Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.2988

v1.c12.2988

Buddhaghosa says³ that Keniya was a mahāsāla-brahmin, and that he became a Jaṭila with the object of protecting his wealth. He bought some land from the king and built his hermitage there, and became the protector (*nissaya*) of one thousand families. In his hermitage was a palm tree which yielded a golden nut each day. Keniya was a yellow-robed ascetic by day; by night he enjoyed the pleasures of the senses. On his first visit to the Buddha he took five hundred pingo-loads of *badarapāna*⁴ (? grape juice).