Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c31.731

v2.c31.731

Mandhātā.—A primeval king, descended from Mahāsammata, Roja, Vararoja, Kalyāṇa, Varakalyāṇa and Uposatha, the last named being his father. He was thus an ancestor of the Sākyans.¹ He had the seven Jewels of a Cakkavatti and his four Supernatural Powers. When he clenched his left hand and touched it with his right, a shower of the seven kinds of jewels fell knee-deep from the sky. For eighty-four thousand years he was a prince, for eighty-four thousand a viceroy, and for eighty-four thousand more a king. His life-span was an asaṅkheyya. But he grew discontented, and, at the suggestion of his ministers, visited the deva-world. First he went to the Cātummahārājika-world, where he ruled; but still unsatisfied, he went to Tāvatiṃsa. There Sakka welcomed him and gave him half his kingdom. Mandhātā ruled there during the lifetime of thirty-six Sakkas, each Sakka’s life lasting for thirty-six million years and sixty times one hundred thousand. As time went on, Mandhātā’s craving increased; he wished to kill Sakka and gain the whole kingdom. Because of his greed his power waned, and he fell from heaven into his park. The gardener announced his arrival to the royal family, and they provided a resting-place for him and there he lay dying. When asked for a message for his people, he wished them to know how even he, in spite of his great pomp and power, had to die.²