Sutta Piṭaka · Khuddaka Nikāya

Sumana the Garland-Maker

PaliSumana-mālākāra ("Sumana the garland-maker / florist")
Roleflower-seller of Rājagaha contracted to supply King Bimbisāra; figure in the vatthu for Dhp 68
Alternate names(none canonical; not to be confused with Sumana the bhikkhunī, or Sumana the novice disciple of Anuruddha — distinct figures)
English · sourceSinhala translation · pending
Page details
Type
person
Stub
pilot — created to support pending-link resolution from dhammapada 05 balavagga (Dhp 68 vatthu); to be expanded when the Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā (TD-007) is ingested
Selected refs
the vatthu attribution is commentarial (Dhp-a on Dhp 68 — not canonical; see TD-007)
Last updated
2026-04-14

Summary: Sumana-mālākāra is a flower-seller of Rājagaha in the Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā narrative. Contracted to supply the daily flower-quota to King Bimbisāra, he chooses one day to offer the flowers to the Buddha instead, at the risk of royal punishment. The flowers remain miraculously suspended over the Buddha; Bimbisāra, witnessing this, rewards rather than punishes him. The Dhp-a occasions Dhp 68 (a deed done which does not plague the doer, of which one reaps the fruit glad and cheerful). The canonical suttas do not name him; the story is commentarial. (commentary — not canonical)

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