Sakka. . .
Sakya, sometimes also Sakka, was both the name of a region and the clan of people who lived there. Siddhattha Gotama, known to history as the Buddha, was a Sakyan.
Legend says that the Buddha’s father Suddhodana was a king of the Sakyans. The only Sakyan ruler mentioned is Bhaddiya who is described as Sakyaràjà and when it was suggested that he join his friends in becoming a monk said `wait until I hand over the kingdom to my sons and brother.
The Buddha once said to his monks that when others asked them whose philosophy they adhered to or which teacher they followed they should reply that they were ‘Scions of the Sakyan’. There is a community of people in Nepal called Sakya who claim to be the direct descendants of the ancient people.
Like Buddha and Tathàgata, Sakyamunã was a title given to Siddhattha Gotama after he became enlightened. Sakya was the name of the clan which Siddhattha was born into and the word muni means `sage’ or `silent one’. Thus the title means `the sage of the Sakyan tribe.’
Peace and Love, Jim
#sakka #thedailybuddha
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