bhaggava

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Bhaggava

1. Bhaggava. A teacher to whom the Buddha went after leaving Rājagaha, and before seeking Āḷāra and Uddaka. ThigA., p. 2.

2. Bhaggava. Father of Angulimāla and chaplain of the king of Kosala. Bhaggava was a brahmin. Thag.A.ii.57.

3. Bhaggava. A potter in Rājagaha in whose dwelling the Buddha met and conversed with Pukkusāti (M.iii.237).

Bhaggava seems to have been a generic name for all potters, perhaps a special form of address used towards members of the kumbhakāra “caste.” Thus we find in the books several instances of potters being addressed as “Bhaggava“. e.g., DhA.i.33; J.ii.80, iii.382. At J.111.382 the potter’s wife is addressed as “Bhaggavī.”

In the Saṃyutta Nikāya (S.i.36, 60) the Buddha addresses Ghaṭīkāra Brahmā as “Bhaggava”; he had been a potter of Vehaliṅga in his previous birth and the name “Ghaṭīkāra” itself means “jar-maker.” The Commentaries give no explanation of the word; perhaps the potters claimed their descent from Bhṛgu.

Bhaggava is sometimes given as an example of a gotta, e.g., Sp.i.160 (with Gotama).

Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names • G.P. Malalasekera