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Sunetta

1. Sunetta.– Leading disciple (aggasāvaka) of Sobhita Buddha (Bu.vii.21; J.i.35). He was the Buddha’s step-brother and his first convert. BuA.137.

2. Sunetta Thera.– Attendant of Dhammadassī Buddha. J.i.39; Bu.xvi.18.

3. Sunetta.– A Pacceka Buddha. A man who had learnt the art of pelting stones with great skill, from the cripple of the Sālittaka Jātaka (q.v.), looking for a target for testing his skill, saw Sunetta entering the city for alms and aimed a pebble at his ear. The pebble went into one ear and out at the other, and the Pacceka Buddha died after suffering great pain. Men, who saw this, killed the stone-thrower, and, after a sojourn in Avīci, he became a sledgehammer ghost on Vultures’ Peak (Gijjhakūṭa) (DhA.ii.71 f; Pv.iv.16; PvA.283 f).

On another occasion, the son of Kitavassa, king of Bārāṇasī, saw Sunetta begging for alms, and, angered that he did not do him homage, took the begging bowl from Sunetta’s hand and dashed it to the ground. Pv.iii.2; iv.7; PvA.177 f., 264.

4. Sunetta.– A teacher of old. He had numerous disciples, and those who followed his teachings were reborn in the Brahma world and in various other worlds. Then Sunetta, seeing that some among his disciples were as good as himself, developed mettā to a much greater degree; but even so, he could not free himself from birth, old age, etc. It was because he had not comprehended Noble Conduct, Noble Concentration, Noble Wisdom, Noble Release. A.iv.103 f; he is referred to at A.iii.371; iv.135.

Sunetta Sutta.– Contains a list of teachers, including Sunetta (see above), who taught their followers the way to the Brahma world. A.iv.135.