Kuṇḍala Thera untranslated

Kuṇḍala Thera (v.l. Kuḷakuṇḍala Thera). An Arahant. He came of a Brahmin family of Sāvatthī and entered the Saṅgha, but from want of mental balance he could not concentrate his thoughts. Then, one day, while begging for alms, he saw how men conducted water whither they wished by digging channels, how the fletcher fixed the arrow shaft in his lathe surveying it from the corner of his eye, how the chariot-makers planed axle and tire and hub. Dwelling on these things, he soon attained Arahant-ship.

In the past he was a parkkeeper, and gave a coconut to Vipassī Buddha, which the Buddha accepted while travelling through the air (Thag­a.i.71f).

Perhaps he is to be identified with Nāḷikeradāyaka Thera of the Apadāna (ii.447f). The same Apadāna verses, however, are also ascribed to Khitaka Thera (Thag­a.i.315f).

The verse attributed to Kuṇḍala in the Theragāthā (Thag.19) occurs twice in the Dhammapada, and is in the Dhammapada Commentary mentioned as having been preached once in reference to Paṇḍita Sāmaṇera (Dhp­a.ii.147), and once in reference to Sukha Sāmaṇera (Dhp­a.iii.99).