Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c16.714

v1.c16.714

2. Cunda.—The books appear to refer to two theras by the name of Cunda, the better known being Mahā-Cunda and the other Cūḷa-Cunda. But the legends connected with them are so confused that it is not possible to differentiate clearly one from the other. Mention is also made of a Cunda-Samaṇuddesa whom, however, the Commentaries¹ identify with Mahā-Cunda. Mahā-Cunda is, for instance, described in the Theragāthā Commentary² as the younger brother of Sāriputta, under whom he joined the Order, winning arahantship after arduous and strenuous effort. In the time of Vipassī Buddha he had been a potter and had given to the Buddha a bowl made of clay. The Apadāna verses quoted in the Theragāthā Commentary are, in the Apadāna itself,³ ascribed to a monk named Ekapattadāyaka. They make no mention whatever of his relationship to Sāriputta. On the other hand, there are to be found elsewhere in the Apadāna⁴ certain verses ascribed to a Cunda Thera, which definitely state that he was the son of the brahmin Vaṅganta, and that his mother was Sāri. But in these verses he is called Cūḷa-Cunda, and mention is made of his previous birth in the time of Siddhattha Buddha, to whom he gave a bouquet of jasmine flowers. As a result he became king of the devas seventy-seven times and was once king of men, by name Dujjaya. It is further stated that he became arahant while yet a sāmaṇera and that he waited upon the Buddha and his own brother and other virtuous monks. This account goes on to say that after his brother's death, Cunda brought his relics in a bowl and presented them to the Buddha, who uttered praises of Sāriputta. This would identify Cūḷa-Cunda with Cunda Samaṇuddesa who, according to the Saṃyutta Nikāya,⁵ attended Sāriputta in his last illness and, after his death, brought to the Buddha at Jetavana Sāriputta's bowl and outer robe and his relics wrapt in his water-strainer. Therefore if Buddhaghosa⁶ is correct in identifying Cunda Samaṇuddesa with Mahā-Cunda, then all three are one and the same.