Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a potter’s family in a suburb of Benares; when he grew up he became a householder, had a son and daughter, and supported his wife and children by his potter’s handicraft.

At that time in the Kalinga kingdom, in the city of Dantapura, the king named Karandu, saw at the garden-gate a mango tree laden with sweet fruit; he stretched out his hand from his seat on the elephant and seized a bunch of mangoes; then entering the garden he sat on the royal seat and ate a mango, giving some to others. From the time when the king took one, everybody took one and the tree was left mangoless.ministers, Brahmins, and householders, thinking that others should also do so, took down and ate mangoes from that tree. Coming again and again they climbed the tree, and beating it with clubs and breaking the branches down and off, they ate the fruit, not leaving even the unripe.

The king came by on the royal elephant, dismounted on seeing the tree, and going to its root he looked up and thought, “In the morning this tree stood beautiful with its burden of fruit and the gazers could not be satisfied; now it stands not beautiful with its fruit broken down and off.” Again looking from another place he saw another mango tree barren, and thought, “This mango tree stands beautiful in its barrenness; the other from its fruitfulness fell into that misfortune; the householder’s life is like a fruitful tree, the religious life like a barren tree; the wealthy have fear, the poor have no fear ; I too would be like the barren tree.” So taking the fruit-tree as his subject, he left the kingdom and became pacceka buddha, went through the sky to the mountain cave Nandamula in the Upper Himalayas.

In the kingdom of Candahar in the city Takkasila, the king named Naggji on a terrace, in the middle of a royal couch, saw a woman who had put a jeweled bracelet on each hand and was grinding perfume as she sat near; he thought, “These jeweled bracelets do not rub or jingle when separate,” and so sat watching. Then she, putting the bracelet from the right hand on the left hand and collecting perfume with the right, began to grind it. The bracelet on the left hand rubbing against the other made a noise. The king observed that these two bracelets made a sound when rubbing against each other, and he thought, “That bracelet when separate touched nothing, it now touches the second and makes a noise; just so living beings when separate do not touch or make a noise, when they become two or three they rub against each other and make a din; now I rule the inhabitants in the two kingdoms of Cashmere and Candahar, and I too ought to dwell like the single bracelet ruling myself and not ruling another”; so making the rubbing of the bracelets his topic, he became a pacceka buddha.

In the kingdom of Videha, in the city of Mithila, the king, named Nimi, stood looking down at the street through an open window of the palace. A hawk, having taken some meat from the meat-market, was flying up into the air. Some vultures or other birds, surrounding the hawk on each side, went on pecking it with their beaks, striking it with their wings and beating it with their feet, for the sake of the meat. Not enduring to be killed, the hawk dropped the flesh, another bird took it; the rest leaving the hawk fell on the other ; when he relinquished it, a third took it; and they pecked him also in the same way. The king seeing those birds thought, “Whoever took the flesh, sorrow befell him; whoever relinquished it, happiness befell him; I ought to live in happiness leaving the five pleasures of sense, as the hawk relinquishing the morsel of flesh.” Considering this he became pacceka buddha.

In the kingdom of Uttarapancala, in the city of Kampilla, the king, named Dummukha, stood looking down on the palace-yard from an open window. At the instant they opened the door of a cow-pen; the bulls coming from the pen set upon one cow in lust; and one great bull with sharp horns seeing another bull coming, possessed by the jealousy of lust, struck him in the thigh with his sharp horns. By the force of the blow his entrails came out, and so he died. The king seeing this thought, “Living beings from the state of beasts upwards reach sorrow from the power of lust; this bull through lust has reached death; other beings also are disturbed by lust; I ought to abandon the lusts that disturb those beings;” and so he became pacceka buddha.

Then one day those four paccekabuddhas, considering that it was time for their rounds, left the Nandamula cave, reached suburb of Benares. In a convenient spot they put on the robes, took the bowl, and entering the suburb they went the rounds for alms till they came to the Bodhisatta’s house-door. The Bishisatta seeing them was delighted and making them enter his house he made them sit on a seat prepared, he served them with excellent food, hard and soft. Then sitting on one side he asked them, “Sir! your religious life appears very beautiful; your senses are very calm, your complexion is very clear; what topic of thought made you take to the religious life and ordination?” One by one they replied as to what made them to become a pacceka buddha.

The Bodhisatta, hearing them said, “Good, sir; your topic is suitable,” and so commended each paccekabuddha; and having listened to the discourse delivered by those four, he became disinclined to a householder’s life. When the pacceka buddhas went away, he called his wife and said, “wife, those four pacceka buddhas left kingdoms to be Brethren and now live without sin, without hindrance, in the bliss of the religious life; while I make a livelihood by earnings; what have I to do with a householder’s life? Do you take the children and stay in the house;”

Hearing his words she said, “Husband! ever since I heard the discourse of the pacceka buddhas I too have no content in the house.”

The Bidhisatta hearing her words was silent. She was deceiving the Bodhisatta, and was anxious to take the religious life before him; so she said, “Husband, I am going to the water-tank, you look after the children.” She went to the ascetics outside the town she was ordained by them. The Bodhisatta finding that she did not return attended to the children himself. Afterwards when they grew up a little and could understand for themselves, in order to teach them, when cooking rice he would cook one day a little hard and raw, one day a little underdone, one day well-cooked, one day sodden, one day without salt, another with too much. The children said, “Father, the rice to-day is not boiled, to-day it is sodden, to-day well cooked; to-day it is without salt, to-day it has too much salt.” The Bodhisatta thought, “These children now know what is raw and what is cooked, what has salt and what has none; they will be able to live in their own way; I ought to become ordained.” Then showing them to their kinsfolk he was ordained to the religious life, and dwelt outside the city.

Then one day the female ascetic begging in Benares saw him and said, “Sir, I believe you killed the children.” The Bodhisatta said, “I don’t kill children; when they could understand for themselves I became ordained; you were careless of them and pleased yourself by being ordained.”

So exhorting the female ascetic he took leave of her. She taking the exhortation saluted the Bodhisatta and went to a place that pleased her. After that day they never saw each other. The Bodhisatta reaching supernatural knowledge became destined to the Brahma heaven.