Hearing this Sakka thought, "If I shall say that one of these four daughters of mine is virtuous beyond the others, the rest will be angry. This is a case impossible for me to decide; I will send them to Kosiya, the ascetic in the Himalayas: he shall decide the question for them.". So he said, "I cannot decide your case. In the Himalayas is an ascetic called Kosiya: to him I will send a cup of my ambrosia. He eats nothing without sharing it with another, and in giving he shows discrimination by bestowing it upon the virtuous. Whichsoever of you shall receive food at his hand, she must be the best amongst you." And so saying he repeated this stanza:

The sage that dwells in yon vast wood
Will not unshared touch any food;
Kosiya with judgment gifts confers,
To whom he gives, first place is hers.

[396] So he summoned Matali and sent him to the ascetic, and in sending him he repeated the following stanza:

On Himavat slopes where Ganges glides
Towards the south a saint resides:
Ambrosia, Matali, take to the saint,
For food and drink he's waxing faint.

Then the Master said:

At the god's behest went Matali,
On a car with a thousand steeds rode he;
Unseen he soon by the hermitage stood
And offered the sage ambrosial food.

Kosiya took it and even as he stood spoke a couple of stanzas:

A flame of sacrifice while I did raise ,
The sun that drives away all gloom to praise,
Sakka supreme o'er spirit-world that stands--
Who else?--ambrosia placed within my hands.

White like a pearl was it, beyond compare,
Fragrant and pure, and marvellously fair,
Never before seen by these eyes of mine;
What god puts in my hands this food divine?

Then Matali said:

[397] I come, O mighty sage, by Sakka sent,
In haste to bring thee heavenly nutriment:
This best of food, pray, eat without all fear,
Thou seest here Matali, heaven's charioteer.

By eating this twelve evil things are slain,
Thirst, hunger, discontent, fatigue, and pain,
Cold, heat, rage, enmity, strife, slander, sloth--
This heavenly essence eat thou, nothing loth.

Hearing this Kosiya, to make it clear that he had taken a vow upon him, spoke this stanza:

'Twas wrong to eat alone I thought, so took a vow one day
To touch no food, unless I gave some part of it away.
To eat alone is ne'er approved by men of noble mind,
Whoso with others does not share no happiness may find.

And when Matali questioned him, saying, "Holy sir, what did you discover was wrong in eating without giving a portion to others that you took this vow upon you?" he answered: