Sāketa was one of the great cities (DN 17:1.2.4), a former capital of Kosala, and a regular stop on the road near Sāvatthī (SN 44.1:1.2, MN 24:14.11, Snp 5.1:37.1). Situated on the banks of the Sarabhū (modern Sarayu), it is identified with the modern city of Ayodhya, about 95 km south of Sāvatthī. See also note on SN 22.95:1.1. | Añjana means “antimony”, and the kohl eyeliner made from it. It’s used for several place names, perhaps evoking the dark color. The Añjana is one of several forests near Sāketa where ascetics would stay.

A deity of this name, identified as a former Koliyan who had been Mahāmoggallāna’s supporter, reports on Devadatta’s ill intent (AN 5.100, Ud 8.5, Kd 17:2.2.1). Both discourses show a concern for ascetic conduct. At Kd 1:20.2.3, a deity is living in a kakudha tree (arjuna). | There was a river of similar name near Kusināra (DN 16:4.22.5), which could well have flowed through Koliyan country. Variant spellings abound in Pali and Sanskrit.

The paralleling of agha with soka (“sorrow”) here as the opposites of “delight” help establish the Pali sense of agha as “gloom” rather than the Vedic “sin”.