Suvasankumar (सुवसंकुमार)

चउत्थस्स उक्खेवो ।

The introduction of the fourth chapter.

This is the standard opening formula for the fourth chapter, identical in function to the opening markers of the preceding chapters. It announces the transition from the third story to the fourth. By this point in the text, the listener recognizes the pattern: each chapter introduces a new prince whose life illustrates the same spiritual law. This formulaic opening anchors the listener and creates a sense of structure within the larger collection of ten stories.

The simple version: This line marks the beginning of the fourth chapter.

विजयपुरं णयरं। णंदणवणं उज्जाणं। वीरभद्दो जक्खो। अप्पडिहयो राया। कण्हादेवी। सुवासवे कुमारे। भद्दापामोक्खाणं पंचसयाणं रायवरकण्णगाणं पाणिग्गहणं। तित्थयरागमणं। सावगधम्मं। पुव्वभव पुच्छा। मणिपुरं णयरे। णागदत्ते गाहावई। इंददत्ते अणगारे पडिलाभिए जाव सिद्धे। णिक्खेवो जहा पढमस्स। ।। चउत्थं अज्झयणं समत्तं ।।

"In the city of Vijayapura. In the Nandanvan garden. The guardian spirit was Virabhadda. King Apratihata ruled. His queen was Krishnadevi. Prince Suvasavkumar was their son. He married Princess Bhadda, chief among five hundred royal maidens. The great teacher arrived. He accepted the householder's discipline. The question of past life was asked. In the city of Manipura, he had been a householder named Nagadatta. He was reborn and attained the monk named Indadatta. He practiced austerities and eventually attained liberation. The closing is the same as the first chapter. The fourth chapter is complete."

This sutra tells the complete story of Prince Suvasavkumar in condensed form. He was born in the city of Vijayapura, the son of King Apratihata and Queen Krishnadevi. The Nandanvan garden and the guardian spirit Virabhadda establish the sacred setting of this city. Suvasavkumar married Princess Bhadda, chief among five hundred royal maidens. When the great teacher arrived, the prince first accepted the householder's path of discipline, which is a notable detail — it shows a gradual approach to renunciation rather than an immediate leap. His previous birth was as Nagadatta, a generous householder in the city of Manipura, whose charitable acts and moral conduct earned the merit for a princely rebirth. Ultimately, Suvasavkumar renounced worldly life, became a monk, and through sustained spiritual practice attained complete liberation. The mention of the householder's discipline as an intermediate step reminds us that the path to freedom can be walked gradually, with each step building on the last.

The simple version: Prince Suvasavkumar of Vijayapura, whose past life as a generous householder named Nagadatta in Manipura earned him a princely birth, gradually progressed from lay discipline to monkhood and attained liberation.