Puṇṇa untranslated

Puṇṇa 01. Puṇṇa Thera, Puṇṇaka Thera. He was born in the family of a householder of Suppāraka in the Sunāparanta country. When he was grown up, he went with a great caravan of merchandise to Sāvatthī where, having heard the Buddha preach, he left the world and joined the Saṅgha. He won favour by attention to his duties. One day he asked the Buddha for a short lesson so that, having learnt it, he might go back to dwell in Sunāparanta. The Buddha preached to him the Puṇṇovādasutta (q.v.). So Puṇṇa departed, and, in Sunāparanta, he became an Arahant. There he won over many disciples, both male and female, and having built for the Buddha a cell out of red sandalwood (Candanāsālā), he sent him a flower by way of invitation. The Buddha came with five hundred Arahants, spent a night in the cell, and went away before dawn.

Ninety-one kappas ago, when there was no Buddha alive, Puṇṇa was a learned Brahmin, and later became a hermit in Himavā. Near his abode a Pacceka Buddha died, and at the moment of his death there appeared a great radiance. The ascetic cremated the body and sprinkled scented water on the pyre to extinguish the flames. A Deva, witnessing the event, prophesied his future greatness. His name throughout his many lives was Puṇṇa or Puṇṇaka. Thag. vs. 70; Thag­a.i.156 ff.; Ap.ii.341.

In Sunāparanta he first lived at Ambahatthapabbata, but, on being recognised by his brother, he went to Samuddagiri vihāra, where was a magnetised walk which none could use. The waves of the sea breaking made great noise, and, in order to help him to concentration, Puṇṇa caused the sea to be quiet. From there he went to Mātulagiri, where the incessant cries of birds disturbed him; he finally went to Makulakagāma. While he was there, his brother Cūḷa Puṇṇa, with five hundred others, sailed in a trading ship, and, before embarking, he visited Puṇṇa, took the precepts from him, and asked for his protection during the voyage. The ship reached an island where red sandalwood grew; with this the merchants filled the ship, and the spirits of the island, angered by this, raised a great storm and appeared before the sailors in fearful forms. Each merchant thought of his guardian deity and Cūḷa Puṇṇa of his brother. Puṇṇa, sensing his brother’s need, travelled through the air to the ship, and, at sight of him, the spirits disappeared. In gratitude for their deliverance, the merchants gave to the Elder a share of their sandalwood. It was with this material that the Candanasālā, above referred to, was built.

Kuṇḍadhāna was the first among the Arahants to be chosen to accompany the Buddha to Sunāparanta. Sakka provided five hundred palanquins for the journey, one of which was empty. This was subsequently taken by the ascetic Saccabandha, whom the Buddha converted and ordained on the way. On his return journey, the Buddha stopped at the river Nammadā, and was entertained there by the Nāga king. MN­a.ii.1014 ff.; SN­a.iii.14ff.; Khp­a.149.

Puṇṇa 02. Puṇṇaka. A seṭṭhi of Rājagaha (Dhp­a.i.385; iii.104), father of Uttarā Nandamātā. He had been a poor man and had worked for the seṭṭhi Sumana. One feast day, though his master offered him a holiday, he went to work in the field, because he was too poor to be able to enjoy himself. While he was in the field Sāriputta came to him, and Puṇṇa gave him a tooth stick and water. Puṇṇa’s wife, coming with her husband’s food, met Sāriputta as he was coming away, and offered him the food she carried. She cooked fresh rice and took it to her husband, who was overjoyed to hear of her gift to Sāriputta. After the meal, he rested his head for a while on his wife’s lap, and, on awaking, he found that the field he had ploughed had turned into gold. He reported the matter to the king, who sent carts to fetch the gold; but as soon as his men touched it, saying that it was for the king, it turned again into earth. The gold was, therefore, gathered in Puṇṇa’s name, and the king conferred on him the rank of bahudhanaseṭṭhi. He built a new house, and, at the feast of inauguration, held a great almsgiving to the Buddha and the monks. When the Buddha thanked him, he and his wife and his daughter Uttarā (q.v.) became Sotāpannas. MN­a.ii.812; Dhp­a.iii.302 ff.; also Vv-a.62ff., where Puṇṇaka’s wife is called Uttarā. In the Aṅguttara Commentary (i. 240 ff.) the man’s name is given as Puṇṇasīha, of which Puṇṇa is the shortened form.

It is this Puṇṇa, described as bhataka, that is mentioned in the Milindapañha among the seven people whose acts of devotion brought reward in this very life (pp. 115, 291; see also MN­a.ii.812).

Puṇṇa 03. Slave of Meṇḍaka (q.v.). He was one of the five persons of Great Merit (Pañca Mahā Puññā) (AN­a.i.219; Dhp­a.i.385). When he ploughed the field with a single plough he made fourteen furrows, seven on each side. Vsm.383.

