Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.1297

v2.c31.1297

Mahājanaka Jātaka (No. 539).—Mahājanaka, king of Mithilā in Videha, had two sons, Aritṭhajanaka and Polajanaka. On his death, the elder came to the throne and made his brother viceroy, but, later, suspecting him of treachery, had him put in chains. Polajanaka escaped, and, when he had completed his preparations, laid siege to the city, killed Aritṭhajanaka, and seized the throne. Aritṭhajanaka’s wife escaped in disguise, taking with her a lot of treasures. She was pregnant, and as her child was the Bodhisatta, Sakka’s throne was heated, and he appeared before her as a charioteer and took her to Kālacampā. There she was adopted by an Udicca brahmin as his sister and the child was born. When he played with other boys they mocked at him, calling him the widow’s son. He asked his mother what this meant, but she put him off with evasive answers until one day he hit her on the breast and insisted on being told the truth. When he was sixteen, he gave him half the treasures, and he embarked on a ship going to Suvaṇṇabhūmi for trade. The ship was wrecked in mid-ocean, but nothing daunted, Mahājanaka (as the boy was called) swam valiantly for seven days, till Maṇimekkhalā, goddess of the sea, admiring his courage, rescued him and placed him in the mango-grove in Mithilā.