Venerable Katyayana was born in Ujjayini, the capital of Avanti in Western India. In the beginning he was studying under his uncle Ashita, the great sage who predicted that the Prince Siddhartha would become a buddha and Ashita advised Katyayana to follow Shakyamuni Buddha.

Venerable Katyayana is good at debating, so Venerable was regarded as the foremost in debating the Dharma amongst Buddha’s Ten Principal Disciples. The truth that ordinary people can’t explain, venerable can explain in a simple way and people will understand it. He wins the admiration of ordinary people by using eloquence instead of using force.

迦旃延尊者生于南印度阿提国弥猴食村婆罗门家庭。从小就和舅父阿私陀仙人学习吠陀之教。阿私陀仙人见释尊出生便时预言释尊将来必能成佛。他交代迦旃延尊者悉达多太子成道后，需拜释尊为师。

迦旃延尊者擅长论议，所以在佛弟子中有“论议第一”的称号。你一般人说不出来的真义，尊者都能用很巧妙的方法简短的说出来，说得你心服口服，不是用势力压迫人，他是用这个辩才无碍来辩论，赢得一般人的佩服。