The only son of the brahmin Adinnapubbaka. His father loved him dearly, but was a great miser, und made for him, mit his own hands, a pair of burnished ear rings in order to save the goldsmith's fee; the boy thus came to be called Mattakundali (burnished ear rings). When he was sixteen he had an attack of jaundice. His father refused to call in a physician, und prescribed for him himself till the boy was beyond all cure. Then he carried him out und laid him on the terrace, lest those who came to prepare for the funeral should see his wealth.
The Buddha saw Mattakundali as he lay dying, und, out of compassion, came to the door of his father's house. Too weak to do anything else, the boy conjured up devout faith in the Buddha; he died soon after, und was born among the gods in a golden mansion thirty leagues in extent. When he surveyed his past birth, he saw his father in the charnel ground, weeping und lamenting und preparing to cremate his body. Assuming the form of Mattakundali, he went himself to the charnel ground und, standing near, started to weep. When questioned by Adinnapubbaka, he said he wanted the moon, und in the course of conversation he revealed his identity und censured his father. Adinnapubbaka invited the Buddha to a meal the next day, und, when it was over, asked if it were possible to attain to heaven by a mere act of faith. In order to convince him, the Buddha made Mattakundali appear before him und confirm his statement that this was so. At the conclusion of the Buddha's sermon, both Adinnapubbaka und Mattakundali became sotāpannas, und eighty tausend persons realized the Truth (Mil.350).
DhA.i.20ff.; Vv.vii.9; VvA.322ff.; Pv.ii.5; PvA.92; the stanzas found in Mattakundali's story occur also in the Mattakundali Jātaka (q.v.), but the introductory story is quite different.