Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.21

v2.c29.21

Bakkula, Bākula, Vakkula Thera.—He was born in the family of a councillor of Kosambī, and, while being bathed by his nurse in the waters of the Yamunā, he slipped into the river and was swallowed by a fish. The fish was caught by an angler and sold to the wife of a Benares councillor.¹ When the fish was split open the child was discovered unhurt, and cherished by the councillor’s wife as her own son. On discovering his story, she asked permission of his parents to keep him. The king decided that the two families should have him in common, hence his name Bākula (“two-families, bi-kin”).² After a prosperous life, at the age of eighty, Bakkula heard the Buddha preach and left the world. For seven days he remained unenlightened, but on the dawn of the eighth day he became an arahant. Later, the Buddha declared him to be foremost in good health.³