| J.258 |
Mandhaatu Jaataka | Mandhaaturaaja Jaataka |
There once was a king, ancestor to the Sakyans, who had the seven jewels of a cakkavatti
and his four supernatural powers. When he clenched his left hand and touched it with
his right, a shower of seven types of jewels fell knee-deep from the sky. For 84,000
years he was prince, 84,000 years viceroy and 84,000 years as king. His lifespan
was an asankheyya -- but he grew discontented and at the suggestion of his ministers,
visited the deva-world. First he went to Catummaharajika where he ruled, but still
unsatisfied went to Tavatimsa. There Sakka welcomed him and gave him half his kingdom
Mandhata ruled there for the lifetime of thirty-six Sakkas, each Sakka’s life lasting
36,000,000 + 60 x 100,000 years. As time went on, Mandhata’s craving increased --
he wished to kill Sakka and gain the whole of the kingdom. Because of his greed,
his power waned and he fell from heaven back into his own park. The gardener announced
his arrival to the royal family, and they provided a resting place for him and there
he lay dying. When asked for a message for his people, he wished them to know how
even he, in spite of his greatness, had to die. King Mandhatu was identified with
the bodhisatva. The Jataka was told to a backsliding monk who, while travelling to
Savatthi for alms, saw an attractively dressed woman and fell in love with her. This
was reported to the Buddha, who told him this story to show that lust could never
be satisfied. At the end of the discourse, the monk, with many others,became sotapannas.
see also DhA.iii.240 |
58/072 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.ii.311ff. |
unsatiable greed, universal monarch |