He was born in the family of a millionaire of Sāvatthi. His parents had gone to the Buddha before his conception, and had told him that if they had a child they would give him to the Buddha as his servant. When he was seven years old, they took him, arrayed in his best, to the Buddha, in fulfilment of their promise. The Buddha asked Ānanda to ordain him. This he did and instructed him, and the same night Bhadda became an Arahant. The Buddha called to him saying, “Come, Bhadda,” and that was his ordination (upasampadā).

In the time of Padumuttara Buddha he had offered hundreds of thousands of robes, etc., to the Buddha and his monks. Thag.vss.473-9; ThagA.i.474 f.