Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.5175

v2.c36.5175

1. Soṇuttara Thera.—An arahant. He lived in the Pūjā-pariveṇa in the Mahāvihāra and was entrusted by Duṭṭhagāmaṇī with the task of finding relics for the Mahā Thūpa. In the time of the Buddha he had been the brahmin Nanduttara, and had entertained the Buddha on the occasion on which, at Payāgatittha, Bhaddaji Thera had raised, from the bed of the Ganges, the palace he had occupied as Mahāpanāda. Filled with marvel, Nanduttara wished that he might have the power of procuring relics possessed by others. Soṇuttara visited the Mañjerika-nāga-bhavana and asked the Nāga-king, Mahākāla, to give him the relics which he had there and which had once been enshrined in Rāmagāma. But Mahākāla, unwilling to part with them, told his nephew, Vāsuladatta, to hide them. Soṇuttara knew this, and when Mahākāla told him he might take the relics if he could find them, Soṇuttara, by his magic power, took the relic-casket from Vāsuladatta, unknown to him, and brought it to Anurādhapura, where the relics were deposited in the Mahā Thūpa.¹