Dighanikaya 9.406

9.406

Evaṃ me suttaṃ…pe… sāvatthiyanti poṭṭhapādasuttaṃ. Tatrāyaṃ apubbapadavaṇṇanā. Sāvatthiyaṃ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāmeti sāvatthiṃ upanissāya yo jetassa kumārassa vane anāthapiṇḍikena gahapatinā ārāmo kārito, tattha viharati. Poṭṭhapādo paribbājakoti nāmena poṭṭhapādo nāma channaparibbājako. So kira gihikāle brāhmaṇamahāsālo kāmesuādīnavaṃ disvā cattālīsakoṭiparimāṇaṃ bhogakkhandhaṃ pahāya pabbajitvā titthiyānaṃ gaṇācariyo jāto. Samayaṃ pavadanti etthāti samayappavādako, tasmiṃ kira ṭhāne caṅkītārukkhapokkharasātippabhutayo brāhmaṇā nigaṇṭhaacelakaparibbājakādayo ca pabbajitā sannipatitvā attano attano samayaṃ vadanti kathenti dīpenti, tasmā so ārāmo samayappavādakoti vuccati. Sveva ca tindukācīrasaṅkhātāya timbarūrukkhapantiyā parikkhittattā tindukācīro. Yasmā panettha paṭhamaṃ ekāva sālā ahosi, pacchā mahāpuññaṃ paribbājakaṃ nissāya bahū sālā katā. Tasmā tameva ekaṃ sālaṃ upādāya laddhanāmavasena ekasālakoti vuccati. Mallikāya pana pasenadirañño deviyā uyyānabhūto so pupphaphalasampanno ārāmoti katvā mallikāya ārāmoti saṅkhyaṃ gato. Tasmiṃ samayappavādake tindukācīre ekasālake mallikāya ārāme.

"Thus have I heard... at Sāvatthī" refers to the Poṭṭhapādasutta. Here is the explanation of the unfamiliar words. "Dwelling at Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's park" means he dwells there in the park constructed by the householder Anāthapiṇḍika in Prince Jeta's grove near Sāvatthī. "Poṭṭhapāda the wanderer" (poṭṭhapādo paribbājako) was a clothed wanderer named Poṭṭhapāda by name. It is said that in his lay life, being a wealthy brahmin of great means, he saw the danger in sensual pleasures, abandoned a mass of wealth amounting to four hundred million, went forth, and became a teacher of a group of sectarians. "Debaters of doctrines" (samayappavādaka) means [the place] where they debate doctrines; at that place, it is said, brahmins such as Caṅkī, Tārukkha, and Pokkharasāti, as well as renunciants such as the Nigaṇṭhas, naked ascetics, and wanderers gathered together and spoke, discussed, and set forth their own doctrines; therefore, that park is called "debater of doctrines." And that very park was called "Tinduka-cluster" (tindukācīra) because it was surrounded by a row of timbarū trees known as a tindukācīra. Since there was initially only one hall here, and later many halls were constructed on account of this wanderer of great merit, it is therefore called "Single Hall" (ekasālaka) by way of the name acquired based on that single hall. Moreover, because it was a park rich in flowers and fruits that served as a pleasure garden for Mallikā, the queen of King Pasenadi, it came to be designated as "Mallikā's park." In that Mallikā's park of the Single Hall, surrounded by tinduka trees, where doctrines are debated.