At this threat Illisa, quaking for his life, cried out, "Henceforth I will be bountiful." And Sakka accepted his promise, and, still seated in mid-air, established his son in the Commandments and preached the Truth to him, departing thereafter to his own abode. And Illisa was diligent in almsgiving and other good works, and so assured his re-birth thereafter in heaven.

_____________________________

"Brethren," said the Master, "this is not the first time that Moggallana has converted the miserly Treasurer; in bygone days too the same man was converted by him." His lesson ended, he shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "This miserly Treasurer was the Illisa of those days, Moggallana was Sakka, King of Devas, Ananda was the king, and I myself the barber."

[Note. Respecting this story, see an article by the translator in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for January 1892, entitled "The Lineage of the 'Proud King'."]

Footnotes

^197:1 This is verse 49 of the Dhammapada.

[j079]