Trapusa and Bahalika (alternatively Bhallika) are traditionally regarded as the first disciples of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. The first account of Trapusa and Bahalika appears in the

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...

section of the

Tripiṭaka ''Tipiṭaka'' () or ''Tripiṭaka'' () or ''තිපිටක'' (), meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures. The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in ...

where they offer the Buddha his first meal after enlightenment, take refuge in the Dharma (while the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

was still not established), and become the Buddha's first disciples.

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

says that Buddhism was brought to Central Asia by Trapusa and Bahalika (referring to

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

) two merchants who offered food to the Buddha after his enlightenment. The era of Trapusa and Bahalika is during the life of the Historical Buddha: most early 20th-century historians dated his birth and death as BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent research dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to others, between 411 and 400 BCE (or between 623 and 624 BCE).

Regional versions

Central Asia

Xuanzang recounts, having become his first disciples Trapusa and Bahalika wished his leave to return home, they asked the Buddha for something by which they could remember and honour him in his absence. The Buddha gave them eight of his hairs as relics. They made golden caskets for the relics and took them to their own city (

) where they enshrined them in a stupa by the city gate. See

Nava Vihara The ( sa, नवविहार "New Monastery", modern ''Nawbahār'', fa, نوبهار) were two Buddhist monasteries close to the ancient city of Balkh in northern Afghanistan. Historical accounts report it as flourishing as an important centre ...

. Xuanzang recounts that theirs was the first ever Buddhist Stupa to be made and that the Buddha had first to instruct them how to erect it by folding his three robes into squares piling them up and then topping them off with his inverted bowl.

Sri Lanka

What is stated in the chronicles of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

is that, two merchant brothers, Thapassu and Bhalluka, who travel to different parts in the region, met the Buddha just after his Enlightenment while they were on their way to Rajagaha (Rajgir). They offered the first alms to the Buddha. Taking refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma they became the first lay disciples of the Buddha. Requesting the Buddha something to worship, the Buddha gave them, eight handfuls of his hair, which he obtained by stroking his head. During their travel they arrived at Thiriyaya (North-East of Sri Lanka) from India. At Thiriyaya, some of the hair relics they brought were enshrined at a Stupa built on top of a mountain which is now called

Girihandu Seya Girihandu Seya (also known as Nithupathpana Vihara)is an ancient Buddhist temple situated in Thiriyai, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. The temple is supposed to be the first Buddhist Stupa in Sri Lanka, believed to be constructed by two seafaring merchant ...

. That is considered the first Stupa in Sri Lanka.

Myanmar

According to tradition, Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan — met the Lord Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight of the Buddha's hairs. The brothers traveled to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and, with the help of the local ruler, King Okkalapa, found

Singuttara Hill Siṅguttara Hill ( my, သိင်္ဂုတ္တရကုန်းတော် ; also spelt "Theingottara Hill") is a small hill in Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Burma), crowned by the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most famous pagoda in the country. ...

, where relics of other Buddhas preceding Gautama Buddha had been enshrined. This is now called

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...

Significance

John S. Strong John S. Strong is an American academic, who is the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Bates College. Strong specializes in Buddhist studies and with emphasis on the Buddha's biography, relics, and the legends and cults of ...

draws attention to Trapusa and Bahalika's legacy of pioneers:Relics of the Buddha By John S. Strong Published by Motilal Banarsidas, Page 74,

References

{{Reflist

External links

Iranica Online: Buddhism in Pre-Islamic Times
Early Buddhism Foremost disciples of Gautama Buddha Buddhism in Afghanistan People from Balkh Province