A Thera. He was born in the Rájá's family in Vettha (v.l. Vetthipura) and succeeded to his father's estate. When the Buddha came to the city during a tour, Abhibhúta heard him and invited him for a meal; he later entered the Order and became an arahant.
Three verses ascribed to Abhibhúta occur in the Theragáthá, uttered, it is said, when his kinsmen and retainers came to him lamenting that he had left them without a leader (Thag.vv.255-7; ThagA.i.372f). The second of these verses is elsewhere (S.i.156) attributed to Abhibhú, chief disciple of Sikhí Buddha. But in the Milindapañha (245), Nágasena ascribes the second verse to the Buddha, and in the Maháparinibbána Sutta (D.ii.121) the third verse also is ascribed to him. The second verse is also assigned to the Buddha in the Divyávadána (p.200), but elsewhere in the same books (p.569) it is said to have been uttered by devas.
In a former birth Abhibhúta had been a householder in the time of Vessabhú Buddha and became a believer in the Faith, to which he was led by his friends. When the Buddha died, the populace gathered together to obtain relics, but Abhibhúta, having quenched the pyre with fragrant water, was first able to take those which he desired (ThagA.i.372).
He is evidently to be identified with Citakanibbápaka Thera of the Apadána (ii.408).