Once upon a time, mendicants, there was a king named Daḷhanemi who was a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king. His dominion extended to all four sides, he achieved stability in the country, and he possessed the seven treasures. He had the following seven treasures: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the jewel, the woman, the treasurer, and the counselor as the seventh treasure. He had over a thousand sons who were valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of his enemies. After conquering this land girt by sea, he reigned by principle, without rod or sword.

Then, after many years, many hundred years, many thousand years had passed, King Daḷhanemi addressed one of his men, ‘My good man, when you see that the heavenly wheel-treasure has receded back from its place, please tell me.’

‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ replied that man.

After many thousand years had passed, that man saw that the heavenly wheel-treasure had receded back from its place. So he went to King Daḷhanemi and said, ‘Please sire, you should know that your heavenly wheel-treasure has receded back from its place.’

So the king summoned the crown prince and said, ‘Dear prince, my heavenly wheel-treasure has receded back from its place. I’ve heard that when this happens to a wheel-turning monarch, he does not have long to live. I have enjoyed human pleasures. Now it is time for me to seek heavenly pleasures. Come, dear prince, rule this land surrounded by ocean! I shall shave off my hair and beard, dress in ocher robes, and go forth from the lay life to homelessness.’

And so, after carefully instructing the crown prince in kingship, King Daḷhanemi shaved off his hair and beard, dressed in ocher robes, and went forth from the lay life to homelessness. Seven days later the heavenly wheel-treasure vanished.

Then a certain man approached the newly anointed aristocrat king and said, ‘Please sire, you should know that the heavenly wheel-treasure has vanished.’ At that the king was unhappy and experienced unhappiness. He went to the royal sage and said, ‘Please sire, you should know that the heavenly wheel-treasure has vanished.’

When he said this, the royal sage said to him, ‘Don’t be unhappy at the vanishing of the wheel-treasure. My dear, the wheel-treasure is not inherited from your father. Come now, my dear, implement the noble duties of a wheel-turning monarch. If you do so, it’s possible that—on a fifteenth day sabbath, having bathed your head and gone upstairs in the stilt longhouse to observe the sabbath—the heavenly wheel-treasure will appear to you, with a thousand spokes, with rim and hub, complete in every detail.’