Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c8.124

v1.c8.124

2. Indaka.—A deva. He had been a youth who gave a spoonful of food to Anuruddha. In consequence he was born in *Tāvatiṃsa* as a deva of great power and majesty. When the Buddha went to *Tāvatiṃsa* to preach the *Abhidhamma*, in the assembly of the gods who gathered there, those of lesser powers had to yield place to their superiors. Thus Aṅkura (*q.v.*), who, at the start, was very near the Buddha, found himself twelve leagues away. But not so Indaka; the power of his merit was very great and no deva was mighty enough to displace him; he had been lucky in the recipient of his gift. Aṅkura’s generosity, much more lavish than Indaka’s, had been bestowed on men who were not holy. Such was the explanation the Buddha gave in the assembly of the gods, on seeing the discrepancy between the positions of the two devas, Indaka surpassing the other in ten qualities.¹