Tribes in Ancient India c60.18

c60.18

Among members of the Kālāma clan specially mentioned by name are Bharaṇḍu-Kālāma,⁴ who was once a co-disciple of the Buddha (as Bodhisattva), and Āḷāra-Kālāma, a renowned religious teacher, who is mentioned frequently in the *Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta*⁵ and in other Buddhist texts, ancient and modern. One caravan merchant named Pukkusa, a young Mallian, was a disciple of Āḷāra-Kālāma. Pukkusa laid much emphasis on the spiritual attainments of Kālāma. He said that his preceptor’s ecstatic trance was so very deep and profound that a long train of heavily laden carts passed by him without his perceiving them.⁶ The Buddhist texts represent the Kālāmas as worshippers of the Buddha Gautama, who was a disciple of Āḷāra-Kālāma, before his enlightenment.⁷ The Buddha preached a famous sermon when on a visit to Kesaputta.⁸