One of the most eminent disciples of the Buddha, considered chief among expounders in full of the brief saying of the Buddha, (sankhittena bhásitassa vitthárena attham vibhajantánam) (A.i.23). He was born at Ujjení in the family of the chaplain of King Candappajjota, and was called Kaccána both because of his golden colour and because Kaccána was the name of his gotta. He studied the Vedas, and, on the death of his father, succeeded him as chaplain. With seven others he visited the Buddha, at the request of Candappajjota, to invite him to come to Ujjení. Kaccána and his friends listened to the Buddha's sermon, and having attained arahantship, joined the order. He then conveyed the king's invitation to the Buddha, who pointed out that it would now suffice if Kaccána himself returned to Ujjení.
Kaccána accordingly set out for Ujjení with his seven companions, accepting alms on the way at the house of a very poor girl of Telappanáli, who later became Candappajjota's queen. For details see Telappanáli.
Arrived in Ujjení, Kaccána lived in the royal park, where the king showed him all honour. He preached constantly to the people, and, attracted by his discourses, numerous persons joined the Order, so that the whole city was one blaze of orange robes. It is said that after having duly established the sásana in Avantí, Kaccána returned once more to the Buddha. (Thus, the explanation of the Madhupindika Sutta was given at Kapilavatthu). Candappajjota consulted him on various occasions, and among the verses attributed to him in the Theragáthá (Thag.vss.494 501), are several addressed to the king himself.
It was in the time of Padumuttara Buddha that Kaccána had made his resolve to win the eminence he did, after listening to Padumuttara's praise of a monk, also named Kaccána, for similar proficiency. Kaccána was then a vijjádhara, and offered the Buddha three kanikára flowers. So says the Apadána ii.463, but ThagA. says he was a vijjádhara in the time of Sumedhá Buddha. In the time of Kassapa Buddha he was a householder of Benares, and offered a golden brick, worth one hundred thousand, to the cetiya which was being built over the Buddha's remains, and then made a vow that in future births his body should be golden (ThagA.i.483f.; AA.i.117f).
According to the Apadána (Ap.ii.465), Kaccána's father was called Tirítivaccha (or Tidivavaccha), and his mother Candapadumá. There is another account of Mahá Kaccána in the Apadána (A.i.84f), in which it is said that in the time of Padumuttara Buddha he built a yandhakuti named Paduma in the shape of a lotus and covered with lotus flowers, and that thirty kappas later he became king under the name of Pabhassara.
Three suttas are mentioned (AA.i.118) as having obtained for Kaccána his title of eminence - the Madhupindika, the Kaccáyana and the Paráyana; several instances are given of people seeking Mahá Kaccána's assistance, for a detailed explanation of something said in brief by the Buddha - e.g., Háliddikáni, Kálí, Samiddhi, Uttara and Valliya (see also A.iii.314, 321; v. 225; M.iii.223). Among Kaccána's pupils and followers and those who consulted him were Sonakutikanna, Isidatta, Avantiputta, Lohicca, Arámadanda, and Kandaráyana.
In Avanti, Kaccána is said to have stayed, not in the king's park, where he lived soon after his return from the Buddha, but chiefly in the Kuraraghara papátá (E.g., S.iii.9; A.v.46; Ud.v.6; Vin.i.194; DhA.iv.101) and in a hut in Makkarakata forest. S.iv.116; see also VvA.259, according to which he stayed near Potali.
Mention is also made of his staying at Varaná on the bank of Kaddamadaha (A.i.65); at the Gundávana in Madhurá (A.i.67; M.ii.83); at Tapodá in Rájagaha (A.iii.192), in Soreyya (DhA.i.325; for a curious incident connected with Kaccána's visit see Soreyya), and in Kosambí (PvA. 140). According to Dvy. (551, 585, 586) he also stayed in Roruka.
It is said (DhA.ii.176) that even when Kaccána was living at Avanti, a long distance away, he went regularly to hear the Buddha preach, and when the chief theras took their places in the assembly, they always left room for him. On one such occasion Sakka showed him great honour, falling at his feet, and the Buddha explained that this was because Mahá Kaccána kept his senses well guarded.
The Majjhima Commentary (MA.ii.854) records a curious story in reference to Kaccána. Vassakára, minister of Ajátasattu, saw Kaccána descending Gijjhakúta and said he looked like a monkey. The Buddha read Vassakára's thoughts, and warned him that after death he would be born as a monkey in Veluvana. He believed the Buddha, and made provision in Veluvana for his future comfort as monkey. And this be did indeed become, living in Veluvana and answering to the name of Vassakára!
Kaccána is identified with the charioteer in the Kurudhamma Játaka (J.ii.181), and with Devala in the Sarabhanga Játaka (J.v.151).
According to tradition, Kaccána was the author of the Nettippakarana, the Páli grammar bearing his name, and of the Petakopadesa. It is probable that these works were the compilations of a school, which traced its descent to Mahá Kaccána.
See also Madhura Sutta.