Page last updated on 8 October, 2020
Milakkha Tissa Thera
He was a hunter who lived near Gāmendavāla-vihāra in Rohaṇa. One day he caught an animal, which he killed and cooked, and then was filled with a great thirst. Looking for water, he came to the vihāra. There he drank ten pots of water, but his thirst was still unquenched, and while he complained bitterly about the absence of water, Cūḷapiṇḍapātika-Tissa Thera heard him and, looking about, saw plenty of water. He then knew that the man’s evil kamma was asserting itself. The elder poured water on to the man’s hands, but it all dried up. The man, realising his wickedness, was greatly alarmed, and went and set all the captive animals free and destroyed his traps. He then returned to the monastery and asked to be ordained. His request was granted, and the elder gave him a formula for meditation. One day, while learning the Devadūta Sutta, Tissa wished to know how fierce were the fires of hell, and his teacher showed him how one spark of the fire could reduce to ashes a whole heap of wood. This induced Tissa to put forth even greater effort, and he spent all his time in meditation living sometimes in Cittalapabbata-vihāra and sometimes in Gāmendavāla-vihāra with a wet blanket round his head and his feet in water. Then, one day, he heard a novice recite the Aruṇavatī Sutta and he became a Non-returner, attaining Arahantship in due course (AA.i.21 f; SA.ii.199 f).
He is quoted as an example of one who strove hard to rid himself of sloth and torpor. e.g., AA.i.29; SNA.i.236.