Dirghanakha

The story of Dirghanakha (Pali: Dīghanakha; Skt. Dīrghanakha; Tib. སེན་རིངས།, Wyl. sen rings), (Long Fingernails) a Brahmin disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha, is found throughout the Mahayana and Pali collections of written texts. The name Long Fingernails is because, before meeting the Buddha, he went off to study the Lokayata philosophy, vowing not to cut his fingernails as long as he upheld it. In some accounts he is also known in Sanskrit as Koṣṭhila (Long Torso), which is the birth name by which he was known before he left home to wander, and which he later readopts when he becomes a monk under the Shakyamuni Buddha. The variants Kauṣṭhila, Mahākauṣṭhila, and Agnivaiśyāyana (Pali: Aggivessāna) are also found. Dirghanakha is also known as the uncle of Shariputra, the famous early disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha. .