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Upasāḷaka

A wealthy brahmin of Rājagaha. He lived near the monastery, but was an unbeliever and had nothing to do with the Buddha or his monks. He had a wise and intelligent son. When Upasāḷaka was old, he told his son that, after death, he wished to be burnt in a cemetery unpolluted by any outcaste. Being asked by the son to point out such a spot, he took him to Gijjhakūṭa and showed him a place. As they were descending the hill, the Buddha, perceiving their spiritual potential (upanissaya), waited for them at the foot, and when they met he asked where they had been. Having heard their story, he related the Upasāḷaka Jātaka, showing that in the past, too, Upasāḷaka had been fastidious about cemeteries. At the conclusion of the discourse, both father and son were established in the First Fruit of the Path. J.ii.54 ff.