He belonged to a rich brahmin family of a border kingdom. One day he heard the Buddha teach in the Deer Park in Saṅkassa, and, after joining the Order, became a reciter of the Tipiṭaka, attaining Arahantship in due course. He then became a teacher and counsellor of the monks, instructing them and solving their difficulties.
In the time of Tissa Buddha he was a forester, and, seeing the Buddha at the foot of a tree, offered him punnāga-