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Esukārī

1. Esukārī.– A brahmin who visits the Buddha at Jetavana and asks him various questions on castes and their distinctions, from the point of view of their functions. The Buddha replies that birth’s invidious bar has been laid down by the brahmins, without consulting anybody else; all four castes alike can live the good life, which is the true service, and follow the Dhamma, which is the true wealth. At the end of the discourse Esukārī declares himself to be a follower of the Buddha (M.ii.177 ff).

2. Esukārī.– King of Bārāṇasī. He and his chaplain were great friends; neither of them had any sons. They agreed that if either of them should have a son the possessions of both should be given to him. By the intercession of a tree-sprite the chaplain had four sons — Hatthipāla, Assapāla, Gopāla, and Ajapāla. However, when they grew up, one after the other, they renounced the world, and were later joined by the chaplain and the king, with all their retinues.

Esukārī was a previous birth of Suddhodana.

The story is related in the Hatthipāla Jātaka. J.iv.473 ff.