Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.3556

v1.c12.3556

**1. Kosiya, Kosiyagotta.**—The name of a brahmin clan. In the *Pācittiya*¹ it is given as one of the lower *gottas*. Among those mentioned as belonging to this *gotta* are the brahmin **Kevaṭṭa**,² the brahmin who was the father of Soṇa Kumāra (the Bodhisatta³), Bhaddākāpilānī, born in Sāgala,⁴ and the banker who came to be known as Macchariya-Kosiya (q.v.). Kātiyāna’s father was a Kosiyan, but he married a woman of the Kātiyāna family.⁵ The Bhūridatta Jātaka⁶ mentions a sage Kosiya, who taught Ālambāyana the Nāga-spell. The scholiast says he belonged to the Kosiyagotta. The Sālikedāra Jātaka⁷ mentions a brahmin of Sālindiya, called Kosiyagotta, probably for the same reason. The Kosiya Jātaka⁸ speaks of a Kosiyabrāhmaṇī. All these are either addressed or spoken of as Kosiya in their different contexts. The name Kosiya is also used twice in speaking of Sakka—once by the Buddha,⁹ once by Mahā Moggallāna¹⁰—and again by Guttila¹¹ and by Mahā Kassapa.¹² The name means “belonging to the Kuśika family.” It is once used of Indra in the Ṛg Veda, in what exact sense is not known. Rhys Davids¹³ suggests that perhaps we have here a survival from the time when Indra was only the god of a Kuśika clan.