There lived a king of Benares who, despite all his riches and plenty, still was unhappy. For though he had sixteen thousand wives, he had no son nor daughter. Each and every one of his wives prayed that she might bear a son to him. His main queen, Candadevi, asked of the great god Sakka : "If through my life I have done only good, a son be born to me.
When her plea reached Tavatimsa heaven, the throne of Sakka, king of the gods, became warm, an sign of an injustice on earth. Sakka realized that he had overlooked the virtues of Queen Candadevi. Immediately, from among the deities in heaven he chose the Bodhisatta, who he knew would serve as a model of self-denial for the kingdom of Benares, and sent him down to earth to be conceived in the queen's womb.