In Dhammapála, a village of Kási, there lived a family whose head was Mahádhammapála. The Bodhisatta was his son, and was called Dhammapala-kumára. He went to study at Takkasilá. There the teacher's eldest son died, but among all the lamentations it was noticed that Dhammapála did not weep. When questioned by his fellows as to how he could refrain, he answered that as it was impossible for anybody young to die, he did not believe his friend was dead. The teacher asked him about this, and found that in Dhammapála's family no one died young. Wishing to know if this were true, he left Takkasilá and went to the home of Dhammapála, carrying with him the bones of a goat. After his welcome had subsided, he announced to Dhammapála that his son was dead, and begged him not to grieve. But Dhammapála clapped his hands and laughed, saying that such a thing could never be as no member of their family ever died young. He then told the brahmin, in answer to his query, that they owed their longevity to the fact that they lived good lives.
The story was related to Suddhodana, who told the Buddha how, when the Buddha was practising severe penances, some gods came to him (Suddhodana) and said that he was dead. But he refused to believe them. Suddhodana was Mahádhammapála and the teacher Sáriputta (J.iv.50 55). At the conclusion of the Játaka Suddhodana became an anágámí and Mahá-Pajápatí Gotamí a sotápanna. DhA.i.99; J.i.92.