Sundarika Bharadwaj

Sundarika Bharadwaj had organised a sacrifice. He came out of the sacrificial pandal to distribute offerings, prasad. In front of him at a little distance the Buddha was sitting under a tree. It was winter, therefore he had covered his face with his robe. He reached near the Buddha. Hearing the footsteps the Buddha pulled the robe off his head. Then he screamed, Oh this is a shaven headed sramana. He took a u-turn and was about to leave. Suddenly a thought came to his mind that nowadays many brahmins come under the influence of the Buddha and shave their heads. Who knows he could well be a brahmin. He turned around and asked what caste he belonged to? The Buddha told, Ma jati puccha, charananca puccha – not caste, ask about good moral behavior. You can’t ascertain behavior from caste. He came to his senses. From the Buddha’s words he came to know that he was free from craving. Impressed by the Buddha’s words he got ordained and reached the state of full liberation by the practice of Vipassana. He was blessed.