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In several traditions, a righteous and edifying Videhan King Nimi or Nemi is mentioned, who travels to [[heaven (Buddhism)|heaven]] and [[hell (Buddhism)|hell]] in a celestial chariot. The story is mentioned in one text of the [[Pāli Canon]], and two Pāli [[Atthakatha|post-canonical texts]]. The name Nimi or Nemi is explained as "he brings the lineage full circle like the rim ({{lang-pi|nemi|italic=yes}}) of a carriage wheel".{{sfn|Appleton|2016|pp=139–40, 164 n.9}} The story relates that a certain King Makhadeva tells his barber that the latter should warn him as soon as the king has his first grey hair, a common ''[[memento mori]]'' motif found in ancient Indian literature,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bloomfield|first1=Maurice|author-link=Maurice Bloomfield|title=On Recurring Psychic Motifs in Hindu Fiction, and the Laugh and Cry Motif|journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]|date=1916|volume=36|pages=57–8|doi=10.2307/592669|jstor=592669}}</ref> which goes back to the ancient Indian [[āśrama|conception of stages of life]].{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=140}} Later on, when his first hairs go grey, and his barber tells him about that, the king [[pabbajja|goes forth]] to lead a spiritual life as a [[Rishi#Ruesi in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos|hermit]], but not before he entrusts his son to do the same when his hair goes grey. The former king is later reborn in a heavenly world. He sees that his descendants all follow the same tradition of becoming hermits when they became old. He then decides to be reborn as the next descendant of the same dynasty, and has the name King Nimi. The story then goes on to say that this king is able to travel to heaven and hell at the invitation of the god [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Sakka]]. At the end of the story, King Makhadeva, later reborn as Nimi, is identified as a previous birth of [[the Buddha]], and the barber and heavenly charioteer are identified as the disciple [[Ānanda]].{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=139, 165 n.14}} | In several traditions, a righteous and edifying Videhan King Nimi or Nemi is mentioned, who travels to [[heaven (Buddhism)|heaven]] and [[hell (Buddhism)|hell]] in a celestial chariot. The story is mentioned in one text of the [[Pāli Canon]], and two Pāli [[Atthakatha|post-canonical texts]]. The name Nimi or Nemi is explained as "he brings the lineage full circle like the rim ({{lang-pi|nemi|italic=yes}}) of a carriage wheel".{{sfn|Appleton|2016|pp=139–40, 164 n.9}} The story relates that a certain King Makhadeva tells his barber that the latter should warn him as soon as the king has his first grey hair, a common ''[[memento mori]]'' motif found in ancient Indian literature,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bloomfield|first1=Maurice|author-link=Maurice Bloomfield|title=On Recurring Psychic Motifs in Hindu Fiction, and the Laugh and Cry Motif|journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]|date=1916|volume=36|pages=57–8|doi=10.2307/592669|jstor=592669}}</ref> which goes back to the ancient Indian [[āśrama|conception of stages of life]].{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=140}} Later on, when his first hairs go grey, and his barber tells him about that, the king [[pabbajja|goes forth]] to lead a spiritual life as a [[Rishi#Ruesi in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos|hermit]], but not before he entrusts his son to do the same when his hair goes grey. The former king is later reborn in a heavenly world. He sees that his descendants all follow the same tradition of becoming hermits when they became old. He then decides to be reborn as the next descendant of the same dynasty, and has the name King Nimi. The story then goes on to say that this king is able to travel to heaven and hell at the invitation of the god [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Sakka]]. At the end of the story, King Makhadeva, later reborn as Nimi, is identified as a previous birth of [[the Buddha]], and the barber and heavenly charioteer are identified as the disciple [[Ānanda]].{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=139, 165 n.14}} | ||
