Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c13.139

v1.c13.139

Khandhavatta Jātaka (No. 203).—The Bodhisatta was once born in Kāsī, and later became an ascetic. On it being reported to him that many ascetics died of snake-bite, he gathered them together and taught them how, by cultivating love for the four royal races of snakes—the Virūpakkhas, the Erāpattas, the Chabbyāputtas, and the Kaṇhagotamas—they could prevent themselves from ever being bitten by any creature. The story was told in reference to a monk who died of snake-bite.¹