MāluṅkyāputtaMāluṅkyaputtaMālukyaputta

The Theragāthā contains two sets of verses attributed to him. One set speaks of the dangers of craving and encourages effort. Thag.399–404 The second set speaks of how mindfulness becomes confused when one is infatuated with a pleasant object. Thag.794–817

In the Majjhima Nikāya are two suttas—the Cūḷamālunkyā MN.i.426ff. and the Mahāmālunkyā MN.i.432ff. —both evidently preached before Mālunkyāputta’s attainment of arahantship, because in both the Buddha speaks disparagingly of him.

In the Mālunkyāputta Sutta in the Aṅguttara, Māluṅkyāputta comes to the Buddha in his old age and asks for a teaching in brief. The Buddha first chides him for having wasted his opportunities, but then tells him of the four ways in which craving arises and the advantages of destroying it. AN.ii.248f. SN.iv.72f.