Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.3575

v2.c31.3575

**Moliya-Phagguna Thera**.—He was always friendly with the nuns and stood up for them in discussions with the monks. This was reported to the Buddha, who sent for him and preached the **Kakacūpama Sutta**.¹ In the **Saṃyutta Nikāya**² is recorded a discussion between Moliya-Phagguna and the Buddha, regarding the consciousness-sustenance (*viññāṇāhāra*). Moliya asks a question as to who feeds on consciousness. The Buddha rejects the question as being wrongly put and similar questions follow, which the Buddha puts in a different form and to which he provides the answers. In another context,³ in the same collection, **Kalārakhattiya** is reported as saying to **Sāriputta** that Moliya-Phagguna had reverted to the lay life. Buddhaghosa⁴ explains that the man's name was Phagguna and that he was given the title of *Moli* because he wore a large knot of hair on the top of his head while he was a layman, and that the name persisted after he joined the Order. See also **Phagguna**.