[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Dictionary of Pali Proper Names](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937) › v2.c31.49 # Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.49 Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names v2.c31.49 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c31.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.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. - [Previous: v2.c31.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.v2.c31.48) - [Next: v2.c31.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.v2.c31.50) - [Up: v2.c31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.v2.c31) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.v2.c31.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.malalasekera-1937.v2.c31.49) · Pramāṇa