The Veṇuvana as a whole was the first offering of land (as an ārāma or park) made to the Buddha as a place, at a suitable distance from the city of Rājaghṛa, in which he and his monks could reside. It was donated by King Bimbisāra, King of Magadha.

Bimbisāra had met the Prince Siddhartha after the latter had renounced the world but before he had attained awakening; according to the Mahāvaṃsa they even knew each other as children.

Bimbisāra had requested Siddhartha that when he had achieved his spiritual goal he would visit Rājaghṛa and instruct him. After his awakening, the period during which he reflected alone, and his first teaching at Sarnath to “the five” (his former companions), the Buddha also converted “the five friends,” “the fifty brahmin youths,” “the sixty youths,” and at Uruvilvā and Gaya the “thousand matted-hair ascetics” under Mahākāśyapa.

It was at this early point that Bimbisāra sent his soldiers to invite the Buddha to travel from Gayasīrsa to Rājaghṛa, and when the Buddha arrived with all these followers Bimbisāra offered him the Veṇuvana (as he had vowed to himself according to The Questions of Pūrṇa, see below).

The offering formed the first occasion for the Vinaya rule to be defined allowing the saṅgha to accept offerings of land from laymen.

This is where Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana first met the Buddha and went forth as monks, as recounted in The Chapter on Going Forth and in the Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī.

The Buddha spent his second, third, and fourth rains retreat there, and it is recorded as the site of many teachings. After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, Ānanda may have lived there.

Kalandakanivāpa / °nivāsa (bya ka lan da ka gnas pa)

A particular site‍—perhaps a grove, or a platform, and later probably a vihāra‍—within the Veṇuvana near Rājaghṛa. It was probably the first place within the Veṇuvana where the Buddha stayed, and possibly the main vihara there.

The name means “feeding place” (°nivāpa) or “abode” (°nivāsa) of kalandaka.

What the word kalandaka refers to remains unclear. According to Pali sources it may mean squirrels, but the Tibetan term refers to them being birds, maybe some kind of crow. The suggestion that they were flying squirrels may represent a compromise position, but it seems there is a species of Indian flying squirrel, Petaurista philippensis, that might have been in such a habitat. See dictionary entries and quote from Gendun Chopel below.

3.1

There are two partly conflicting stories about the site before it was offered and how it obtained its name:

3.2

according to the story told in the Saṅghabhedavastu (Toh 1, ch.17, Degé Kangyur vol.4, F.77.b et seq.), the name is said to have arisen when, one day, King Bimbisāra fell asleep after a romantic liaison in the Bamboo Grove. While the king rested, his consort wandered off. A snake (the reincarnation of the park’s previous owner, who still resented the king’s acquisition of the park) approached with malign intentions. Through the king’s tremendous merit, a gathering of kalandaka‍—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest squirrels, maybe flying squirrels‍—miraculously appeared and began squawking. Their clamor alerted the king’s consort to the danger, who rushed back and hacked the snake to pieces, thereby saving the king’s life. King Bimbisāra then named the spot Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Feeding Place”), sometimes (though not in the Vinayavastu) given as Kalandakanivāsa (“Kalandakas’ Abode”) in their honor.

3.3

according to the story told in The Questions of Pūrṇa (Toh 61), as an intriguing twist to the story above, in chapter 5 the Buddha says that Kalandaka and Veṇuvana are a special place where no desire, ignorance, or anger are felt:

“Ānanda, [F.207.a] thus-gone ones have certainly resided in other temples, but those places do not have the same qualities as this one. Why is it so? Because, Ānanda, when animals enter Kalandaka Forest and Veṇuvana, they cease developing sexual desire; and when flocks of birds enter this forest, they no longer sing at inappropriate times. Why is it so? Because when Bimbisāra, the king of Magadha, visited his kingdom for the first time after being enthroned, he came to this forest, together with his retinue of queens, to frolic together. However, as soon as he entered here, he felt that his desire for passionate frolicking had disappeared. Everyone in the retinue of queens also felt that any desire for passionate frolicking had disappeared. At that moment, the king became utterly delighted and thought, ‘If a buddha appears in the world and comes to my country, may I meet him face to face. Upon meeting him, may I develop sincere trust in him. Having developed sincere trust, may I worship him. I will offer this forest to that thus-gone one. May he reside in this place, and may I hear the Dharma from him. Why? Because this forest is a place for those who are to be worshiped, not for those who are bound by the five sense desires.’