Puṇṇa 04. A servitor (dabbigāhaka) who held the oblation ladles for the seven sages, mentioned in the Assalāyanasutta (MN.ii.157; MN­a.ii.785); they were rebuked by Asitadevala for their pretensions regarding the superiority of Brahmins.

Puṇṇa 05. Puṇṇa Koḷiyaputta. A naked ascetic (Acela) who visited the Buddha at Haliddavasana, together with Seniya Kukkuravatika. Puṇṇa questioned the Buddha regarding the practices of Seniya, while Seniya did likewise regarding those of Puṇṇa. The discussion is recorded in the Kukkuravatikasutta (q.v.). At the end of the discussion, Puṇṇa declared himself a follower of the Buddha. He is called Govatika (one who behaved like a cow) (MN.i.387 ff). Buddhaghosa says (MN­a.ii.624) that, in order to support his bovine character, he wore horns and a tail and browsed on the grass in the company of cattle.

Puṇṇa 06. Puṇṇa Mantānīputta Thera. He belonged to a Brahmin family of Doṇavatthu near Kapilavatthu. His mother was Mantāṇī, sister of Aññā Kondañña. While Gotama Buddha was at Rājagaha, whither he had gone after preaching the Dhammacakkappavattanasutta, Aññā Kondañña went to Kapilavatthu and ordained Puṇṇa. Koṇḍañña then returned to Rājagaha, whence, having taken leave of the Buddha, he retired to live on the banks of the Chaddanta daha. But Puṇṇa remained in Kapilavatthu, intent on his practices, and soon after became an Arahant. He gathered round him five hundred clansmen who all became monks, and he taught them the ten bases of discourse (dasa kathāvatthūni), which he himself had learnt, and they became Arahants. When they wished to visit the Buddha, Puṇṇa sent them on in advance to Rājagaha, asking them to pay homage to the Buddha in his name. Later, when the Buddha came from Rājagaha to Sāvatthī, Puṇṇa visited him and was taught the Dhamma in the Buddha’s own Gandhakuṭi. Sāriputta, hearing of the fame of Puṇṇa, wished to meet him, and went to Andhavana, where Puṇṇa was spending his siesta. Sāriputta questioned him on the seven acts of purity, and Puṇṇa answered him. The two monks found great joy in each other’s words. The interview with Sāriputta is given in the Rathavinītasutta (MN.i.146 ff.). Buddhaghosa, says (MN­a.i.362) that the two Elders had many things in common.

Later, the Buddha declared Puṇṇa to be pre-eminent among those who preached the Dhamma. (AN.i.23; SN.ii.156)

In the time of Padumuttara Buddha, Puṇṇa was born in a rich Brahmin family of Haṁsavatī, before the birth of the Buddha. When grown up, he one day visited the Buddha, and as he sat on the edge of a large crowd, hearing him preach, the Buddha declared one of his monks pre-eminent among preachers, and Puṇṇa, wishing for a like honour under a future Buddha, paid great homage to Padumuttara. (Thag­a.i.37 ff)

In the Aṅguttara Commentary, however, we are told that in the time of Padumuttara Buddha, Puṇṇa was named Gotama and was expert in the Vedas (AN­a.i.113 ff). But he found no solace in the teaching of the Vedas and became an ascetic with a following of eighteen thousand Jaṭilas, all of whom, under his guidance, developed great iddhi powers. Puṇṇa was already old when Padumuttara attained Awakening. One day the Buddha visited Gotama’s hermitage, and Gotama and his disciples entertained him to a meal. Afterwards the Buddha wished his chief disciple Mahā Deva to come to the hermitage with one hundred thousand monks; this he did, and the ascetics provided flowers for their seats. For seven days the Buddha and his monks remained in jhāna on their seats, at the end of which period the Buddha asked the most pre-eminent preacher to render thanks. At the conclusion of the sermon, all except Gotama became Arahants. Gotama wished to gain pre-eminence in preaching under a future Buddha, and Padumuttara proclaimed that his wish would find fulfilment. The Apadāna contains yet another version, according to which Puṇṇa’s name in the time of Padumuttara was Sunanda (Ap.i.38, quoted at Thag­a.i.362).

Besides the Rathavinītasutta mentioned above, which bears testimony to Puṇṇa’s skill as a preacher, another Sutta, of the Saṁyuttanikāya, represents Ānanda as saying to the assembled monks that Puṇṇa was of great help to himself and others when they were yet novices; Puṇṇa had preached to them on causation, and they were able to understand the Dhamma because of his skilful exposition (SN.iii.105f.; according to Thag­a.ii.124, Ānanda became a Sotāpanna after hearing a sermon by Puṇṇa).

