Punna's eloquence made him known as he foremost in teaching the Dharma. But he had not always been such a fine person. His father was a wealthy landed Brahman in the village of Donavatthu, in the kingdom of Kosala. His mother, Mantani, was the younger sister of Kondanna, one of Shakyamuni's earliest disciples. Mantani reared Punna with the greatest care and affection.

One day, as Kacchayana was approaching a river, he heard weeping. He stopped and, parting the tall grasses, saw an old woman crouching on the riverbank. He asked her in the gentlest possible voice, "What unhappiness makes you weep this way?" At first, she stiffened in fear. But the man's kind eyes gazing down on her eased her alarm, and haltingly she told her story.

Yasodhara hurried to her son and urged him to ask his father's blessing. Rahula did as he was told. Shakyamuni, turning back to look at his son, nodded and instructed the boy to follow as he continued walking. The boy did so in silence. When they reached the forest, Shakyamuni ordered Sariputta to shave Rahula's head, exchange his clothes for those of a monk, and make him a novice in the Sangha. Rahula is said to have been nine at the time.