“Ānanda, when King Bimbisāra entered this forest, he had such virtuous thoughts. In the past, thus-gone ones resided in this forest and taught this discourse of the bodhisattva collection. Therefore, none of the qualities associated with this forest are found in other places, and all the worlds with their gods, humans, and demigods are respectfully paying homage to it. Ānanda, in this forest, there are no poisonous snakes, lizards, horseflies, mosquitos, or the like. Beings who reside here do not entertain any evil thoughts: [F.207.b] this is also an extraordinary quality of Veṇuvana. Even if I attempted to express the qualities of this grove for one hundred years, this task would never come to an end. Why is it so? Because, Ānanda, this perfumed chamber of Veṇuvana possesses all those immeasurable qualities, while other places do not.”

“Blessed One,” said the venerable Ānanda, “I did not know that Veṇuvana possessed such qualities! Blessed One, I want to confess today my previous negative attitude of not wanting to serve the Blessed One as his attendant.”

3.4

This same text also describes the place, in the paragraph preceding the above, as a unique site for crucial teachings, and (mysteriously) as nam mkha’i sa mtshams (the “border in space” or “edge of space”):

“Therefore, Ānanda, you should remember this discourse of the bodhisattva collection as The Sūtra of Turning the Wheel of Dharma. It is with this teaching that I turned the wheel of Dharma for the hearers in the Deer Park in Vārāṇasī. Ānanda, today, within Veṇuvana, I have also turned this irreversible Dharma wheel, this discourse of the bodhisattva collection, and the doubts of all sentient beings have been eliminated. Ānanda, here, at the edge of space, the thus-gone ones of the past also taught this discourse of the bodhisattva collection. The future thus-gone ones will also teach this discourse of the bodhisattva collection here, at the edge of space. After awakening to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, I have also expounded this discourse of the bodhisattva collection here, at the edge of space. For those reasons, you should know that this place has become a great reliquary of the thus-gone ones, which is to be worshiped by all the worlds with their gods and humans. Ānanda, this is so because this is the only place that has the unique quality of being the location where the thus-gone ones of the past have taught this profound discourse. Ānanda, any sentient being afflicted by desire, anger, and ignorance who enters Veṇuvana, will, without exception, no longer give rise to desire, anger, and ignorance.”

Dictionary entries and other sources for Kalandakanivāpa, and kalandaka / kalantaka

4.1

from F. Edgerton. A Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary:

Kalandakanivāpa: m. (= Pali id., squirrel food-offering), also written in mss. Karandaka~;, q.v., and Kalaṇḍaka~, Karaṇḍaka~, q.v.; n. of a place near Rājagṛha where Buddha often dwelt.

4.2

from G. P. Malalasekera. Dictionary of Pali Names:

Kalandakanivāpa: A woodland in Veluvana. Here food (nivāpa) was regularly placed for the squirrels. It is said that once a certain raja went there for a picnic and, having over-drunk, fell asleep. His retinue, seeing him sleeping, wandered away, looking for flowers and fruits. A snake, attracted by the smell of liquor, approached the king from a neighbouring tree-trunk, and would have bitten him had not a tree-sprite, assuming the form of a squirrel, awakened him by her chirping. In gratitude the rājā gave orders that thenceforth the squirrels in that locality should be fed regularly. UdA.60; SnA.ii.419. According to some, it was the gift of a merchant named Kalandaka (Beal: Romantic Legend, p.315); Tibetan sources identify the rājā with Bimbisāra and say that the snake was a reincarnation of the owner whose land the king had confiscated. According to these same sources the name is Kalantaka and is described as the name of a bird (Rockhill: op. cit., p.43). Kalandakanivāpa was evidently a favourite resort of the Buddha and his monks.

