A brahmin employed as superintendent of works by the Licchavī of Vesāli. Early one morning he saw Piṅgiyānī evidently returning from somewhere, and on inquiry learnt that he had been to see the Buddha. Kāraṇapālī asked him what he thought of the Buddha, and Piṅgiyānī sang his praises, illustrating his meaning with various figures of speech. Convinced by Piṅgiyānī’s earnestness, Kāraṇapālī knelt on the ground and expressed his homage to the Buddha (A.iii.236 ff).

The Commentary (AA.ii.636) says that the man’s name was Pāla (or Pālī), and he was called Kāraṇapālī because he supervised the business of various chieftains’ families.