It is, perhaps, this Puṇṇa who is identified with the gate-keeper (dovārika) of the Kurudhammajātaka (Ja 276, Ja.ii.381) and with one of the seven brothers of the Bhisajātaka (Ja 488, Ja.iv.314).

The Mahā Vastu contains twenty verses attributed to Pūrṇa Maitrayānīputra (Mvu.iii.382).

Puṇṇa 07. See also s.v. Puṇṇaka.

Puṇṇā 01. Slave girl of Sujātā. Ja.i.69; AN­a.i.218.

Puṇṇā 02. Puṇṇā Therī. An Arahant. She was born in a householder’s family of Sāvatthī, and, at the age of twenty, having heard Pajāpatī Gotamī preach, she left the world. One day, while meditating, the Buddha appeared before her in a ray of glory and she became an Arahant.

In the past she was a kinnarī on the banks of the Candabhāgā, and, having seen a Pacceka Buddha, worshipped him with a wreath of reeds. Thīg.vs.3; Thīg­a.9f.

She is perhaps identical with Tīṇinalamālikā of the Apadāna. Ap.ii.515.

Puṇṇā 03. Puṇṇā Therī (v.l. Puṇṇikā Therī). An Arahant. She was born in Anāthapiṇḍika’s household, as the daughter of a domestic slave. She was called Puṇṇā because, with her birth, the number of children in the household reached one hundred.

On the day, on which she heard the Sīhanādasutta she became a Sotāpanna. She converted the Brahmin Sotthiya, who believed in purification through water (the conversation is recorded in Thīg. vs. 236-51), and thereby won the esteem of Anāthapiṇḍika, so that he freed her. Thereupon she entered the Saṅgha and in due course became an Arahant.

In the time of Vipassī Buddha she was born in a clansman’s family and entered the Saṅgha. She learned the three Piṭakas and became a distinguished preacher. She did the same under five other Buddhas – Sikhī, Vessabhū, Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana and Kassapa but, owing to her tendency to pride, she was unable to root out the defilements. Thīg­a. 199 ff.; Ap.ii.611.

Buddhaghosa, however, says of this Therī that she was a slave girl of Anāthapiṇḍika (MN­a.i.347f.; the story, with very different details, is given in AN­a.ii.716f). On one occasion, when the Buddha was about to set out on a tour, Anāthapiṇḍika and the other chief patrons of the Buddha, loth to lose him for several months, begged him to remain with them. But the Buddha declined this request, and Puṇṇā, seeing Anāthapiṇḍika very dejected and learning the reason, offered to persuade the Buddha to stay. So she approached him and said that she would take the Three Refuges with the Five Precepts if he would postpone his tour. The Buddha at once agreed, and Puṇṇā was freed and adopted as Anāthapiṇḍika’s daughter. She later joined the Saṅgha, and became an Arahant after listening to an admonition of the Buddha, who appeared before her in a ray of glory (Thīg, vs.3, about Puṇṇā 2). Here we undoubtedly have a confusion of legends. See Puṇṇā (2).

It may be this same Puṇṇā who is mentioned in the Milindapañha (p.115) as one of the seven people whose acts of devotion brought them recompense in this very life.

Puṇṇā 04. The slave girl of the Brahmin soothsayer of the Nāṇacchandajātaka (Ja 289). When asked what boon she desired, she answered, “A pestle and mortar and a winnowing basket.” Ja.ii.428, 429.

Puṇṇā 05. A slave woman of Rājagaha. Late one night, when standing outside the house, cooling herself after having pounded a large quantity of rice, she saw Dabba Mallaputta taking some monks to their lodgings. She thought to herself that she had to work and therefore could not sleep early, but why should monks, who are free from care, be sleepless? She concluded that one of them was sick or had been bitten by a snake. At dawn the next day she went down to the bathing-ghat, taking a cake made of rice dust and baked over charcoal, meaning to eat it after the bath. On the way she met the Buddha and offered him the cake, though she did not expect he would eat it. But the Buddha, who was with Ānanda, accepted the gift and sat down to eat it, while Puṇṇā stood watching. When the meal was over, the Buddha asked her what she had thought of the monks, and she told him. The Buddha pointed out to her that monks could not sleep till late for they had to be watchful and assiduous. At the end of the discourse Puṇṇā became a Sotāpanna.

It was in reference to this Puṇṇā that the Kundakakucchisindhavajātaka (Ja 254) was preached. Dhp­a.iii.321ff.

Puṇṇā 06. A slave woman. The Commentaries mention (e.g., MN­a.ii.696) that the Buddha once made a rag robe (paṁsukūla) out of a garment cast off by her in a cemetery overgrown with weeds (atimuttakasusāna). When the Buddha donned the robe the earth trembled in wonder. It was this robe that the Buddha exchanged with Mahā Kassapa; when the Buddha picked it up from the cemetery where Puṇṇā had cast it off it was covered with insects (SN­a.ii.149).