Upali (Sanskrit: उपालि, upāli) was one of the ten chief disciples of Gotama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
Before joining the order, he worked as a Shakya barber. He asked the Buddha if someone with a "lower position by birth" (caste) could join the Order. The Buddha ordained him before the princes and asked the princes to pay homage to Upali, who was now a saint.
Upali had become an as-hearer awakened (Pali: savakabuddha) or arhat, attaining Buddhahood (liberation from all ten fetters: personality belief, doubt in doctrine, attachment to rules and rites, sensual desire, anger, desire for formless existence, desire for formless existence, pride, absentmindedness) by listening to a teaching of the Buddha while shaving his hair.
He became the chief disciple in knowing the rules of the order and leader in keeping them, and his decisions in this regard were praised by the Buddha. At the first Buddhist Council (Rajagriha), he was entrusted with the review of the Rules of the Order, the Vinayapitaka.
