He belonged to a rich brahmin family of a border kingdom. One day he heard the Buddha preach in the Deer Park in Sankassa, and, after joining the Order, became a reciter of the Tipitaka, attaining arahantship in due course. He then became a teacher and counsellor of the monks, instructing them and solving their difficulties.
In the time of Tissa, Buddha he was a forester, and, seeing the Buddha at the foot of a tree, offered him punnāga-flowers. Ninety-one kappas ago he was a king, named Tamonuda (Thag.vs.106; ThagA.i.212f). He is evidently identical with Punnāgapupphiya of the Apadāna. Ap.i.180.