Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c23.39

v1.c23.39

Dakkhiṇāgiri lay to the south of Rājagaha, beyond the hills that surrounded the city—hence its name.² In the district was the brahmin village of Ekanālā.³ The road from Sāvatthi to Rājagaha lay through Dakkhiṇāgiri, and the Buddha traversed it in the course of his periodical tours through Magadha, residing in the Dakkhiṇāgiri-vihāra in Ekanālā.⁴ It was during one of these tours that he converted Kasī-Bhāradvāja and Dhammasava (q.v.) and his father. On another of these occasions the Buddha saw the Magadhakhetta, which gave him the idea of designing the robe of a monk to resemble a field.⁵ Ānanda is also said to have travelled through Dakkhiṇāgiri, gathering a large number of young men into the Order, who, however, do not appear to have been very serious in their intentions, as their behaviour earned for Ānanda the censure of Mahā Kassapa.⁶ Later, we find Puṇṇa with a large following in Dakkhiṇāgiri refusing to join in the findings of the Rājagaha Council, and preferring to follow the Dhamma according to his own lights.⁷