DPPN

Kammāsadamma untranslated

Kammāsadamma (v.l. Kammāsadhamma, Kammasadamma). A township of the Kurūs. Gotama Buddha, during the course of his wanderings, stayed there several times; the exact place of his residence is, however, mentioned only once, namely the fire-hut of a Brahmin of the Bhāradvāja gotta, where a grass mat was spread for him by the Brahmin. It was on this occasion, according to the Māgandiyasutta (MN.i.501), that, after a long discussion, Māgandiya was converted.

Several important discourses were preached at Kammāsadamma, among them being:

The Saṁyuttanikāya (SN.ii.107f) contains a discourse on handling experiences by way of casual relations, and the Aṅguttara (AN.v.29f) a discourse on the ten noble states (ariyavāsā), both preached at Kammāsadhamma.

Buddhaghosa (SN­a.ii.89) says that the people there were full of wisdom and their food was nutritious; it was therefore a compliment to their intellectual calibre that the Buddha should have preached these Suttas to them.

Even in Buddhaghosa’s day the name of the township had two different spellings, and two etymologies are suggested for the names (DN­a.ii.483). The place was called Kammāsadamma because it was here that the man-eating ogre, Kammāsapāda was tamed and civilized by the Bodhisatta. (Kammāso ettha damito ti, Kammāsadamaṁ-Kammāso ti Kammāsapādo porisādo vuccati.)

The spelling Kammāsadhamma is explained on the ground that the people of the Kuru country had a code of honour called the Kuruvattadhamma; it was here that Kammāsa (already referred to) was converted and made to accept this code, hence the name of the township. (Kururaṭṭhavāsīnaṁ kira kuruvattadhammo, tasmiṁ Kammāso jāto, tasmā taṁ ṭhānaṁ “Kammāso ettha dhamme jāto” ti Kammāsadhamman-ti vuccati, the people of the Kuru country were said to have had a practice called Kuruvatta. In that (region), Kammāsa was born. Therefore, that place is called KammāsaDhamma because Kammāsa was born here in accordance with the Dhamma).

According to the Jātakas, there are two places of the same name, called Cūḷa Kammāsadamma and Mahā Kammāsadamma respectively, to distinguish one from the other. Mahā Kammāsadamma, which was evidently the original place, was founded on the spot where the porisāda of the Mahā Sutasomajātaka (Ja 537) was tamed (Ja.v.411), while Cūḷa Kammāsadamma was the name given to the place where Jayaddisa (Ja 513) showed his prowess by his spiritual victory over the ogre in the Jayaddisajātaka (Ja 513, Ja.v.35f).

In the Divy.515f, the place is called Kammāsadamya. It was the residence of the nuns Nanduttarā and Mittākālikā (Thīg­a.87, 89).

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