Māluṅkyāputta Thera untranslated

Māluṅkyāputta Thera (v.l. Māluṅkyaputta, Mālukyaputta). Son of the assessor (agghāpanika) of the king of Kosala, his mother being Māluṅkyā. He was religious by nature, and, when he came of age, became a Paribbājaka. Later, he heard the Buddha preach and joined the Saṅgha, becoming an Arahant (Thag­a.i.446f). The Theragāthā contains two sets of verses attributed to him: one (vv. 399-404) spoken on his visit to his home after attaining Arahant-ship when his people tried to lure him back by a great display of hospitality; the other in connection with a brief sermon preached to him by the Buddha before he became an Arahant, vv. 794-817; the reference is probably to the Māluṅkyāputtasutta of AN.ii.248; see also SN.iv.72, where the verses are quoted in full.

The Thera asked the Buddha for a doctrine in brief and the Buddha gave him one. The verses contain a detailed account of the stanzas which were only outlined to him by the Buddha. There the monk is described as a broken down old man, far on in years. The Commentators (AN­a.ii.582 and SN­a.iii.20) add that he had, in his youth, neglected the detailed teaching and fallen back, through love of possessions.

In the Majjhimanikāya are two Suttas – the Cūḷa Māluṅkyā and the Mahā Māluṅkyā (this is referred to at Mil. 144) – both evidently preached before Māluṅkyāputta’s attainment of Arahant-ship, because in both the Buddha speaks disparagingly of him.