Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.1832

v1.c12.1832

2. Kāḷi.—Called Kururugharikā, described among laywomen as the best of those who believe even from hearsay (anussavappasannānam).¹ She was the mother of Soṇa Kuṭikaṇṇa, and her husband belonged to Kururughara in Avanti. When with child, she came to her parents in Rājagaha, and there, while enjoying the cool breeze on the balcony above her roof (sīhapañjare), she overheard the conversation which took place between Sātāgira and Hemavata on the excellences of the Buddha and of his teaching; as she listened, faith in the Buddha grew in her and she became a sotāpanna. That same night Soṇa was born. Later, Kāḷi returned to Kururughara and there waited on Mahā Kaccāna. When Soṇa entered the Order under Kaccāna and visited the Buddha, she gave him a costly rug to be spread in the Buddha’s chamber. When Soṇa returned home after this visit, Kāḷi asked him to preach to her in the same way as he had earlier preached to the Buddha, earning the applause of the Buddha himself and of the devas of the ten thousand worlds.