Dakarakkhasapañha

At the suggestion of Mahosadha the ascetic Bherī asks King Cūlanī what he would do if he were voyaging on the ocean with his mother, wife, brother, friend, chaplain, and Mahosadha, and a water-demon, seeking human sacrifice, were to seize the ship.

The king answered that he would sacrifice all but the last, in the order given, and then himself, but that Mahosadha should not be sacrificed. Bherī persuaded the king to make this declaration in public, so that Mahosadha's glory might be spread far and wide. J.vi.469ff., 477, 478.

Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G P Malalasekera (1899-1973), which is available as printed version from