Mahāphussadeva Thera

Generally called Alindakavāsī Mahāphussadeva. For twenty one years he practised meditation on his way up and down to the village for alms (gatapaccāgatikavatta). People working in the fields, seeing him constantly stop and walk back again, would wonder why he did so. But he did not heed their curiosity, and after twenty years he became an arahant. That night the deity at the end of his walk illuminated it with the radiance of her fingers, and Sakka, Brahmā, and other gods came to do him honour. His colleague, Vanavāsī Mahātissa, asked him the next day the reason for all the light, but he evaded the question (SA.iii.154f.; Vibhā.352; MA.i.208f; SNA.i.55f).

It is said (MA.i.524) that during the period of his meditations, he wept every pavārana day to see that he was yet a "learner."

Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G P Malalasekera (1899-1973), which is available as printed version from