Shariputra

Sāriputta
Religion	Buddhism
Dharma names	Sāriputta
Personal
Born	Upatissa c. 568 BCE Nālaka Village, Rajgir, Magadha
Died	c. 484 BCE (aged 84) full moon day of the Kartik month Nālaka Village, Rajgir, Magadha
Parents	Vaṇganta Brahmin (father), Śārī Brahmin lady (mother)
Senior posting
Title	Dakkhinasāvaka (Right hand side chief disciple of Gautama Buddha) and Paṭhamasāvaka (First chief disciple of Gautama Buddha)
Religious career
Teacher	Gautama Buddha
Students	Most Ven. Rahula Maha Thera, etc.

Translations of Sariputta
Pali	Sāriputta
Sanskrit	Śāriputra
Japanese	舎利弗 (Sharihotsu)
Khmer	ព្រះសេរីបុត្រ (Preah Sereibot)
Glossary of Buddhism

Sāriputta (Pali) or Śāriputra (Sanskrit) was one of two chief male disciples of Gautama Buddha along with Moggallāna, counterparts to the bhikkhunis Khema and Uppalavanna, his two chief female disciples. He became an arhat renowned for his teaching and is depicted in the Theravada tradition as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha.

Śāri was his mother's name and is also a particular bird's name.Putra meant boy or child. He was also called Upatissa. This name came from his father's name, Tissa. In the Japanese language he is called Sharihotsu (舎利弗).

Sāriputta was the eldest son of Śāri, a noblewoman. He was the eldest of brothers, Upasēna, Maha Chunda, and Rēvata, and his sisters Chāla, Upachālā and Sīsupachālā. Sāriputta came from a Brahmin family, and had already embarked on life as a spiritual ascetic when he encountered the teachings of the Buddha. Sāriputta had a close friend Moggallāna (Sanskrit: Maudgalyāyana), another wandering ascetic. They both renounced the world on the same day, and became disciples of the sceptic Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta before converting to Buddhism.

After hearing of the Buddha's teachings from a monk named Assaji (Sanskrit: Asvajita), Sāriputta sought out the Buddha and became an adherent to his teachings. These two are often depicted together with the Buddha, and several sutras regard interactions between Sāriputta and Moggallāna (who became renowned among the early Buddhists for his mastery of supernatural powers).

Sāriputta often preached with the Buddha's approval and was awarded the title "General of the Dharma" (Pāli: Dhammasenāpati) for his propagation of the teachings and is regarded as the founder of the Abhidharma tradition. However, the Buddha also lightly reprimanded Sāriputta on occasion when he did not fully explain the Dhamma to a prince, or when he allowed a group of novice monks to become too loud.

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Wikipedia