A resident of Sāvatthi and friend of Sirigutta. The latter was a follower of the Buddha, and the former of the Niganthas. Instigated by the Niganthas, Garahadinna constantly blamed his friend for his allegiance to the Buddha, until one day, in exasperation, Sirigutta invited the Niganthas to his house in order to prove that their claim to omniscience was false. To this end he had a ditch dug and filled with filth, ropes stretched longitudinally over the ditch, and the seats so arranged that the moment the Niganthas sat down they would be tipped over and flung into the ditch. The Niganthas arrived, and everything happened as Sirigutta had arranged. Garahadinna, filled with desire for revenge, hid his resentment and invited the Buddha and his disciples with the intention of humiliating them. He employed the same stratagem as his friend, except that the ditch was filled with glowing coals instead of with filth. The Buddha came, knowing all that had happened, and by an exercise of iddhi-power caused large lotus flowers to spring up from the bed of coals. Sitting thereon, he created an abundant supply of food and preached the Dhamma. Garahadinna, Sirigutta, and many others became sotāpannas (DhA.i.434f).
On this occasion was also preached the Khadirangāra Jātaka. (But see the introductory Story of the Jātaka).
It is said (Mil.350) that when the Buddha preached at Garahadinna's house, eighty-four thousand beings realised the Truth.