Ananda

Ananda ( Skt. for the absence of misfortune, saying, luck, 5th century BC), a cousin of the Buddha, in the last years of the life of Buddha was his favorite disciple. He is regarded as the guardian of the dharma, because he ( void ) appear as a witness for the utterances of the Buddha after his death and this could reflect faithfully reasonably be expected, as the first book of the Pali canon was summarized.

Ananda reached the Buddha that women were admitted to full ordination for Bhikkhuni and were allowed to set up a Nun Order. The religious discipline of the monks ( Vinaya ) has been expanded by a few rules to the nuns.

Together with Moggalana Sariputta and he was one of the three most important disciples of the Buddha.

Legend

After his enlightenment budhha had no one for twenty years, who accompanied him. When he was 55 years old, he chose as his companion Ananda, the only one of his students, who had not offered his services. Ananda took now on, but under eight strict conditions, including that it would not be permissible for him to accept the special sacrifices of food and clothing, which were given to the Buddha.

Ananda survived the Buddha many years and died at the age of 120 years on a barge in the middle of the river Ganges. According to his wishes, his body was cut into two halves so that the leaders of the northern and the southern shore could have their share. About his belongings stupas were built.