Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c13.7

v1.c13.7

The sutta is commented on in the *Culla-Niddesa*,⁴ in addition to those of the *Parāyanavagga*, an evidence of the fact that, when the *Culla-Niddesa* was composed, this was probably regarded as an independent sutta, not belonging to any particular group such as the *Uragavagga*, and that the comments on it were written at a time prior to the composition of the *Sutta Nipāta* as an anthology in its present form. This view is further strengthened by the fact that its mixed Sanskrit version in the *Mahāvastu*⁵ is not placed in any definite group. According to the *Mahāvastu*, the Pratyeka Buddhas, five hundred in number, were living in Ṛṣipatana near Benares, and when they heard from the Suddhāvāsa devas of the approach of the Buddha in twelve years, they disappeared from Ṛṣipatana, each repeating one of the verses of the sutta.