Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.325

v2.c36.325

Saṅkicca Jātaka (No. 530).—The Bodhisatta was once born in the family of the chaplain of the king of Benares and was educated in Takkasilā, with the king's son. They became great friends, and, when the prince became viceroy, they lived together. The prince, having conceived the plan of killing his father in order to become king, confided this idea to Saṅkicca. The latter tried to dissuade him, but finding his efforts in vain, he fled to the Himālaya, where he became an ascetic. The prince killed his father, but was later filled with remorse and could find no peace of mind. He longed to see Saṅkicca, but it was not till fifty years later that Saṅkicca, with five hundred followers, came to the garden of Dayāpassa in Benares. The king visited him and questioned him on the results of wickedness. Saṅkicca described the horrors of hell awaiting the wicked, illustrating his story with stories of Ajjuna who annoyed the sage Gotama, of Daṇḍaki, who defied Kisavaccha, of the king of Mejjha, whose country became a desert, of the Andhaveṇhudāsaputtā who assailed Dīpāyana, and of Cecca, swallowed up by the earth.¹ After describing the terrors awaiting the victims of various hells, Saṅkicca showed the king the deva-worlds and ended his discourse, indicating the possibility of making amends.