Anuruddha (Aniruddha)

Born the son of Amitodana and a cousin of Siddhattha Gotama (the Buddha), Anuruddha was a kṣatriya raised in wealth in the Sakyan milieu of Kapilavatthu who later renounced household life to ordain at the Anupiya Mango Grove. His life-narratives in canonical and post-canonical materials present a continuity of meritorious deeds in past lives (Jātaka accounts) that explain his later spiritual gifts, culminating in his attainment as an arahant and his custodial role in the early Saṅgha.

Sources give no detailed physical description beyond his status as a bhikkhu (monk) and a venerable member of the Buddha's close circle. He is consistently represented as present near the Buddha in assemblies, compassionate and loyal, and often physically near the Buddha at public recitations and during the Buddha's final passing. Hagiographic accounts also ascribe exceptional longevity to him (a death at age 150 in the sources).

Anuruddha is repeatedly credited with the meditative faculty of 'divine vision' (divyacakṣur) and is described as 'foremost' among those possessing it. He mastered advanced meditation topics—having practiced seven of eight instruction topics given to him by Sāriputta and receiving the final instruction from the Buddha—and he was frequently consulted by the Saṅgha and by laypersons because of his visionary insight. At the Buddha's death he used this faculty to report on the Exalted One's meditative state, and after the Buddha's passing he played a notable role at the First Buddhist Council, being entrusted with custody of the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Jātaka narratives attribute earlier votive acts (lighting bowls of ghee, holding feasts of light, circumambulating Buddhas' tombs) in past lives to the person who became Anuruddha, explaining his later sanctity.