Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.750

v2.c29.750

Bodhi was the son of Udena, king of Kosambī, and his mother was the daughter of Caṇḍappajjota (q.v.). Bodhi was skilled in the art of managing elephants,³ which art he learned from his father, a master in this direction. It is said⁴ that, while Bodhi was yet in his mother’s womb, she visited the Buddha at the Ghositārāma in Kosambī and declared that whatever child was born to her it would accept the Buddha, his teaching and the Order, as its abiding refuge. Later, after Bodhi’s birth, his nurse took him to the Buddha at Bhesakalāvana and made a similar declaration. When, therefore, Bodhi acknowledged the Buddha as his teacher, at the conclusion of the Bodhirājakumāra Sutta, he was seeking the Buddha’s refuge for the third time.