Ambalaṭṭhikā untranslated

Ambalaṭṭhikā. was a place of this name to the east of the Lohapāsāda in Anurādhapura. Once when the Dīghabhāṇaka Theras recited the Brahmajālasutta there, the earth trembled from the water upwards (DN­a.i.131).

On another occasion King Vasabha heard the Dīghabhāṇakas reciting the Mahā Sudassanasutta, and thinking that they were discussing what they had eaten and drunk, he approached closer to listen; when he discovered the truth he applauded the monks (DN­a.ii.635).

The place referred to here was probably not a park, but a building which formed part of the Lohapāsāda. In the Mahā Vaṁsa account (Mhv.xxvii.11-20) of the building of the Lohapāsāda we are told that the plans were copied from the gem-palace of the goddess Bīraṇī. The central part of the palace was called the Ambalaṭṭhikapāsāda. “It was visible from every side, bright, with pennons hung out.”

Duṭṭhagāmaṇī probably included a similar central part in the Lohapāsāda. This view is strengthened by Ambalaṭṭhikā (4).

Ambalaṭṭhikā 01. A royal park on the road between Rājagaha and Nālandā. It contained a royal rest-house (rājāgāraka) in which the Buddha and members of the Saṅgha used to stay in the course of their journeying. It was on one such occasion that the Brahmajālasutta was preached (Vin.ii.287; DN.i.1). Buddhaghosa (DN­a.i.41-2) says that it was a shady and well-watered park, so-called because of a mango sapling which stood by the gateway. It was surrounded and well guarded by a rampart, and its rest-house was adorned with paintings for the king’s amusement.

It was one of the spots in which the Buddha rested during his last tour, and we are told that while there he discoursed to a large number of monks (DN.ii.81; he remained there one night, Ud­a.408). But the most famous of the Buddha’s sermons in Ambalaṭṭhikā seems to have been the Rāhulovādasutta named Ambalaṭṭhika Rāhulovādasutta, because of its having been preached in the park (MN.i.414ff). From the context it appears as though Ambalaṭṭhikā was within walking distance from the Kalandakanivāpa in Rājagaha.

But see below (4) for a more probable explanation.

Ambalaṭṭhikā 02. A park in the Brahmin village Khānumata. The Buddha went there during one of his tours through Magadha. On this occasion was preached the Kūṭadantasutta (DN.i.127). Buddhaghosa (DN­a.i.294) says the park was like the pleasance of the same name between Rājagaha and Nālandā.

4. Ambalaṭṭhikā. According to Buddhaghosa (MN­a.ii.635), the Ambalaṭṭhikā, in which the Rāhulovādasutta of that name was preached, was not a pleasance, but a pāsāda, a kind of meditation hall (padhānagharasaṅkhepa) built in the outskirts of Veḷuvana vihāra for the use of those who desired solitude. It is said that Rāhula spent most of his time there, from the day of his ordination as a seven-year-old boy.