Incumbent of Kāḷavallimaṇḍapa. He was among those who accepted the meal given by Sāliya in his previous birth (MT. 606). He was one of the last to attain Arahantship among those who left the world with the Bodhisatta in various births (J.iv.490). He did not sleep for seven years, after which he practised continual meditation for sixteen years, becoming an Arahant at the end of that time. SNA.i.56; MA.i.209; SA.iii.155.

His fame was great, and there is a story of a brahmin who came all the way from Potaliputta to Kāḷavallimaṇḍapa in Rohana to visit him. The brahmin entered the Order under him and became an Arahant (AA.i.384). Once, while Mahānāga was begging alms at Nakulanagara, he saw a nun and offered her a meal. As she had no bowl, he gave her his, with the food ready in it. After she had eaten and washed the bowl, she gave it back to him saying, “Henceforth there will be no fatigue for you when begging for alms.” Thereafter the elder was never given alms worth less than a kahāpana. The nun was an Arahant. DhSA.399.