Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.839

v2.c31.839

Maliyadeva once preached the Cha Chakka Sutta in the Lohāpāsāda, and sixty monks, who listened to him, became arahants. He also preached the same sutta in the Mahāmaṇḍapa, in the Mahāvihāra, at Cetiyapabbata, at Sākiyavaṃsa-vihāra, at Kuṭāli-vihāra, at Antarasobbha, Mutiṅgana, Vātakapabbata, Pācīnagharaka, Dighavāpi, Lokaṇḍara, and Gameṇḍavāla, and, at each place, sixty monks attained arahantship. At Cittalapabbata he saw a monk of over sixty preparing to bathe at Kuruvakatittha, and asked permission to bathe him. The Elder, discovering from his conversation that he was Maliyadeva, agreed to let him do so, though, he said, no one had ever touched his body during sixty years. Later in the day, the Elder begged Maliyadeva to preach to him, and this he did. Sixty monks, all over sixty, were among the audience, and at the conclusion of the Cha Chakka Sutta they all became arahants. The same thing happened at Tissamahāvihāra, Kalyāṇi-vihāra, Nāgamahāvihāra, Kalacchagāma, and at other places, sixty in all.⁶