Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c6.548

v1.c6.548

Several etymologies are suggested for the name: (*a*) in its shadow goatherds (*ajapālā*) rest; (*b*) old brahmins, incapable of reciting the Vedas, live here in dwellings protected by walls and ramparts (this derivation being as follows: *na japanti ti = ajapā, mantānaṃ anajjhāyakā = ajapā, ālenti arīyanti nivāsaṃ etthāti = Ajapālo ti*); (*c*) it shelters the goats that seek its shade at midday.¹¹ The northern Buddhists say that the tree was planted by a shepherd boy, during the Bodhisatta’s six years’ penance, to shelter him.¹²