bodhi

He lived at Suṃsumāragiri in the Bhagga country and built a palace called Kokanada. When the palace was completed, the Buddha was staying at Bhesakalāvana near by, and Bodhi sent a message by Sañjikāputta, inviting the Buddha to the palace, that he might bless it by being its first occupant. The Buddha agreed to come and, the next day, arrived with the monks for a meal. Bodhi came, with his retinue, to meet them at the foot of the steps and asked the Buddha to step on to the carpeting which was spread there. Three times the request was made, three times the Buddha kept silence. Thereupon Ānanda asked for the carpeting to be removed, saying that the Buddha’s refusal to step thereon was as an example to future generations. After the meal, Bodhi had a discussion with the Buddha, Vin.ii.127f. MN.ii.91ff. recorded in the Bodhirājakumāra Sutta.

Bodhi was the son of Udena, king of Kosambi, and his mother was the daughter of Candappajjota. Bodhi was skilled in the art of managing elephants, MN.ii.94 which art he learned from his father, a master in this direction. It is said MN.ii.97 that, while Bodhi was yet in his mother’s womb, she visited the Buddha at the Ghositārāma in Kosambī and declared that whatever child was born to her it would accept the Buddha, his teaching and the Order, as its abiding refuge. Later, after Bodhi’s birth, his nurse took him to the Buddha at Bhesakalāvana and made a similar declaration. When, therefore, Bodhi acknowledged the Buddha as his teacher, at the conclusion of the Bodhirājakumāra Sutta, he was seeking the Buddha’s refuge for the third time.