave near the abode of Jambuka. During the night, the [[Deva (Buddhism)|devas]] [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Sakka]] and [[Mahabrahma]] paid homage to the Buddha and the forest lit up, catching the attention of Jambuka. Jambuka later praised the Buddha for gaining the homage of the devas, noting that he himself had not received any such homage in his 55 years of austere practice.<ref>{{cite book|author=The Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw|title=The Workings of Kamma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWT3AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA308|date=2012-10-31|publisher=Pa-Auk Meditation Centre (Singapore)|isbn=978-981-07-3512-8|page=308}}</ref> The Buddha told him that he was aware that Jambuka had been deceiving people by actually sleeping on the ground and eating excrement.

Jambuka was horrified to learn that he had been exposed, and he took refuge in the Buddha and joined the [[Sangha (Buddhism)|Sangha]]. He eventually became an [[arahant]]. His disciples from [[Magadha]] also later joined the Sangha. The Buddha stated that although Jambuka had been austere in his former practices, it was not worth one-sixteenth of his new practices.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last = Ven. | first = Weragoda Sarada Maha Thero | year = 1993 | title = Treasury of Truth Illustrated Dhammapada}}
* [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/dhammapadatxt1.pdf Electronic copy - verse 70]

[[Category:Indian Buddhists]]
[[Category:6th-century BC people]]

Jambuka - Revision history

>SoftHiss at 20:19, 5 March 2020