• Āpana

A city in the Anguttarāpa country (probably its capital). The Buddha once visited the city with 1,250 monks and the whole company was entertained by the Jatila Keniya (Vin.i.245ff). From Āpana the Buddha went on to Kusinārā (Vin.i.247). In the Samyutta Nikāya (S.v.225), Āpana is spoken of as a township of the Angas (Angānam nigamo) and the Buddha is mentioned as having stayed there with Sāriputta.

Several suttas were preached at Āpana, among them

• the Potaliya Sutta (regarding Potaliya), (M.i.359ff)
• the Latukikopama Sutta (to Udāyi) (M.i.447ff),
• the Sela Sutta (regarding Sela) (M.ii.146ff; Sn.pp.102ff) and
• the Saddha or Āpana Sutta (S.v.225-7).

āpana was a brahmin village and was the home of the Elder Sela (ThagA.iii.47). On the occasion of the Buddha's visit to Āpana, during which he converted Sela and Keniya, he seems to have stayed at Āpana for over a week and ordained three hundred monks in the company of Sela (Sn., p.112).

According to Buddhaghosa (MA.ii.586), the village was called Āpana because it had twenty thousand bazaars (āpanā) and was therefore distinguished for its shops (āpanānam ussannattā). Near the village, on the banks of the river Mahī, was the woodland where the Buddha stayed during his visits.