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Kuṇḍala Thera

v.l. Kulakuṇḍala.– An Arahant. He came of a brahmin family of Sāvatthi and entered the Order, 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 wherever they wished by digging channels, how the fletcher straightened an arrow-shaft in his lathe by surveying it from the corner of his eye, how the chariot-makers planed axle, tire, and hub. Dwelling on these things, he soon attained Arahantship.

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

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

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 taught once in reference to Paṇḍita-Sāmaṇera (DhA.ii.147), and once in reference to Sukha-Sāmaṇera (DhA.iii.99).