理髪師が最初の白髪を見つけた瞬間に王位を捨て隠者として生きたミティラー国王の本生話で、後にやはり隠者となった王として生まれ変わる話であり、仏自身の出家に関連して語られた。

A birth story of a king of Mithilā who renounced the throne the moment his barber found his first grey hair and lived as a recluse, later reborn as a king who likewise became a recluse, told regarding the Buddha’s own Renunciation.