27. Ven. Bāhiya Dārucīriya

100,000 aeons ago under Buddha Padumuttara, a householder observed a monk declared foremost in swift realization. Inspired, he made grand seven-day offerings and aspired for the same distinction under a future Buddha, receiving a prophesy of fulfillment. In Buddha Kassapa’s era, he was one of seven monks who climbed a steep mountain to meditate unto Arahatship or until death. In his final existence, he became a shipwrecked merchant named Bāhiya, living in bark robes (Dārucīriya) and wrongly believed to be an Arahat. Admonished by a Deva, he rushed to Buddha Gotama, who delivered a brief teaching on sense perception (“in the seen, only the seen ...”). Bāhiya instantly attained Arahatship—the quickest awakening—and was declared foremost in swift intuition (khippābhiññā). Shortly after, he was tragically gored to death by a cow.