• Punnaka

1. Punnaka. One Of the stallions of Ekarāja. J. vi.135.

2. Punnaka. One of the sixteen disciples of Bāvarī, who visited the Buddha (Sn. vs. 1006). His conversation with the Buddha is given in the Punnakamānavapucchā (Ibid., 1043 48). At the end of the interview Punnaka and his one thousand followers became arahants. SnA.ii.590.

3. Punnaka. A Yakkha chief, nephew of Vessavana (J.vi.255). The story of how he won the Nāga maiden Irandatī is related in the Vidhurapandita Jātaka. In his previous birth he had been a young man named Kaccāyana in the Anga country. J. vi.273f.; he is also called Kātiyāna (Kaccāna). He is also referred to as Punnakaraja (J.iv.182).

He is evidently identical with the Yakkha chieftain mentioned in the Ātānitiya Sutta (D.iii.204) among those to be invoked by followers of the Buddha in times of tribulation. The gem used by Punnaka as a stake in his gambling with Koravya was such that all things in the world could be seen in it (MT. 552). The shout of victory uttered by Punnaka when he defeated Koravya was one of the four shouts heard throughout Jambudīpa. SnA.i.223.

4. Punnaka. A king of twenty five kappas ago, a former birth of Asanabodhiya Thera. Ap.i.111.

5. Punnaka. Punnaka was evidently not a name of high station. E.g., J.vi.273.

6. Punnaka. See also s.v. Punna.

Punnaka Jātaka. Another name for the Vidhurapandita Jātaka.