He was born of a rich family of Rajagaha. He had the following virtues.
On the day of his birth and the
day on which he was given his name all weapons shone forth with flames of
light. The ornaments the people wore at the time emitted brilliant rays of
light making the whole of Rajagaha shine with brilliance. Sakka, King of devas brought
into being a house for him on a very wide plot of land. There appeared a large
seven-tiered mansion decorated with seven kinds of jewels. Seven jewel-studded
fence-walls appeared, each behind the other and Padetha trees (the trees which
can give things as one’s wish) of
plenty grew up between them. In the four corners of the plot there
appeared four big pots of gold and four sugar-cane plants of gold whose
stems were as big as those of palm-trees and whose leaves were all of gold. The
entrance doors of the mansion were guarded by divine ogres.
King Bimbisara honoured him by giving him a specially-made parasol as
a symbol of his status as a man of immense wealth. His wife named Satulakayi was a native of a very far away alien land not easily
accessible to ordinary human beings. When she came to Jotika,accompanied by devas, she had brought with her only a very small amount of
rice grown in her native land and three pieces of flint-stone to be used in
making fire for cooking. The rice and the flint-stone were inexhaustible for
the rest of her life.
Jotika entertained the King Bimbisara and Prince Ajatasattu, son of King Bimbisara, to a meal of rice, that extraordinary variety his wife
had brought with her from her native land. He also gave this rice-meal to members of the King’s royal
guard.
King Ajatasattu had a bad will to take Jotika’s wealth and he
paid a visit to Jotika again
after crowned by killing his own father. Jotika told Ajatasattu that no one on earth could take away any of his
possessions or wealth without his consent.
He extended his hand for Ajatasattu to take
away his finger-rings if he could take them off. Ajatasattu exerted all his effort to take off the rings, but he
could not take any of them off. When Jotika gave
his consent, all the 20 finger-rings fell off by themselves. Ajatasattu’s great greediness taught Jotika a great
lesson in the nature of avarice.
Jotika became a member of the Samgha and eventually, through the practice of Dhamma,attained to Arahatship. The
Buddha praised Jotika for
having no craving for his wealth and no lustful attachment to his wife. Then
the Buddha delivered a Dhamma discourse, at
the end of which many people became Sotapanna Ariyas.
Source : Buddhismforbeginnersgroup.com
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