• Punnovāda Sutta

Punna (of Sunāparanta) visits the Buddha and asks him for a teaching that he may follow it and be purged of self. The Buddha tells him to avoid finding delight in the pleasures of the senses.

On learning that Punna proposes to live in Sunāparanta, the Buddha warns him that the people of that part are fierce and violent. Punna declares that even should they kill him, he would not bear them ill will, but would rejoice to be of use to them. He leaves for Sunāparanta, with the Buddha's approval, and there gather around him five hundred disciples of either sex who have won arahantship. After Punna's death, the monks question the Buddha about him, and the Buddha tells them that he had realised nibbāna. M.iii.267 ff.; S.iv.60 ff.