Susīma
1. SusÄ«ma.- The Bodhisatta in the time of AtthadassÄ« Buddha. He was a MahÄsÄla brahmin of Campaka and became an ascetic of great power. He heard the Buddha teach at Sudassana and was converted. J.i.39; Bu.xv.9f.; BuA.180.
2. SusÄ«ma.- The Bodhisatta, son of the chaplain of the king of Benares. He later became king himself. See the SusÄ«ma JÄtaka (No. 411).
3. SusÄ«ma.- A king of Benares. See the SusÄ«ma JÄtaka (No, 163). He is identified with Ä€nanda. J.ii.50.
4. SusÄ«ma.- A devaputta. Once, when Ä€nanda utters high praise of SÄriputta, SusÄ«ma, who is present, reflects on it and confirms all that Ä€nanda has said. The retinue of SusÄ«ma listen enraptured, waxing wondrous, in divers colour-tones (“even as a beautiful lustrous beryl-stone of eight facets, well polished, when laid in an orange coloured cloth, shines, glows and blazes, etc.â€) (S.163f).
It is said (SA.i.98) that SusÄ«ma had been a fellow celibate of SÄriputta.
5. Susīma.- One of the thousand sons of Sakka. He was one of the deva generals in the fight with the Asuras, but he was lazy, and Sakka had to admonish him (S.i.217; SA.i.262). He is probably identical with Susīma (4).
6. SusÄ«ma.- A ParibbÄjaka (skilled in the Vedangas, says Buddhaghosa, SA.ii.93) of RÄjagaha. When the Buddha’s fame spread and his gains increased, SusÄ«ma’s followers suggested that he should learn the Buddha’s doctrine and teach it to the laity so that he and his followers, too, could reap some of the advantages.
SusÄ«ma agreed, and sought, Ä€nanda, who, with the Buddha’s sanction, ordained him. In discussion with the monks who declared that they had obtained complete emancipation, etc., SusÄ«ma discovered that all of them did not possess supernatural powers, but thought they had gained nibbÄna “through insight.†He thereupon sought the Buddha to have the matter explained. The Buddha asked him many questions, and made him realise the truth of their statement. SusÄ«ma confessed his original purpose in joining the Order and asked for forgiveness (S.ii.119ff). He developed insight and became an Arahant. SA.ii.96.
7. SusÄ«ma.- A brahmin of TakkasilÄ and son of Saá¹…kha. He went to Benares and apprenticed himself to a teacher, who was his father’s friend and who taught him various things. However, he was able to understand only the beginning and the middle, and not the end. He therefore consulted his teacher, who confessed that neither did he understand the end, and advised him to seek the Pacceka Buddhas who were living in Isipatana. SusÄ«ma went there, entered the Order, and became a Pacceka Buddha. Soon afterwards he died, and Saá¹…kha, coming in search of his son, was told of what had happened. Saá¹…kha is identified with the Bodhisatta. DhA.iii.445f.; KhA.198f.
See Saá¹…kha JÄtaka (2).
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