Sunita

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Sunita was a highly accomplished disciple of the Buddha. He was born in a very poor family who had next to no food and was an outcaste whose job was to gather flowers from shrines and throw them away:

People found me disgusting,
despised me, disparaged me.
Lowering my heart,
I showed reverence to many.

Sunita was eventually ordained by Buddha himself:

The compassionate Teacher,
sympathetic to all the world, said:
"Come, monk."
That was my formal Acceptance.

Sunita practiced night and day Buddha's instructions and became a full Arahant which is the highest saint category, he was granted this status by Brahma and Indra themselves who bowed down to this saint:

Then, as night was ending
& the sun returning,
Indra & Brahma came to pay homage to me,
hands palm-to-palm at their hearts:
"Homage to you, O thoroughbred of men,
Homage to you, O man supreme,
whose fermentations are ended.
You, dear sir, are worthy of offerings."


Excerpts are from the Theragatha XII.2 Sunita.

[edit] External links

For the full text see http://www.vipassana.com/canon/khuddaka/theragatha/thag12.php