Illisajātaka
“Both squint.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a miserly Lord High Treasurer. Hard by the city of Rajagaha, as we are told, was a town named Jagghery, and here dwelt a certain Lord High Treasurer, known as the Millionaire Miser, who was worth eighty crores! Not so much as the tiniest drop of oil that a blade of grass will take up, did he either give away or consume for his own enjoyment. So he made no use of all his wealth either for his family or for sages and brahmins: it remained unenjoyed,—like a pool haunted by demons. Now, it fell out on a day that the Master arose at dawn moved with a great compassion, and as he reviewed those ripe for conversion throughout the universe, he became aware that this Treasurer with his wife some four hundred miles away were destined to tread the Paths of Salvation.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1PTS 1.353“Ubho khañjā ubho kuṇī,Both are lame, both crippled,11.2ubho visamacakkhukā;both cross-eyed,1.3Ubhinnaṁ piḷakā jātā,and both covered in warts:1.4nāhaṁ passāmi illisan”ti.I see not which is Herring.2
2.1Illisajātakaṁ aṭṭhamaṁ.
A rich man was so miserly that Sakka took on his form, crippled though it was, to open the miser’s vaults for the people. The king is asked to adjudicate his case, but cannot tell which is which.
The rich man was named after the Ilish herring (illisa). This is still popular for eating in modern times, and as a result is threatened by overfishing, pollution, and global warming.
The commentary repeatedly calls him “miserly” (macchariya), suggesting that his name arose as a play on “fish” (maccha). His misadventures, in fact, were sparked by seeing a man eating rotten fish (pūtimacchaka).