The story is mentioned in many other [[Early Buddhism|early Buddhist]] texts, both canonical and post-canonical.<ref name="Analayo 2017" />{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=139}} Translator [[C. A. F. Rhys Davids]] compared the legend with [[Dante]]'s [[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rhys Davids|first1=C. A. F.|authorlink1=C. A. F. Rhys Davids|title=Review: The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births. Vol. VI. Translated by E. B. Cowell and W. H. D. Rouse, M.A., Litt.D. Cambridge, 1907.|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland]]|date=15 March 2011|volume=40|issue=2|page=595|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00080837 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1947783 | The story is mentioned in many other [[Early Buddhism|early Buddhist]] texts, both canonical and post-canonical.<ref name="Analayo 2017" />{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=139}} Translator [[C. A. F. Rhys Davids]] compared the legend with [[Dante]]'s [[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]].<ref name="Analayo 2017">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Mahinda|editor-first=D.|year=2017|encyclopedia=Justice and Statecraft: Buddhist Ideals Inspiring Contemporary World|publisher=Nāgānanda International Buddhist University|title=The Repercussions Of Lack Of Proper Governance|first=Bhikkhu|last=Analayo|author-link=Bhikkhu Analayo|url=https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/governance.pdf|pp=126–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rhys Davids|first1=C. A. F.|authorlink1=C. A. F. Rhys Davids|title=Review: The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births. Vol. VI. Translated by E. B. Cowell and W. H. D. Rouse, M.A., Litt.D. Cambridge, 1907.|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland]]|date=15 March 2011|volume=40|issue=2|page=595|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00080837 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1947783}}</ref> The story of King Nimi visiting heaven and hell is iconic in traditional [[Thai art]], and is easily recognizable for the average Thai person.<ref>{{cite conference|last=Brereton|first=B.P.|year=1986|title=Images of Heaven and Hell in Thai Literature and Painting.|conference=Conference on Thai Studies in Honor of William J. Gedney|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/brereton1986images.pdf|pp=41–2}}</ref> This story, as well as many similar stories that deal with [[cakravartin]] kings, attempts to establish that the spiritual life of renunciation is superior to the worldly life,<!--Analayo--> and the solitary life superior to a married life.<!--Appleton--><ref>{{cite journal|first=Analayo|last=Bhikkhu|author-link=Bhikkhu Analayo|title=The Buddha's past life as a princess in the Ekottarika-agama|journal=Journal of Buddhist Ethics|volume=22|year=2015|p=95|url=https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/buddha-princess.pdf}}</ref>{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=144}} Moreover, Asian religion scholar Naomi Appleton argues that there is a connection between the stories of the Videhan renouncing kings and the ideal of the [[paccekabuddha|solitary Buddha]] in Buddhism. Solitary Buddhas are often depicted renouncing their worldly life because of certain signs in their environment or on their body, as in the case of Makkhadeva.{{sfn|Appleton|2016|p=144}} Finally, according to the scholar [[Padmanabh Jaini]], the story may also have influenced how Buddhist cosmology was interpreted.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jaini|first1=Padmanabh S.|author-link=Padmanabh Jaini|title=Ākāravattārasutta: An 'apocryphal' sutta from Thailand|journal=[[Indo-Iranian Journal]]|date=July 1992|volume=35|issue=2–3|page=198|doi=10.1007/BF00164932 }}</ref> | ||
In post-canonical [[Pāli]] works, the belief is expressed that King Nimi belongs to a long line of Kings descending from [[Mahāsammata]], the first king of humankind. The Buddha is believed to be a descendant of the same dynasty.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jory|first1=Patrick|title=The Vessantara Jataka, Barami, And The Bodhisatta-Kings: The Origin and Spread of a Thai Concept of Power|journal=Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|date=2002|volume=16|issue=2|pages=41–2|jstor=40860799}}</ref> | In post-canonical [[Pāli]] works, the belief is expressed that King Nimi belongs to a long line of Kings descending from [[Mahāsammata]], the first king of humankind. The Buddha is believed to be a descendant of the same dynasty.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jory|first1=Patrick|title=The Vessantara Jataka, Barami, And The Bodhisatta-Kings: The Origin and Spread of a Thai Concept of Power|journal=Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|date=2002|volume=16|issue=2|pages=41–2|jstor=40860799}}</ref> | ||