4.3

from saM bod skad nyis shan sbyar [Sanskrit-Tibetan Glossary], pp. 208-209:

kalantaka ‍— a synonym for sparrow (mchil ba); the synonymy legs bshad gser gyi lde mig [“Golden Key of Elegant Expositions”] by the Dzogchenpa Tenzin Gyaltsen says, “The variegated-back kalandaka, the small bird of hamlets the bskyed byed [“producer”?] sparrow, and cataka, are all the names of small house birds.”

kalantaka ‍— small bird; sparrow.

kalandaka, kalanda ‍— sparrow.

4.4

from O. Böhtlink. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch:

kalandaka ‍— 1) m. a) a particular bird (?); in Pāli, squirrel. b) a particular piece of equipment of a śramaṇa. 2) f. kalandikā = kalindikā (science).

4.5

from Monier Williams. Sanskrit English Dictionary:

kalandaka ‍— 1) m. a) a squirrel (or a kind of bird?) Buddh.; a particular vessel used by śramaṇas Buddh.; 2) f. = kalindikā (q.v.).

4.6

from Rhys Davids and Stede. Pali English Dictionary, Pali Text Society, p. 219:

kalandaka ‍— 1) a squirrel Miln. 368; 2) an (ornamental) cloth or mat, spread as a seat J vi.224; -nivāpa N. of a locality in Veḷuvana, near Rājagaha, where oblations had been made to squirrels D ii.116; Vin i.137; ii.105, 290, etc.

4.7

from Thubten Jinpa and Donald Lopez (trs.). Gendun Chopel, in Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveler. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014, pp.183-4:

“Regarding kalandaka, in many passages in the vinaya, the word is translated as “kalandaka creature,” [srog chags ka lan da ka] and in everyday Tibetan, “creature” is just the name for a four-legged animal. However, in some instances [of translation] the word is written also as “kalandaka bird.” Actually, this is a squirrel [sre mong]. Because it makes its nest in treetops, it could be mistaken for a bird. People say that this [word kalandaka] is used in China as the name of a bird. This creature has a groove on its back that is said to be the mark of [lord] Rāma petting it with his hand because it had comforted Sītā when she was carried off by the demon [Rāvaṇa]. In the Sanskrit synonyms, its name is given as “striped back” [rgyab khra], which seems to refer to this [physical feature]. It is well known for screaming when it sees a snake. I think there are a great many of them in the bamboo groves.” [Tibetan terms inserted from source text.]

Note: Despite what Gendun Chopel says here, we have not been able to find references to the term “kalandaka creature” (srog chags ka lan da ka) in either the Vinaya section, or elsewhere, in the Kangyur. In almost all references to the Kalandakanivāpa, the word ka lan da ka is prefixed by “bird” (bya). In other contexts, the word ka lan da ka (sometimes ka lan ta ka or ka lan Ta ka) is also found as one item in lists of which the other members are clearly other birds.

Bird or squirrel?

Although a type of squirrel seems most likely from Pali sources in particular, Sanskrit sources seem to allow more doubt and at present there does not seem to be enough solid evidence to conclude that the Tibetan interpretation of kalandaka as a type of bird is definitely a misunderstanding.

Kalandaka is also the name of the father, and the village, of Sudinna / Sudatta (Tib. bzang byin), known as “Sudinna, son of Kalandaka,” who figures especially in the Vinayavibhaṅga (Toh 3) but also in other Vinaya texts as the monk whose actions led to the formulation of the “defeat” category of breaches of the monastic vow.