The Bodhisatta was a famous teacher in Bārāṇasī, and among his pupils was a young brahmin, Sañjīva, who was taught a spell for raising the dead, but not the counter spell. One day he went with his companions into the forest, and they came across a dead tiger. He uttered the charm and restored it to life. The tiger instantly killed him and fell down dead again.

The story was told in reference to Ajātasattu after his visit to the Buddha. The Buddha said that had it not been for his crime of patricide he would have become a Stream-winner, but because of his early association with Devadatta he had committed numerous bad deeds and shut himself out from that possibility.

Sañjīva is identified with Ajātasattu. J.i.508-11.