1. Okkáka.-A king, ancestor of the Sákyas and the Kolians.
In the Ambattha Sutta (D.i.92) it is stated that Okkáka, being fond of his queen and wishing to transfer the kingdom to her son, banished from the kingdom the elder princes by another wife. These princes were named Okkámukha, Karakanda, Hatthinika, and Sínipura.
The Mahávastu (which confuses Iksváku with his ancestor Sujáta) mentions five sons of Iksváku: Opura, Ulkámukha, Karandaka, Hastikasírsa and Nipura (i.348). See also Rockhill, p.9ff.
They lived on the slopes of the Himalaya and, consorting with their sisters and their descendants, formed the Sákyan race. The legend, thus briefly given, is enlarged on with great detail in the Commentaries. According to Buddhaghosa, there are three dynasties with a king named Okkáka at the head of each, all of them lineal descendants of the primeval king, Mahásammata, and in the line of succession of Makádeva.
The Okkáka of the third dynasty bad five queens - Bhattá, Cittá, Jantú, Jáliní and Visákhá - each with five hundred female attendants. The eldest queen had four sons - mentioned above - and five daughters - Piyá, Suppiyá, Anandá, Vijitá and Vijitasená. (The Mtu. calls them Suddhá, Vimalá Vijitá, Jálá and Jálí).
When Bhattá died, after the birth of these nine children, the king married another young and beautiful princess and made her the chief queen. Her son was Jantu, and being pleased with him, the king promised her a boon. She claimed the kingdom for her son, and this was the reason for the exile of the elder children (DA.i.258f; SnA.i.352f).
The Mahávamsa (Mhv.ii.12-16) mentions among Okkáka's descendants, Nipuna, Candimá, Candamukha, Sivisańjaya, Vessantara, Jáli, Síhaváhana and Síhassara. The last named had eighty-four thousand descendants, the last of whom was Jayasena. His son Síhahanu was the grandfather of the Buddha. The Dípavamsa (iii.41-5) list resembles this very closely.
Okkáka had a slave-girl called Disá, who gave birth to a black baby named, accordingly, Kanha. He was the ancestor of the Kanháyanas, of which race the Ambattha-clan was an offshoot. Later, Kanha became a mighty sage and, by his magic power, won in marriage Maddarúpí, another daughter of Okkáka (D.i.93, 96).
According to the Bráhmana-Dhammika Sutta (Sn.p.52ff; AA.ii.737), it was during the time of Okkáka that the brahmins started their practice of slaughtering animals for sacrifice. Till then there had been only three diseases in the world - desire, hunger and old age; but from this time onwards the enraged devas afflicted humans with various kinds of suffering.
It is said (DA.i.258) that the name Okkáka was given to the king because when he spoke light issued from his mouth like a torch (kathanakále ukká viya mukhato pabhá niccharati).
Although the Sanskritised form of the Páli name is Iksaváku, it is unlikely that Okkáka is identical with the famous Iksaváku of the Puránas, the immediate son of Manu, son of the Sun. The Páli is evidently more primitive, as is shown by the form Okkámukha, and the name Iksaváku looks like a deliberate attempt at accommodation to the Puránic account. For discussion see Thomas, op. cit., p.6.
According to the Mahávastu, Iksaváku was the king of the Kosalas and his capital was Sáketa - i.e. Ayodhyá. See also s.v. Sákya.
The Cúlavamsa mentions among Okkáka's descendants, Mahátissa, Sagara and Sáhasamalla (q.v.).
2. Okkáka.-King of Kusávatí in the Malla country. He had sixteen thousand wives, the chief of whom was Sílavatí. As a result of her consorting with Sakka, two sons were born, Kusa and Jayampati.
The story is related in the Kusa Játaka. J.v.278ff.