Koṇāgamana
Koṇāgamana, also known as Kanakamuni in Sanskrit or alternatively Koṇāgon or Kanakagamana, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 23 of the Buddhavaṃsa, one of the books of the Pali Canon.
Buddhist tradition
According to Theravāda Buddhist tradition, Koṇāgamana is the twenty-sixth of the twenty-nine named Buddhas, the fifth of the Buddhas of Antiquity|Seven Buddhas of Antiquity], and the second of the five Buddhas of the present kalpa.The present kalpa is called the bhadrakalpa. The five Buddhas of the present kalpa are:
- Kakusandha
- Koṇāgamana
- Kassapa
- Gautama
- Maitreya
Life
Koṇāgamana Buddha was born in Sobhavati, the capital of King Sobha within the serene Subhagavati Park. His father was Yannadatta who was a Brahmin, and his mother was Uttara. Koṇāgamana Buddha spent three thousand years in his royal household, residing in three palaces: Tusita, Santusita, and Santuttha.According to Jataka, Koṇāgamana Buddha's height is traditionally described as 20 cubits high. His chief wife was Rucigatta who bore him a son named Satthavaha. Koṇāgamana Buddha renounced the world on an elephant and practiced austerities for six months. He received milk-rice from Brahmin Aggisoma’s daughter and grass for his seat from the grain-watcher Tinduka. His enlightenment was attained under Udumbara tree.
Koṇāgamana Buddha died at the age of thirty thousand in Pabbatārāma.
Historical mentions of the Koṇāgamana Buddha
Koṇāgamana is mentioned in a 3rd-century BCE inscription by Ashoka at Nigali Sagar, in today's Nepal. There is an Ashoka pillar at the site today. Ashoka's inscription in Brahmi is on the fragment of the pillar still partly buried in the ground. The inscription made when Emperor Asoka at Nigali Sagar in 249 BCE records his visit, the enlargement of a stupa dedicated to the Kanakamuni Buddha, and the erection of a pillar:According to Xuanzang, Koṇāgamana's relics were held in a stupa in Nigali Sagar, in what is now Kapilvastu District in southern Nepal.