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Upatissa

1. Upatissa.– The personal name of Sāriputta (q.v.)

2. Upatissa.– Chief priest (purohita) to Vijaya, king of Sri Lanka. He founded a settlement at Upatissagāma. Mhv.vii.44; Dpv.ix.32, 36.

3. Upatissa I.– King of Sri Lanka. He reigned for forty-two years between A.C. 362 and 409. He was the eldest son of Buddhadāsa. He was of very kindly disposition and lived a simple life, eating of the food served in the Mahāpāli alms-hall. It is said that once, when the roof of his palace started leaking at night, he lay all night in the wet, being loth to disturb any of the servants. During a period of drought and famine, he organised a religious festival, causing rain to fall. He built the Rajuppala, Gijjhakūta, Pokkharapāsaya, Valāhassa, Ambutthi and Gondigāma tanks and the Khandarāja-vihāra, besides hospitals and almshouses for women in travail, the blind and the sick. He was murdered by his queen-consort, who had an intrigue with his younger brother, Mahānāma. For an account of Upatissa’s reign see Cv.i.37, 179 ff.

4. Upatissa II.– King of Sri Lanka. He was the husband of the sister of Moggallāna I and was his general. He killed Sīva I, and became king, his reign lasting only one year and a half (A.C. 522‑24). He had a son Kassapa, called Girikassapa by virtue of his prowess, and a daughter who married Silākāla. Silākāla became a rebel and seized Upatissa’s kingdom. (For an account of Upatissa see Cv.xli.5 f). Upatissa belonged to the Lambakaṇṇā clan, and in Sinhalese writing is called Lāmāni-upatissa (Cv.Trs.i.52, n.1).

5. Upatissa.– Son of Silākāla and brother of Dāṭhāpabhuti and Moggallāna II. He was a good-looking young man and was his father’s favourite. He was killed by Dāṭhāpabhuti (Cv.xli.33 ff).

6. Upatissa Thera.– Called Pāsānadīpavāsī Upatissa. He appears to have written a Commentary on the Mahāvaṃsa, which the author of the Mahāvaṃsa Ṭīkā used for his own work, sometimes criticising its comments. See, e.g., MT.47.

7. Upatissa.– Thera of Tambapapidīpa (Sri Lanka), perhaps to be identified with (6) above. He and his colleague, Phussadeva, are often mentioned as being expert exponents of the Vinaya. Upatissa had two pupils, Mahāpaduma and Mahāsumma, who became very famous as experts in the Vinaya (vinayadharā). Mahāpaduma “read” through the Vinaya eighteen times with his teacher, and Mahāsumma nine times (Sp.i.263 f). Buddhaghosa evidently regarded with great respect the explanations of various Vinaya questions as given by Upatissa, for he often quotes him. See, e.g., Sp.ii.456; iii.624, 714; iv.890.

8. Upatissa.– Sāriputta’s father and chieftain of Nālaka or Upatissagāma (q.v.) His proper name was Vaṅganta (q.v.), Upatissa being, evidently, his clan name (SnA.i.326).

9. Upatissa Thera.– Author of the Pāḷi Mahābodhivaṃsa. He lived in Sri Lanka, probably in the tenth century. For details see P.L.C. 156 ff.

10. Upatissa Thera.– He wrote a commentary on Kassapa’s Anāgatavaṃsa. Gv.p.72.

11. Upatissa.– A Pacceka Buddha, found in a nominal list (M.iii.69). The name is also found in the Apadāna (i.280; ii.454).

12. Upatissa Thera.– Sometimes called Arahā Upatissa, author of the Vimuttimagga (P.L.C. 86). He probably lived about the first century B.C. J.P.T.S. 1919, pp.69 ff; see also NidA. (P.T.S.); introd. vi f.

13. Upatissa Thera.– Author of the Saddhammappajjotikā, the commentary on the Mahā Niddesa, written at the request of Deva Thera (NidA.ii.108). His residence was on the western side of the Mahā Cetiya within the precincts of the Mahāvihāra in Anurādhapura, and it was built by a minister, Kittissena.

Some MSS. give the author’s name as Upasena. For his age, see Saddhammappajjotikā.