Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.49

v2.c31.49

Very little is known of the name and the life of Makkhali. The Buddhist records call him Makkhali-Gosāla. Buddhaghosa explains⁸ that he was once employed as a servant; one day, while carrying an oil-pot along a muddy road, he slipped and fell through carelessness, although warned thus by his master: "Mā khali," (stumble not)—hence his name. When he found that the oil-pot was broken, he fled; his master chased him and caught him by his garment, but he left it and ran along naked. He was called Gosāla, because he was born in a cow-shed. According to Jaina records,⁹ he is called Gosāla Maṅkhaliputta; he was born at Saravana near Sāvatthi, his father's name being Maṅkhali and his mother's Bhaddā. His father was a Maṅkha—i.e., a dealer in pictures—and Gosāla followed this profession until he became a monk.