Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c15.68

v1.c15.68

Ghosaka-seṭṭhi (*v.l.* Ghosita°).—A seṭṭhi of Kosambī. Being born as the son of a courtesan, he is cast away on a refuse heap. A passer-by takes him home, but the Treasurer of Kosambī, knowing from an astrologer that the stars showed the birth of a very lucky boy, seeks him out and adopts him. A few days after, the Treasurer's wife bears him a son, and he therefore plans to kill Ghosaka with the help of a slave woman, Kālī. All his attempts having failed, he promises a potter one thousand pieces if he will kill the boy. Ghosita is sent to the potter with a message; on the way he meets his foster-brother, and gives him the message, promising to win for him a game of marbles. The foster-brother goes to the potter and is killed. The Treasurer then sends Ghosaka to the superintendent of his hundred villages with a letter ordering that he be killed. The letter is fastened to the boy's garment. On the way he stops for a meal at the house of a country-treasurer whose beautiful daughter falls in love with him. Discovering the letter, she substitutes another to the effect that Ghosaka should be married to her with great festivity and that a two-storeyed house should be built for them. The superintendent carries out these orders and the Treasurer falls ill on receiving the news. He is visited on his death-bed by Ghosaka and his wife, and while trying with his dying breath to say "I do not give him my wealth," by a slip of the tongue he says "I do." Ghosaka becomes a very pious man and is made the Treasurer of King Udena. Later he meets Sāmavatī, daughter of his friend Bhaddavatiya, adopts her as his daughter and, when the time comes, gives her in marriage to Udena.