Publisher's Synopsis
After his ordination as a bhikkhu, the Venerable Maha Kaccana usually resided in his homeland of Avanti, a remote region to the southwest of the Middle Country where the Buddha dwelt, and thus he did not spend as much time in the Blessed One's presence as some of the other great disciples did, such as Sariputta, Maha Moggallana, and Ananda. For this reason we do not find, in the records of the Sutta Pitaka, that the Venerable Maha Kaccana figured as prominently in Sangha affairs and in the Buddha's ministry as the aforementioned elders. Nevertheless, on account of the astuteness of his intellect, the profundity of his insight into the Dhamma, and his skill as a speaker, whenever Maha Kaccana did join the Buddha for extended periods, the other monks frequently turned to him for help in illuminating the meaning of brief statements of the Buddha that had been causing them bafflement.
