Vekhanasa, the “descendant of Vikhānasa” was, according to the commentary, the teacher of Sakaludāyī and came to defend his teaching. The Vekhanasas were Vedic poets. They became known in later Sanskrit texts as an order of forest-dwelling ascetics, who evolved into the modern Vaikhānasa Vishnavite tradition. This sutta may be the earliest reference to a tradition of Vekhanasa ascetics, creating a link between the Vedic poets and the later tradition. The Buddha calls him by his personal or clan name Kaccāna.

The Rig Veda features two Vaikhānasa poems, one of which describes Soma as “most resplendent” (śubhraśastamaḥ, Rig Veda 9.66.26), a phrase notably parallel in meaning to the Pali “ultimate splendor” (paramo vaṇṇo). These verses are rich with similar imagery: Soma is a “gleaming light” (24) whose “glittering drops” “flash with radiance” (25), “pervading with rays” (27), a “heaven-bright milk” (30). This poem is ascribed to “a hundred Vaikhānasas”, suggesting that an order already existed at the time. Perhaps the Vekhanasa lineage developed their philosophy from these verses, which they had recited over so many centuries that the original referent, Soma, was forgotten.

The introductory iti (“so they say”) indicates that the Buddha is quoting a saying, which may not have originated with him. | The “pleasure that surmounts the sensual” (kāmaggasukha) is defined by the commentary as Nibbāna, which explains why the Buddha says below that only arahants can truly understand this saying (MN 80:14.8). | Compare with the passage on extracting cream of ghee, which uses parallel syntax (DN 9:52.1, SN 34.1:1.9, AN 4.95:4.1).