Aḍḍhamāsaka
PersonA poor man of Bārāṇasī who travelled far to retrieve a hidden halfpenny savings for a festival, was rewarded by King Udaya with half his kingdom, and later became an ascetic, identified as a previous birth of Ānanda.
A king. He was a poor man of Bārāṇasī. He saved a halfpenny (aḍḍha-māsaka) and hid it in a brick wall. When the festival came round, wishing to take part in the fun with his wife, who had also saved a halfpenny, he travelled six leagues in the hot sun to fetch his savings from the hiding-place. King Udaya saw him as he passed by the palace singing, and having discovered his mission, gave him half of his kingdom. The man chose the half in which his halfpenny lay concealed. He later became an ascetic. His story is given in the Gaṅgamāla Jātaka (J.iii.449 ff; iv.174). He was Ānanda in the present age. J.iii.454.
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